Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
The second the baby was out, I sunk my teeth into Ryleigh’s neck. I had intended to go for her wrist, but her neck was closer to her heart, and I needed to get the toxin through her body fast.
She was losing a lot of blood. I could see it, smell it, and feel it in the weakening of her body.
Her body sagged against the bed as she shook. Galen wrapped the baby in cloth, handing it to Pearl, who worked away on it. My toxin pushed through Ryleigh, and I kept it moving right down to where she was broken, working it through every injury.
But I felt when it was too much. She needed more than her body could accept. The bone would heal, but the blood loss would lose her.
So I kept my toxin pushing through her until the transition started.
Then it took on a life of its own, repairing its host, building the foundations for her wolf, and fixing the extra soul to hers. Her pale skin pigmented again, and Vaughn gasped as Ryleigh blinked fast. Her eyes–that were already blue–became brighter.
“She’s–“
“Transitioning,” I finished his sentence, and his lips closed.
And then the baby finally cried, and I let out a sigh of relief. Pearl smiled through her tears as Galen moved to check Ryleigh. Vaughn held his arms out for his daughter.
“She’s beautiful,” he breathed, leaning down to show Ryleigh, who gave him a tight smile. She would be in pain, her bones shifting beneath her skin, growing stronger, but she did well to hide it.
“She’s healing. She’ll survive,” Galen said, nodding to me, and I nodded back. He placed the cover over Ryleigh, then stood.
“You’re okay?” he asked Ryleigh, and she nodded stiffly, but her grip on the blankets said something else.
I could already feel her in the pack link, and that alone had me raising a brow at her. Her transition was moving fast. She was going to be strong. She felt me in her head and turned to me with a frown.
“I’m–I feel human, but I–“
“You can feel us in your blood,” I guessed.
She nodded.
“I don’t have to turn?” she asked, and I shook my head.
“You can’t yet. It’s winter. But you will the second that moon is full. It will be painful after waiting for the first transition for so long, but we’ll look after you, Ryleigh. We won’t leave you on your own for it,” I promised.
She smiled. “I can feel that.”
I smiled back, and it did feel good, having that trust there in the link, not the doubt.
She frowned then, still feeling the transition in her body.
“There is something–a pain, but it doesn’t feel like mine. It’s dull, like there’s something covering it,” she said, frowning. I nodded, eyeing Pearl, not sure how much to say in front of her since the pain was coming from the alpha and the luna, her daughter.
Galen caught on quickly.
“Pearl, let’s leave the alpha to explain things to the new pack member. We’ll check in on the baby once it has spent time with her parents,” he said and urged Pearl from the room. She smiled back at the baby, then at Ryleigh.
“Congratulations, Ryleigh. Let me know if you want help to feed, okay?” Pearl offered, and Ryleigh nodded before they left. Then I turned to Ryleigh.
“That is Alpha Nikolai and your luna, Lorelai. They’re being held by the vampires and have blocked us out of the link so we don’t feel what they feel. It will leave a taint on the link until they are back with us,” I explained as evenly as I could, but it was hard when I wanted to scream it.
“Oh. And we’ll get them back?”
“We will. For now, though, you need to rest and meet your daughter. I’ll come check in on you every day, and you can ask for me or Brax in the link if you need anything,” I said, and she nodded, sitting up in bed as Vaughn handed her their daughter.
“She’s perfect,” Ryleigh said, tears streaking her cheeks, and I took that as my cue. I left the room and got upstairs, out of the human quarters before Vaughn caught up.
“Alpha Derik.”
I turned to him.
“Vaughn.”
“Now that she is one of you, we’re still allowed to–“
“Yes. She can still be with you.”
“What about the mating thing?”
I shook my head. “Bitten wolves can’t mate. And even if they could, she would mate with you. Your souls were linked as humans, and that won’t change with her turning.”
“And the winter thing? The wolves losing control?” he asked. I looked down to the door, then back at Vaughn because I wasn’t sure what it would mean.
“I don’t know. But I’ll keep an eye on her in the link. Since she hasn’t turned before, I am hoping that means she’ll be fine, but I’m just not sure,” I said.
He nodded. “Thank you. For saving her,” he said finally, and I smiled.
“Sure,” I said, then walked away, feeling lighter than I had in days.
“The wolves are on board with the plan to run winter like before. I spoke to the council members at their homes, and they are agreeable. They’ve all got their stations and teams to run,” Brax said in the link before finding me on my way up the stairs.
He fell into step with me, shoving his blonde hair back, and I let out a sigh of relief, grateful he had handled things.
“So, you turned her.”
“Yeah.”
“You know that she’s your beta now, right?”
“I’m aware,” I said, knowing where he was going with it, but I didn’t want to talk about it.
“None of us have had a bitten beta before. Do you think the stories are true?” Brax interrogated, and I shrugged, heading down the hall toward our suite.
“We’ll find out, I guess,” I said, refusing to acknowledge the stories.
The ones that said they were tied in a different way to the rest of the pack. Not in a romantic way–I wouldn’t have done it if that was the case–but in a loyal way.
Where the beta would be bound to the alpha’s will in every way, an obsessive way.
They would do whatever their alpha said–no matter the consequences. Which is exactly why it was dangerous and they had outlawed the turning of humans the second they got into power.
“Lorelai might be pissed,” Brax taunted.
“As long as she’s alive, I don’t care.”
“Lorelai will care.”
I spun to Brax. “Or she’ll be glad I didn’t let her friend die,” I snapped, then pushed into the room where Galen and Pearl were waiting. I sighed and went for the alcohol that had been making it easier to get through the days for Brax and myself.
“Drink?” I asked, and Galen shook his head; Pearl did too. Brax nodded. I handed him some, then filled my own cup.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, knowing there was one since they were ambushing me in our bedroom instead of the office or anywhere else less intrusive.
“The wolves, despite the plan to keep them in control,” Galen started, and I understood that, but we were going to make it better.
“I’m concerned the humans are getting isolated to keep them safe, but they’re suffering for it,” Pearl explained, and I waited for her to continue, sure she had more reasoning. I sipped my drink as Brax did the same.
“The humans can fight for themselves. The vampires don’t seem concerned with them, so Pearl has an idea,” Galen spoke for her, and she smiled.
“I do. I want to take the humans back to the villages.”
“What?” Brax demanded, choking on his ale. I emptied mine and narrowed my eyes.
I didn’t like the plan; I wasn’t going to hide that. Lorelai would be stomping her feet at letting her mother out of her sight during a war. I hadn’t listened before, and it had bitten me in the ass, so I wasn’t going to make the same mistake this time.
“Explain the plan, Pearl,” I urged.
She took a steadying breath. “Well, the humans have been training, fighting with the wolves for weeks. We are not defenseless. The villages–the men’s one in the grasslands area–has a treasury of underground tunnels and weapons. They hurt werewolves, and we can make more that hurt vampires,” she explained.
I waited for her to continue. “I have herb bombs I’ve been working on, and I will continue to do that–it’ll help suffocate their senses. And then, if we can use some toxin for our weapons, we could protect ourselves against both races. We don’t want to hurt the wolves, of course, but just while it is winter, we would be on the defense.”
“And you can’t do that here?” I asked.
“It would be on our territory, and the humans are comfortable there. They’re not comfortable here at the moment. They’re scared, and they hear the wolves howling, growling, losing control. It does not make them feel safe, and I don’t want something to happen that will stop the humans from trusting you completely. I want to get out before that happens,” Pearl explained, and it made sense–in theory.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?