Six months ago Xander became alpha of Blackwood Pack, the second largest pack in North America. Tired of watching his pack suffer under his father's abusive regime, Xander challenged and beat his father in an alpha contest to the death. Regrettabl...
Xander watched his mate's eyes flutter and prayed that today would be the day that she would fully open them. It had been an entire week since the doctor had first injected her with his blood, and she had not yet woken. One full week he had been forced to sit by helplessly while watching her lifeless form. Five days ago, they had come incredibly close to losing her. The girl's heart beat had slowly dropped until it ceased to beat for a moment. Doc Peters had injected her a second time with his blood, and somehow she had fought her way through. The last few days, it did seem like she had turned a corner. The whimpering had ceased, and every now and then there were some signs of life.
Xander heard the door opened and wondered who had come to pester him now. For the past week, Zack, Brexton, and Lilliana had taken turns harassing him. If it wasn't about his eating habits or lack thereof, it was about his hygiene or sleep patterns. Why couldn't they understand that the one important thing in his life was lying on the bed in front of him?
"How is she?" Lilliana asked from the door.
"About the same, maybe a little better." Xander replied.
"That's good. Hey, I wouldn't bother you with it if it was not an emergency," Lilliana said timidly. "But the pack needs you to deal with something."
"What?" Xander mumbled.
"I think this needs to be discussed in your office" Lilliana stated.
Xander groaned. It was a reasonable request, and as alpha it was his job to see to the pack's needs. His office was soundproof whereas the hospital was not. "Fine but this better not take long," Xander said as he slowly stood and walked away from his mate.
Unfortunately, it was a ploy. As soon as Xander was out of the room, Lilliana slipped behind him to lock him out.
"Lilliana! Open this door right NOW!" Xander shouted as he pounded the door.
"I don't think so," she replied loud enough to be heard through the closed door. "You need to do two things if you to get this door unlocked. One, you must take a shower. The poor girl will be scared off by your stench if she were to wake up now. And two, you must eat an entire plate of food."
"Lilliana, I will put you on six months straight of night patrol if you do not open this door," Xander threatened.
"That's fine," Lilliana responded nonchalantly. Although the pack feared him, she knew that Xander's bark was much worse than his actual bite. "But until Zack confirms that you have eaten and showered you will not get back into this room."
"Lilliana, I am not joking. You need to open this door!" Xander demanded.
"No! Now go and do as you are told!" Lilliana said with a smile. It wasn't every day that she got to boss the alpha around.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
'Something is very wrong,' Elsbeth thought to herself as she slowly came back to consciousness. She felt clean and was laying on something way too comfortable for her. It felt like a bed, but she knew that couldn't be right. She had not slept on a bed since Alpha Dex had taken away that right when she had failed to shift at the age of twelve. Shower rights had also been removed unless she did something to please Dex. Showering was not worth that level of degradation, so they also had become a thing of the past.
Elsbeth started to feel her anxiety build. If Dex found out that someone had showed her an ounce of kindness, he would kill them. She had seen him do it. Not only would he take great pleasure in torturing them as he took their life, but he would force Elsbeth to watch the horrific brutality. A beeping sound started to get faster and faster as Elsbeth's fear grew.
"Hey, hey little one, you are okay," a gentle masculine voice told her while softly rubbing her arm.
Elsbeth forced her eyes to focus, so she could find the owner of the kind voice. When she did she was horrified. He was huge. By far he was the largest werewolf she had ever laid eyes on. He was even bigger than Dex.
She saw his arm muscles ripple as she watched him rub her arm. While comforting when she couldn't see him, now she only felt fear. He could break her neck with nothing more than his hands. Terrified Elsbeth scooted to the farthest side of her bed. Removing herself from his reach.
As the mountain of a man moved to close the distance Elsbeth had put between them, she frantically looked for an exit. Finding the door she moved to rip the medical equipment out of her other arm.
"Stop, please just stop," the giant said with authority as he started backing away. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I will not hurt you."
Elsbeth internally scoffed. She had heard that before. She didn't believe it then, and she for sure did not believe it now.
"My name is Xander, I am the alpha here. What is your name?" Xander asked softly.
Elsbeth stared stubbornly at the beast in front of her. She would not speak to please Dex, she definitely was not going to speak to please this alpha.
