Page 45 of Alpha Scorned

“Momma?”

My heart lurched at my son's little voice. He regarded me solemnly. I swallowed, not sure I wanted to hear what he had to say. “Hey, Dev.” I scooped him into my arms and held him close. My anxiety settled a little when he didn’t say anything, just hugged me back. Becca gently pried us apart. “Come on, Devon, let Momma go, she’s going to meet Owen.”

Devon looked me in the eye, his own flaring with red for a moment. “I know, Momma is strong and brave, just like O-wen.”

The ache in my throat was almost unbearable, and I knew I needed to leave right then or I’d change my mind. Devon’s hair tickled my lips and nose as I dropped a kiss on his head. “See you soon, baby boy.”

The night wasn’t cold,but it also wasn’t balmy like it had been recently. The temperature didn’t matter though, I was sweating enough under my leather jacket to make my clothes stick to me. I blew out a breath and shucked it off my shoulders, tying it around my waist. I took a swallow of water and set off again on a fast walk. I didn’t want to run while it was dark, not even with the moon lighting my way. A broken limb out here would not be fun. I’d been travelling for about three hours, and had another two to go until I reached the hut. I was breathing hard, but I wasn’t as tired as I’d feared I’d be. Since the prison, I’d kept in shape with Becca. We often ran and sparred, determined not to let ourselves be weak ever again.

Keeping at a manageable pace, another hour passed. I kept going until in the distance, I heard a wolf howl. It’s mournful voice sent shivers down my spine. It wasn’t likely to be a wild wolf, the presence of our pack out here dissuaded them from entering our territory. I’d not heard Owen’s wolf howl and wondered if it could be him. Could he sense me? Part of me hoped he could, part of me shuddered at the thought of how angry my mate would be that I’d defied his orders, or ratherrequests, to stay home with my doors locked. I smiled. He was a damned powerful alpha, not to mention my pack Alpha, but as my mate he couldn’t dictate my actions. Free will between mates was something the Mother Wolf had clearly wanted; a pity she hadn’t thought about the rest of her race...

Another howl, closer this time, made me freeze. Something about it spoke of pain and anger. With my heart banging against my ribs, I began to run.

When I was close enough to see the guard hut between the trees, I made myself stop. My legs and hands shook from the adrenaline surging in my body, so I took a few deep breaths to try and shake it off before I peered at the shadows surrounding the hut.

Shit. Shit. Shit!

Men in dark clothes stood over the naked figure of a man on the ground. Dread filled my chest. Inhaling, Owen’s deep ocean scent hit me. Anger and fear almost sent me barrelling in to save him. It took everything I had to remain where I was. Owen was on his side, facing me, with darts sticking out of his shoulders and thighs. Fuck, they’d used sedatives to take my mate down. I unclipped my knife, but an overwhelming sense of uselessness invaded me. Becca had been right, I needed firepower, not a damned knife. There were too many of them. Panic gripped my heart. I had to think of something. I wasn’t going to leave my mate in their hands, to be tortured like Shane. I dropped my jacket on the ground, thankful I’d had the foresight to wear dark clothes. Dawn was just staining the sky so I could use the shadows to my advantage.

Lights and noise erupted around me. I froze, dropping to my belly on the ground.

“Get that cage over here!” a voice yelled. “We need him alive for now. Killing him has to be a big fucking production. One the King will never forget.”

The King? Connor? Devon’s words came back to me and ice spread through my veins. I shivered. They had staged this whole thing. Taking Shane had been to get Owen here—so that they could kill him. A trickle of sweat ran down my temple. I wouldn’t let them do this.

“He’ll never fall for this, you stupid fuckers,” Owen growled out.

My breath caught. He was alive, and awake. Even all of those tranqs couldn’t keep him down. Cautiously, I lifted my head.

“Yeah? Well, you’ll never know cause you’ll be dead.” The guy looked at his watch, the screen illuminated by small lights. “And in about three hours, so will everyone else in that town of dirty fucking dogs.”

