"Betrayed by the Alpha, Chosen by Fate"

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Elowen's POV

His mouth was touching mine, his hands were in my hair, and I was spinning as he was. It was not a tender kiss, nor was it a sweet one. Fire, shadow, both at once, drew me in, and choked and liberated at once. Sparks jolted along my body, yet I was aware that it was not the mate bond that caused me to catch fire. It was him.

Alpha Garrick.

No angel stood before me. It was more than dangerous; it had been beautiful in a manner that made it difficult to breathe, frightening in a manner that a storm always is when it begins to crack the sky in two.

By the time he drew back, my lips were all swelled, and my chest was lifting. I gazed at him in amazement, and still tasting him, still reeling.

Why had he kissed me? Why did he call me 'mate,' and I knew I wasn't his?

His lips leaned up against my ear. “Pretend.”

The word shot straight into my bones. Pretend. He wanted me to play along. My mind was artistically confused. Why would I do that? Why—

“She is not your mate.”

The silence of the voice behind us broke the stillness like thunder. Garrick swung around, as though he had just become aware of the existence of other things.

It was Alistair.

“And why would you say that?” This voice of Garrick was too calm, too calm, and as he grew to me, the arm round my waist tightened and drew me nearer.

Alistair’s jaw clenched. He would not give in here; he could not tell the truth here, in the presence of the whole Ravenshollow Pack. In their presence, he had tied himself to Imogen and had told her that she was his sole and only. He could not admit that I was the one whom he had turned his back on.

That she is low-ranked, Alistair spat. An Alpha can never be bound to such a one. It was a very sharp voice, full of fury, and I wondered- why was it so much to him? Why had he that appearance of being on fire?

“Why should that bother you?” Garrick inquired, and his voice was smooth and his eyes like ice.

“She isn’t worthy. She is nothing.”

The next sound that came was a shaking of the hall. There was a growl, deep and primal, that tore Garrick with its chest. As the mass of his strength crashed through the people, my knees trembled. Wolves lowered their heads and instinctively made submission.

Alistair didn’t bow. I could see the vein in his neck throb; I could see his hands clenched into impractical fists.

I am sorry, Alpha, but all the words were bitter. He cringed at the necessity to submit, cringed at the necessity to recognize the superior force that stood in front of him.

The eyes of Garrick swiveled up at Imogen, who was standing rigidly next to Alistair, with a pale, angry face. That wolf is yours--she is your Luna?

Alistair looked up at me out of his eyes in half a moment and wavered in indecision before he took a breath. “Yes. She is my mate. My Luna.”

Garrick’s stare didn’t soften. “Then hear me. Do not ever talk to me. Or else.”

The silence that followed that promise was even noisier than a shout. Nodding his head, Alistair bled pride and moved aside.

I had imagined this scene previously - Alistair, empowered at last, his ego destroyed. I believed that it would be like triumph. Rather, there was anarchy within me. I would have smirked; I would have rubbed salt into his wound, but I didn't. Because Garrick wasn’t my mate. He had told me I must pretend, and in some way, he knew my name.

How?

We had never met. I would recollect whether I had seen him or not. Alpha Garrick of the Duskbane Pack was a man not soon forgotten. And still, he had whispered Elowen as he had always known it.

The light-headedness after his kiss remained with him. The manner in which his eyes stuck me there was still hot.

“Come with me, mate.”

He didn’t ask. His hand fell on mine, and held it tight, and there was no mistaking it. I hesitated, but then his eyes fastened on mine, and they had spoken volumes. There was no choice but to disobey. My legs accomplished this, and as I was pulled along, my chest was shouting on the contrary.

Each looked at the hall pursued. I saw my mother in the press, and her face was drug-white with horror as she saw me being dragged away. She attempted to move, but the crowd held her, and just before the doors shut, her hands reached out to me.

Rowan was trailing close behind me as I was led along through the stone halls by Garrick. His footsteps were quiet, his presence was an ominous shadow to us.

“Where are you taking me?” My voice was small and cracking; I couldn't keep my fear a secret.

I want some place out of the way, said Garrick.

The lyrics increased my heartbeat. I remembered every story I ever heard of him. Alpha Garrick, the feared leader of the Duskbane Pack. His wolves were strong, well off, and cruel. They had been trained murderers, and their devotion to blood. Large whole packs were wiped out of existence through breaches of oaths to him.

No one crossed the Duskbane Pack. Those who attempted became examples.

And here, now, was I, in his hand, and was being drawn aloft out of the crowd.

Panic thudded in my chest. No one would intervene, even if someone dared to follow. Not for me. I wasn’t loved here. And who in any way could be against Alpha Garrick?

I was doomed.

Cares thee? I asked abruptly and looked at him as though I could read in his mind the tempest of his thought.

“What do you want from me?”

His answer was simple. “To talk.”

To talk. The words rattled me more than any threat. Why would he want that? I was nothing to him. The kiss lingering on my lips was the only thing between us.

“You want to kill me, don’t you?” The language came tumbling out, and cut with panic.

His eyes didn’t flicker. He looked almost bored. “No.”

“No?” I did say, wherein I hoped and doubted.

You would not be standing here asking me if I wanted you dead, his voice low.

I was struck by the truth of it more than the threat would have.

And whether that was what terrified me more, or less.