Page 27 of Becoming the Alpha

I nodded, waiting for him to continue on with this dramatic show. He turned on his heel, his robes swishing behind him. He paced back and forth, growling under his breath. I glanced at Nia again, whose face was pale and drawn tight. I knew we were both about to be killed by the King and his crazy antics, but there wasn’t much else I could do about it. I wasn’t going to be turned into a scared little girl anymore. I was a wolf now - I had power nobody could take away from me.

“Guards!” The King hollered. The Royal Guards immediately pulled open the doors to the throne room and entered, bowing to the King. He snarled in our direction, waving a hand in dismissal. “Take them to the dungeons.”

The guards gripped my upper arm and pulled me backward, basically dragging me from the throne room. I kept my gaze on The King, keeping eye contact and refusing to back down. He didn’t scare me anymore. “You’re going to get us fucking killed,” Nia hissed at me from between the guards.

“Shut the fuck up. No fucking talking,” The guard holding Nia snapped, jerking her around a little. We were dragged through the hallway, the servants and pack members who were strolling around stopped and stared as we walked past them. We kept our heads held high and our eyes straight forward. The guards marched us down the hallway, past the infirmary and to the doorway on the right, with a gate locked across it.

I sighed, shaking my head, wondering at the irony of standing outside this door. “What is it?” Nia asked under her breath. I glanced at the guards who were busy trying to get the gate unlocked and the door opened, then turned to her. “Nothing. I’ve just been imprisoned in this castle for almost two years now and I’ve always wanted to know what was behind this door. It’s ironic that now I’m going to get a first hand look at what’s in it.”

Nia grimaced. “Sorry.” I shrugged. The guards got the gate and door opened, then hustled us through. We walked down the staircase, my shoulders hitting the walls and getting scrapped by the rough rocks jutting out. I grit my teeth, trying not to cry out. We wound down into the dark underbelly of the castle, following the staircase for several minutes in silence.

When we finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, I gasped at the sight before us. It was a long hallway of metal cages. There were probably ten of them spanning the width of the room, with barely enough room for a person to live, let alone a wolf. My wolf chose that moment to speak up, whining and starting to panic at the fact that she was going to be forced into one of these cages.

The guards walked us to one of the cages in the corner farthest away from the door. We passed by other cages, many of them filled with males who were standing at the edges of the bars. I caught sight of a wolf in one of them, pacing the length of his cage. Nia and I met each other’s eyes, the fear that I was starting to feel mirrored in her face. I could only hope that the guards put us in an empty cage.

We got to the end of the hallway and one of the guards stepped forward to open the cage door. I barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that it was empty before we were shoved in and the door slammed shut behind us. The metal vibrated and echoed as it shook from the force of slamming shut.

I winced as the males in the cages next to us all started howling, shouting, and cursing. Nia’s face looked like it had grown even paler, her hands starting to shake as the adrenaline of the last few hours wore down. I glanced around our home for the time being, realizing there was only one small, worn-down cot. There was a bucket on the other side of the cage, although it looked - and smelled - like its previous occupants had missed using it.

I sighed, grabbing Nia’s hands and guiding her to sit on the cot. I crouched down in front of her, massaging her hands and wrists, waiting until the initial shock wore off. It took her a good ten minutes, but she finally blinked and looked down at me. “Why aren’t you as freaked out as I am?”

I shrugged, standing up and grimacing as my knees popped. I sat next to her on the cot, leaning against the cold metal bars. “I’ve already been captured, enslaved, raped, turned into a wolf shifter, and claimed against my will. I have been dealing with the King himself before his temper tantrum back there. This is actually the least traumatic of everything that’s happened to me recently.”

Nia stared at me in pure awe. I shrugged again, shifting my weight on the cot as I grew uncomfortable under her attention. I was saved from explaining anything else when a large arm wrapped around my neck. Nia jumped up and away from me, backing up with a look of horror on her face.

