Page 103 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
Troy growled, gripping a handful of my hair and yanking me close. He snarled into my face, “A bitch like you will never get Night’s mark. You will bear mine.”
All my courage left with those words. “N-no! You can’t!”
But it was too late. His teeth had already sharpened into wolf’s fangs. He forced my head to the side until my joints cracked with pain and sank his teeth roughly into my throat.
My scream echoed through the caves. It felt like Troy was injecting venom straight into my veins, emulsifying my blood and guts together in one terrible mash. Itburned. I couldn’t push him off. And then I felt Troy’s wolf reaching out to mine. My screams became shrieks as his wolf drew closer.
But my wolf was having fucking none of this. The moment his wolf neared, she turned on him, her own fangs bared. My wolf fought his off, using every bit of strength we had to beat him back until we formed a barrier between us so thick, nothing could penetrate it.
Finally, Troy violently pushed himself away from me, his anger and frustration reaching its peak. I fell back against the cave wall, relieved that his attempt to mark me hadn’t worked, even as what remained of my strength drained from my body and sank into the ground. I’d heard stories from Mom about Alphas from the old days, before there were rules in place for how they should behave. They could force a mating claim onto a female wolf without the need for sex or consent.
Those stories had always disturbed me. The fact that an Alpha would be able to steal another wolf’s mate from him by biting her first and forcing a claiming bond on her just seemed like the ultimate violation to both the wolves involved and to thegreater pack. How could a pack trust an Alpha who felt he could take whatever andwhoeverhe wanted at a moment’s notice? I was glad that the behavior was forbidden now, but that hadn’t stopped Troy.
I had been human when I heard those stories. Now, I knew that my wolf was strong enough to resist such a thing.Thank every pack mother.
But my relief was short-lived. As Troy paced back and forth like a caged animal, my blood gushed in worrying rivulets down my chest and back. It soaked into my shirt, and I wasn’t breathing so much as gulping for air. I knew somehow that I wasn’t dying, even though he had bitten me like he did Violet. Flashes of intense, burning pain throbbed through my body from my neck, but I was conscious, I was breathing. Still, something was wrong with me. His bite—it had put something inside me, something that didn’t belong.
“Why?” Troy whirled on me, his hands already forming into tight fists. “Why aren’t I good enough for you, bitch?Why?”
He fell on me with kicks and punches. Nowhere on my body was safe—head, stomach, and legs were all fair game. His beating was so severe that my body started to go numb until eventually, I was only dimly aware of the blows. But the ache in my neck persisted through the numbness. I could make out Troy’s voice as he yelled at me.
“Bitch! You bitch! I’ll fuckingdestroyNight Shepherd!” And then, a bit later, I heard, “I’ll tear your whore of a friend into pieces. I’ll send the pieces to Night, and then I’ll kill him in front of you and make you my fucking slave!”
The things he was saying were too awful, so I turned inward, retreating to my subconscious where I could rest. As I lay there, curled in on myself, I felt another presence and a sensation, something like a wet nose pressing into my arm. My wolf. She and I held each other tight in the relative safety of my own mind, waiting for Troy to finally run out of steam and leave.
42
BRYN
Hours later, I woke up in pain so complete that I couldn’t so much as breathe without sending pangs of agony pulsing through my bones. My clothes were plastered to my skin with a mixture of old sweat and sticky, drying blood.
I opened my eyes once, only to quickly squeeze them shut again. It was dark in the cave, but staring into that blackness made my head pound. I whimpered in the dark quiet and waited until the pounding ache was more manageable.
Eventually, I opened my eyes a second time, and I immediately caught sight of Tavi sitting against the wall across from me. Excitement and relief at seeing my friend alive was quickly tempered by the fact that Tavi’s face was swollen, and her left eye was bruised black. Her arms were covered in scratches and the imprints of fingers. I could only guess at the full extent of Tavi’s injuries, hidden as they were beneath her clothes.
“T-Tavi,” I called.
My rough voice made her flinch, but she relaxed when she realized it was me. “Oh, Bryn, you’re alive?” A tear slippedfrom her good eye before she turned and wiped it away with her shoulder. “There was so much blood, I thought you were…I mean, I couldn’t be sure. I called your name, but you didn’t react, and I thought Troy might’ve...” She let that sentence trail off, unable to complete the thought. Her gaze was haunted and distant even in the darkness.
“I’m sorry I scared you, Tavi. And I’m sorry that Harlon and Samson hurt you.” Now that I’d started apologizing again, the tears came back in full force. “I’m sorry, Tavi. I’m so, so sorry. I never imagined that any of this would happen. Troy told me that he’s doing all of this to hurt Night and me. Younevershould have been involved in this at all.”
If I hadn’t gone to Violet’s cabin to talk about my insecurities about Night, if I’d just stayed with Night and talked it out with him, would any of this have happened? Would Troy have left Violet, Tavi, and Pax alone to deal with Night and me directly? Maybe Night would have had enough time to claim me, and Troy’s hope of weakening him would have been crushed before he touched me. And Night would have had him handled.
“Bryn, don’t do this to yourself,” Tavi’s voice pulled me from those spiralingcould-have-been’s. “I can see you trying to blame yourself, but you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“But—"
She shook her head. Her hair, once beautiful and flowing, had grown stiff with dust and blood. “It’s not your fault, Bryn. It’s not. You shouldn’t have even an ounce of guilt about what we’re going through.”
“I’m sorry.” I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears from flowing. The salt stung as they passed over the scratches on myface and soaked into my hair. Why did every part of me have to hurt so much?
Tavi took a few deep breaths and straightened her spine, though it looked like it hurt. It was as if she was gathering herself up, hardening again. “You have nothing to apologize for.” Her voice was stronger now. “How are you doing?”
“To be honest, I don’t know.” I sniffled. “Everything hurts, b-but my neck is the worst of it.” The ache was terrible, though that side of my body had started to go numb. Thewrongnessof it was the worst part. The other aches and scratches would heal with time, but this wound felt like it might never go away.
“Can I see?” Tavi asked. “If you can turn your head a bit…”
I turned my head to show her the wound.
