The Alphas' Legacy (Alpha Eyes: Book 3)

Chapter 1

Zoey

7 years later.

I pushed the mashed potatoes on my plate into a pile before spreading them out again. My stomach roiled at the thought of eating but clenched at the thought of being empty later. Tonight would be a long night, so I would need extra calories to fight against the pain I knew was coming.

It was the same every month at this time. My wolf would go into heat, and my mate would bed his lover. Every month... every year... for the last seven years. The only comfort I had was that the "other girl" never got pregnant. The moon goddess did me a favor there. As long as Jax and I were still mates, he couldn't impregnate anyone else. Not that he didn't try, because he sure did. It was just another way he showed me how much he didn't want me.

Jax leaned towards me from his chair at the head of the dining room table. His nose flared as he picked up my scent.

"That time again, is it?" he whispered, nodding to my plate. "You'd best eat up if you don't want to get sick like last month."

I sighed as he straightened in his chair. He didn't need to remind me. His "activity" last month caused enough internal trauma that I'd thrown up dinner and lunch before passing out on the bathroom floor. A maid had found me and run to his room in a panic. The kick he'd given me for embarrassing him and interrupting his time with his flavor-of-the-month had left a bruise, the first physical evidence of his cruelty. Of course he forbid me from showing or telling anyone about it. The maid mysteriously disappeared too. As far as everyone knew, we were a normal mated couple.

He'd told me the day after we'd met that he didn't want a mate but that his parents would disinherit him if he didn't have one. So, to keep himself from getting attached, he rejected me... but I couldn't accept his rejection. In secret, he would do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted. In public, he paid me enough attention to make everyone believe we were together.

I think his mother suspected that something was up, but she probably thought it was all my fault. Seven years I'd been there with no babies to show for it. Shameful, since that's clearly all her son's mate was meant for. But she never said anything about it. She let us continue as we were.

"If you're not going to eat, you can go," Jax hissed under his breath to me. "Your scent is nauseating me."

I knew that was a lie, but I kept my mouth shut and pushed back from the table. "Thank you for understanding, Jax. I'll be upstairs."

I only said that in case someone overheard. It explained enough and excused me. I often left the table first, but I always had a 'reason' for going. With Jax scowling at me to cover the heat-induced craving in his eyes, I was more than happy to leave.

Lady Catherine met me in the kitchen as I cleaned my plate. She sniffed a few times, and I braced myself for the question to come.

"Will Jax be attending to you tonight?" she asked, half hope and half accusation.

"I believe so," I lied. "I'm very tired, so I will try to sleep as much as I can."

"You can sleep in tomorrow. As long as Jax is satisfied, you can rest as long as you need."

I set my plate in the dishwasher rather than smashing it on the floor like I wanted. She had no idea how "satisfied" her precious boy would be tonight while I curled up in a ball and muffled my screams in a pillow. She actually believed that her son was a dutiful, attentive mate.

"Oh, but you parents are coming tomorrow; so make sure you're ready by lunchtime."

I stared at her for a long moment. "My parents are coming?"

"Yes," she sighed, as if the news was a great burden. "They said they haven't heard from you in a while, so they wanted to see how you were doing. As your father is an alpha, we couldn't decline their self invitation."

I wasn't about to remind her that they were the reason my parents hadn't heard from me. Any letters or emails I wanted to send were read before being dispatched, and my phone was closely monitored. They'd cancelled my phone service last year because it was too much work for them to try to stop any incriminating texts I might send/ When I was allowed to call home, someone was listening on the call to keep me in line.

"Why am I just hearing about this now?" I dared to ask.

"They'll only be here for a day," Lady Catherine shrugged, "and it's not like you would need to plan anything. I've made all the proper arrangements."

...by which she meant carefully monitored activities inside the house. My parents would never agree to that, but I would let them tell her when they arrived. They had enough authority to stand up to my in-laws.

"If you'll excuse me..." I shuffled out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs. Even if I was alone with my parents, there was no easy way out of this place. Jax had spies in every division of the pack. We wouldn't make the border before he heard that I was running. He'd proven multiple times that he could track and catch me. The only time he hadn't caught me was when I doubled back and returned to the pack house.

Maybe I couldn't escape this time, but we could plan for next time.

The first gut punch of heat hit me at the top of the stairs. I clenched my jaw over the gasp of pain and staggered to my room as fast as I could. As long as I could dull the pain, the rest of the day wouldn't be total torture.

I stumbled over to my nightstand and clawed the drawer open. As another punch hit, I grabbed the syringe out of the drawer and stabbed the needle into the small bottle next to it. Drawing a milligram of the silver nitrate—wolfsbane—into the syringe, I straightened my left arm and stuck the needle into my vein. The medicine would take a minute to absorb before kicking in to numb the symptoms of my heat, but at least I'd be ready for tonight. If Jax knew that my parents were coming, he might add to his routine just to remind me that he owned me.

A few tears pricked my eyes as I waited for the silver to take effect. Taking drugs of any kind to numb pain was frowned upon in the werewolf world, same as taking any to beef up one's muscles. We were supposed to be the superior species that didn't need any help.

Thankfully, the female pack doctor had a soft spot for women in difficult situations. She ran a fully confidential side branch of her clinic, only asking enough questions to understand how much to woman needed of what. She didn't even seem surprised the first time I darkened her doorway. She gave me a sympathetic smile and ushered me into her private exam room. After discovering that a minimal dose of liquid silver nitrate was enough, she gave me a standing prescription. When my bottle ran out, I'd get another one.

She kept dutiful records of her clients, so she always knew how long a bottle lasted. If I started asking for a new bottle sooner than prescribed, she'd talk to me about the dangers of overuse and advise me to wait. I never changed my dosage or frequency, so she could always count on seeing me every four months.

I quickly stashed the syringe and bottle back in the drawer. Not even Jax knew about it, and I planned to keep it that way. I would tell my mom and pray that she'd understand. My dad would be another matter, but he'd at least hear me out.

Feeling the warm tingle of the silver in my veins, I drew a deep breath and headed into the bathroom. One of my scented lotions would mask any lingering scent of my heat, so I'd at least be able to leave my room without every unmated male in the place snarling at me or trying to jump me. Although no one would dare touch Jax's mate (even though all his guys knew we weren't together), they still drooled and lusted as if I was available.

My wolf gave a groggy whimper as I rubbed lotions into my arms.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her, "but you know what will happen if I don't do this. It hurts too much."

She was too groggy to answer, but I knew she understood. We would fight through today towards the hope of a better tomorrow.