Page 44 of Ruthless Alpha
My body seized with fear, but I refused to be cowed by his presence. If I could survive months on Ensign, I could deal with Stanley. Now that I’d spent some time among real fighters, I could see him for what he was: a small man with no power.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” I told him coolly.
Stanley smiled back at me, showing all his browning teeth.
“We might not be allowed to trade on Ferris anymore, but there are no rules against walking over their land,” he said. “I’m just on a little trip to Tritica.”
I’d never made the journey myself, but from the maps of the archipelago I’d seen, crossing Ferris was not the most efficient path from Arbor to Tritica.
“Go on, then,” I said, but he made no move to leave, only leaned back against a tree, looking me up and down.
“Well, now I’m curious,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I sold you to the Alpha ofEnsign,not Ferris. He gets bored with you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“C’mon, Rosie. Don’t hold out on me. Phil saw the pair of you crossing over Argent a couple of days ago. Said the Alpha crossed back alone.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does it matter to you?” I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the path I had come down. If I were fast, I might be able to make it back to town first. He might be taller than me, and a male, but I’d heard him wheezing up the stairs every night for ten years.
“Your cousin’s mated,” he said. It wasn’t what I’d expected, but I didn’t let it take me off guard. I took a step back.
“Good for her.”
“Whatever,” Stanley shrugged. “It’s just your aunt and me now, and she can’t cook for shit.” It had been a common complaint in the house until I was old enough to start doing the cooking. I never figured out if my aunt was grateful for the peace a good meal brought or resentful that I escaped the vitriol she’d endured.
I took another step back as he continued,
“So I was thinking that if your Alpha doesn’t want you anymore, well…”
My stomach turned over, my heart pounding against my ribs.
“I think you should leave. I’m expected back in town,” I told him, praying that if I acted like I was important to people here, he might think twice about whatever he was about to do.
It didn’t work. Stanley’s face screwed up in disgust.
“Oh, she got uppity in the Alpha’s house,” he spat. “You too good for us now?”
“I was always too good for you,” I blurted before I could stop myself. For a second, it felt incredible—it felttrue—until I realized what a mistake I’d made.
“Ungrateful bitch,” he snarled, lurching forward as I turned to run. I called my wolf, but before I could shift, his hand was in my hair, and I was being dragged backward. I filled my lungs, trying to scream, but then he tugged me hard, and there was a flash of pain at my temple, and everything went black.
When I regained consciousness, the world was hazy. I recognized my surroundings, but it didn’t make sense for me to be there. I knew the scent of the thin pillow beneath my head and the color of the ratty blanket that covered me, but it was allwrong. I was supposed to be on Ensign—no, I was supposed to be onFerris—but this was the cabin I knew from my adolescence.
I’d left Arbor, hadn’t I? Or was that all a dream? Had I never been sold off by my uncle at all, never met Xander, or fallen in love with him? Did he even exist at all?
I winced as I sat up, my head throbbing. When I raised my hand to touch the tender spot on the side of my head, I felt blood crusted into my hair, and it all came rushing back to me. The woods. My uncle. My heart sank.
I bolted upright, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, but as I tried to rise, the world blurred and spun, and my legs went out from beneath me. I crumpled to the ground, flinging my hands out just in time to stop myself getting a fresh head wound on the corner of the dresser.
I stayed down for a few minutes, breathing carefully and evenly while the room stopped spinning. This time, I pulled myself up slowly, giving my body time to adjust to the change. I was a little woozy, but I stayed standing, and then I reached for the door.
I pulled the handle. Nothing.
I tried again.
Again.
