Page 43 of Alpha's Revenge Luna
“I’m sure, you’re useful at something, even if it’s helping with the children, or being the voice of wisdom.These women trust you, that much is certain.You don’t fear death, or you wouldn’t have stepped forward to speak for them.”
She chuckles.“Hard to fear death, Alpha, when it has been knocking at my door for the past few years,” she laughs softly.
I smile.She seems like a tough old cookie, and she must be being her age and still rogue.She is easy pickings and usually the older ones, the slower ones, are picked off first.The fact she is here with the younger ones proves she’s a survivor.And one thing about survivors, they’ll outlast all of us when push comes to shove.They’ll fight with everything they are because all they got left is themselves.
The group heads toward the pack house.I know exactly what it is like to be that desperate.The council have always been cruel, but this is a new low.Taking the men, leaving the women and children to fend for themselves.It’s not a surprise they’rebeing hunted out here, although it is a surprise none of the packs nearby helped, and they were forced to come to us for help.
Kyrio stands beside me, his eyes locked on the group as they disappear inside.“What do we do now?”he asks quietly.
“We help them,” I reply firmly.“We’ll provide them shelter and food until we figure out where the men went.”
“And if we can’t find them?”
“We take them in permanently; they seem willing to join a pack.”
“Yes, I thought that odd too; most don’t ask since that means having to hand over the information of their pasts.”
“How bad can their pasts be?”I ask him.
“Maybe it’s not theirs they are worried about.The men are gone, but why would the council take them?”
“Indeed, that’s something we’ll have to find out, but for now, we need to get them settled in,” I tell him.
Kyrio nods in agreement, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.“You’ve got a good heart,” he tells me.
“This isn’t about having a good heart.It’s about doing what’s right.We all know what it’s like to be helpless and to have everyone turn their backs on us.”I shrug off his hand and turn to face him.
Something about those women and children tugs at my heartstrings in a way I can’t explain.Maybe it’s because of what my mother did to me that has me wanting to help them so their children aren’t abandoned like I was.
Chapter 12
Dion has only been gone for about half an hour when Ihear the door unlock.My heart skips a beat as I listen to the key slide into the lock.I glance at my ankle nervously, where the cuff has dug in and is now bleeding from my attempts to remove it.Panic claws its way through me at what his reaction will be, what he’ll do.I could sense that he was angry when he left and on the verge of snapping.
Only when the door is shoved open, I find it is not Dion but Tara.She sticks her head in, hesitantly, and lets out a loud exhalation as if she is relieved to find me here.Where exactly did she think I would go with a handcuff holding my ankle to the bed?She steps in the room, shutting the door behind her before rushing to the closet as if she knows this room well.
She returns with some track pants and a hoodie, dropping them on the bed beside me then retrieving a key from her pocket.She moves to grab my ankle before gasping and covering her mouth in shock.“Emery?”she breathes, taking in the state of my ankle.
Ignoring her words, I ask.“Where is Dion?”I nervously glance at the door.
“Helping the others, he sent me to get you.”
“Something happened with the pack?”I ask her and she shakes her head.“No, you’ll see when we get down there but for now, we need all the help and he’ll be awhile.Alpha didn’t want you locked up here by yourself,” she tells me while undoing the handcuff on my ankle.I rub the raw flesh, my fingers sticky from the blood.She rushes into the bathroom, returning with a wet cloth.“Put the hoodie on,” she tells me, and I do while she washes my ankle.
“You really shouldn’t keep provoking him like this, he is a good Alpha, but when provoked he can be a monster,” she states.
“Well, I am still waiting for the good parts of him to show,” I deadpan, pulling the hoodie over my head.I pull my hair through.
“That is not true, he’d be good to you if you would stop pushing his buttons.He lost his mate and son.He could have killed you but didn’t, despite your father being responsible for their deaths.Dion doesn’t need a mate, you need to remember that,” she tells me, and I chew my lip, feeling like I am being scolded.
“My father didn’t kill them.Rogues did,” I remind her.
She sighs heavily.“I’ve bitten my tongue, but you have no idea who your father is.If you did, you’d be petrified of everyone here for what he’s done to them.Dion is not the enemy, and luckily for you, we don’t hold you at fault for your father’s crimes.Luckily for you, you’re also Dion’s mate.”Confusion washes over me, but I can tell she won’t say anything else.And it makes me wonder why.
“Mates were supposed to be a myth,” I tell her.
“They are, what you and Dion have is rare.”
“You have a mate,” I tell her, and she shakes her head.
