Page 116 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
BRYN
Ibraced myself for another session of Troy’s tantrums, but the person I saw walking down the steps was…Dom! My heartbeat quickened as he reached the landing. If Dom was here, that meant Night couldn’t be far away.
He cursed, seeing the state I was in, and crossed the room in just a few quick steps. “Hold still,” he whispered, undoing the straps that kept the muzzle on my face. He removed it in just a few seconds, throwing it across the room like it was a venomous snake.
“Dom, it’s so good to see you,” I said, tears immediately filling my eyes.
“It’s good to see you, too.” He gently touched my chin, and I nearly let those tears fall. It was the first time in so long that I’d been touched in a way that wasn’t meant to hurt me. “Where’s Tavi?”
I inclined my head to the door on my right. “They took her into the room behind that door. We’ve been separated for days.”
Dom stared at the door like it held the path to his future, but he stayed with me. I wasn’t sure what was keeping him here when he so obviously wanted to look for Tavi until it hit me. I was his Alpha’s mate. He’d probably assured Night that I would be his priority. I would have laughed if I had the energy to do it.
“Go get Tavi,” I said.
His eyes, glowing amber in the darkness, flashed to mine. In them, I saw uncertainty. A question. Upstairs, I heard other people walking around. Given the quiet, gentle nature of their steps, I assumed they were more Wargs. That made me even more sure that I’d be okay while he went for Tavi.
I nodded, smiling with as much warmth as I could muster. “The others will help me out of here. Just go and get your girl.”
He seemed surprised at first that I had seen through his worry, but then he shook his head with a chuckle. “Yeah, okay. I’ll get her.” Before he left, he stood to his feet and gave a sharp whistle. Four Wargs immediately came down the steps. “Frankie, I want you and two more to help Bryn out,” he said. “The rest I want with me.”
The group nodded before separating. I closed my eyes as the three crouched around me. A couple of them had brought garrotes to get through the chains. They held my limbs still as they ran the metal back and forth rapidly over the cuffs. With their shifter’s quickness, I was free—finally, gloriously free!—in just a few short minutes. They tried to help me to my feet, but I was so weak, I needed to lean against one of them for support.
“I don’t suppose any of you brought a portable shower with you, too?” I asked.
They laughed. “We brought everything but that, it seems,” one of them responded, the female wolf whom Dom had called Frankie. “But don’t worry, we’ll get you out of here safe and sound, Bryn.”
“I know you will. Thank you.”
They took me upstairs, and out the front door. The first taste of night wind after a week of dampness and stagnant air was so sweet that I, again, almost cried. I was finally free, and I felt so much safer, even though I was still on Kings pack lands. Against the side of the cabin was a pile of Kings wolves lying still. I avoided looking at them too long, unsure how I felt about their deaths.
I glanced behind me to get a better look at the cabin, and realized that I’d seen it before, though I’d never been inside it. It was on the outskirts of the Kings’ territory and had once been the cabin that the Elders lived in. Now, its white paint had faded and weathered with age, and the building lacked upkeep.
The wolves helped me to a rock, at which point a man with ash-blond hair that grayed at the temples, a kind smile, and a lithe, muscular frame approached me. “I’m Dr. Damon Stan,” he said, crouching in front of me. “I don’t think we’ve ever formally met.”
“No, not formally.” I tried to smile at him. “It’s a relief to see you, doctor.”
“Call me Dr. Stan, or Doc. Now, I imagine you’d much rather me treat you than exchange pleasantries. Where is your pain at its worst?”
“My neck.”
He reached in the satchel he brought with him and pulled on a pair of gloves. He then gently positioned my head to the side sohe could see it. He clicked his tongue, and then reached into his satchel again.
“That’s an Alpha wound,” he said. “It’ll take a long time to heal, but it’ll heal a hell of a lot faster when Night claims you.”
I blushed. “Y-you know that he hasn’t?”
He nodded, not at all perturbed that we were talking about such intimate matters. He was entirely focused on my wound as he dressed me with bandages and cleaning wipes. “He told me himself.”
“Did he say why he waited so long?”
He chuckled. “I think that’s a conversation you’ll want to have with him yourself.”
I perked up. “So, he’s somewhere nearby then? Where is he?”
“Ah, well, he’s working as a distraction so we can get you and Tavi out.”
That response was frustratingly vague, but it was enough that I could start putting together the missing pieces myself. “Wait, are you saying that he’s fighting Troy right now?” My relief at being rescued paled in comparison to the dread and worry I felt for Night. “No! Troy wants to fight him while he’s weak, so he’ll have a better chance at killing him. We need to get Night away from him right now.”
