Page 26 of Becoming the Alpha

Simon’s voice hissed in my ear, his words repeating in an endless loop. Anger coursed through me at the idea that someone thought to keep me away from my mate. I roared again, throwing my body weight to the ground. Simon’s grip slipped as he tried to keep me from pulling him down with me. I pushed away from him and launched toward the forest where I saw Lily being dragged away. Simon lunged at me, snagging my ankle and causing me to drop to the ground hard. I kicked back at him, trying to land a solid kick to his face. Anything that would make him release me so I could get moving.

“Jason! Listen to me! You can’t go after her. Your father arranged this. If he catches you here, he’s going to use this to terminate you both before the challenge,” Simon yelled. I stilled, Simon’s words catching up with me. I turn my head slowly toward him, looking intently at his face to see if he is lying. He releases me, putting his hands up in surrender and stands slowly. I do the same, dusting myself off. My wolf is ready to go tearing through the woods but I force myself to stand completely still and listen to Simon. It feels wrong to do absolutely nothing, but I have a feeling it will be the only smart play here.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your father knows you’ve been working with the rebels for a while now. He has a spy in the group. He sent Royal Guards to break up the meeting and capture anyone they could get their hands on, but he instructed them that theyhadto capture and bring him Lily. He’s going to use her as an excuse to dismiss your challenge and try to kill you both. He isn’t taking the chance of you beating him in the challenge. He’s trying to take you out now,” Simon rushed out. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and tried to think of a way out of this. I knew my father was going to try something like this, but I had no idea how to deal with this. He was more cunning than I gave him credit.

“What do I do?” I mumbled.

Simon sighed, running his hand through his hair while glancing at the Royal Guards who are roaming around us. He lowered his voice a bit. “Look, I know your father is going to put Lily in the dungeons. She’s not going to be hurt - maybe a bit uncomfortable, but there’s not much we can do about that right now. He needs an audience to his accusations because if he did it behind doors, people would question him. You need to disappear until the challenge tomorrow. Your father is going to attempt to stop the challenge from ever happening in any way that he can and that means you can’t be here. Do you have somewhere you can go to stay hidden?”

I frowned, glancing around us. “What does that have to do with anything? All of these guards will tell him I was here at the meeting and that will still give him the ability to kill me.”

Simon shook his head. “We’re going to tell them that you found out Dean was part of the group and tried to capture him when the guards arrived, but he got away. I sent you ahead in order to keep him from getting suspicious. You went after Dean, trying to bring him back to answer for his crimes.”

I blinked, staring up at him. He glanced around, then gripped my arm and pulled me toward the edge of the forest. He hissed at me, shaking me slightly to catch my attention. “Get going, boy. You need to be far away from here before these soldiers decide to try to take you to your father. He’ll kill you without hesitation so get out of here.”

I stumbled into the forest, staring at Simon. His face was completely expressionless, his hands clasped behind his back. I inhaled and took a few more stumbling steps back. Simon turned away, barking out orders to some of the guards who were standing near him. I turned away from the sight and crept away as silently and quickly as I could. I made my way through the trees, avoiding many of the trails that led back to the castle. I had to cross a few of them, avoiding the guards that were on patrol.

I made it halfway through the forest, following the grounds around the castle. I didn’t meet anyone after crossing the main trails. I made it to the back of the castle, slipping in through the servants’ entrance. I made my way down the halls, the servants bowing their heads and stepping out of the way as I passed. I made it to the main hallway and turned back toward the laundry room. There was a doorway on the right hand side of the hallway. I pulled it open and launched myself down the staircase leading to my family’s bunker.

I got to the bunker, then stopped, blinking at what I was seeing. Dean was standing in the middle of the bunker, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. I raised my eyebrows, tilting my head. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Waiting on your fucking ass. Let’s go,” Dean snarled. I frowned at him. “What’s wrong?”

Dean turned on his heel and walked to the back of the bunker, pushing a section of the wall back. My mouth dropped open when I realized that was where the tunnel started. Dean glanced over his shoulder at me, then scowled and stalked through the doorway. I had several seconds before the doorway closed on me where I scrambled through.

The door swung shut and we were plunged into utter darkness. I blinked, trying to get my eyesight to clear up. I reached forward blindly, confused as to why Dean hadn’t turned on a lit or something. “Dean?”

“Use your wolf senses, Jason. Don’t be a fucking idiot,” Dean snapped. I opened my mouth to argue with him, then shut my mouth when I realized I was being stupid. I called my wolf forward and he leant me his eyesight. The tunnel came into view, the height being about a foot taller than I was and the walls scrapped like it was man made. The ground was rough with large rocks scattered around. Dean was stalking down the tunnel, making his way quickly and not bothering to look back at me. I jogged to catch up to him, kicking a few rocks and the noise echoing around us.

“Where is Amara?” I asked. Dean snarled, not bothering to answer and increased his speed. We kept this pace for about a half a mile until I could see the beginnings of a light at the end of the tunnel. Dean broke out into a full sprint and I followed suit. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I knew I wasn’t about to let Dean face whatever was happening alone. We sprinted through the tunnels, the sound of our feet slamming into the dirt echoing around us. A wide opening appeared in front of us and grew as we got closer. I realized there was someone standing in the middle of the opening and prepared myself for a fight.

“Luke!” Dean roared, his voice hitting the walls like a rocket, making me wince with the intensity. I slowed my pace, watching as Dean sprinted up to Luke. I sighed, coming to a stop as I made it closer to the two of them. “Where is Amara?”

Luke looked completely bored. “She’s on her way to our pack lands to be with Laura and the Queen. Will you stop shouting? You’re being overly dramatic and it’s really annoying.”

“Take me to her,” Dean snarled. I snorted, amused at the fact that he was freaking out so much about Amara being away from him.

Luke rolled his eyes before turning on his heel. “Come along.”

28

Lily

The guards dragged me and Nia through the forest, not bothering to slow down when one of us stumbled. We were marched through the castle grounds, through the main gate, into the main hallway, and into the throne room. The King was sitting on the throne, frowning and tapping his hand on the armrest. The guards stopped us a few feet in front of him, bowing.

“You are dismissed,” The King waved his hand and the guards disappeared. I stood there, waiting for him to say or do something. I tilted my head, watching him. A rush of anger ran through me while everything he had done ran through my mind. I frowned at him.

“What do you have to say for yourselves?” The King demanded. I glanced at Nia, raising my eyebrows. She shrugged.

“Uh…nothing?” I responded, turning back to him. He frowned at me, his face starting to grow bright red. He stomped closer, getting right in my face and snarled. I blinked. “Is that supposed to accomplish something?”

“You are accused of consorting with rebels in an attempt to overthrow my reign. You are a traitor to the crown and this pack. What. Do. You. Have. To. Say?”

“...You are correct,” I responded. The King’s face brightened and grew even redder.

“You realize I can put you to death for these crimes?” He asked.

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