Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
Everyone went silent as Kai reined in his crazy, looking to our mate for instruction, but she was calm. Everything in the links was silent, and I had no idea why until a dangerous crackle started in the air.
Brax sucked in a breath as purple mist slowly filled the room. Lorelai held her eyes on my mother and the blade, like she was in a trance, a catatonic reaction or something.
I went to step forward, to help, to stop this, but Brax grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
“Let her. He’s showing her what to do,” Brax whispered, and I gasped, looking at her holding her stomach.
The mist darkened, the magic of the border thick in the air until Lorelai finally spoke, stepping forward, holding my mother’s gaze like she was hypnotizing her.
“You will never press a weapon against my mate again. Do you understand?” Lori said, her voice harsh and threatening enough that the air seemed to get thicker.
I felt my knees ache, like I wanted to bow, kneel to her.
“I understand.” My mother swallowed, her eyes wide with panic as Lori grabbed her hand and moved it away from Kai. She took the blade and threw it into the wall behind our heads.
“You asked, now what? Now we sit down, have dessert, and discuss what happens to the humans who hurt our pack,” she said.
My mother actually nodded. No smart-ass comment, no anger, nothing. My dad though, he obviously didn’t appreciate the threat because he went to step in.
Lori turned her gaze to him as my mother dropped to her knees in a kneel of respect. The mist was so strong I couldn’t see the pack anymore and my mother was lost by our feet, but my father was furious.
“Magic. That’s cheating. You are no wolf. You never will be, and you do not deserve to be luna of our pack just because you carry the alpha,” he said, and then he was flying through the mist.
Lori smirked, looking at him as he came charging back. I was pinned to the floor, my feet heavy, like they were stuck in stone, so I couldn’t even go to her.
“Enough!” I roared, and Lorelai snapped to me, her anger dissipating, blinking rapidly like she hadn’t been herself just in time for my father to tackle her, snarling as she started to fall.
Black shadows pushed through the mist and snatched Lorelai as Brax came forward, his eyes white and cloudy. He planted her next to him and kissed her before I pulled her behind me, the mist slowly dissolving.
I gasped as I looked around the room at the pack that was being revealed.
They were all kneeling, heads down.
Lorelai poked her head out from behind me, and I kept her hand in mine so she couldn’t escape again. My mother was still kneeling at our feet as my father jumped up from his fall onto the hard floor.
He was seething until he looked around at what she had done. Neutralized the entire pack. Again.
“I am mated to Derik. And Kai. And I know Brax and I will, I can feel it. That is not your decision to contest. Accept it: there is no other option now. The pack have shown their loyalty and where it lies. They will protect me as readily as I would them,” Lorelai said.
My father gritted his jaw. He looked between her and the pack again before reluctantly dropping to his knee and bowing his head.
Lori beamed, then looked up at me. “I told you I got this.”
She laughed and I shook my head, a smile on my lips, pride in my heart as she went to the table that Kai had pushed out of the way. She sat down.
“Dessert?” she asked, and the wolves stood slowly, sitting back in their seats and becoming more animated as they began talking and laughing like nothing had even happened.
I shook my head, a chuckle bubbling through my lips before I could help it. I grabbed her face and brought it to mine, covering her lips with my own.
Her mouth moved against me and I held her tight, wishing we could sneak away so I could show her exactly how proud of her I was.
“The purple magic was a bit much, don’t you think?” Cain smirked as he came up to the table and kissed Lorelai on the cheek, putting a larger-than-normal vial of potion in front of her.
She beamed up at him and poured it into her cup, taking a sip and sighing.
It wouldn’t make much of a difference by tonight when she was achy and sore, but it would give her a few hours pain-free, so I was grateful.
That was the only reason I hadn’t torn Cain apart for daring to press his lips on our girl. But I suspected he knew that, the cocky prick.
“I am only human,” Lori teased, and even Kai cracked a smirk.
My parents were whispering before they finally joined the table and conversation again.
“Cain. This child, it will be that powerful?” Mom asked, and I knew she was making plans for it now.
That power show would have fed her little demon that demanded our pack be the strongest and fiercest creatures in all the land.
The vampires had been a sore subject for her for a long time, and she was convinced they were coming for us. I had entertained the idea, but for now, the humans were our issue.
“It will be.”
“Good. Those vampires will be put firmly in their place then.” She grinned, and Lori looked up from her drink.
“What about the humans?”
“Well, they will be eradicated.” My mother scoffed.
Lorelai tensed at that. We all did, her pain all internal as the link filled with fear and love, her mother right there in all of our thoughts.
“It wasn’t all of them though. We only need to get rid of the army, the followers of my father. I am sure the ladies of the village–“
“You cannot be sure, and that is not a risk we can take. The humans killed ours, they didn’t care how guilty or innocent they were, so why should we?” My father scoffed.
“Because we have to be better than them or this war will never end,” Lorelai snapped before taking a breath.
I knew exactly what she was trying to say.
“The few humans who work against us are the enemy. Not the ones that have always been loyal,” I stated, and my parents glared.
They looked over their shoulders at the rest of the council, who were sitting at the first table in front of us, Galen included.
“Well, we must respond. They killed our wolves,” my mother said.
She was right. We couldn’t leave that alone; the pack would never stand for it.
“And we will,” I said, so Lori knew I had every intention of getting revenge.
“In blood. They must pay in blood. Two wolves for two of theirs. It is the only fair collection of the debt they owe. We are in Fractum, after all,” Father said, and my mother agreed.
One look at the council and I knew they all thought the same thing. I hated to admit it, but I did too.
We couldn’t just keep letting our wolves’ deaths go without proper retribution. It wasn’t fair, and we were wolves, we had traditions to uphold. One of those included blood for blood.
“Only the men working under my father. No other casualties, no innocents. Stay away from the widows’ village and the women’s village,” Lorelai said, and my mother huffed.
“Fine. We shall get organized then,” Mom said, then turned to the wolves, standing from her seat.
“You hear that, wolves? Come dawn, we dance in human blood!” she called, and the wolves cheered, yelling revenge before emptying their ale and causing a damn scene.
I smirked at their savageness being let loose when there was a light tap on my shoulder.
“Alpha Derik. You need to come with me quickly. And bring Lorelai,” Anetta urged, and I frowned, looking over the distracted pack before turning to my mate, who was wary too.
My eyes went to Kai and Brax. They both nodded.
“Go,” Kai said, and strengthened the connection in our minds so I knew he’d be watching.
Brax’s presence filled me, and I knew his shadows were with us. I stood as Anetta’s voice and eyes said something was wrong. A nagging in my gut made me move quicker than normal.
“And where are you two disappearing to? You must join in the festivities before we plan,” my mother said, her eyes twinkling with danger.
She couldn’t shift anymore, but she could feel it when the pack did. She thrived on it. I was going to come up with some ridiculous excuse but Lori got in there first.
“My fault. Pregnant and horny over here, so we’re going to go fuck. See you in the morning, have a nice night, Elders. Enjoy the festivities and your revenge.”
Lori smirked before dragging me from the room. I laughed as she did, and she grinned up at me, the memory of Mother’s jaw dropping fucking priceless.
My smile dropped when Anetta rushed us down the halls of the mansion toward the doors into the city.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
She turned back to me, her eyes wide, her frown hard. “I can’t say it here, too many wolves.” We left the mansion, Lori half running to keep up with us.
“What is it?” Lori demanded, and Anetta huffed, spinning to us abruptly, her eyes darting around the empty streets for lurkers before she leaned close.
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?