Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
She nodded. “You know I do.” She fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
“But something is making me not want to. I think I’ll watch this time. Maybe after winter, I could try,” she said, eyeing the water with a deeper frown.
I looked at the water, then at her. She didn’t understand it yet, but she would. The water was more than it seemed. It was a balm on everything inside, at least it was for me. And the water area pack. We were connected to it on another level, and that made it easy to trust. But she would get there.
“I’ll get in first, and if you feel like coming in with me after that, then I’ll help you, okay?” I asked.
She smiled and nodded. “Okay.”
She sat down on the edge of the lake, crossing her legs as I shed the rest of my clothes.
I took one last scan of our surroundings to make sure we were alone, then jumped in the water. It fucking burned. My skin felt like it was being torn off, and I screamed under the water, shooting to the top as my shadows hissed and screeched in the water.
They tried to help me out of the water as I thrashed my way through, but the water was like lead, weighing me down. My chest felt like it was going to explode, my brain was suffocated of thoughts. The light of the lake was gone, the refreshing, calming feel of it was non-existent.
It had turned, and I hadn’t even sensed it. When had we betrayed it? I wasn’t sure, but it was not letting me out. I held my breath, fighting the water as it tried to take me to its depths. Normally that’s exactly where I wanted to be. Not this time. I knew if I let it take me there, I wasn’t coming back.
So I fought. Hard and with everything my anchored body had. But I didn’t know if it would be enough this time.
33. The Attack
LORELAI
Brax disappeared into the water, and as much as he had tried to reassure me that it would be okay, something felt off.
I put it down to my fear of it.
But the second he was in that water, I knew it was more than that.
His pain became mine instantly.
I screamed, doubling over and clutching my body as it burned.
Like my skin was being peeled off. I couldn’t breathe; I couldn’t open my eyes, or they burned too.
“Lorelai!” Derik’s voice was strong in the link. “What happened?” he grunted.
“We’re at the lake; something’s wrong with it.”
“Get back to the city,” Kai ordered.
“I can’t! Brax is in the water!” I screamed, not caring that my body felt like it was turning inside out. I just needed to get Brax out of the water.
I pulled out my shadows and magic, edging closer to the lip of the lake. My shadows hissed when they touched the water, and I stopped.
“We’ll be there in a–Fuck!” Kai roared. Then I heard the howling in the distance. I winced; I knew that howl.
The city was under attack. More vamps.
“Vamps. They’re attacking the patrols on the other side of the city!” Kai roared, and I could hear him running.
“I’ll get to Lorelai!” Derik growled, his voice panting as he ran.
“More vamps, Alphas! There’s another group attacking in the north; they’re trying to jump the wall. We’re pressing them back, but this isn’t a small group,” another wolf said. I was getting better at distinguishing them. It sounded like Anetta’s mate from the council.
“Go, take care of the vamps. I’ll get Brax, then be there to help,” I said, then shut down the link before they could argue. They had to be Alphas right now, and they wouldn’t be if they thought I was in trouble. But I wasn’t. Brax was.
I dipped my hand in the water, preparing to go get him, but it burned me too. I hissed and brought my hand back.
With the link gone, I could open my eyes without taking on Brax’s pain, which helped me think.
I eyed the lake, testing to see if my shadows would go in. They hissed and curled back into me. That was a no, then.
I ran around to where I could see Brax thrashing in the water, the top of the lake undisturbed as it held him down there. I wasn’t sure how well he could hold his breath, but I was guessing it was significantly different when being tortured.
So, before I could question whether it would work, I launched my magic from me.
I sent it straight into the water to him. My magic parted the water easily, fighting it back from trying to harm it and reaching him in seconds.
I yanked him out of the water with my magic. As soon as he broke the surface, he coughed and sputtered, wrenching in breaths.
I ran to him as my magic placed him on the grass next to me. I went to hold him, but he rolled away, coughing as he tried to sit up.
“No, just stay still. I need to make sure you’re okay,” I urged, but he shook his head, hacking up more water.
“Don’t. Not until I’m dry.” He coughed and stumbled to his clothes. He grabbed his shirt and dried himself over with it.
As soon as he was dry, I ran to him, embracing him tightly. He teetered on his feet, but I held him up. Tears I didn’t know I was holding in escaped as I closed my eyes, holding him.
His hair dripped burning water onto my cheek, but I didn’t care.
“Are you okay?” I asked. He nodded, holding me silently.
“What happened? I thought the water was magic?” I asked.
He frowned at it, his eyes sad as he knelt down to it.
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out. This water is sacred. To mess with it? The vamps are playing dirtier than I thought,” he said, then used the shirt to dry his hair.
I looked at the water, then sucked in a breath. “Brax. Isn’t this water the source for the entire realm?” I asked.
He cursed, then nodded.
“We need to get back to the city and warn the wolves not to use it until we can figure out what happened to it,” he said.
“We need to get back and do more than that.” I shuddered, stripping off my clothes ready to shift.
“What are you talking about?” he demanded.
“The city is under attack. The vampires, they’re trying to find a weakness in the walls,” I said and opened the link again.
Chaos broke through it. Kai and Derik were barking orders at the wolves. Vampire scent was everywhere. The sound of laughter was replaced with screams. Brax winced, narrowing his eyes on the city, the howls coming from it still filling the dark night.
He shook his body out, then did the stance he made every time before he shifted.
Except nothing happened.
I frowned. “I assumed we were going to shift and get there quicker. Would you rather go in human form?” I asked.
He growled angrily before turning and punching the nearest tree. I jumped and stepped back.
“I can’t fucking shift,” he snapped, and my eyes widened.
“Oh,” I said, shrugging. “So I shift and run with you on my back for a change.”
He looked horrified.
“Absolutely not,” he bit out.
“Braxton, my mates, our pack, and our city are currently being threatened. I have this extreme need to protect all of that. If you get all sexist on me about being the one on my back, I will leave you here,” I warned, sensing his argument before he could make it.
He scowled, muttering something about degradation under his breath.
I ignored it and shifted.
He put his clothes on, then grabbed mine and climbed on my back. He was heavy, but my strong legs didn’t buckle.
I was a smaller wolf than them, but in human form, he was an easy weight to carry.
I didn’t give him a chance to grumble again. I ran as fast as I could toward the city.
I wasn’t scared of the vamps; I wasn’t scared for myself. I was scared because my mates were there without me. Zale and Enzi didn’t have any shadows protecting them.
I barged into the city, feral and ready to kill some vamps. I ran Brax to the mansion first.
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?