Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
Atticus and I weren’t just creating music; we were generating energy and power that we were giving back to the realm and the packs. When our song finally ended, I was breathing hard. So was Atticus.
I looked over at the other two alphas. They had heat in their eyes, and I smiled. Atticus pulled me in for a kiss. I met his lips, and our power was tangible between us. It had me pressing myself against him, needing more.
But before I could get it, Atticus led me off the platform, away from the burning flames that seemed even more orange than before. Zachariah and Dorian were there when I jumped off, and they swarmed me. I kissed them both.
Zachariah spun me around, growling as he pulled me back down his body, kissing me roughly. “You have no idea just how much power you hold in that little body of yours, Little Red,” he panted, still kissing me.
I pulled back as Dorian stole with a rumble of his chest, warning Zach from trying to steal me back. “I do. Enough to have me on my knees for the rest of my life, Sweet Siren.”
I grinned and kissed him back, loving the way he tasted after being so desperate for me. He had waited for me to finish my song, but I could tell it had been hard for him just by the taste of him.
When I pulled away, Atticus was there. He smiled and nodded to the members of Dorian and Zachariah’s pack, who nodded to us, thanking us for our power to the realm and for honoring the realm so well. It was an entirely surreal experience.
And they were not who we were worried about. I looked at Atticus with a wary expression, then we broke through to where his pack was. My heart sank as I saw the looks on their faces. They were not as welcoming.
Atticus squeezed my hand as we faced them together, the entire crowd going tensely silent. “I have siren magic. But I can only harness it through my instruments,” he admitted to them.
They stayed silent. All of them looked confused, wary, like they didn’t know where to begin–until one of them figured it out. A pale woman with long blonde hair and a blue dress glared at me. “This is your fault. You have put a trance on the alphas. A spell with your siren magic,” she snarled.
A few nods from the other water pack members were all it took. “I didn’t,” I argued, watching as a few of them started circling us. The others stood back, not daring to come closer.
Atticus growled a deep, low growl that warned the ones circling us. “Do not start what I will have to finish–this is your only warning,” he said.
My heart raced harder, and my stomach dropped. I couldn’t believe the low I had gone to after such a high. But I should have expected it. I had used my voice. Again. And it was going to get people hurt. Again.
Atticus was getting ready to fight his own pack for me. The other alphas were preparing to back him up; even the packs were dividing. So much division, so much tension. And it was my fault. All because I had used my voice again.
How had I not learned? I slipped back as Atticus growled at a pack member who snarled at him. “Siren magic is forbidden. She has tainted you,” one said.
“She is the reason all three packs stand here now, overflowing with power,” Atticus snapped back, his body hulking and trembling. “Power from a voice that should not be used. From music that should not be made.”
“Does it feel wrong to you, Jareth? That realm power that now flows through our packs, that connection you feel to the packs we have been estranged from for years, does that feel wrong?” Atticus demanded.
Dorian and Zachariah shadowed him, their packs coming up behind them as I stepped further and further back. I couldn’t stand it–seeing them at odds because of what I had done. I should never have come to them or agreed to stay.
This choice was going to rip them all apart. How could I initiate that? Tears stung in my eyes as the packs went back and forth, arguing, fighting over what had just happened. I couldn’t be here if that’s what was going to happen.
I swallowed hard, and my tears fell. I loved the alphas. I hadn’t experienced much love, but I knew it was in my heart for them. I wanted them–all three of them–in there forever. But I couldn’t have that if all I was good at was destroying things.
So instead of staying, arguing, and fighting for something that would only lead to resentment, I took one last look at my alphas. They were defending the magic, but it was only convincing them that I had led them astray.
So with a heavy heart and tears I wished weren’t on my face, I turned and ran with no idea where I was going.
32. The Regret
I should have stayed with my vampires. No, I should never have been born with this damn power. I obviously wasn’t the right one to have it. I had no idea what to do with it.
The power that came with my voice was so strong, so powerful, it still hummed in my veins, tingled beneath my skin.
I still sensed the packs, the alphas–but it was distant. I couldn’t fine-tune anything, and as much as I thought I had been in control, now I was pretty sure that had been a decorated lie my brain had told so I would keep singing.
