Alpha's Fire

Alpha's Offer

Prue knew she had no choice but to go along with what the men asked, so walked towards her door. The black haired man stood in her way, his muscled arms folded over the black t-shirt that stretched across broad chest. 

The man gave her a death glare, with deep black eyes that glinted with flecks of amber. He looked as though he had no intention of moving out her way. Prue refused to feel intimidated, so squared her shoulders and kept his stare while moving her one hand to the knife in her belt. The warning was clear. The atmosphere was tense. 

Keeping her features neutral, she let every word roll off her tongue slowly, "You think you can take me?" She questioned, the challenge of a fight sparkling in her sea-blue eyes. 

The man smirked. Prue couldn't help but notice a deep scar on his left brow that moved as he spoke, "Think? Honey, I know."

Her quiet calm snapped as she twisted her body and had the man, who was at least double her weight, pinned to the ground, a hunting knife to his throat.  

The man blinked, not quite sure what had happened. Up close she could really study his face. He had a slightly crooked nose that looked like it had been broken one too many times but only added to his ruggedness. 

"Eric, enough," boomed the fourth man who had not moved from his original position. 

"I'll make him and my other men wait outside," the fourth man said.

For a moment Prue didn't move, debating whether she could buy herself enough time to escape. She pressed the blade a little harder, drawing a thin line of blood before letting the black-haired man go, deciding there was nothing she could do but hear them out.  

He got up and his smug face was now a mask of fury, "Where has your pretty smile gone, honey?" she winked. This time she was the one that smirked, flashing her perfect smile.

She looked at the fourth man for the first time and was a little taken aback, although she didn't let it show. He towered over her, well over seven foot. He had light brown hair, a short dark beard and looked younger now she was not looking at him from the corner of his eye. 

He had a strong, straight nose and full lips. His big green eyes were like the colour of grass in the summer. And his body, it was broad and muscled and toned in all the right places. Prue thought he could have even been attractive...But his face was just too hard. Too brutal-looking. 

Elena purred in appreciation though.

Don't even think about it, she told her wolf. 

I like him. I can scent the danger on him. 

And that is exactly why you shouldn't like him.

Elena preened. 

Prue nodded to the door. "Leave your weapons outside."

"I don't have any." 

"Who are they then?" She sassed.

Prue unlocked the door with an old iron key and thought about why he had no weapons in his human form. It unsettled her as it meant he didn't think she was dangerous enough to warrant them. 

What does that say about him, she thought. 

She went over to stand by the fire, where embers still flickered in amongst the ashes. She tossed on a couple of logs from a wicker basket and stood next to a sharp iron poker. Watching.

He enter the room, ducking his head under the doorway, before inspecting the spacious living room of her cottage. A large fire place stood at the far end set into a stone wall. The rest of the walls were painted white and featured various oil painting that she had bought from passing traders. Two cream upholstered seats sat either side of the room and there was a small table and chair draped with a stylish fur throw sat next to window.

His green eyes continued to roam the room. It was a typical country cottage, although it was easy to see that Prue had a taste for the finer things in life. Thankfully the many contracts she had completed for the Elder's over the years had allowed her to accumulate a small fortune.

When he was finally done inspecting her home, he looked at her. "My name is Henry Delta. I assume you are Prue Featherworth?"

He must have seen the shock in her eyes. She couldn't help wonder why the Alpha of Alpha even knew her name. Henry continued on. "I am not here to try and..." He paused and looked around again, "disturbed your peace."

Prue watched him, the way his body moved under his dark clothes, pure muscle and power. His arms were so thick she couldn't help but wonder how many hands she would need to get all the way around just one of them. She said nothing but her wolf purred for him. She knew of Henry Delta, he ruled the most powerful pack in Europe. And, he was not used to being told no, especially by a lone wolf. It was safer to live in a pack. Being alone made you vulnerable. A wolf without a pack was rare, normally they had been banished and it was through no choice of their own. Unlike Prue, who had left by her own accord, preferring her own company than being a slave to a cruel Alpha's whims. 

"Whatever the reason you are here. The answer is no."

He smiled. It was breathtaking. Perfectly straight white teeth. He was perhaps the most handsome man she had ever seen and most definitely the deadliest. He moved with a warrior's stealth. Everyone was prey to him. Prue could feel her palms getting sweaty. She willed herself to calm. She was the renowned Prue Featherworth - she chased down the worst of the worst, bringing down justice to those that no one else could. No one would scare her again. 

"I have a contract for you, it will pay handsomely," His words were stern.

She rolled her eyes. "The answer is no." Prue didn't care who he was.

