Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
“Not tonight.”
“Hmm, how unfortunate.”
“If you’ve come for more supplies–“
“We haven’t. We actually wondered about the vampires around the territory. Is the war not over?” She asked.
“We have an accord.” That was all I was giving her.
“An accord? With the vampires?” She laughed.
“Silas is dead,” I snarled, “And their word now means more than yours so be very careful where you tread with your words.”
That had her eyebrow-raising. She eyed the men at her sides then nodded slowly.
Derik and Kai led the pack out of the forest and slowly surrounded them.
“Be on your way rogues,” Brax said.
Heather eyed him, her eyes filled with something I couldn’t decipher. It seemed like hatred but she was trying so hard to cover it up.
“We are sorry about not showing up for you during the war. We thought Silas was going to win. To hear he is dead, that changes things.”
“Not on our end, we can’t trust you,” I said.
She nodded, “Understandably. But we want to prove ourselves. We would like to be a part of the collective,” she asked.
Kai growled from behind her, nipping at the man’s ankles. The man yelped and surged forward. Kai’s wolf grinned, his eyes narrowed on the three rogues. Derik’s growl was more subtle but I heard it.
“We must discuss it and vote,” I said. I knew what my vote was. I didn’t feel right around them. And they had proven they couldn’t be trusted.
But I felt the resistance in Brax. This girl meant more to him than he had said. Not in a sexual way or she would already have my claw marks across her face. But she hit a chord with him, from his past.
I narrowed my eyes on her, “Plead your case,” I offered.
“We know what we are, we have lived our lives as outcasts. We just want a chance to change that. With vampires roaming and our young weak, we need a pack. A true one. So the rogues have made one. We have a hierarchy, like you do. We are the same and we want the chance to prove we can help keep the balance,” she said.
My stomach turned at her words. She was lying. But Brax believed her.
That was going to be a problem. Something was clouding his judgment, and I wasn’t giving her an answer until I had talked to him about it.
Derik and Kai obviously felt it too because they said nothing, staying in wolf form with the rest of the pack.
“We’ll have a meeting to discuss it. But just so you know the way this works, the vampires get a vote, and so do the humans,” I explained.
She nodded.
“Understood.”
I chewed my lip. Something still didn’t feel right, but I didn’t know what, so I nodded. “I’ll call the council together.
We’ll come to the water villages once we have met. They’ll need to hear your plight, an apology, and a word we can trust,” I said.
I was pretty sure the bridge with me was burned past repair, but it wasn’t just me who got a vote.
My mother would vote yes for the devil because she was a huge believer in second chances. Brax would vote yes. Kai would vote whatever I voted because he didn’t give a fuck. Derik would weigh up every variable and withhold his vote until the very end, usually going with the majority. The vampire? Who fucking knew.
“We will be waiting,” Heather said, smiling. It was a false smile that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
What the hell was her game? Because that smile left no doubt in my mind that she was playing one.
She left with her rogues and the pack moved into the city with us.
Derik shifted, ordering some of the wolves to go out and clean up from the ceremony–those were the initiates. Then he had a group of Kai’s warriors follow the rogues back.
Derik came to me as Kai licked through my cloak, his tongue caressing over my stomach.
I smiled at him. “We’re okay,” I said, petting him.
He growled happily and I smiled.
“I’m going to call for the vampires,” Derik sighed, bending down to kiss me. I kept him against me, deepening the kiss.
“Or we could enjoy the rest of the night together and keep the rogues waiting? See what they do when they sweat,” I said against his mouth.
Derik roamed his hands down my body, holding me close.
Then he pulled back. “I’d rather sleep with you knowing you weren’t being threatened, Beautiful,” he said.
“She wasn’t threatening,” Brax frowned. “She was asking for a chance,” Brax said, eyeing Derik with a darkness I didn’t like. I went to him, placing my hand in his.
Kai just laughed, his wolf shifting into his human, towering and broad.
His skin looked so perfect in the moonlight. He shook his head at Brax. “That was a threat. I could taste the hostility,”
he licked his lips with a wild grin. He knew the hunt was coming. I hated agreeing that violence was the answer, but he had a point–she was hostile.
Brax shook his head. “If she was hostile, my shadows would have picked up on it.”
Unless he wasn’t letting them do their job because she was attached to a part of his life he was refusing to acknowledge.
“Getting rusty there, Brax,” Kai teased then walked off towards the mansion.
We followed and Derik looked around him. “Ryleigh?” He asked, looking over the city streets that were crawling with wolves going back to their homes and stations.
“I’m here,” she breathed, coming over with a grin on her face. “I shifted back,” she said.
Derik grinned. “And you feel okay?”
“I feel great. I’ll catch you later though, I’m going to find Vaughn,” she grinned, a slight blush on her cheeks telling us all exactly what she was going after him for. I laughed, and she grinned wider, taking off.
We went back to the mansion, Brax still angry.
“I’ll summon the vamps, talk to the council,” Derik said.
“I’ve got to talk to Mom, and explain things so she can make a decision,” I said, heading to the twins’ room.
Kai followed, but Brax stormed off.
I looked after him but gave him his space.
An hour later, we were heading to the Water Area, ready to turn down the rogues. I was dressed in my leather pants, a cream tunic, and a leather vest that only had one button so my growing stomach could fit underneath it and my breasts could fit above it.
I had blades strapped to me, but it was my magic I relied on, the tingle in my fingers letting me know it was ready.
Lucien walked with us, bringing two of his vampires with him. He wasn’t permitted more than that when we were with humans. He was agreeable, which was a nice change.
Mom walked with Galen like usual, and then there was me and my Alphas.
We approached the Water Area and as soon as we hit the boundary, I knew something was off.
It didn’t feel right.
The area didn’t feel as connected to the realm, the seamless peace was broken here.
I frowned and spread my shadows out. They sensed things watching us. But I knew that would happen, they were rogues, used to watching their backs.
I just hadn’t expected to feel so uneasy about it.
The place felt powerful. Like something was lurking, reading us.
I didn’t like it.
I curled closer into my Alphas and walked with them through the damp grass and soft ground. We moved around the lake, coming up on some of the stone village huts.
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?