The Replacement Aplha

The Red Door

 The intimate moment between Thomas and I dissipated as we contemplated the best way to approach Luna Evelyn with the news of me being Thomas’s mate.  

“We have to tell her as soon as we can. It would be one of the worst insults to her as a Luna if she found out her son had mated through the gossip of another pack member.”  

“Right,” I said, deep in thought. “How about tomorrow morning? I don’t have to be back at the hospital until Sunday.”

“Tomorrow morning it is.”

“Oh goddess,” I said as I buried my face into my hands. “Alpha Demetri is going to be there too. He’s going to murder me when we make the announcement.”

“Hey, hey… it’s alright,” said Thomas softly. He grasped my hands and pulled them away so that I could look into his eyes. “Dad actually hasn’t really mentioned you after the incident, even after Mom would say… some not-so-great things about you.”

“Like calling me a son-murdering-b***h?”

Thomas ran his hands through his hair nervously. “Uh… something like that, yes.”

“Ugh…” I moaned. “I’m dead.”

Thomas scooped me up into a strong embrace so that my head was resting on his chest. I could feel the strong vibrations of his heart and the warmth of his skin.

“Scarlet, I will always protect you. I always have, and I always will.”

Flashback

12th Grade

My feet ached each time they slapped the pavement. It had been a long shift at Molly’s with very few tips.

I was walking along Main Street in the pitch black with nothing more than a few flickering streetlights and the cool light of the moon illuminating my path.

Goddess, I wished that I had my own car. I was only a few hundred dollars short from buying the Kia that I wanted, which made tonight’s shortcoming of tips even more disheartening.

Thomas wanted to skip his track practice early the next morning so he could walk me home as he didn’t have his driver’s licence yet, but I had refused. I told him to get a good night’s sleep and that I would be perfectly fine walking home alone. After all, it was only 10 minutes from the backdoor of Molly’s to the front steps of my house if I walked briskly.

If I was truly scared to walk home, I told myself, I would have asked Grevis, the diner’s cook, to make sure I got home safe.

Even as I thought these words in my head, I knew they were not true. Grevis was an old, greasy-looking man whose eyes lingered a little too long on me whenever I picked up an order from the kitchen.

When I saw the cluster of males loitering around the front door to the bar, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I could easily identify Ben Cauley and his cronies. I could tell by their obnoxious laughs and slow, clumsy movements that they were exceedingly intoxicated

At that moment, I would have preferred to deal with Grevis.

My eyes darted to the other side of the road. If I crossed now, I would just draw attention to myself. I decided it would be better to hurry past them with my head low in hopes that they were too drunk to notice me.

What a mistake that was.

I wrapped my spring jacket around me tightly and pulled up my hood. As I got closer, I could smell the alcohol that clung to them.

My heart pounded. No one had looked up yet. Instead, they all seemed to be engaged in the story the future Beta, Oliver, was telling.

“…so, I said to her, ‘all the females your age are doing it, so it’s not that big of a deal.’” Then he sniggered. “Why does every single b***h in this pack think their virginities are so special?”

I felt the heat in my cheeks when I figured out that Oliver must have been talking about Quinn.

“Ugh I know,” another one of Ben’s friends agreed, “why do they all think they have to save themselves for their mates?”

I was almost past them when Oliver drunkenly stumbled back, slamming his elbow into my stomach.  

He turned around, confused at first, and then he smiled maliciously.

“Well, well, well…” he said. “Scarlett Brookes.”

Although the blow to my stomach had almost winded me, I picked up my pace in hopes to escape.

A strong hand gripped at my arm.

Ben.

“Where you off to in such a hurry, Beautiful?” he asked.

“Home,” I said quietly.

“But the night has just begun,” he said. His friends snickered at this. He then yanked me towards the group of males, showing me off as if I was some trophy.

“For an Omega, isn’t she easy on the eyes?” he asked his friends. One of them whistled.

