The Alpha by Jenika Snow

22

Evelyn

Iwoke with a start, my heart pounding as I shifted on the couch, the book I’d been reading slipping from my lap and hitting the floor with a thump.

For a moment panic set in because I wasn't oriented enough to know where I was, but as consciousness seeped into me, I remembered everything in a horrifying rush of awareness. I felt the heavy absence of Cian, and it was strange to sense this gaping distance for someone so shortly after they’d come into my life.

I sat up and grabbed the book, one of the few “props” that had been in the house. The story itself had been boring enough to put me to sleep, or maybe I was just so mentally exhausted that my body took over for me and shut things down.

I wished I was back in that subconscious state where I wasn’t worrying about what was going on and if Cian was okay. I wished I could go back days before, when we’d been in that motel room, and although I was afraid of the future, we didn’t have all this other shit in the way.

“Ye dozed off for only ten minutes.”

I looked over at Odhran, who stood in the entryway of the living room, his shoulder leaning against the wall. His big arms were crossed over his broad chest. We didn’t speak, but I could see the exhaustion still written heavily over his face. Although we were strangers, I felt like we were kind of one and the same in the kindred spirit department. It was as if my loneliness recognized his.

“I…” I wasn’t sure what to say, didn’t want to make the situation weird or awkward. But ever since I’d sat across from him at the dining room table and told him I was sorry, I’d felt him retreat even more into himself, become colder, more detached and apathetic. I could see intelligence in his eyes and knew he was planning something. I know he’s planning on getting his mate back, and he won’t stop until he succeeds.

He gave me a small smile, even though I hadn’t been able to finish my sentence. The situation was hard all around, and neither one of us knew how to navigate it.

“I’m going tae clean up, but it shouldn’t take me more than five minutes. Ye’ll be okay?” He wasn’t asking me because he thought I was an invalid and didn’t trust my judgment or state of mind. I could tell by the tone of his voice and the softness of his expression. I knew he just wanted to make sure I wasn’t too spooked and would be fine by myself.

He was looking out for me because Cian wasn't here.

I was thankful for his concern and his company. But I wanted Cian here so much more that it felt like I had this wound in the center of my body that I knew would never heal. “I’ll be fine, but thank you. Take your time.” I knew nothing about magical houses or enchanted witchcraft that protected things, but I did feel safe with Odhran.

He gave a curt nod, and once I was alone, I got up and walked over to the bookcase, one that had some faux plants on the shelves, a couple of vases, and a picture frame that still had the insert of the fake family in it. I set the book where I’d found it and turned to the window, the curtains closed, yet I still felt fully exposed.

I wrapped my arms around my middle. Although I knew Cian wasn’t that far away—a ten-minute driving distance, he’d told me—I couldn’t help but feel like there was an ocean between us. It was a strange feeling to be so connected to somebody after just meeting them, to feel like your lives were already intertwined and you didn’t even know how it happened.

It didn’t make any logical sense. But at the same time it made all the sense in the world. It was a fantastical situation. But I trusted it. I believed in myself and what I felt, trusted my gut to lead me in the right direction. It had always held strong and true my entire life, and I knew now wouldn’t be any different.

I was vaguely aware of the sound of pipes creaking as Odhran started the shower, and made my way into the kitchen. I stared at the cupboards, the fridge, my hunger hanging out in the background. Then again, when you were in an impossible situation, the last thing your body needed was sustenance, not when it was trying to survive in other ways.

I was about to go rummage for something to eat and force myself to consume something so my belly wouldn’t be empty, when the sound of somebody at the front door had me freezing. The three knocks that sounded seemed like gunshots through the house.

Instantly I thought about calling Cian, then rushing to Odhran to warn him, but I reminded myself we weren’t in the middle of nowhere, not really. Although the nearest house was a good distance away, I would have considered this a residential area.

I turned, quietly walked to the front door, and placed my palms flat on the cold metal, rising up on my toes so I could look through the peephole. A woman stood on the other side, a bag hanging off her shoulder, a clipboard in one of her hands. She had a cell phone pressed against her ear, and her short, dark bob hairstyle was a little disheveled, as if she’d been running her hands through it after a long day.

I held my breath, trying to calm my racing heart as I listened to what she was saying to the person on the other side.

“Yes, this is my last house. My feet are killing me, and I’m beat, but if I don’t get my quota at getting these surveys out, Harold’s going to jump down my throat.” She exhaled, the weariness in her voice and the exhaustion on her face having a little bit of that tension leaving me. She looked totally harmless, small and petite.

She was just a solicitor, but still there was a tightness on the back of my neck that I could have probably blamed on this situation as a whole. Adryan said the house couldn’t be tracked and was protected from being found by those actively looking for it. I didn’t know how that worked, but I was done questioning things that made no sense with the world I was now thrust into.

I could hear the pipes whining again as the shower was cut off. The weird feeling wouldn’t go away, so I slowly took a step back, but the heel of my foot hit the edge of the small foyer table, knocking the vase that sat on top of it to its side.

It rolled to the floor before I could grab it, crashing to the Pergo, the sound so loud that I knew it was not only noisy enough to be heard across the house, but also on the other side of the front door.

I held my breath and took another step back, but not before I heard the woman on the other side of the door say, “Yeah, she’s inside.” Everything in me froze as I looked out the peephole again. “She’s alone. That’s clear. Maybe one Lycan in there. Tell the team to roll in quickly.”

