Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
The tight grasp of poison on my lungs let them go and I sucked in a deep breath.
I tucked the vial in my clothes. Cain could hopefully replicate it.
I stood on shaky legs and looked at Brax and Heather.
“I’m also smart enough not to come without a plan B,” she grinned a second before she raised her hand and blew a powder in Brax’s face.
I tensed, ready for him to be poisoned, ready to catch him, ready to race him to Cain.
I wasn’t ready for Heather to kiss him.
I snarled as Brax dropped the sword and kissed her back.
It felt like a knife had been shoved into my chest and was carving my heart out.
Pain exploded inside and tears stung in my eyes.
“Brax!” I snapped, my talons growing, my eyes burning.
‘Braxton!’ Derik roared in the Alpha link.
Kai said nothing but his intent was clear. He was going to attack, running fast.
But I didn’t need them to defend me. I could do it myself.
But then Brax’s shadows doused me.
I frowned at the feeling. He was reassuring me.
While he was still kissing Heather.
Every tense second that passed had me ready to kill them both. And the pain. That was excruciating, almost taking me to my knees. I didn’t know how much it could hurt to have a mate betray the link.
‘Brax, stop,’ I begged, holding my stomach, my magic at my fingertips. It wanted to attack him for me.
My shadows hung back, listening to his more than I was.
Heather moaned as Brax shoved her harder into the tree.
And I was done.
I threw my magic at them both, tossing Brax to the side with a feral roar of a scorned Luna.
And then I saw what he had done.
Heather was gasping against the tree, a blade stuck in her stomach, bleeding all over her ragged clothes.
It had been a cover.
I gulped and turned to Brax.
He was sprawled on the forest floor, not moving.
I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing or not.
Heather coughed and spluttered, choking on her blood as she took off into the forest.
I ran over to Brax, my shadows covering him, tears falling down my cheeks.
“Brax?” I whispered.
But he didn’t answer. He didn’t move.
His shadows didn’t even meet mine.
I swallowed hard, holding his head in my lap, rocking him, whispering to him.
I should have trusted him. I should have listened to what his shadows had tried to tell me.
Which I would apologize for.
As soon as Brax woke up.
If he woke up.
27. The Boy
Brax
Her tongue slipped into my mouth. It tasted wrong, my gut turning, pain lacing through the link as I kissed someone who wasn’t my mate.
But I recognized the scent of the powder Heather had used.
A lust, fake-love powder that was a gimmick Cain used to use on the pack to prank them. Back when he enjoyed life.
And I knew as soon as it hit my face that Heather was going to kiss me.
I thought the powder would work, that I’d have to fight through the magic to stop from falling victim to her.
If I wanted it, if I pushed the link’s boundaries by betraying my mate then it could snap.
It would be excruciating and we would perish for it.
But the powder did nothing.
I felt Lorelai in my heart as much as I ever did.
But Heather’s lips still came for mine.
And I knew it was the distraction I needed. It meant she believed her powder had worked.
Maybe it didn’t on mates. Or winterborns. Whatever the reason, I was glad for it.
Because while I was being violated by her traitorous tongue, I wiggled the blade from the belt I had seen on her waist.
I kissed her, keeping her believing I was under her spell.
It was the hardest thing I had ever done.
I felt my mate in the link, screaming at me. I felt Derik. I felt Kai.
And I felt the pain I was inflicting on us.
But it was our chance to get Heather. I didn’t know if we were going to get another one.
So I sent my shadows to Lorelai, to reassure her.
But she brushed them off and panic seized me.
Did she truly believe I would betray her so easily? She obviously couldn’t feel that I was still hers, that the powder didn’t work.
Which meant I didn’t have time to draw out my surprise attack. I was going to try and get Heather’s heart but with the pain Lorelai was in, I couldn’t wait for that chance.
Instead, I kissed Heather harder, shoving her into the tree as I pushed the blade into her gut.
She gasped against me and I went to pull away. I wanted to see her face as she realized I had outsmarted her.
But I didn’t get the chance because the air crackled a second before my back burned.
With my last conscious moments I knew I had pushed Lorelai too far, but I never got the chance to apologize or explain because everything went dark.
When I woke, I expected to see Lorelai. Or even Kai ready to beat my ass for what I had done. But there was no one.
Only dark rock flickering in the shadows of the wall torches.
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?