Ben’s grip pressed into my skin and started to throb. I searched around desperately, hoping someone would intervein. But the street was empty aside from a drunken Omega that was passed out on the sidewalk. A couple of Ben’s friends looked at me nervously with pale faces, as if they were uncomfortable with Ben’s aggressiveness, but neither of them said a word. They didn’t dare stand up to the future Alpha.

“But remember, you can look, but you can’t touch. Only I can touch.”

I felt a cool surface on my back and realized that Ben had pushed me up against the brick wall of the bar. His breath reeked of alcohol and his eyes looked foggy. However, despite his obvious intoxication, he was much stronger than me. His powerful body towered over me and I had no hope of escape.

“What’s your opinion on female’s saving themselves for their mates?” he asked me.

“I… I think it’s a good idea,” I stammered.

 “Good,” he breathed into my neck, “because we’re mates. I’m certain of that. So we don’t need to wait until you come-of-age then, do we?”

He pressed his weight on me further and I felt the air in my lungs being squeezed out of me.

Black spots danced in my peripheral vision and I gasped, attempting to gulp down any air that I could.

I was going to pass out.

Suddenly, I heard a loud sound of a vehicle racing down the road, then the squealing of tires as it came to an abrupt stop.

The sound startled Ben, and in this moment of distraction, I was able to yank my arm free. With all my strength, I shoved Ben as hard as I could, and he toppled backwards with a surprised yelp.

I dogged several grasping hands of Ben’s friends and sped towards the mystery vehicle. I had no idea who the person was, but they were my only option of getting away from Ben.

I squinted my eyes to get a better view of the moving silhouette that was illuminated by the car headlights.

I recognized the figure instantly. It was Thomas. He had just managed to leap out of the BMW and started towards his brother, charging at full speed. He looked furious.

“Scar, run home!” he screamed at me.

But I was frozen. Was Thomas planning on taking all five of these males, all of them at least five years older, including the future Alpha and Beta?

“Go!” he said fiercely, “Now.” He gave me a little shove which was enough to set the mechanics of my body in motion. My legs carried me down the street. I sprinted all the way home, taking corners so sharp that I slipped on the loose gravel several times.

I didn’t stop until I had slammed the front door safely behind me.

Then I collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.

The blood red door burned in my memory and was all I could see when I closed my eyes. 

After several minutes I regained my senses, I started to panic. I had to help Thomas. He would be beaten into a meaty pulp by Ben if I didn’t do something.

But what could I do? The only other pack member that had authority over Ben was Alpha Demetri and his Beta. I couldn’t just skip over to Demetri’s mansion and casually knock on the door, could I?

I had decided that my only option was to wake up Dad when there was a quiet wrap on the window.

Ben’s inflamed, bloody face appeared in the glass and I hastily opened the door to let him in. 

“Oh… Ben…” I moaned, horrified.

His one eye had swelled completely shut and blood was dripping steadily from his nose.

“I don’t want to stain your carpet,” was all he said.

I sat him down on the sagging couch and and gave him a cloth to stop the nosebleed. After I had pressed an icepack onto his swollen eye, I asked him what happened.

“The boys got me pretty good,” he said. “After I jumped on Ben and socked him a few times in the stomach, they pulled me off of him pretty quickly and started throwing punches. Luckily, they were pretty drunk, and I was much faster than any of them. So, I was able to get away.”

“But how did you know that I was there in the first place?”

“Mom actually knocked on my door and woke me up because she was worried about Ben. She told me he had gone to the pub and hadn’t returned yet. When I heard that, I knew I had to get to you fast because I knew your route home would lead you right past that very building. So, I snuck out of the house as soon as Mom left and stole one of Dad’s cars.”

I couldn’t look at Thomas. It was too painful as I knew his injuries were because of me. I lowered my eyes to the ground.

“Thank you Thom. If you hadn’t come… I don’t know what would have….”

“Hey,” he said, giving my hand a little squeeze. “It’s okay now, you’re okay. But there’s one thing I have to ask of you.”

I looked up at him. “Yes?”

“If Ben is right, and you two are actually mates, please, Goddess, reject him.” 

SR