Alpha Jace’s Salvation

A Handsome...Beast

ARIANA VAUGHN

Everything happened so fast, and even though I was still trying to process what I was going through, life threw another obstacle at me without hesitation. The life I was living before now wasn’t the best, but I was yet to dig into my new life, and here I was, getting taunted by beasts—an handsome and equally ugly beast.

Aside from him, I could tell I was in deep s**t when I tried to shift on the uncomfortable surface that seemed to be moving too fast for my liking. Beds don’t walk, and why was the side of my stomach burning like hell itself?

My memories were foggy, but I remembered crying in the sitting room before emptying my bladder in the toilet closest to me. I didn't want to go into the space Alison showed me earlier because I was scared.

I doubted if I was having another nightmare because the pain below my left breast was too real to be a hallucination. Did he attack me in the restroom? He couldn't have.

Yes, he could hurt me, and I would have assumed the shapeshifting stranger did this to me. Flashes of how I struggled to open the restroom door rushed into my mind, and I was trying to escape from something or someone.

It has to be someone who brought me back to my belief. Jace must have done this to me one way or the other. He was the only one I was trying to escape from, so it made so much sense that he tried to strike before I made a surprising move. But I wasn’t even thinking of running when I went to urinate. Smoking me like some fish wasn't necessary.

Smoke! Fire! Oh no!

My memories confused me, and the burning pain wasn't making me feel any better. Alpha Jace, or whatever the shapeshifter called himself, undoubtedly knew how to make a girl succumb forcefully.

What I didn't understand was why the bed was moving. I tried to speak, but I ended up coughing vigorously, which I assumed was because of the smoke I inhaled earlier. The bed stopped moving, and I had the chance to see what was making it move, only to discover that a doctor and some nurses were attending to me.

“There’s no need to panic. You will be fine.” The doctor said to me.

“Save me from them, please.” I pleaded with the doctor even though I had tried to check if Alison or Jace was around me somewhere. I didn't see them anywhere close, but my mind wasn't at rest.

The shapeshifter specifically told me that he wasn't letting me go and that I could never escape him. Perhaps the fire was a blessing in disguise.

“You are saved, sweetie. I need cold water!”

The doctor said the first part of her statement to me before yelling the second part to the nurses. I couldn't bring myself to believe her, and as much as I wanted to calm down, I couldn't forget what I saw and heard inside that suite.

“You don’t understand. They are coming for me.”

“Do it, Alison! Dammit!” My fear was heightened when his loud and angry voice boomed through the hallway. I jerked off the bed into a sitting position to see how close he was to me, and my heart sank when I saw him at the end of the hallway.

He wasn't as far as I wished he was. And Alison, whom he claimed was a witch, walked towards me with the coldest look I have ever seen on anyone’s face.

“As you wish, Alpha Jace.” I heard Alison reply, and my fear of being with them again overshadowed the pain underneath my left breast. Fear made me forget the pain.

“Get me out of here! Please!” I screamed at the doctor, and the nurses pushed the stretcher I thought was a walking bed earlier. Instead of listening to me, the doctor ordered a nurse to sedate me because I was going into shock and obstructing her work.

“Listen to me! Run!” I had to shout again, but the doctor didn't have the chance to caution me like I believed she would have done because Alison was right behind her in a twinkle of an eye. She was fast, and that terrified me.

I thought it couldn’t get worse, but it got more than the word ‘worst’ could describe when Alison muttered some words, and everyone around began to slump to the ground. My eyes widened in fear when I saw the situation.

She just killed these people by muttering, and she was about to do the same to me.

“A-Alison, you d-don't want to do this….” I stammered, shifting backward, but there was nowhere I could escape to.

“I already started.” Alison resorted before going back to murmuring in a weird tone and language. Jace was standing behind her with his hands in his short pockets. What they were planning to do to me was unknown, at least to me,

It started when Alison's pretty face deformed, changing into the scariest face a horror movie makeup artist would love to create but never make. It would have been fun if this was a movie but s**t! It was a reality.

Alison's face looked burnt and then lashed at by a sharp weapon before it was dragged through hell to make it permanent. My description couldn't justify what I was staring at, and fear made me look away from her.

Alison's whispers intensified to the extent that I couldn't recognize her voice as hers at some point, and my senses were stolen from me when a guy-wrecking pain consumed every bit of me. It started from the burnt part of my stomach that the doctor tried to work on.

It was stretching and killing me slowly.

I couldn't hear my scream, but I was conscious that my mouth was stretched beyond its capacity and agape.

