Alma

Chapter Sixteen: Alma

Alma:

When I find a package with a dress and a letter the next morning, I finally understand what’s happening. My uncle had sold me off. The letter read:

Alma,

Your parents made a mistake, but I am trying to correct it. I have found you a suitable mate-- a male from another pack who knows nothing of your past. He will be up to visit you today or tomorrow, and the ceremony will take place the following full moon. Be on your best behavior. I will know otherwise. This is your ceremonial dress. Do not destroy it.

He didn’t even sign it! I shred the letter before moving on to the dress. This is how Dante finds me, and just gives me a confused glance. “The bastard sold me off to a stranger. That’s why he gave me to the school. I would have no home pack to return to. Selling me to another pack will solve all the problems around me.”

Tears prick my eyes again as I look at Dante. Dammit, I hate crying, but it’s all I can do right now. I force the tears away and take a long look at Dante’s face. “You knew.”

“The chameleon told me you found your mate. But I had my doubts. ”

My tears are replaced by rage. “I’m gonna f*****g kill him, Dante.”

“Or, you destroy his plan. Tell this suitor who you are.”

I think of how that could work. “It depends on how much the transaction cost him.”

I wish I could just stay in Dante’s room again, watching movies and picking on the characters. But I needed to handle this issue. Rising, I march out of my room and start down the stairs.

“Where are you going?”

“For a run.”

“I’m coming with.”

I look back, confused. “I already thought that you were.”

“Oh.”

I smile a little bit as we leave the building. As we enter the woods, a little thought, a nudge from my wolf, spurs a plan. “Y’know, I could just act like I already found my mate.”

Dante stops short. “What?”

“If I can show that I have found my mate, then the transaction is off.”

“Or some innocent guy is fighting-- to the death-- for a lie.” His words are filled with gravel.

“Are you okay?” Concern floods me as I watch his wolf take over.

“No.”

“Tell me what’s wrong then.” I let my own wolf out to play, drawing Dante’s out more.

“Mine.”

The claim is a whisper, even less so, but it paralyzes me. In my mind, my wolf smirks and tells me “told you,” before skulking to the back of my mind. I run away.

“Dante, no…” my words are an exhale as I run; I didn’t want to lose him and I knew my uncle wouldn't play fair.

Like a dumbass, I ran away. Dante is a predator, and his wolf is in control, and I ran the f**k away. I hear as he gives chase, his footsteps becoming closer and closer as his long ass legs quickly eat up the distance between us. I dip toward the brook, and run up it, backtracking and erasing my scent trail. His howl as he loses it is so filled with sadness I cry silently, a response wells up in my chest. But I can’t answer his call.

Not yet.

I hurry back to my sterilized room, with that damn dress, the shreds of it anyhow, staring at me. I have to break this deal of my uncle’s, if only to save Dante from madness.

A male who finds their mate slowly goes crazy until the ceremony. If they are rejected, they can go feral. But, if their mate chooses another over them? Might as well put them out of their misery now. I can’t let that happen. I will choose Dante. I do already, but I’m not ready. If we went through with the ceremony… life for Dante would become so much harder than it is, and I don’t want that to happen. But I can’t stay away; it hurts to, and will hurt more now that he has staked his claim.

I realize how stupid I was in running away. I should have explained everything, not left. I cross the hall to his room and wait. A wolf always returns to its den.

***

The door creaks open around midnight, about twelve hours after I ran away. Looking up I find Dante entering the room. When he takes a deep breath, I know he knows I am here and begin to speak. “I’m sorry about earlier… I freaked out.”

“Why?” His voice was guttural, and I could feel the vibration across the mattress.

“You know my story, Dante. You know what would happen if we went through with the ceremony, and I can’t do that to you.”

“You say that like I care.”

“You should care, Dante. You’re the alpha of the school. Soon to be alpha of your home pack. The blowback from bonding with someone like me would cause an uproar.”

“I could handle it, Alma. Trust me.”

I feel my heart break a little. “I do trust you, Dante. I don’t trust myself.”

“You should though. I will relinquish my spot as Alpha here, Alma. Please, just don’t refuse me again.”

That’s what I was afraid of. He will give up everything he needs because of me. I move closer to him, finding his hand and grabbing onto it like a lifeline. “I won’t. Just, give me some time to not only accept this, but organize everything behind my uncle’s back.”

He chuckles silently before hauling me against his chest. “I’ll help you plan everything. Tomorrow, though. Tonight, we need to sleep. We have class, and I think we should tell the others-- our little rouge pack, that is.”

I smile at his use of ‘our’, thinking there might be a shot at surviving after all. “Deal.”

Dante and I lie down, and sleep.

***

The next morning, lovely Sunday, I wake up to Dante playing with my hair. “Leave it alone, it’s a mess.”

“But it’s soft.” He picks up a few strands and let them fall slowly.

“I need to brush it.” I sit up, desperate to find a hairbrush, and realize I left it in my room. I climb out a bed, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain as I do, and cross the hall, unease blooming. I open the door, and before I can step back, hands reach out and pull me into the room. I manage a small squawk of help and then everything is black.

***

What the f**k, I think. I would speak, but I can’t. It is currently impossible, with a gag in my mouth. I smell dirt, and know where I am. Why was I here? I’m not welcome here. He made that much clear when he turned me over to the school.

Thinking of school made me think of Dante and pain slices across me. I wanted him here, with me. I wanted to see him, and tell him I’m sorry, because I have a feeling I am not leaving here for a while.

Footsteps sound on the stairs and my uncle approaches. “Alma, Alma, little Alma. You’re always ruining my hard work, aren’t you? I try to take over the pack, and you prevent it from happening. I try to take care of you, and you find a mate. Why must you be so contrary?”

He punctuates his question with a slap that stings my face, causing the gag to loosen. I work it out of my mouth. “You’re going to regret that, you ass. Dante will find me, and he’ll kill you… if I don’t before then.”

My uncle only chuckles. “Don’t worry. He won’t find you, darling Alma. Your new mate and you are leaving in two days. Right after your ceremony.”

I want to puke. I shake my head. “No.”

That one word is all I can think. No. No, no, no. I need to get out of here, but to do that, I need to think. Think Alma. I know where I am; the dark basement hid most of the details, but the shelves upon shelves of canned goods were hard to mistake for anything but. The chair with the broken leg was across from me, the desk beside it. I knew there was a small knife on the side of that chair, if I could just get to it.

I test the ropes on my wrists, checking the strength, I could break these, no problem. The problem is the other shifters in the room. I could use my dominance to subdue them… except my uncle is alpha and can draw power from the pack.

An idea hits me like a second smack to the head. I dig into my pack bonds, find Bet, Heather, Garv, Jeff, and lastly, Dante. I grab the bond between him and I, and pull, hard. I feel as he jumps on the other side, and yank again. He pulls back, and I send my fear through the bond, and his anger responds. I try to convey my urgency and my location, but I don’t know if it went through. Pack bonds are fickle. They can be used to find members, but also to send very brief messages. I just hope my message went through as I sit in this chair, waiting. Plotting.