Page 29 of Becoming the Alpha

“I was dragged against my will.”

I glanced at Miss Kitty and raised an eyebrow in a silent question. “I imagine you were, but that doesn’t answer my question,” I asked, after Miss Kitty shrugged. He shuffled his feet, looking exceedingly uncomfortable.

“Miss Kitty dragged me down here.”

“Oh, hush you. You were the one inmykitchen complaining about being kept out of the loop and not knowing how to help. I told you how to help. Now, you’ve helped. Quit your whining.”

“Is that food?”

I turned around to see Nia standing by the cot, looking barely awake and eyeing the box in my hand. I nodded, handing her the box. “Miss Kitty, Shaun, this is Nia. She’s one of the rebels working with Jason.”

“La la la la. You can’t tell me shit like that, Lily!” Shaun threw his hands up to cover his ears and looked furious.

Miss Kitty hit him in the stomach while rolling her eyes again. “You need to stop being such a baby.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Kitty…uh, Shaun, you too, I guess. Thank you for the food. I really appreciate it,” Nia responded, her attention completely on the food in front of her. I shook my head, happy that she was able to eat something before the chaos of tomorrow. I turned back to Miss Kitty, but Shaun caught my eye. He had his hands clenched into fists by his side, his face was pale, and he was staring over my shoulder. Every inch of him was coiled tightly. I tilted my head while watching him. I followed his gaze and realized he was staring at Nia. I shook my head and stepped into his point of view.

“Oh no. We donothave time for that right now.”

“Lily…” Miss Kitty began.

I sighed, rolling my eyes again. “I know, Miss Kitty, but we really don’t have time to deal with this right now.”

“I don’t think you’re going to get a choice.”

I jerked my gaze back to Shaun and his hands had turned into claws. His entire body was vibrating and his eyes were glowing. I raised my hands up slowly. “Shaun, you know I’m not trying to keep you from your mate. I’m just saying we have other priorities, like your mate is locked in a prison cell, in line to get executed tomorrow.”

“Mate?” Nia screeched.

31

Jason

I glanced between Luke and Jake, watching as Luke’s face showed the exhaustion that was pulling at him and Jake’s eyes tightened with frustration. I ran a hand down my face, starting to pace across the little area. “Alright, I’m going to need you guys to explain a bit more because all of this goes against everything I’ve ever been told.”

“What have you been told?” Jake asked. I shake my head, rubbing a hand on the back of my neck. “Apparently, not enough.”

“Let’s start with the basics. You know there are other species of paranormal in the world, right?” Luke said.

I frowned, glancing between the two of them. “What do you mean, other species?”

“Oh, shit…”

I watched Luke cover his mouth with his hand and Jake crossed his arms over his chest. I cleared my throat, avoiding looking in their direction while I tried to get myself - and my wolf - under control. Now that he knew that there were other threats in the world, he was even more upset that we’d left Lily to fend for herself in my father’s dungeon. I took a deep breath, tilting my head back and staring at the ceiling.

“Well, it looks like we’re going to have to go to the very beginning,” Luke sighed, shifting again on the bed. He winced, working his head around in a circle, cracking his neck. I turned to Jake, waiting for him to expand on what they were talking about. He released a sharp breath, his shoulders dropping and his head shaking.

“There are a lot of different species in our world. You obviously know about the wolf shifters, but there are witches, vampires, bears, and a whole lot more that we don’t quite know. Before the Salem Witch Trials, which you learned about in school, we were all working and living together. Once the trials happened, our leaders decided that we would all split and fend for ourselves. The humans found out about the witches and we just cut them off because we didn’t want to deal with the backlash of the humans finding out about us,” Luke responded. I frowned.

“Why haven’t I heard anything about this?”

“I’m assuming your father kept it all from you. The information isn’t widely known,” Jake shrugged.

“How do you know about it?”

“Sam.”

Jake frowned, obviously not happy with how Luke is telling the story, but I didn’t have time to figure out why. “So, she’s a witch. How did you find her?”

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