“You and me are going to have some fun tonight, girl,” A hot breath snarled in my ear. I recoiled, flashes of Callum crossing my mind as my brain slammed into panic mode. Nia didn’t move, not bothering to make any type of move to help me. My wolf slammed into me, kicking the panic away and shoving her anger that another male who wasn’t her mate was daring to touch her. My hands morphed into claws and I reached up, slashing at anything I could touch. The male screeched and pulled his arm away, backing up.

I stood up and turned to look at him, realizing that my claws had torn his forearm, as well as the left side of his face. Blood was flowing freely and he sobbed, holding pieces of his skin from falling off. I smirked, shaking my head. “You’re right. That was fun. Maybe next time you’ll learn not to touch people without permission. If you live long enough for a next time.”

I turned back to Nia, seeing the horror etched into her face. “Like I said, this kind of thing is a bit of a regular occurrence.”

“What are we going to do?” Nia asked, her voice barely loud enough for me to hear. I glanced around then grabbed the cot and pulled it to the other side of the cage, closest to the wall. I pushed Nia onto the cot and turned back to the male in the cage next to us. His healing had kicked in somewhat and he was back to snarling against the bars. I noticed his left eye was pretty much gone and I snorted, my wolf satisfied I had done some lasting damage to him.

I pointed a finger at him. “You behave or we’re going to have a long night together. I promise you won’t have as much fun the next time you get ahold of me.”

The man lowered his arms, still glaring at me. He backed up slowly and lowered himself onto his cot. I nodded and settled onto the ground next to the cot. Nia laid down, her body curled into a tight fetal position. I could hear her sobs start to flow, her entire body shaking as she tried to keep as still and quiet as she could. I sighed, put my hands under my head and closed my eyes, trying to get as much rest as I could.

29

Jason

Dean, Luke, and I arrived at Luke’s pack lands within a few hours. We had shifted into our wolves and ran hard. I didn’t like being away from our pack lands, being away from my mate, but this was my best option in order to defeat my father. My wolf and I agreed on one thing - we needed to do anything we could to strip him of his power. He had ruined enough lives.

As soon as we got within a few hundred yards of Luke’s pack lands, I could see the welcoming party waiting for us. Laura, Amara, and my mother were all standing there, looking incredibly anxious. Dean let loose a joyous howl and took off sprinting. He made it to the pack land edge before he bounced back with a yelp. I put on a burst of speed, racing toward him. I got closer and glanced over him, checking for any injuries. It looked like he was relatively intact. He stood up, shaking his head and then shifted back into his human form. I followed suit.

“You can’t get through unless Luke is with you,” Laura smirked. We were only about ten feet from her, but when I reached my hand out, there was a clear line that prevented me from entering. I frowned, glancing back at Luke who was sauntering up at a slower pace.

“What is this?” I asked. His wolf just looked at me then huffed. He shifted and then took a step in front of us, putting his hands up. There was a brush of wind that went past us and a cold front hit me. I shivered, my entire body rebelling from the sudden feeling of something skittering across my soul. I glanced at Dean, who was having a similar reaction.

“Luke…”

He didn’t respond, simply waved us forward. Dean didn’t hesitate, immediately moving toward Amara. This time, he was able to reach her. I could hear him asking if she was okay and her brushing him off. I took a few cautious steps of my own until I reached Laura’s side. She was smirking at me, looking pleased to know something I didn’t. Luke wasn’t paying any attention to us, his hands raised again and the cold breeze was back.

When he had finished, he dropped his hands and turned around, glancing at me with a pale, but grim look on his face. “What is going on?”

“Jason, you need to be patient. I don’t have enough energy for this right now,” Luke said, running a hand down his face and then stumbling as he walked past me. I glanced at Laura, gave my mother a quick hug, and then walked quickly to Luke’s side, grabbing an elbow to keep him upright. Jake came jogging up to us, his face grim when he took in Luke’s condition. He wrapped his arm around Luke’s waist and led us further into the pack lands.

I got a few glimpses of log cabins built in several areas around us before we stepped into a clearing that opened onto an entire town, complete with their own streets and buildings. I stopped, my mouth gaping open. Jake glanced around Luke to see why we had stopped. “I’ll give you the grand tour later. Right now, we need to get Luke to the Alpha house before he collapses. It won’t do to have the pack see him in this state with you near him.”

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