My heart lurched. They were going to attack the town? No. How the hell would I get back in time to save my son and my friend? I quickly scanned the clearing for any kind of vehicle. Near Owen was a quad bike. I almost cried with relief. But attached to it was a cage on wheels. Shit! They were planning on taking him somewhere else. If I attacked them and lost, my son would likely die. But if I left now, Owen would die. My heart was tearing in two, but I had to make a choice.

Owen’s head rose, and I knew the moment he scented me. He roared. Two of the figures nearby kicked him hard, trying to keep him down as he staggered to his feet. He caught both of their legs, one in each hand and flipped them backwards, launching himself towards me.

“Shit! Stop him!” yelled someone.

There was no more time to decide. I pulled my knife, jumped to my feet and launched myself forward.

Owen swivelled towards me, his body magnificent in the moonlight. A man to his left raised a gun and aimed at me. “No!” Owen bellowed, leaping towards him and knocking the gun upwards. Something whizzed past my head. My feet pounded over the debris of the forest floor right towards another man who pointed a gun in Owen’s direction. I threw myself at him and stabbed his belly, but he just laughed and grabbed at my throat.

“You can’t kill our kind like that, you stupid shifter whore.” He snarled in my face, his teeth lengthening. “It’s alright!” he yelled at his brethren. “It’s only a stupid female. Fuck knows why, but she’s on her own. I’ve been following her since she got close enough to us to scent her. You deal with him. I’ve got her.” And he dragged me away from Owen, who raged and fought, even as they shot more darts into him.

Fear was a familiar feeling to me, and whereas in the past I’d frozen, this time it gave me focus and strength. My fingers fumbled, but I managed to close them around the penknife I had in my jeans pocket. I saw stars as my attacker squeezed my neck and tilted my head ready to rip my throat out with the huge fangs that grew from his mouth. His eyes burned a deep blood red, just like Devon had described. I half sobbed. My son was right, theseweremonsters, vampires of some kind.

My fingers were slippery with sweat, but I focused and pulled open the knife blade with my other hand. Without hesitation I drove it upwards, angling it through the vampire’s ribs and directly into his heart. His eyes widened in surprise. He pitched forward and his teeth grazed my skin but he couldn’t get purchase, not when it was now my hand aroundhisthroat. I gripped my fingers in a claw against his windpipe. Fuck knew if he needed to breathe, but that wasn’t my objective, keeping his teeth from my neck was. Over and over I pulled my other hand back and stabbed him until his grip fell from my throat and he collapsed to the ground.

Owen was still fighting four men near the entrance to the guard hut. None of them noticed their comrade had fallen. They clearly didn’t expect me to fight back, or beat him.

Owen staggered and fell to one knee, his eyes widening.“Run,”he mouthed.

I scowled. No way was I running. I leaned down and retrieved my hunting knife, then grabbed the gun from the holster on my attacker’s belt. Relief shot through me when I realised it wasn’t a tranq gun.

Before I could shoot it, a barrage of bullets hit the ground next to me. I dove behind the nearest tree and, on my belly, crawled to the next one. Exhaling steadily, I took aim and shot at the shadows near the hut, the sound echoing through the forest.

There was a thud as a body hit the ground. “Thank you,” I breathed to Shane, who’d been my firearms instructor. The thud was enough to make the rest of Owen’s opponents pause. I immediately shot two more of them. No way was I giving them a chance to launch themselves at me. I’d heard from Ember how fast vampires could move. Not all of them could use super speed, but the most powerful could, and I wasn’t going to wait and find out if these bastards were that kind.

Owen punched the vampire nearest to him in the stomach before gripping the man’s head and breaking his neck, before ripping it from his shoulders. I doubted even vampires couldn’t survive decapitation. Without hesitation, I loosed another round into the chest of the remaining one.

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