Claimed by the Alpha

Episode4: The Alpha's Warning

The unrelenting thunder mirrored perfectly with the inner mental turmoil which Liliana's mind was fighting with. Simultaneously, her heart was thumping painfully hard in her chest, as if trying to escape, while she lay in that smoke-filled chamber, dimly lit with tendrils of yellow light. Each breath brought the familiar scent of damp earth joining the wood fire, heightening the focus of her senses. The nagging thought of danger still hadn’t let go. With everything that had just occurred, it was hard to tell if she was actually shaking because of the cold or because of the chain of events which had just taken place.

His mark was branded on her.

“Lioness, you are and will forever be mine.” Bone chilling voices echoed repeatedly in her mind and their effects burned in reality too. ‘Ronan Blackwood’ had consumed her in more ways than one. In her current state it would be near impossible to get rid of his touch on her skin. The weight of his claims were debilitating far beyond the means of shackles. In a twisted sense it felt comforting, while equally suffocating. But like everything else, she wouldn’t succumb easily. Not like that.

When a soft knock erupted in the silence, it sounded ridiculously loud. Her body was aching for a tension release and just when it seemed that the door would open to show something familiar, her intuition was sorely put down. Simultaneously, a figure with a stature seemingly taller than what she imagined emerged, supporting a look which wasn’t the one she had hoped for.

The woman was not Ronan, but with silver braids and eyes of ocean blue she possessed her own cocktail of uniqueness.

“If Alpha comes to know then…” the woman started voice barely above makeable whispers. While the complete sentence died not even halfway through, reason beyond the barrier doors being opened inwards. The only reason seemed to cloud Lunaria’s already frazzled brain to fend for the silvered eyed woman.

“I do not care.” The sheer looks of her silver eyes were powerful enough to stop her gaze locked onto Liliana as she soberly shut the doors behind her. Body straightened and spine straight, triggering every single ounce of defiance and forcible rebellious burning gaze. “Now very simple madam, who are you?”

“I am Seraphina, your healer for this pack.” She inspected Liliana’s arm, noting the bruised marks from the grappling clash with Ronan. “You sustain injuries.”

“I'm perfectly…” Liliana started, before refusing to make eye contact, grudgingly accepting her falsehood.

Sky replied with a pitying look mixed effortlessly blended with concern, “I will only say this once. I know, in your mind, there is some possibility of you fighting him, but you must understand that not all Alphas are the same. Each one is shackled by the chains of ancient law, powerful rules define compliance. If you try too much to oppose him…” Stopping mid sentence, her mouth contorted into a straight line. “You are in extreme danger of being destroyed. Shattered.”

Old echoes of the repressed reinforcement she bore thudded in her chest, and whether it was a caution or the truth, without giving her time to think, someone else joined them in the restricted room.

“Looks like you've made a companion nearby.”

With a sheer deep and soft utterance of a compliment, a chill ran through her body. The man claiming the doorway, shrouded in the shadows bore a sharp hazel stony gaze that flickered between Liliana and Seraphina, now stripped of his shirt exposing his arms, muscles stretching aggressively, as if he were ready to leave the storm himself. Each element that surrounded him made him appear both wild and untamed.

“Alpha.” Seraphina’s immediate response, lowering her head to the ground at his feet.

“You can now leave.” His voice expressed unrivaled authority. She remained silent which was warning enough.

After peering at Liliana and Skye with a gaze that rendered them unreadable, blunt bolts of stupidity flew through their heads. Like someone who was given a chance, he turned on his feet, sharply transitioning to turn his back to her with the promise of collecting them like some demented sports trophy.

The storm outside roared, echoing the conflicting emotions beneath the thin veneer of calm he wore. “You’re afraid.”

“I’m not.” She lied, second guessing her initial statement.

His thumb brushed her lips, igniting a warmth that spread through her body. “Then why is your heart racing?” he questioned.

His presence overpowering – his scent a mix of cedarwood and something darkly alluring that made him akin to sin – temptation in its purest form. “I will break through that stubborn resistance of yours,” he vowed.

With a soft-shivered gasp, she tried to stifle the immeasurable perseverance that pumped through her veins as her heart raced. “You underestimate me, Alpha,” she quipped gently, doling out subtle blows while keeping her wits about her.

“Oh Liliana,” he embarked teasingly, leaving a trail of arousal along her collarbone. “You have no idea what you have awakened in me.”

Sinking her teeth into her lower lip, she felt a flurry of exasperation twist her stomach. This man really was pure danger personified.

“It would seem,” Ronan began, his dark velvet chuckled intertwining with his mocking voice, “that you,”

A slug with unmeasurable promise subdues her need to breathe. She had never before felt so utterly dizzy.

An outburst reverberated throughout the room before she could say anything. In came a young soldier, breached jaw and eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. “Alpha! The western border is on fire, and we have wounded.”

Playful Ronan evaporated into thin air as the dreaded leader took over. “Suffer here.” He turned to Liliana.

“Following you.” Her glare was icy.

A very real danger sparked in his gaze. “I will have order."

“Don't put the wolves out.”

A single twitch turned up in his bare jaw. “You'll never be out of my hold.”

Flaring fury ignited on the Wild. “I do not serve under your orders.”

The soldier was clearly stricken with a strong wave of tension, and the tension crackling between them like static only amplified this feeling. Just before Ronan got the chance to come up with a response though, an excruciatingly painful and agitated wailing resonating howl resounded in the surroundings.

Cursing to himself Ronan used his heel to twist in a turn and storm off into the filled squalls.

Grabbing a dagger, careless Liliana all too willingly charged off against stern orders. Commands went ignored, as did all consequences placed on her, and pretty much any leftover order.

Streamers of chaos persisted throughout the truly horrid battlefield. Bands of wolves were bashing into one another in twos and threes amid a downpour, their snarls and growls mixing with the excruciating sound of sword cutting into flesh. To her surprise, Liliana spotted Ronan, which wasn’t exactly a revelation, but he surely had a “Predator” moment in the middle of battle while “predator-ronan” tearing through his enemies “oblivion style,” was.

But then—

A figure shifted behind him. A rogue wolf, burning with fury, pounced toward his defenseless back.

Liliana did not think.

She acted.

The dagger left her hand, having sunk into the rogue’s throat. As the wolf collapsed, his screams turned to silence.

Ronan turned, his eyes meeting hers. Some flickered in his gaze—something primal. He marched toward her, yanking her wrist.

“You disregarded my order.”

“I prevented you from dying.”

Their breathing mixed, rain drenching them. Ronan’s fingers kept constricting, but his grip had changed. It was gentle—more possessive. Desire. Something darker.

Then he did something unexpected.

He crashed his lips against her.

The world

spun. The storm raged. And Liliana knew, at that moment, she was truly trapped.

Claimed.