Page 54 of The Alpha's Reclaimed Mate

As his teeth dug into my windpipe, I prepared myself for one last deluge of pain. I closed my eyes and hated Oswald more than anything. My heart reached out for help, but I didn’t realize that desperation could be felt by someone else.

My consciousness flickered.

Then a body crashed into Oswald, knocking him off of me. At first, I thought it was a dream whisking me away from the pain. But as the weight was alleviated from my body, my airway opened back up, and I sucked in a loud lungful, eyes bulging in the realization that I was still alive. The crowd around me screamed in rage, jarred from the trance of Oswald’s victory by another round of combat. Rolling onto my feet, I watched the handsome figure of my savior thrash against Oswald, fending him off and punishing him for hurting me. Lucas was here. And he brought our pack with him to rescue me once more from the malice of the Grey Creek Pack.

The soldiers tried to attack me, but my packmates intercepted each set of teeth. The two packs merged in a hurricane of violence, protecting me, pushing each other away, and expressing with tooth and nail what words couldn’t do justice to. I wanted to join the fray, to prove to my new pack that I didn’t expect them to fight my battles for me, but as soon as I swallowed my pain and picked a target, Lucas broke away from his entanglement with Oswald to return to my side.

He pressed his nose against my neck, worry gleaming in his eyes.“Are you okay?”

I caught my breath and nodded, looking at the fight still surging around us.“They won’t stop until Oswald has what he wants.”

“I’m not letting him get anywhere close to you,”Lucas assured me.

Mere mention of Oswald had him reappearing before us, his body now haggard and bleeding.“Step aside, Lucas!”he snarled.“I’m taking back what’s mine.”

“It’s your mind you’ve lost, Oswald,”growled Lucas.“Your pack has no business here. Leave!”

“I refuse to obey a thief of an Alpha like you!”Oswald leaped at us, aiming for Lucas. All semblance of thought was gone. The Oswald I used to know would have never said something like that to Lucas.

As much as I wanted to defend my Alpha, the fight was over within seconds. Lucas was bigger, stronger, and faster than Oswald, a better warrior by leagues; he quickly grabbed Oswald’s muzzle and threw him to the grass, biting hard enough to rip a gaping wound across his nose. The Grey Creek Alpha persisted, and his onslaught was met with Lucas finally grabbing his leg and breaking the bone, causing Oswald to reel back.

“Forfeit, or my pack will be forced to defend themselves to the death!”said Lucas.

“No!”Oswald frothed in rage.

But in a startling demonstration of independence, the Grey Creek soldiers retreated as if something had snapped them out of their craze. They were getting tired, and all of them were injured. Maybe it was seeing Oswald with his broken leg. Maybe it was realizing that they were outnumbered. Whatever it was, I was relieved that my former pack wasn’t going to drive themselves to their own death following Oswald’s insane commands.

“Let’s go, Aria.”Lucas brushed against my shoulder, urging me to follow him. I turned but stole one last glance at Oswald.

He met my eyes, and I regretted even sparing him a glance.

“Don’t walk away from me!”Oswald tried to lunge, but his broken leg caused him to falter, stumbling instead. He snarled at his soldiers.“Get them!”

But they just hung back, watching, murmuring among themselves.

“Traitors! Cowards, all of you!”Oswald screamed.

I set my eyes ahead of me, trying to block out the sound of Oswald’s outlandish cries. Lucas offered his shoulder in support, and the rest of the Silent Shadows Pack formed a protective barrier while we walked, but Oswald’s fury and desperation clawed into my brain and haunted me. Something was terribly wrong with him. I feared that he wouldn’t stop until he was dead, and all I could think of was how deeply it reminded me of the Rogues.

What had done this to him?

It wasn’t until we’d been walking for five minutes that the forest finally fell silent. I could hear the strain in some of my packmates walking, the air soaked with their blood. Guilt gnawed at me, but most of all, I could sense something in myself that didn’t entirely belong to me. Worry, fear... of losing me.

Peering at Lucas, I tipped my ears back in shame as I realized the feeling was coming from him. Somehow, I could feel it too.

I didn’t expect to be confronted with the consequences of disobeying him so soon. As we walked in silence, I dreaded what he was going to say to me next.

Chapter 26: Aria

“Scout on ahead. You guys, head back home to tell Scott what happened. The Grey Creek Pack has put our alliance in jeopardy. The Council of Seven needs to know. I’m going to tell them myself.”Lucas spoke to his packmates, his voice heavy with the weight of the fight. I stood back and waited, anxiety biting at my stomach, realizing that his assignments would disperse all of our packmates and leave us traveling alone. I hadn’t said anything to him since we left Oswald behind.

As our packmates took off in various directions, Lucas watched until all traces of them had vanished into the night. Then he turned to me, and my stomach twisted.

His expression softened.“Seems you can’t go a day without gaining a new wound. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”He was right. These wounds were nothing new to me now.“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize my old pack had followed me.”

Lucas shook his head.“You couldn’t have known they’d be nearby. It’s almost as if Oswald was hanging around our territory, waiting for a moment you would be vulnerable...”

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