Page 6 of The Alpha's Forced Bride

Jermaine unfolded a large sheet of paper, a map that he had created and marked with red ink. “We have reports of a pack in the area that lives somewhere along this coastline.” He paused for a second as his finger sagged. “We’ve confirmed that they’re possessed by demons.”

A series of gasps circulated the room, and because of the nature of the report, it felt like we were all forced to face a reality that was apt considering the name of our pack—although it was much grimmer than we would have imagined. Troy, of course, didn't seem particularly shocked by the information. He seemed less surprised and more curious. I assumed that he and Blake had already gotten together with Jermaine and Isaiah to research this pack.

Jermaine swallowed hard, looking like he was struggling with something inside his throat. “They typically come out at night. Although they only fish in the sea and utilize resources from the surrounding land, many of them have been spotted in town and we have reports from many people who have seen them in the underground supernatural markets.”

Fred perked up from his spot across the room. He was our inside connection to the supernatural black market. It was weird seeing him there in the light of day, looking so much more like a ghost than anybody else. The way he raised his inked fingers and waved toward Isaiah told me that he had also contributed to the research.

Isaiah held up his little folder and pulled out a few papers inside. “We've compiled a list of people in the pack that we were able to identify. Fred has contributed names, backgrounds, and relationships. But ultimately, we don't exactly know a whole lot about the pack in terms of its structure other than the fact that the wolves are possessed and from Virginia.”

I drummed my fingers on the table in front of me. “Does anyone know why they moved here?”

Blake and Troy exchanged a curious expression. For a moment, it didn’t seem like either of them was going to respond, almost appearing as though they wanted to avoid this part of the conversation entirely. I understood that; it was a difficult topic, but one that needed to be discussed.

After a sigh, Blake turned his attention back to us. “We think maybe they're trying to hide, or trying to get away with something.”

Troy nodded in agreement. “Usually, packs like this tend to participate in illegal circles, pushing firearms across borders or carrying illicit drugs. Considering the nature of the reports from town, we think that they might be attempting to run a…”

He trailed off into himself for a second, and it was weird seeing my alpha do that. I didn't think that he was capable of something like that. So, as we all leaned in and Fred motioned for the alpha to respond, I had the strangest feeling in my gut that what he was going to say wasn't going to be good.

Troy licked his lips and nodded again. “We suspect they might be running a smuggling ring. For human trafficking.”

I would have expected the people in the room to gasp, but this wasn't exactly anything new to us. We had heard many rumors of these kinds of things happening in our supernatural world.—especially because of the way that all of us had to hide away from humans. It was much easier to get away with illegal things when we didn't have to follow human laws or deal with human law enforcement breathing down our necks. Then again, our own councils were frustrated with the way that our people were breaking our own laws. How were we supposed to control this kind of movement when we could hardly avoid going to war against another of our species?

Only time would be able to tell, and we had to pray that we had enough time.

“That's why we need your help.” The statement was directed at my best friend, Regina, but she just looked like a deer in headlights.

My goddess, I had never seen that look on her face before. The dread was something that I could relate to, because I also had a hard time being put on the spot. I knew what our alpha was about to ask her. Regina’s expression changed slightly, and she had an expectant look on her face as she waited for Troy to continue speaking.

“We just need a way forward,” Troy explained. “Do you have any ideas, Regina?”

A reddish hue glowed on her cheeks as she turned to Eric, almost like she was asking permission to speak. It wasn't like her to act that way, but maybe it was the respectful thing to do. I wasn't sure how this kind of thing worked in other packs, but I didn’t think it was too complicated. Were we a complicated pack?

After a moment of silence, Regina focused her attention back on the alphas. “We can do a ritual.”

My heart leaped at the suggestion. Blake looked highly interested and leaned forward, encouraging Regina to continue.

She gave a quick nod. “We can do a ritual to reveal the next set of names. It's a little complicated, but it should be doable as long as we do it at midnight.”

Troy raised his hands in the air in a victorious manner. “Midnight it is, then.”

***

Something was watching me. I could feel it.

As I watched Regina work with Troy and Blake to set up the four points that they were going to honor in the circle, I turned to gaze at the rest of the gardens behind the mansion. It really did feel like something was watching me, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. My wolf senses were being set off. Maybe it was just the fact that this particular ritual involved a great skill set of magic that I wasn't familiar with. I'd known Regina for such a long time, but I’d never seen her accomplish anything like this.

Regina walked to each quarter of the circle and set down a white candle. She lit each candle in turn, and then she started to set out four separate containers as offerings for the elements: salt for earth, water for water, a single candle for fire, and a stick of incense for air.

The smoke from the incense coiled into the air, rapidly spiraling up toward the sky and then disappearing. It was so hypnotic that I lost myself watching it and completely zoned out from what Regina was doing next. Everything around me became a blur as my heart started to race.

That feeling came again, a prickling at the back of my neck that made my hair stand up. It felt like long nails were dragging up and down my spine, trying to make me turn around. Yet, the more I wanted to turn around, the less control I had over my legs.

It was then that I realized I was stunned. I also realized that the talking had ceased. It felt like I was moving. Was I running toward something? I glanced down. No, my legs were planted on the ground. I hadn't moved an inch except for the way that my thumb twitched. My earlobe felt like it had an itch and my throat felt like it had something scratching at it, like a scream had curled up in my throat and I was getting ready to let it loose upon the ritual.

I couldn't do something like that. It would ruin what Regina was doing. My adrenaline heightened as fear and arousal clashed together. Yes, arousal—it was the strangest thing to realize that’s what I was feeling in that moment. My thighs were throbbing like I was straddling something and trying to ride toward the horizon. I felt like I was looking through a tunnel at everything that was happening. The circle seemed to grow smaller, but that didn't make sense because Regina wasn't trying to make anything grow or shrink. She was just trying to get a pair of names.

I couldn’t understand why I was reacting this way to the magic. I'd never reacted this way before. Even with the strange way my body was reacting to the ritual, there was a feeling of hope that laced through me—a sort of encouragement for me to speak out loud, but again, it was like I was glued in place, forced to watch.

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