Page 1 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

Chapter 1 - Braxton

The Silverdale wolves weren't going to get anything out of Braxton, no matter how long they kept him bound to a chair in the cold, the dark, dank air of the dungeons clotting in his lungs, causing his demon wolf skin to shiver. Though it would likely have thrown a wrench into things for him to let them know it was one of their own who had helped him in his escape attempt, it didn't do him any good, nor did it help the children he was so desperately trying to get back to.

It was them he thought of as he remained silent, his lips constantly pursed no matter who entered his cell to interrogate him next. It had been going on for days now, their constant questions and his continued silence. He didn't doubt that they would turn to violence next. But although they had returned the silver runed cuffs to his wrists to stop him from shifting into demon wolf form, he could still feel the strength and fury of the beast within, and it kept him silent.

But he had to admit that when Dash Silverdale—the pack's alpha—arrived at his cell, he was intrigued. So far, the man had sent all of his grunts, his second, and even a witch or two to interrogate him, none ever laying a finger on him. But when the alpha arrived, he was sure he meant business. He had heard of the violence and ruthlessness of the Silverdale wolves from his father over the years, on how they’d had a direct hand in helping the witches curse his entire pack to the fiery pits of hell, ensuring their destruction and their subsequent rebirth as the demon wolves they were today.

And yet Braxton had yet to see a single ounce of violence, save for the fight the wolves had put up in order to protect their community from Travers’s pack, and the speed and power they had put into bringing him back when he had successfully managed to escape their walls.

"You know why I am here," Dash said in a low, monotone voice as he circled Braxton's chair. He carried on him the scent of lush green grass, oak trees and air. Braxton suspected he had recently been for a run through the woods that surrounded Silverdale's manor house, where the pack lived—the woods he had used as cover in order to escape several days ago, the woods where he had last seen her beautiful face.

No! Braxton wouldn't think of her. He had only to think of his children, to remind himself what these Silverdale wolves would do if they learned that any members of their pack were still outside of their walls, safe from harm. He wouldn't allow himself to think on how she had told him stories of her pack, how they didn't sound any different from his own, how they were one big happy family who lived and loved and cared for each other always.

Braxton didn't bother to answer his captor. He would do exactly as they had all done. He would continue to talk whether Braxton responded or not.

"Tell us how you escaped," Dash instructed, pausing before Braxton to look him dead in the eye. There were those eyes, those cold, ice-blue eyes that were so famed among Silverdale's alpha family. They burned with cold fire that threatened to turn the blood in Braxton's veins to ice. "Tell us who helped you to escape."

Braxton bit back laughter. If only he knew. He would never trust a single member of his pack again. If he were to let this alpha know that a member of his own family had been the one to aid him, the Silverdale pack would likely tear each other apart without him having to raise a single claw. So why did he keep his mouth shut?

Dash shook his head and sighed deeply before beginning his long march around the cell all over again. Several times he ran his fingers through his long, jet-black hair, a look of quiet and frustrated concentration upon his face.

Then, he turned to Braxton, once more stopping before him as he said, "Do you not grow weary of this?"

Braxton pursed his lips. He would not answer a single question, even the simple ones. He would not allow his lips to loosen so.

Dash leaned in with his hands on the arms of the chair, glowering at Braxton as though he would have liked to bash him upside the head.

Instead, he sighed and shook his own. "If you will not talk, then I grow weary of trying to make you," the alpha admitted. He stepped back and rubbed his hands together, looking quite proud of himself as he added, "Instead, I have a proposal. It is time this feud between our families comes to an end. Your father's hatred, and that of his most loyal men, has poisoned the water between our packs for far too long."

Still determined not to speak, Braxton cocked his head to one side and raised one brow.

"This must end one way or another," Dash continued, his blue eyes blazing even in the dim light of the single lantern he had brought with him and hooked onto the brick wall. "I would prefer it not end with more violence. The reign of your father has ended, but that does not mean that you cannot succeed him."

Braxton's lip quivered. He could not hold his tongue for much longer. Though he had always remained loyal to his father, it had cost him everything. His very existence in that cell was down to his father, down to Travers’s plan to overwhelm and take down Silverdale, to take the town and the community for their own pack and finally have vengeance for all that had been bestowed upon them.

Still, he would not betray his pack, not if it meant putting those still outside the walls of Silverdale at risk.

The words that came from Dash's lips next utterly shocked Braxton to his core. "An alliance, a joining of our packs; not merging into one, but a connection none the less."

Braxton's brow rose further. Interest piqued, he struggled to stop from questioning the alpha, who was clearly pleased by his sudden change in silence.

Dash straightened up and cleared his throat before he explained, "What I’m proposing would ensure the safety of my own pack, but also of yours, at least those deemed rehabilitated. Your father and his most trusted would not be among them.”

Braxton bit the inside of his cheek to stop from immediately declining. For so long, he had protected his pack; for so long, he had followed the will of his father and the inner circle.

Closing his eyes for just a moment, he thought of the rest of his pack, he thought of all the women and children and those roped into joining through no fault of their own, those who had been turned against their will and forced into Travers’s army in order to take Silverdale.

For so long Braxton had turned a blind eye to that, and to the abuse of his father, to the things that had caused him to lose everything, but not anymore. He had been locked away in the cold and the dark, in the moisture of that fetid dungeon, far too long. His children needed him now more than ever, and he would do whatever it took to see them safe.

"If we were to work together rather than against each other, just imagine what we might accomplish for both of our packs," Dash continued, but somehow, Braxton couldn't bring himself to be drawn in. He couldn't open his mouth to say a word for fear that he would betray his entire family. "What do you say?"

Braxton and the alpha stared at each other for several long moments before Dash finally released an exasperated sigh. Shaking his head, he turned away and started toward the lantern.

Braxton watched him pick the light up from its hook. He watched it bob in the alpha's hand as he walked to the cell door, preparing to leave.

"Think on what I have said, but know that I shall not leave the proposal on the table forever," Dash warned when he reached the threshold. "One day, this cell door will be locked forever, and you and your pack shall be left to the same fate as your father and his cronies. And it shall be you who is responsible for that fate."

Those words caused Braxton to grit his teeth. It wasn't so much the safety and well-being of those inside Silverdale that concerned him. It was the two children he left with his grandmother in the fiery pits of hell that concerned him most. And if he were to remain rotting beneath the manor of Silverdale, where would they end up?

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