I didn’t wait; I just took off, eating up the distance of the hallway as I ran to my room. I heard a great crash from behind me and knew the door exploded inward, into the house. I didn’t dare look over my shoulder, just ran harder, faster, but then a hard body tackled me from behind, sending me careening to the ground. My hands shot out instinctively to break my fall as I went down.

The move had my body twisting at the last moment, my head cracking on the corner of a wall, pain exploding in my skull. I cried out, landing on my shoulder, even more pain spreading throughout my entire body. Whoever attacked me from behind rolled me over so I was now on my back, but my vision was blurry, wet warmth sliding down from where I’d connected with the wall.

There was an earth-shattering, animalistic sound that coursed through the entire house. Shouting was happening all around me, orders being thrown out, but it was all garbled as it went in through my ears and swirled around in my head. My eyes were closed, and I shook my head, groaning as I lifted my hand to where I knew there was a gash. I opened my eyes and looked at my fingers, my entire hand covered in glossy red blood.

Suddenly the body was off me, the form sailing through the air. I blinked up to see Odhran standing there, water dripping off his very naked body.

“Run,” he said in a distorted, garbled voice. “Hide.” And then he was attacking the other men who seemed to come out of the woodwork.

I took in a great lungful of air and sat up, pushing my body backward, sliding across the floor until my spine connected with the wall. I was blinking, my vision still hazy, the pain in my head so strong it was hard to focus through it.

When my eyes cleared enough and all I could feel was the rush of adrenaline moving through my veins, I gasped at the sight before me.

In the entryway, Odhran fought four men dressed all in black, face masks covering their heads, only their eyes visible. Cowards, that’s what they were. The woman who’d been at the door stepped through, sidestepping the fight as if it were an everyday occurrence. The front door hung from its hinges, shards of wood scattered along the ground with broken pieces of the vase and splatters of blood.

Although Odhran was holding his own, I could see vicious wounds covering his back and chest… so much blood all I saw was the color red. I could see the glint of silver in the hands of the black-clad men, the weapons they held causing so much damage to Odhran’s body. Yet the Lycan was still standing, holding his own, fighting so brutally it was shocking and admirable.

The longer I sat there, the more my head started to clear. I could still feel the steady flow of blood down my face. I looked at the narrow hallway table, stared at the piece of decor that sat atop it. I stood and lurched for the ceramic lamp.

I picked up the lamp, ripping the cord from the wall just as the woman came forward, shouting things that weren’t clear to me because I was running purely on adrenaline right now.

She produced a gun from the small of her back, her face expressionless.

I didn’t think, just screamed out as I charged forward, but she sidestepped me with this fluid accuracy and slammed the butt of the gun into the side of my head.

My hand had already been propelling forward right before she hit me, and the lamp slammed against her temple. I didn’t know if I took her off guard, she didn’t think I’d be strong enough, or luck had been on my side, but it made contact with her skull, a second crack sounding. Shards splintered outward, flying through the air. She stumbled back, blood trailing down the large cut in her temple.

I was dizzy, my vision even more blurry. More blood was drenching the side of my face and sliding down my neck, along my chest, and soaking my shirt. I rubbed the sticky, thicker fluid away from my eyes as I stared at the fight ahead of me becoming even more brutal.

I could see Odhran was growing weaker. I didn’t think a male like him, supernatural Lycans who were more powerful than anything I’d ever seen, could be taken down by cuts littering their body. I had a strong suspicion whatever weapon those men were using to weaken Odhran were laced with something to take the powerful wolf down.

I wasn’t thinking, just reacting. I had to get to him, help him, even if it was a lost cause.

Because if a man as big and strong as Odhran couldn’t take down these men, I sure as hell didn’t stand a chance. But I had to try. I couldn’t stand here and watch. I had to fight.

One of the men gave a brutal hit to Odhran’s side, having the big Lycan careening to the side and crashing into the wall, plaster shattering around him from the impact. He shook his head as if to clear it, his movement slower, less coordinated. He shook his head again and again, his eyes flashing blue before fading and flashing again.

He was trying to shift, to gain more strength with his wolf, but whatever drugs they were poisoning him with clearly suppressed that.

And then one of them slammed an uppercut on the underside of Odhran’s jaw, a pair of daggerlike brass knuckles affixed to his hand. Odhran went down like a ton of bricks, his body prone, his head turned in my direction, his eyes closing slowly.

With a ceramic shard in my hand, I charged forward again. I only made it a few steps before something hard cracked against the back of my head. I cried out but couldn’t stop myself from falling to the ground, my back hitting the wooden floor hard, so I was now staring blankly up at a large black-clad body that stepped over me.

The man wore a mask as well. He crouched in front of me, lifted the bottom of his mask up to his forehead, and showed me his face, grinning. I had no idea who he was, but the sick pleasure on his face as he stared into my eyes had me realizing without a doubt he was part of the sick fuckers called the Assembly.

“Never seen one of these creatures in the flesh,” he said and looked at Odhran. “Magnificent.” There was awe in his voice. He looked back at me. “We’re gonna have fun with you while we wait for that animal to come for you.” His grin widened. “And he will come, all beastly and salivating for vengeance.” He leaned in closer. “I can’t fucking wait.” He reared his arm back and brought the back of his hand to my face.

Burning pain speared through me, and as my head cocked to the side, as blood filled my mouth in a metallic tang, and as the darkness started to slowly drag me down, I knew this was it.

There was no hope.

There was no chance of getting out of this.