Page 40 of My Forbidden Alpha

EIGHT YEARS AGO

“Jackson, listen to me!” Grandma Amelia growls as she stands in the lounge as Dad prowls the room in agitation. I can see them clearly from here, up in the tree, which gives me a pretty neat view of what’s going on down below.

“I understand, but they may bring war to us,” Dad whispers as if someone might hear them. Well maybe I know someone’s waiting for Dad’s verdict a little ways from here and I’m tempted to go see.

Apparently, someone is seeking refuge in our pack, andthat’s not common. The fact that they are on the run too… they really could bring danger to us, but Grandma Amelia said it was a woman with two children.

“War or not we do not turn our backs on those who need help,” Grandma Amelia’s cutting voice comes.

“Have I ever? Even when I should have, I have not done so,” Dad mutters. I wonder what he means by that, but I’m not interested and instead I jump down from the tree, wanting to see these trespassers who need help.

I find them a short while later, covered in dirt, bruises and blood.

I stay in the shadow of the tree observing them intently. There’s six guards watching them, a bit excessive to deal with a woman and two children. The girls are not that different in height, one might be about five or six, she has dark hair like the woman.

The other girl is slightly taller. Maybe she’s around eight, her pale hair matted. From all three of them, she looks to be in the best condition, but it is the look in her eyes that makes me stop and observe her.

No matter what they had gone through, there is a fire in her eyes. One that tells me she is still ready to fight if she has to.

It’s obvious they’ve travelled far and they are all malnourished. I frown as I look towards our home. What is Dad hesitating about? He is an alpha, and an alpha protects all those who are weaker than him. He has to give them a home.

Hearing footsteps, I stick to the shadows of the tree I’m standing behind, watching as Dad approaches the woman who tries to move her daughters behind her. But the older one doesn’t move, her eyes fixed on Dad with that fierceness that impresses me.

I smirk slightly. She’s a defiant one. She’ll become a great fighter one day. We could definitely use that in this pack.

I blink, coming out of my thoughts as the car begins moving. Someone’s put some weird country music on and the oddly warm ambience in the car makes me feel strange yet relaxed.

We are a family with complex dynamics, but it is still my family.

Maybe this trip won’t be so bad?

“Are you not going to share those, Pixie?” I ask, looking down at the packet of Maltesers she’s eating.

“They’re mine,” she says a little too quickly, moving the packet away.

I smirk. “It says ‘Share Bag’, now share.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders as she tries to hide the bag, but we’re in a car and there’s nowhere for her to run to.

“Elijah! You eat too much!” she complains.

“And you raid my room, and take my stuff. Was this chocolate mine?” I ask, seeing her sheepish expression. Ah, so it was. I nod knowingly.

“Well…” she grumbles, holding the packet out.

“Hmm, so you’re sharing,” I state, pouring a handful into my hand and popping a few into my mouth. Tilting my head, I look over at Scarlett, who’s crossed her legs, sitting slightly angled towards the window, and has her head resting on her hand with a book in her hand.

“Want some, Red?” I ask, trying not to check out her thighs.

She looks up, her heart skipping a beat as our eyes meet. Her soft green ones are gorgeous.

“No thanks,” she says, sounding calmer than she has since the arcade before she returns to her book.

“You’ve gotten soft,” Indigo objects as she snatches the bag back before she leans around me and holds out a Galaxy bar to Scarlett. “I took this for you.”

I cock a brow as Dad turns and smiles at Indigo. As much asit’s nice to see her do something kind for her sister, she stole that from my room too… Little thief.

“Thanks,” Scarlett says, taking the bar hesitantly.

Indigo sits back. “If you try to take them again, I’ll spit in the bag,” she warns me.

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