Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
I pressed my fingers to my throbbing head, a dull ache starting throughout my skull, but my head was still a mess.
Every thought I’d had since meeting the wolves processed in those moments in the carriage, the silence pierced by my heavy breathing as I tried to sort through the swirling of thoughts.
I clenched my eyes shut and leaned forward, concentrating on my breathing, when there was a tug on my shadows inside me. It was strange, like I hadn’t done it.
I frowned as it tugged again and my shadows filled my body with warmth and trust. I wasn’t sure what I was trusting, but I did. I relaxed, and my thoughts came through clearer.
I remembered the bad shadows and how horrible they made me feel and how it made me not trust them. The ultimatum they had given me, the timeline. I was still scared for it; I didn’t know how to beat shadows or how to use mine.
Not well enough anyway. I’m pretty sure playing hide-and-seek wasn’t going to work with the bad shadows. Those red eyes would find me. They were always there, hovering.
Well, at least that’s what I assumed, since they always seemed to know when I was vulnerable, ready to whisper creepy shit in my ear.
I shivered and pursed my lips as all my thoughts stopped abruptly at the same time the carriage did.
I blew out a breath as the alphas climbed out. They held the door open, and it was strange getting out. They were all tense. Not the usual ready-to-fight tense, but an anxiety that flowed off them.
I frowned at the reaction, looking over each of them as Brax helped me out of the carriage. I stepped down, a splash dirtying my legs, shoes, and bottom of my skirts.
I looked down at the swampy texture of the ground.
Derik walked forward, looking over the swamp, mist covering the expansive area.
It smelled so bad. Like rot and, well, swamp.
But there wasn’t a warning in my blood, so I stepped forward with Brax holding me, helping me wade through the ankle-deep mush.
It was so dark I could barely see, but that didn’t seem to be a problem for the wolves.
We stepped forward. The only sound breaking the night was the sloshing of our footsteps.
“So creepy,” I breathed, and Kai snickered.
Derik turned to me. “Don’t say that to her. She loves this godforsaken place,” he muttered in disgust.
“To each their own, I guess.” I grimaced, trying to find a house or something to indicate where she actually lived, but I couldn’t see anything. Until I saw two glowing eyes peering up out of the water.
I sucked in a breath as it moved through the water, shuffling closer to Brax. He looked at me, then to where I was staring, wide-eyed. He hissed at it, and it came further out of the water.
It was a fucking alligator. A huge one. I froze and Brax growled at it in warning. It paused and looked like it was taunting him.
“I’ll turn you into a fucking belt with boots to match if you get any closer, Ruby,”
Brax swore at the creature.
Its eyes narrowed before the alligator thwacked its tail on the water, splashing them both, before spinning away and disappearing. Derik shook his head as Kai laughed, breaking the tension with his deep husk.
“Don’t piss off her pet.”
Derik rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh. “That thing is not a pet, it’s a menace.”
Kai laughed again. “I want one,” he said, just as the swamp beneath my feet turned to wood.
I looked up, and there was a dark wooden ramp that led to a log cabin. There were no lights on and it seemed kind of abandoned, but it wasn’t. There was a plump, dark-skinned woman out the front watching with a smirk on her face.
She held a cane, wore a knitted shawl and full skirts that were a tattered, faded floral pattern.
She smiled as Kai walked forward, embracing the short woman.
“And how is my favorite wolf?” She smiled warmly, kissing Kai’s cheek.
“Mom, what have I told you about playing favorites when you’ve only got one child? You have to pick me.”
Cain sighed, coming away from a dark wooden post on the deck around the house. I hadn’t even seen him there dressed all in black, blending into the night.
“I’m great, Aunt Tabby.” Kai grinned like a kid and stepped back as Derik came forward and kissed her on the cheek next.
“I can feel that. I haven’t felt you so…distracted since the last heat.”
She chuckled, kissing Derik on each cheek before nodding to Brax. He offered a half smile and nodded back.
That was something I was going to find out about later. She didn’t like Brax much, and my curiosity was piqued. He seemed the most relaxed of them all…most of the time anyway. Not here though.
“And your guest. Lorelai,” she said, then turned to me. “The winter born.”
She smiled softly, then stepped forward with her hands extended, her smoky voice triggering a feeling inside me. A tug at my shadows.
“Hi,” I said timidly, giving her my hand that she reached for.
She closed hers around mine, and the carriage came back to me. I gasped and snatched my hand back.
“That was you,” I realized, the feelings the same when she touched me as they were in the carriage. Like her imprint on whatever she had done was making sure I recognized it.
She wanted me to know it was her.
“Yes.”
“What were you doing?” I demanded, feeling a little violated that she had been in my head. Or maybe intimidated that she could get in there in the first place.
Reading my thoughts was much more intense than just getting a feeling.
“I was reading you.”
“What does that mean? A proper answer, please,” I said, not wanting a vague nonanswer.
She wanted me in her house, eating her food, to meet me. That meant having my trust. I needed a reason to give it.
She smiled knowingly, like she knew exactly why I was annoyed, exactly what I was thinking. Brax squeezed my hand tighter.
“I read every thought and feeling you have had since meeting the alphas to understand what motivates you, what your intentions are, and whether I can trust you,” she admitted, her chin high like she wasn’t even sorry.
“You could’ve asked.”
“You could’ve lied.” She shrugged.
“You would’ve known if I had.”
“Yes,” she stated simply, and I clenched my jaw.
“A compromise then. I won’t lie, and you won’t dig in my head without permission.
If I lie, then you can find the answer yourself,” I offered, and she grinned, hobbling forward and pressing her lips against my cheek.
I pressed mine against the papery soft, crinkled texture of hers.
“If I hadn’t found what I found in your head then I would be feeding you to Ruby, but you were genuine. I like genuine,” she said, then turned on her heel, shaking her walking stick.
“Dinner time, friends, come in!” she called, and the house lit up, the curtains drawing on their own.
I gasped and looked through the windows at the feast she had laid out on a crowded circular table set with enough seats for us all. There were pitchers of wine, and the lights were strung up in flowers along the rafters.
The others filed in behind her, but I hung back, looking up at Brax. “You okay?”
He nodded once, and I frowned at the lie. “Can I help?”
He shook his head. “You can help later, Spitfire.” He winked and I smiled, wrapping my arm around him, snuggling in before walking into the house.
It was not just a house, it was a home, filled with plants, crystals, and tapestries hanging. It was cluttered but still tidy, like everything was in its place for a reason.
The living area was quaint with a homey sofa of florals, a rug, and bookshelves, all facing a fireplace that was roaring with life, making the whole place warm.
An incense burned, filling the space with a calming lavender. Candles were lit all over every surface that wasn’t already occupied.
Tabitha sat down in a chair facing the kitchen along the back wall. It wasn’t like the clean, modern wood of the estate; it was weathered, but loved. Like her kitchen and dining room was the true hub of her home.
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?