Page 23 of Forced By the Alpha

The Rosewood pack ran back to their territory, tails tucked between their legs. Emma tried to give chase, but Devon called her back. They didn’t need to exterminate the Rosewoods, and it wouldn’t win him any points with Beth if he killed one of them. He just needed them gone and his own pack stable.

As they headed home, bloodied but exultant, Devon felt one step closer to that goal.

Chapter 9 - Beth

Beth dreamed of freedom. In her dreams, she ran as a wolf through sun-soaked woods, the Rosewood pack behind her. The forest was her playground, and the concerns of her human form were distant. But the morning always came.

She woke in her now familiar bed, the smell of coffee and breakfast creeping under her door. Last night, she’d watched the White Winter pack gather on the lawn and head into the woods, and a part of her had ached to go with them, the part of her that longed for the companionship of her pack. The other part of her had feared. Where were they going?

Sitting up in bed, she pushed her tangled hair back from her face. The serenity she’d felt while sleeping vanished in the morning light as fears of what the White Winters had done last night flooded back into her. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror across the way, she could see the toll the conflict was taking on her in the purple rings beneath her eyes, the dullness of her skin.

She missed the Rosewoods, missed her friends, missed Adria. Her best friend would be beside herself by now. Would she push Spencer to do something rash? She hoped not. They were mated now, with a child, and the need to protect that should overrule even the kidnapping of a pack member.Please don’t be stupid, she begged Adria, willing her friend to hear her plea. She couldn’t bear the thought of them being hurt because of her, and the White Winter’s venture last night had her fearing the worst.

The bathroom skylight showed a blue sky. Beth splashed her face with cold water and pulled a brush through her hair. She could barely face herself in the mirror. Her traitorous heart longed for home, for the Rosewoods, but she couldn’t deny that there was a part of her settling in here. It was the part of her that ached for Devon. The part of her that carried the title of luna for this broken, monstrous pack. The part of her that thought maybe she could help them.

She brushed her teeth, then patted her face dry and pulled a robe over her pajamas before sticking her head out of the room, surprised to find Caleb instead of Jonah sitting outside. His face was scratched, and he nursed a cup of steaming coffee.

“What happened to you?” She asked, bending down to inspect the marks on his cheek.

He brought his hand up to touch it as if he’d forgotten about the injury. “Oh, that? That was Emma. Yeah, you’re not the only one that gets her claws.”

Beth sat back on her heels. The fear that had risen when she’d seen the wound dulled. It hadn’t been a fight with the Rosewoods. Adria wasn’t out there now with a bite in her side. It was just Emma. Terrible, awful, Emma.

“Did you deserve it?” She asked.

Caleb gave her a sideways look and climbed to his feet. “Well, I was keeping her from ripping your throat out, so I don’t know, you tell me.”

Beth sucked in a breath, softening. “Thank you, Caleb. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged, rolling her apology for the incident off his shoulders. “That’s Emma for you. Breakfast?”

She nodded, though her stomach was unsettled enough that hunger hadn’t yet hit. Following him down to the kitchen, she noticed most of the doors were closed, the pack still sleeping behind them. They’d come back late enough that she’d fallen asleep before their return.

Jonah was in the kitchen, flipping sausages in the pan, a floral apron tied around his waist. He smiled when he saw her.

“Hey Beth, how’d you sleep? Got some coffee right there for you.” He nodded at the coffee pot, a stack of mugs ready beside it.

She poured herself a cup, refilled Caleb’s, and slid into the seat across from the stove. It was becoming a familiar spot for her.

“Well, enough. In my dreams, I’m not a prisoner locked in with killers, so that’s a nice change of pace,” she said, taking a sip of the black coffee. Jonah made it strong enough to wake the dead, which she needed right then.

Caleb laughed, but Jonah’s face tightened as he piled the sausages onto a plate and slid them to the center of the counter.

“What is it?” She didn’t like that look, the way he wasn’t meeting her eyes. They’d spent enough time together that by now, she could see the tension in him.

“Just tired,” Jonah said, turning to the carton of eggs. He cracked them into the pan methodically while Caleb grabbed five of the sausages. “Hey, save some for everyone else.”

“They snooze, they lose.” Caleb dug into the breakfast, but Beth’s stomach lurched.

“Forks are a thing, you know,” Emma said from the doorway.

Her pajamas were as flimsy as her day clothes, more lace than silk, and a flash of her stomach showed above the waistband of her shorts. Beth wondered if she ever got cold, or if the heat of her spite kept her warm.

“Morning, Em,” Jonah said, brightly. “Coffee?”

“God, I need it after last night.” Emma wandered over to the coffee and poured herself a cup, stirring in a rounded spoon of sugar.

“Oh, you didn’t sleep well?” Jonah asked, smile plastered on his face. He glanced nervously over at Beth.

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