I didn’t want to regret using my voice. In the moment, it had been the best feeling ever. And I’d had three alphas–I knew all about how good feelings could get.
But all I had was a voice that scared people and vampires wanted to use.
I couldn’t harness it or use it the way the alphas seemed to be convinced I could.
Sure, it was one hell of a ride when I did use it, but there were always consequences.
I ran through from the ceremony, through the huts, and out the other side to some of the forestry. I made it to a cornfield that edged onto the forest.
I started running into it when strong arms caught around my waist.
I immediately knew the scents.
My alphas.
“Let me go, Zach,” I whispered. He curled me into him instead.
“Never, Little Red.”
The sentiment had my heart in its clutches.
Atticus circled, “Why’d you run, Fox?”
“Because you can’t fight your packs for me. You can’t let me ruin everything you have all built just because I have a powerful voice. I’ve just spent days with all three of you. I’ve seen all of your lives and I love them. I don’t want to be the reason that unravels.”
Dorian pulled my face to look at his, “You are not the reason. Superstition and bias are. But they can be beaten, Sweet Siren.”
“I am poison. I killed my family and I will kill yours too,” I said, the tears falling. I hated that they were, but I couldn’t stop them.
I had been strong my whole life; I’d had to be. But I couldn’t be now.
Not with the alphas staring at me like they were. Like I could somehow make everything okay. But I couldn’t. I was only good at breaking things.
“You will get your ass back to that ceremony, Little Red. My wolves don’t give a shit whether your power is in your voice or not.”
Dorian nodded, “And my pack thinks it is a good thing you have that much power. As much as I wish being strong wasn’t a factor in their acceptance, it is. Now they accept you more than they ever did.”
I shook my head, “But the water pack–“
“Have a few weak links I will cut out. But they do not make up my pack. And they are not the alphas, Fox. They will come around.”
“They shouldn’t have to!” I snapped, backing away from them. “The packs are right to be wary, to hate me. The vampires do. It is something I am used to. I know it is what I deserve, and I won’t force them to accept me.”
Atticus shook his head. “No, Fox. You don’t get it. We want you. We love you, and we want to keep you. All three of us. And we’re the alphas.”
“So?” I sniffled, ignoring the confession from his heart because if I listened to it, I would give in. Giving in to them meant going back and facing the pack.
Even if they accepted me, how could I know they wouldn’t resent me? Or cast me out like Serafina? My mind turned, but then something else clicked–what if I went back and I was the reason that Serafina and even Atticus no longer had to hide?
Dorian smiled. “So. We decide what is and isn’t to be accepted. And we all accepted you a long time ago. At the blood moon ritual. You became ours, voice and all. Now the pack has to get used to that because whether you are here or anywhere else, you are still ours. That won’t change.”
“But I have to choose,” I whispered, hating that the decision pierced us all with pain.
“Not for another few days. And even when you do, Little Red, we will be with you. You’ll always be able to turn to all three of us.”
I sucked in a breath at that revelation. They were okay with me choosing one of them despite wanting them all?
“We know you can’t ever fully give yourself to one of us. Not after spending time with all of us. Not after the way we just linked.”
I looked over my shoulder, toward the packs that had started chattering and laughing again. The celebration continued, and I looked back at my alphas.
“They’re okay?”
Atticus nodded, “They know it means more power for the pack. They have to be okay with it.”
“I don’t want them to hate me for being with any of you. To think I made you be here with me.”
Dorian smirked and came up to me, trampling over the corn maize and making a small clearing that caged us in. “We chose you, Sweet Siren. So the packs have to as well.”
His kiss came in fast, and I leaned into it.
I wanted to believe in his words. In all of them. So with his kiss, I did.
I let them all in. The trust and connection filled me again, just as it had when we were singing.
Zachariah moved into me from behind, untying my dress. I sighed into the kiss with Dorian, his touch even more potent.
The magic between us was alive, buzzing, and beautiful. It was pure seduction, winding through all of us and weaving us together like sewing a stitch.
I sucked in a breath, my head hanging back as the moon glared down at us.
Dorian kissed down my neck, Zachariah on the other side as Atticus got to his knees between my legs.
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?