Page 15 of Fall of the Alpha

He hadn’t wanted to go back to the Territories… not since… Tatiana’s face flashed through his mind—that horrible moment when she stepped in front of Malachi, protecting him from the handcannon’s blast, just before she fell. The way she’d looked at him, Grigori, who had been her protector for so long, who had deserved her love even though she’d given it to Malach instead…

Shaking off the memories, Grigori glared at Paldon.

“If you have not adequately trained your spies, I cannot compensate for that,” he snapped, turning and stalking from the room. Paldon did not call after him. The truth was, Grigori could compensate somewhat but not on his own. Malachi was not as easy to spy on as the previous warlord had been. Even over the long years since Tatiana’s death, he had not lapsed in his wariness or succumbed to arrogance the way Jeffos had.

It was one of the few things Grigori could admire about the male, even as it frustrated him. Malachi was a worthy adversary, which would make it all the more delicious when he fell.

Rather than going back to his own rooms, Grigori went out into the streets. To anyone watching, it would look like hewas stalking away from an argument, perhaps lost in his own thoughts. He and Paldon argued enough, and he went out for walks often enough after to keep up this pretense.

Like Malachi, he had not grown soft in the years since the last war. He was constantly aware of how fleeting life was and how easily it was taken away… and he never forgot how to be on his guard and how to keep people fooled.

If anyone was watching him, they would see nothing but one of his usual walks, ending in the bar he sometimes frequented. The key was to keep his secrets part of his usual patterns. The only thing different about today was the drink he ordered, so when another male joined him, he knew that today was not about pleasure and chatting but about business.

11

NO DEFENSE

Alek

The urge to jump on the Alpha’s back grew as Alek followed him down the hall. It would be suicide, though. There were soldiers everywhere, both on guard and passing them as they walked. More than one glanced at Alek and Bella with speculation.

He always knew when one of them was an Alpha, not just by their size but by the way their gaze raised his hackles and the way Bella trembled even harder against him when they passed.

It was Bella’s presence that stayed his hand. There truly was a war going on within him, just as the Alpha had said, but while he might be willing to die fighting, he wasn’t willing to get her killed for it. There were far too many soldiers around them for there to be any other outcome.

She swayed next to him, leaning into him as if looking for protection. Alek did his best to put himself between her and the others’ gazes. With her head dropped down, she wasn’t even looking at where they were going, obviously too overwhelmed by everything that was happening to them. It brought out all of hisprotective instincts… and he could only imagine what instincts had been brought out in her.

He couldn’t rely on anything he ‘knew’ about Omegas because there were obviously huge gaps in his education. The Zones probably thought it was in their best interests not to know everything, but right now, he could curse all of them—especially his father—for his ignorance.

The door opened, and they were led back into the same room, Alek’s hackles immediately going up. If anything, there were more people than there had been last time. Next to him, he could hear Bella’s breathing change to short pants, as if she was starting to panic. Even though it made him more vulnerable, he released her hand so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders, letting her tremble against him.

He knew he couldn’t really protect her, but he would do his best.

“Ah, my new pet and toy, back with us.” The Wolf smiled at them from across the hall, his voice echoing through it and silencing the many conversations happening around them. Beside him stood three newcomers. The male was clearly an Alpha. Even taller than the Wolf and broad-shouldered, he was completely bald, and his dark brown skin made a startling contrast to the small female standing between him and the other brown-skinned female. The taller of the females met Alek’s gaze. Long braids of hair were swept back from her face, and the way she looked at him sent a shudder down his spine. It was like looking at the Wolf or the other Alpha males.

Alpha female.

Impossible. At least according to the Zones.

Yet there she was. Just like the female who had brought him and Bella in.

The smaller female, standing between the two new Alphas, peeked up to look curiously at him and Bella. She had lighterskin than the other two, and the shape of her eyes and the pitch black of her long, straight hair marked her as either a former resident of Zone Three or one of their descendants. When her and Alek’s gazes met, his cock immediately stirred, and her eyes widened in fascination… the same way Bella was now staring at the Wolf.

Omega.

Sigma.

The words floated through his mind. His reaction to her was so unexpected, he didn’t know what to do, and he missed some kind of conversation. Suddenly, the Alpha female was making her way down to him and Bella. Alek tensed, though the female kept well back from both of them, circling them at a distance of several feet.

“So… Grigori’s son… and Paldon’s daughter.”

Alek’s head jerked down to look at Bella as she froze beside him. Paldon? As in Zone One’s leader? And how did this female know his father? The mysteries grew.

“Do you want to play with one of them, Cora?” The Wolf asked as this Cora leaned forward, her nostrils flaring as she took in his and Bella’s scent.

Rather than answering him, she tilted her head curiously at Alek while Bella huddled in closer to him, letting out a small moan. Just like the Omega’s gaze had made his cock stir, so did the Alpha female’s, yet it was a different feeling than the one the Omega had produced. The head of his cock, rather than the base, was where he felt the reaction now.

Was it the difference between his reaction to an Alpha or an Omega? He didn’t know, and he wasn’t about to ask.

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