"You don't even know what it is," he countered coldly.  

"I don't care about money," she told him, taking a seat to inspect her nails, trying to look as bored as she could. "You have nothing you can offer me. The Elders cannot call on me for another four-and-a-half months. And I am under their protection as long as I fulfil my bi-annual agreements."

Henry took a seat opposite her, stretching his thick arms over the back of the seat cushions. 

"I see," he remarked inspecting the quality of the cream furnishing and bright red velvet pillows. 

"Is that all? Because I have a deer to skin and gut." 

"My men have already started the job you, so you have no excuse but to listen, while they do the work." It almost sounded like an order.

Prue scowled, not liking this male one bit. He had triggered her temper. "I am not one of your inferiors to command. I am the commander of my own life and I do not need you or your lackey's help to skin my dinner. It seems to me that you are ones that need my help,  or you would not be sat in my living room. You have wasted your trip Alpha Delta. There is nothing you can offer me that I would be interested in. "

It was as though he did not hear her words. "I can give you whatever you want. Money , jewels... Training. You have clearly heard of me, the power I command."

So obnoxious, she thought. 

Her interest had piqued though. Training with the elite warriors commanded by the Alpha of Alpha could teach her a few things. Prue had vowed she would never be weak again. Being deadly was part of what made her feel powerful and that spoke to her. She was good but no where near the best. Prue shifted ever so slightly in her seat, it was barely noticeable but he saw... Somehow. So he went on. 

"I have master spymasters, assassins, fighters and scholars, all of which can train you, to protect yourself."

She almost laughed. 

"You think I need to learn to protect myself Alpha Delta." She challenged, speaking his name slowly with as much sarcasm as she could muster, dripping on every word. Her stare unwavering with his. Most wolves could not even look an Alpha in the face - she could though. She had never been... Compliant. "Did the Elders even tell you who I am, what I do as part of my," she lifted her hands to do air quotes, "Contracts."

He gave nothing away, his gaze so intense it made her want to fidget in her seat - this time she didn't move though. But, then she noticed him. Ever so slight -  a tell - his jaw tensed, giving her the answer. She was grinding on him by not giving into his wishes immediately after being asked.

"Please see yourself out." She stood and began to walk away to the kitchen, leaving him in the living room.

Before she reached the door however he said, "Someone has been brutally murdering members of my pack. Seventeen days ago it was my Beta. A friend of more than 20 years. You are of the best which is I need your services, or so I am told by the Elders. I need someone who can work undercover - someone unknown that can go unnoticed in my lands. My men and myself are too close." He paused for a moment before continuing, "You know, I was warned that I would have no chance of you agreeing to my terms."

She turned to eye him. He was now stood, his green eyes were now more of a hard grey and his posture was stern. 

"If you knew I would say no, they why did you bother coming?"

He ignored the question and said, "I can offer you the finest training, money and I can be the deciding vote that means you will not have to work another contract for the Elder's Council... Or you can be ordered to join a pack."

She growled. He knew far more than she would like. He knew that he had got her though, so did she. 

"You think you can come in here and blackmail me with my freedom," she said with a deadly calm. Prue ground her teeth. Furious. Heat filled her body as her wolf raged, fighting to get to the surface.  

"No, I am asking you, but if you refuse the order can be made to force your hand."

He placed a rolled up piece of the parchment, sealed with wax on the table. 

"What is that," she spat. 

"A document giving you the freedom to be alone. The thing you seem so desperately to want." No judgement in his eyes but they were cold, uncaring. 

Prue picked up the parchment and studied it, "It is missing a signature."

He was silent. "You son of a b***h. You already voted for this didn't you. Already knowing I would say no. All it needs is your signature."

He nodded. Cold. He was so cold. "I will sign it when you find the killer."

"And what if can't find the killer?" He was silent again. 

She nodded, understanding dawning. Bile in her throat. If she couldn't find the killer, she would lose her home - her corner of the universe. everything she had worked so hard for her. Her heart felt heavy, like a physical pain in her chest, at just the thought. If she would not what he asked, she would become a slave to another's whims. Bred like a prize mare to whatever Alpha the Elder's saw fit. No matter if he was brutal and cruel, which most were. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

She stared at the Alpha in front of her with such loathing before he turned to leave, completely unfazed. 

 "We will give you time to pack. My men have already put your deer on a spit. We will eat and leave." Henry closed the door as he left. 

Prue stood there, feeling anger swell in the pit of her soul. She stomped to her room to pack travelling gear, grumbling about the insult to injury of the men eating the deer she had carried home for three miles. She wished they would choke on it.