Page 62 of Alpha Exile

He's older suddenly, old enough to take a mate, wise enough to know it'll be her doom. It takes weeks, but he finds a witch who will accept payment in exchange for severing the nascent bond. It feels like having his chest cut open with a hot knife, but afterwards he's relieved. Something about the bond didn't feel right, anyway.

Once again he's young, standing outside the Mating Circle, watching as a teenage Kieran shouts at a teenage me. "I reject you!" I turn and run, my skinny shoulders shaking with grief. Something stirs within Roarke, heavy and full of desire. He doesn't go to me; he feels his alpha's stern glance, and goes to his best friend instead, trying to understand.

It's a moment he'll think of when I come back to turn, and he sees me in a parking lot, my hair a bright maroon that reflects the sun, my body no longer so skinny. The desire that blooms inside him is white-hot and hungry. That evening, he goes to sleep with his hand cupping his arousal, and wakes up to damp sheets tangled around his legs, his body as horny as a teenage boy’s.

I fight through all these memories, holding them in my heart and aching for them. The air around my legs seems to thicken; more and more winds batter at me, and my shield of fire dissolves into nothing. Gritting my teeth, I fight towards the center of the storm, my sword slicing through the angry spirit around me.

Then I'm in the midst of it all, and a dark presence stretches above me, its eyes glowing red and vengeful.

I ready my sword and press my heels into the ground.

Inhaling sharply, I prepare to attack—

And I'm thrown out of the storm all at once. Thrown back, body arching in the air, mind scrabbling, chest burning, as the real world crashes around me.

Then I'm back on the forest floor, dead leaves, pine needles, and sticks digging into my bare ass. My vision swims, then clears, a sharp pain stretching from my breastbone to my abdomen. I focus my eyes in front of me and immediately snarl in anger.

Delphine is standing over Roarke's prone form, a smirk on her pale white face, her hands held up in front of her, magic twining her fingers. My chest still aches from the spell she used—a spell that threw me and all four of my mates through the air in different directions, leaving Roarke's body unguarded and his mind up for the grabs.

As I get to my feet, I reach my awareness out and try for Roarke's mind again, but it's like slamming against a brick wall. I won't be able to get back in there as long as Delphine has her noose tight around him. So I reach for my mates instead, finding them bruised, irritated, and each thrown a hundred feet or more away from the battle—but still alive and capable of fighting.

Which is a good thing, because feral vampires are popping into the air around Delphine, appearing from clouds of black smoke. They're fully monstrous creatures now, their minds completely gone, their bodies hollowed-out shells, skin grey and hair hanging in thin clumps. Howling in hunger, they stretch forward onto all fours and run at us with their jaws stretched wide and white fangs gleaming.

"The dagger!" Bastian's shout of alarm brings me back to myself. My hand goes to my hip, only to close on bare skin—groaning, I remember Roarke's ripping motion with a splash of embarrassment.

The shorts lie somewhere on the forest floor, near the tree we had sex against. Scrambling, I run in that direction, eyes darting up then down for a sign of it.

Behind me, my mates attack the ferals, holding them off and tearing at their flesh, which heals itself in record time. I'll have to help them—but first, I want to make sure I'm prepared to kill the bitch before I have to face her.

There.I spot the tree trunk first, its bark scored with claw marks that Roarke must have left in the surface as he pressed me up against it, his raw desire pulsing out of him. The shorts are in a heap on the ground nearby. I tug them onto my waist, snap the hip belt closed around the torn fabric, and swiftly draw the dagger from its sheath.

Its weight is a comfort in my hand. What's not a comfort? The sight of Delphine prowling away from us, a smug smile on her face, Roarke following tightly at her heel. Whatever she's done to him, I get the sense that she's not finished—and once she is, I don't think any of his original soul will be left.

Which is why I won't be giving her that chance. Rushing towards the battle, I let all the fire power within me pour into my chest and spark across my skin. Flames leap into the air, eager to find a target.

The feral vamps are going after my mates, sinking their dirty fangs into fur and hide, so I start there. Prowling towards the battle, I call out, "Give me a clear target!"

Finn hears me first and twists away from the two vampires he's fighting. I throw my fireball at them, loosing it at the vampire on the left. Its flames scorch through the howling, twisting vamp, hungry for more—so I twitch my fingers and sending it spiraling to the right, towards the second vampire.

The wrathful flames eat both vamps alive, turning them to ash and dust. A smile spreads across my face, and I keep prowling forward, eyes landing on a tangled knot. Three vampires are attacking Kieran, harrying him from the rear, right, and the left.

He can't give me a clear target, so I make a small and powerful ball of flames. This time I throw it and curve it around, blasting through the chest of the first vamp, then the second, then the third, each of them falling to piles of dust a moment later.

Kieran swings his hand in my direction.Wow. That was fucking awesome. I didn't know you could do that.

"Neither did I."

I make short work of the rest of the vampires. Now that I know I can control the fireballs once I've released them—now that I'm full of so much powerful rage that the fires feel like an extension of my body—I tear through them. Sending balls of flame out, I spin them in every direction and whip them through the feral bloodsuckers until every single one is gone.

Leaving only Delphine behind. Her dark hair twines in the wind, Roarke at her heel. She's moving faster now, gathering black clouds of magic beneath her. Glancing over her shoulder, she blanches, seeing that her army is gone. Her fingers deftly weave more and more magic together—magic that I fear she's going to use to whisk Roarke away.

I'll be damned if she'll succeed.

I bring my palms together, Gregor's dagger held loosely in my right hand, and gather a storm of flames between them. My mates race towards Delphine and Roarke on fast paws as I pour magic out of my skin and turn it into powerful fire. Digging my eyes into Delphine's back, I stretch the fire out into a massive ball of flames, then send it arcing out towards her.

It hits her back and burns through her tattered dress, turning it to a mess of skirts around her heels.

Then the fire floats around her ankles, reaching for her skin, looking for something to burn. Delphine laughs, her back to me, her head tilting back as delighted laughter leaves her mouth.

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