Filed to story: Luna Lovette and Alpha Kodak Story
“Who? Greta?”
He looked at her like she was insane. “Louisa.”
The name tickled her memory. “Kodak’s mom?”
“You must’ve heard how I found my true mate but she was already in love with another man. Oh yes, Kodak’s mom. By the time I met her, she and Rick had imprinted on one-another. I hadn’t told anyone because I knew Rick would have exiled me to keep me away from her. I hated seeing them together, hated it, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave her life. So I became good friends with her and let that be enough. I know she felt the pull between us. She never even came close to acting on it though. She was a loyal woman. Then Kodak was banished and, for once, she stood up to that bastard Rick and she left him. There was my chance. My chance to have her as I should have done. And I would’ve done…but Kodak killed her.”
“She turned rogue,” she reminded him.
“If I’d have been there when she slipped into that state I could’ve pulled her back from it. I could’ve.” No he couldn’t have – a wolf gone rogue was beyond all help. “But he executed her. Snapped her neck like she was a twig. I wanted to kill him, but just like Rick and Darryl, I knew I couldn’t take him.”
Her head swam again but she fought the pull of sleep. “Why stay?”
“So one day I could make sure he knew the pain that I went through. The pain of losing a mate.”
Oh fuck.
It suddenly hit her just how dangerous her situation was. She’d thought that maybe Darryl wanted to use her as collateral – a kind of ‘give me what I want, Kodak, and your mate goes free’ scenario. But this… well hell.
“It made the whole thing even better when I realized you were true mates. You should thank Darryl, really. If it wasn’t for him telling me to hold off, I would have killed you at some point. The car and the raven…that was just for fun, just something to keep me going.”
What a weird, sick bastard. “That day on the stairs?”
“I’d made an arrangement with Darryl. His goons were waiting not far out of pack territory. The plan was for me to hand you over to them so they could give you a beating as a warning. And, well, that plan went to shit. As did the one for you to be attacked while you were in town with Lydia. Unfortunately for you, your luck has run out, little one. It’s really nothing personal, Lovette. I like you. You’re strong, you have a good heart, but this is the way it has to be.”
“You think Louisa would want this? Kodak’s her son. Darryl will kill him.”
“Very true. Greta was right – all Darryl wants is for everyone to see him overpower Kodak. He knows he can’t do it. Kodak’s too strong. But there’s one thing that will weaken him – the death of his mate. At the very moment your bond is severed he’ll lose all strength. It won’t last more than a minute, but it will be long enough for Darryl to have this chance and end this once and for all. So you see, Darryl gets what he wants, and I get what I want.”
Hoping he might have a conscience she could appeal to, she asked, “You’re happy to hand over a pregnant female to be murdered?”
Nothing. Not an ounce of guilt or regret to be seen in his expression. “It’s just the way it has to be,” he said for the third time.
“You could take me back,” she slurred, desperate now. “I promise you won’t be punished. Don’t punish this baby for something Kodak did.” Not that she blamed Kodak at all, but if it made the psycho release her she’d say whatever he wanted to hear.
He chuckled but it was humorless. “Honey, Kodak will tear me apart and you know it. Even if you could guarantee me that protection, my answer would be no. You have a mate, Lovette. Let me ask you…if someone killed him, took him from you, could you ever forgive them? Ever forget it? I’ve waited too long for this. He took my mate from me, and now I’m going to take his from him.”
He might have said more, she wasn’t sure, because at that moment she lost the strength to stay conscious any longer, and the blackness swamped her.
The grey wolf was just finishing a kill when the awareness struck him and penetrated the fog in his mind.
Mate. She was close. She shouldn’t be close. The same instinct that told him she was nearby was also able to guide him to where she was. Quickly he galloped through the trees, intent on reaching her. He skidded to a halt when he saw her. She smelled like him and sickness and drugs and anxiety. Mixed in with all that was the scent of the male that held her – ‘uncle’.
The grey wolf threw back his head and howled, garnering the attention of every wolf around him. No other male should touch her. No one was allowed to hurt her. She was his. She belonged to him. The life in her womb belonged to him. They were both his to protect, to care for, to shelter. The only thing stopping the wolf from acting on his raging anger and going for the uncle’s throat was that his claws were pressed threateningly against her stomach – the grey wolf understood the threat, understood cause and effect. Although the man’s words made no sense, he also understood what he wanted. He wanted Kodak. So the wolf drew back, though he remained closer to the surface than ever before.
Kodak rose to his feet, panting and raging. The sight of Lovette, pale and flaccid, held with her back against Darryl’s chest had his blood boiling and something in his chest tightening. She was unconscious, had clearly been drugged. Seeing Darryl’s claws placed threateningly against the place where his baby was growing made it even more difficult for Kodak to remain where he was. Every cell in his body urged him to pounce on Darryl. “Release her.” The words were barely distinguishable.
Darryl gave him a callous smile. “Now that’s not going to happen, my dear nephew. How strange it is to see something finally pull emotions from you. Rick would be devastated he’d missed this. Not as devastated as you’ll be when you watch her die, but still.”
A part of Kodak’s brain registered that all had gone quiet and that his pack was gathering close. Another part of his brain noted that many of Darryl’s supporters had been slain and that Kodak’s side was winning the battle, but his only care was for the limp woman in Darryl’s arms. “Release. Her.” The bastard didn’t. “If you want me, I’m right here. I won’t even fight you.”
Darryl laughed. “It’s tempting. After all, the only thing I really want is for the others to see me take you down. But, well, I’m afraid I don’t believe you would truly allow that. Plus, to let her live would be to break my half of the bargain with our cousin, Brock.” The very male then stepped out of the trees on Darryl’s left. His expression was cold, cruel.
“Dad?” Kirk choked out. “Dad, what’re you doing?”
“He has to know what it’s like, son.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“He has to know how it felt for me when he killed Louisa. What it was like to lose her.”
The truth hit Kodak like a slap. “She was your mate?”
“And you took her from me.”
Kirk shook his head, his eyes dancing from Brock to Lovette. “Dad, tell me you didn’t hand her over to Darryl.”
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?