“That should do until we get home, Alison. They are close.”

I was able to hear Alpha Jace barking those words at Alison. I didn't understand what was happening and wasn't interested in finding out. The pain began to subside along with Alison’s whispers.

The upper part of my dress that wasn’t affected by the fire was soaked due to the feverish sweat trickling down my body from the root of my hair. My fingers instinctively flew to the side of my stomach, which was the source of my discomfort.

The the wound was close to being entirely healed, to my surprise. I didn't bother to wonder about the possibility of being healed by Alison, yet I was amazed by her.

And I was scared of her due to the horror that the sight of her deformed face sent down my spine.

Alison swayed on her feet, and she would have collapsed if Jace, the beastly stranger, didn't rush to her side, holding her as she gasped for air. They both looked perfect for each other.

Why was Alpha Jace chasing after me when he had a pretty woman in his life and beside him? Alison was a Wonder Woman. The kind that Kara and I wowed about and watched through our not-so-awesome television when we were younger.

They were supposed to be characters in a fantasy novel or movie.

“This is your chance to run, Ariana!”

A quiet voice that I believed was my subconsciousness chanted in my head, and I heeded the voice's advice without thinking twice. I had nothing to lose, not anymore. They made a mistake healing me.

I took my eyes off the weird duo, left the stretcher, and tiptoed away from my kidnappers. That was what they were. Kidnappers.

“I dare you to take another step! Run away if you want! Stress me and your bratty sister, and your useless father will bear the consequences of your actions!”

Every word Alpha Jace said to me was harsh, threatening, and coming from a place of severe frustration, and I received it with the same amount of frustration, yet my feet were glued to the shiny floor of the luxurious hotel.

Again! My family is being used as a threat to me by a man who wants to exploit me. It was funny how I was called selfish by Kara when I bore all of this selflessly just for her to be okay.

My mother would have said, "Protect Kara," but sadly, no one was around to act as my protector.

My dad wouldn't even notice that I was gone. He wouldn't.

Despite my family's selfishness, I didn't dare take another step.

"Are you alright? We have to go before they arrive. Can you take us home?"

I heard Alpha Jace murmuring to Alison. His voice was calm and collected, unlike when he was talking to me.

Once again, why not impregnate Alison and make her have his so-called heir, which seemed to be the cause of my problems?

"I need a few minutes to find the right place and summon the right forces and energy, Alpha. You know how it works."

Alison responded, sounding so much more like her usual self. Her voice was back to normal. Alpha Jace didn't sound pleased about Alison's explanation, and even though I had my back on them, I could tell something was wrong.

It was weird that I had to call someone Alpha Jace when I didn't even know the meaning behind the name. Was his name Alpha?

And was Jace his second name?

All these questions need to be studied be answered, but I’m hoping I will never need to seek after them.

"We don't have time, Alison, do your thing. I'll protect you while you prepare to take us home. Which way?"

Alpha Jace asked Alison like she was some map that was supposed to lead to his house. Was Alison his driver too?

I realized too late that the shapeshifter and his accomplice seemed to be trying so hard to avoid being seen by some people. By the time I figured that out as my one-way ticket out of their clutches, Alpha Jace had dragged me away, following Alison's lead.

Should I scream for help or follow him quietly for myself and my family? I didn't know if screaming would favor me, and I didn't want to take a risk likely to tamper with Kara's life.

I had nothing to lose, but my sister had much to lose if this monster shifted his attention to her. With that in mind, I willingly followed my shapeshifting Kidnapper.

"Come on, Alison! Time isn't on our side.”

Alpha Jace finally broke the silence after we walked for about five minutes with no specific destination in mind. Alison might have a goal, but my mind was blank.

I was clueless, and I hated it, but what choice did I have?

Alison didn't respond with words. Instead, she began to chant again, running ahead of us, and I was pulled roughly by Alpha Jace just because he wanted us to catch up with his witch.

"There it is!"

Alison eventually stopped running, and she breathlessly announced that she had found what she was searching for. I expected to see a car that would take us to the home they were excited about, but all I saw was a large spacious hall with several windows, and we were right in the middle of it.

"It's perfect. I shall begin the process, Alpha."

Alison declared. Alpha Jace was relieved about this information, and the tight hold on me was slightly released. He had forgotten that he was holding me, and to my disgust, his grip tightened once again when someone spoke with him.

"We're going home.”

"Why the rush? And not so fast. And not with that helpless human."

My protector has arrived.