Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
It felt like it anyway.
I sat down in the chair next to her, Cain on her other side. Brax sat next to me, shuffling a little closer, widening his legs so his brushed my thigh.
I eyed him, and he smiled. He wanted to be touching me. When I looked at Kai, he didn’t even look possessive about it like he usually did.
I had to know what was going on with Brax, it was driving me insane. But this also wasn’t the place to find out. Of course, that made me want to find out more.
Kai sat next to Cain, Derik opposite Tabitha at the round table, and then they dug in.
No talking or a speech, just serving the food like the villagers did on holidays.
It was nice, the feeling of being so comfortable. I got stuck in too, and before long, the conversation drifted from wolves to the full moon and then on to the tougher subject for me to hear about. The heat.
“So. Have you told the wolves you have no intention of being available for the heat?” Tabitha asked, her fingers clasping in front of her.
Everything went silent, and I cleared my throat, laying my fork on the plate.
“We’re in negotiations. The council is aware.”
“And how are they taking it?”
“Tabitha, not now,” Derik tried, but she chuckled.
“She needs to know these things, especially if you plan on keeping her long term.”
“I’d like to know,” I interrupted, and Derik pursed his lips.
Braxton put his hand on my thigh under the table as Cain leaned forward. “The council are demanding that there be a heat celebration when it comes on.”
“I have a feeling I am going to regret asking this, but what is a heat celebration?” I asked, not sure I even wanted an answer.
“The main pack and the unmated wolves of the city are locked in the estate, the ballroom, where they all give in to the heat together.
“Being all in one place means they can feed off the power and magic in the room. It makes everything stronger and more intense. It will replace the power that the females are missing out on from the alphas,” Cain explained, leaning back with his hands behind his head.
That didn’t sound too bad to me. It sounded like a reasonable demand, but something in the way Derik and even Kai were glaring had me thinking there was a vital part that Cain was forgetting.
“Not going to happen,” Derik bit.
“It sounds like it could be the only option, Derik,” I said, and Kai snarled.
“No!”
Tabby put her hand on the fist he had slammed on the table.
“I’m missing something here?” I assumed, and Brax leaned closer, like he was only talking to me.
“The alphas have to be present at the celebration, even if they’re not participating.
But we won’t be able to leave you alone while that is happening in the estate or the wolves could lose control and sense a human.
“A human is a dangerous scent to have around, but a winter born human? Even worse because of the power,” Brax said softly, rubbing his thumb over my hand.
“Oh. So I would have to be in there with all of you. And all the wolves from the city would be fucking?” I asked, and everyone stayed silent, until Tabitha laughed.
“Yes, dear. That’s the idea.”
I didn’t care what I had to watch or be in the same room with if it meant the alphas got to stay mine.
“Then say yes. I’ll stay in the room with you three and that happening if it means I’m yours and you can stay mine. And if it keeps the wolves happy with our arrangement then it kind of seems like a no-brainer,” I said, and Brax chuckled, bringing my hand to his lips to kiss it.
Kai grinned then and looked at me with hungry, lust-filled eyes. I smiled at him, avoiding Derik’s glare.
“Thanks for your hospitality, Tabitha, but I think it’s time we were leaving,” Derik said, sliding back his chair.
Tabitha sighed as I stood up with him.
“Can I ask a question? I don’t want to seem rude, but I also don’t know how to make it sound like I don’t mean it in the wrong way,” I asked, wanting an answer before we headed back to the estate.
Tabitha nodded, standing, accepting her stick from Cain. “Ask.”
“The alphas told me that the witches don’t usually get along with the wolves. Why do you?” I asked, and she smiled.
“Because I have a son who is half his father, and I wouldn’t be a very good mother if I ignored that fact, now would I?”
“Half wolf, half witch. I thought wolves could only procreate with their own race?”
I asked, hating how intrigued I sounded and not sure what the wolves were going to think of my question, but I asked anyway.
“I was blessed by some very cruel gods to be given a hybrid. It is not possible, but there are usually exceptions to the rule. Apparently I was one. I have no answer as to why, but I’m sure destiny had its reasons.
“I can also see the alphas’ true selves, and they are not like the ones who came before,” she said, and I nodded.
Even my mother had said that about the current alphas.
“Did you know Elias, the winter born before me?” I wondered, lowering back into my seat.
Derik leaned back against the kitchen, not in such a hurry to leave now that the subject had changed. Tabitha sat back down too.
“I did. He was just as evil as you’ve heard. Rotten to the core.”
“Is that why you wanted to meet me?”
She nodded. “I wanted to get a sense of your shadows and who you were as a person.”
“And I passed your test?”
“As long as you say no on the next full moon.” She eyed me knowingly, and I nodded.
“I planned to.”
“I’m aware. But I also sensed your indecision. Your brother is heading down a dangerous path, young winter born. Be sure you don’t follow,” she warned, and I nodded, swallowing a tense breath.
The room filled with tension as the alphas froze. I hadn’t mentioned my brother or that he had shadows, but I got the distinct feeling my new friend Tabitha had known that and wanted them to know.
I was about to answer, to defend my decision–more to the wolves since I’m sure she knew my reasons–when a metallic, iron taste hit my mouth.
Blood pumped in my ear and the strong scent of chemical or potent sanitizer, I wasn’t entirely sure, hit me hard in the next second.
Tabitha gasped as the wolves all stood from the table, growling and snarling, their claws and teeth growing, red eyes taking over them.
Panic rose in my chest, but I wasn’t even sure why until Derik spoke.
“Vampires,” he seethed, and then the wolves were no longer my alphas; they were beasts, defending their territory.
25. The Vampire
Brax pushed me toward Tabitha, who grabbed my hand and yanked me back from the dining table. She bashed her cane on the floorboards and the table slid against the wall, making me gasp.
Derik, Kai, and Brax went to the windows, peering out of them with their red eyes as Cain hauled back the rug. Underneath was a trapdoor. Cain opened it and nodded into the darkness.
“Get in,” he ordered, his voice firm, his eyes flashing red.
I had no idea what was down there, but I did know that there were vampires on their way and that was more terrifying than the unknown in that moment, so I ran down the wooden steps into a basement that was surrounded in concrete.
I looked back up from the bottom and Tabitha came hobbling down. Cain slammed the door shut before I could ask what the hell was about to happen.
I wrapped my arms around myself as Tabitha grabbed my hand again and led me to where there was a small lamp. I went to light it, but she shook her head.
“Not that one. There’s a chest in the corner, get out the eucalyptus one. It’ll disguise your scent enough. Hopefully.” She scowled.
I nodded and went for the chest, dropping to my knees to dig through the contents.
My hands were shaking as I read the labels on the hundreds of long stick candles she had in there. My heart was beating so fast, the silence in the basement and even from above somehow even more terrifying.
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?