Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
It was a lot.
I fed Zale and leaned on Brax who put his arm around me.
“Where is Derik?” I asked.
“Still at the hospital. He wants to make sure the mist hasn’t done anything else to them. He knows you were in it and it’s making him–“
“Irrational?” I offered.
Kai smirked but the expression didn’t reach his eyes when he turned to me, “Your safety is never an irrational fear, Little Luna. Not when you carry an heir and not when you run from the safety of the city.”
I swallowed and nodded, “I know. And I don’t mean to worry him. But I can’t sit by and let you all be hurt. You would not do that, you cannot expect it of me. I am not a damsel, I don’t need to always be protected or coddled–“
“But you don’t always have to be the one in danger either,” Kai interrupted and I looked down at Zale.
That was fair.
I had Zale and Enzi and their sibling inside me. I was reckless and I had too much to lose to be.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Accepted,” Derik murmured from the doorway.
I snapped my head up and looked at him.
He came to sit next to me, his shirt stained with blood. He put a kiss on Zale’s forehead and then looked at Kai.
“The infected, they had to be killed? There was no way to save them?” Derik asked.
Kai scowled and nodded.
“It was either kill them or let them infect us all.”
Derik nodded, “I’ll let the council know and we’ll have a ceremony for the dead. We can’t collect their bodies but we can give the families closure,” he sighed.
“We need a system. No wolves go anywhere alone. No more wolves outside the city. The rogues are right on the edge of the forest,” Brax said.
Derik nodded, “We need to think of something and fast. They have poison and I would bet now that Lucien was telling the truth about the water. They didn’t poison it, the rogues did. Which means we need to protect it before they get to it again,” Derik said.
Brax nodded, “The mist had the same taste as the water. When I was in it, it burned, and had the same feeling.”
“Nothing I know of has ever done that kind of damage to a werewolf before. These things were not themselves anymore,” Kai said, distracted by Enzi who was playing with his finger.
And of course, I had to ask the question that made everyone go silent, “So what do we do about it?”
They were saved from answering because the door was shoved open, Hank coming through the door holding his stomach that was bandaged.
“Hank you can’t–” Anetta was behind him trying to pull him back, “I’m sorry Alphas, Luna. Hank is being–“
“I need to deliver a message, from the humans,” Hank growled, shaking Anetta off.
I didn’t think I could feel lower than I felt seeing Derik so scared for the pack, Kai in so much pain from what he’d had to do, and Brax so different with his new shadow adaptations, but those words and the look on Hank’s face did it.
Brax gripped my hand in his, squeezing it tightly. I gripped his just as hard.
“What about the humans?” I dared to ask.
“Galen managed to get through to me before I passed out. Maybe he was close, I don’t know, but he was angry. Alphas, Luna, something is happening to the humans. They’re going missing. A few every day at least.”
7. The Humans
Lorelai
“Do not leave the carriage for any reason. Keep your shadows around it the entire time. Do not look out the windows.
Do not get hurt by a single arrow, sword, or blade,” Kai growled at me. I nodded, pulling on my cloak.
Kai turned to Brax, putting his hands on his shoulders. “If she gets so much as a graze, I will gut you. Understood?” he said.
Brax just smirked. “Our mate is beautiful, smart, averagely humorous, and I love her as much as you. But I think we can all agree, she is clumsy as hell, and trying to stop her from getting a graze is impossible, Kai,” Brax grinned.
He wasn’t wrong. I smiled at him but Kai was not amused.
“Not a fucking graze. She falls, and you catch her. She stumbles, you make sure she doesn’t fall. She–“
“I’ve got it, Kai. She’ll be safe with me,” Brax promised before Kai could make more threats.
Kai looked him in the eyes for a second then nodded and pulled him in for a hug. Probably whispering the threats instead.
Kai winked over Brax’s shoulder and I laughed, turning to leave the closet. Derik was on the bed with the twins.
He was not happy. But he was agreeable. Ish.
“I am not agreeable. My vote is no. There is no compromise on this one. You leaving the city after what just happened is something I am strongly against,” he said, his opinion for the hundredth time in the last half hour. His shoulders slumped and he sighed, “But it has been decided anyway so I don’t want to spend my last few moments with you being angry,” he said.
“They will not be our last, Derik,” I whispered, kissing him softly the way he did me.
“You do not know that,” he said back.
There was nothing to say to that. I didn’t know, but I did know that if the humans were going missing, I needed to do something about it.
So far, the mist was toxic. The weapons the rogues had were toxic. But the shadows weren’t affected.
So Brax and I were the only ones that could go.
We had to know what was happening with the humans, and none of our links were working. Not even Derik’s with Lucien. Or Ryleigh.
That was making him agitated too.
“I will organize protection at the lake while you are gone,” he said, deferring to the things he could control. I nodded, then turned as Kai and Brax came out of the closet.
“I’ll be with the twins. I don’t trust whatever that poison was. I’m not letting anyone near them while you’re gone. I might let Derik, for a price,” Kai teased.
Derik rolled his eyes and climbed off the bed. “Try and stop me and you’ll finally get that match you’ve been wanting, Kai,” Derik said.
Kai narrowed his eyes on Derik.
I frowned at the hostile undertone. “What’s going on?” I asked.
Derik eyed Kai, letting him explain.
Brax laughed and shook his head. “Chicken shits.” Brax turned to me. “Kai is still pissed about what Silas said about Derik being stronger, being the dangerous one. His ego got bruised and now he wants to have it out with Derik to find out if it was true or not,” Brax laughed again then picked up Enzi and snuggled her, kissing her forehead.
I raised a brow at Derik and Kai.
“Okay. Well don’t kill each other while I’m gone, I like having all three of you to keep me occupied.” I smiled and grabbed Enzi off Brax, giving her a cuddle goodbye.
It hurt every time I had to leave them. Every goodbye was another ache but it was also a reminder of why I was going, to make sure they survived the world they had been born into.
It was my job to make sure they did.
Even if it meant I didn’t.
“But you will. It’s our job to make sure you do,” Brax said quietly as we placed our twins in their crib that had been brought into our suite. Kai wanted them close, which I was glad for.
I said goodbye to them one more time and then turned to my Alphas.
I kissed Derik and Kai goodbye, the idea of leaving getting harder with every press of their lips.
“Spitfire, we have to go. I don’t want to be out at night,” Brax said.
I nodded, sniffling as my emotions went crazy.
I hated leaving them behind.
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?