Bound To The Armored Alpha

Chapter 4

SOLENNE

The Alpha pull still kept everyone on their knees. Solenne had never seen anything like it. Roman’s alpha pull worked, but it only worked on his pack members. Besides, Alpha Theodore’s alpha pull was way stronger.

Armored Alpha Theodore stepped down from his chariot, handed over his staff of skulls to his brother and walked towards Solenne.

“Where is Alpha Roman?” The Armored Alpha asked, his voice deep, high and guttural.

No one answered. Solenne, too, did not say a word. Afterall, Roman did not tell her where he was going.

“Have you not heard my question? Or….” Alpha Theodore fired, his voice laced with anger.

Alpha Theodore’s eyes moved to me, his armor clanking. He bent, his face moved towards my ears. “Are you not Alpha Roman’s Luna?”

Before I could say anything, he sired his Alpha power again and Roman, Alpha Ian and Dilara came out of the packhouse with their hands in their ears. Obviously, Alpha Theodore was the bigger Alpha. Solenne didn't see Levi. She guessed he was still unconscious.

After Alpha Theodore had summoned Roman and the rest outside, a warrior tried to shoot a Wolfsbane arrow at the armored Alpha. He caught it before it reached his head and laughed.

His reflex was as sharp as a cat’s own.

“Who dared to do this?” He asked, his head piece turning, I guess his eyes were searching for the culprit.

He saw someone on the roof of the pack house. The person, a warrior, kept shooting the thin silver arrows. The arrows were said to have the ability to penetrate the headpiece of the armored Alpha.

The armored alpha held all the bows and then used his alpha power to make the shooter go on his knees. He then did some hand movement and the shooter’s head unalived from his body.

Everyone was appalled.

Theodore then rolled his tongue slowly, as though tasting the poison from the arrow, savoring the collective horror on their faces.

"I am allergic to wolfsbane." He said the word like it amused him. Like it was the name of a child's toy. His gaze moved to Roman. "Your Alpha sent a wolfsbane arrow at me." He let the silence breathe. "Would anyone like to explain to me how that went?"

Nobody spoke.

Theodore crouched to Roman's eye level, and the sheer size of him made the gesture more menacing than any tower he could have stood on. His armor caught the afternoon light.

"Next time," Theodore said softly, "do not try that rubbish again, Roman."

Roman's jaw tightened. "I was asleep. I didn't know you had arrived. I would never send a warrior to hit you with an arrow."

"You were asleep." Theodore's hand shot out. His fingers closed around Roman's throat—squeezing, while Roman's eyes bulged. Sweat broke across his forehead. "You were asleep," Theodore repeated, "while the Armored Alpha stood at your gates. While your men fired at me from the walls. While your packhouse lights burned in every window." His grip tightened, just slightly. "You, the Alpha, was asleep."

The courtyard held its breath.

Then Theodore released him and stood, straightening the plates at his wrist as though the interaction had been nothing more than a mild inconvenience. He stepped back. Roman gasped quietly, trying to recover what remained of his dignity, which was very little.

"Back to business," Theodore said.

********

Solenne watched from the ground where she had remained on her knees, her dress pooling around her in the dirt. Beside her, Dilara clutched her swollen belly, and beside Dilara, Alpha Ian stared at the ground with the hollow expression of a man who had miscalculated badly. ‘Thank you,’ Solenne whispered in her heart, eyes briefly closed. ‘Thank you, moon goddess, for letting me see this day. The day my enemies get disgraced.’

Alpha Theodore then spoke.

"I came for one reason," he said. "My regional taxes. Every Alpha under my authority contributes to the infrastructure fund. Roads. Bridges. The northern patrol posts." He stopped pacing. "Every Alpha paid. Alpha Ian paid." He gestured toward Ian without looking at him. "You," he said, turning to Roman, "have not paid in fourteen months. I sent letters. Seven of them. Would anyone like to tell me who reads the letters in this pack?"

There was silence.

"Am I speaking to myself?"

There was still silence.

"I want my money, Roman," Theodore said simply.

Roman cleared his throat. "I am at this time, experiencing some financial difficulties."

Solenne was stunned. Theodore turned his head slowly. His eyes moved around the courtyard, the stone fountain, the trimmed hedges and the row of luxury vehicles gleaming under the afternoon sun.

"Financial difficulties?" Theodore asked.

"If I could just have one month…."

"I see six sports cars."

"They are–"

"I sent seven letters. You answered none." Theodore's voice had not risen once. That was the most frightening thing about him. "You have no more time. You will pay the outstanding taxes, plus the penalty for non-response, plus a fine for each provision of the regional charter that you have violated today." He reached into his coat and produced a folded paper that he handed to Benjamin without looking. "The total is written there."

Benjamin unfolded the paper and read the figure aloud. Ten million dollars!

Roman's face went grey. That was too much for his small pack.

"That is–you cannot– " He looked around wildly, and then something seemed to collapse behind his eyes. Something desperate crawled up into his expression. "You killed my men," he said. "When you came through the gate. You killed four of my men. Should that not count towards showing me some mercy?"

"I wouldn't have needed to kill your men," Theodore said, "if you had reported to my pack as required. That is another violation. Another fine." He tilted his head. "Would you like to keep talking?"

Roman fell quiet.

Then…..and Solenne would never forget this. It would turn it over in her mind for years. Roman looked up with the expression of a man who believed he was being clever.

"I could offer you one of the beautiful ladies in the pack," he said. "As a tax reduction. A bed warmer, or…"

"Shut your mouth." Theodore's voice cracked through the air like a whip. "Who told you I need a bed warmer? Who told you I would accept a woman as payment for a debt you created through your own negligence?" He stared at Roman with something beyond contempt. It was the look of a man reassessing how low something could sink.

Then his eyes moved.

Slowly. Deliberately.

They swept the courtyard and came to rest on Solenne.

She felt it before she understood it.

That gaze, calm and absolute, settling on her.

"I like this one," Theodore said quietly. "I will take this one."

Roman did not even hesitate. “You can have her!! Take her for all I care. She is worthless to me.”

Theodore was amused. “Who is she?”

Roman's head snapped up. "She is my Luna."

Theodore's eyes moved past him to Dilara, kneeling in the dirt with her hands over her belly. "Then who is this?"

Roman hesitated. "She is also my–"

"Also your Luna."

"She carries my child. Solenne could not give me pups."

"I did not ask for your explanation." Theodore looked at him steadily. "Werewolf law does not permit what you have done here. But let us talk about what matters now." He turned to Benjamin, standing at his right shoulder with his arms folded. "You hear that, brother?"

Benjamin nodded.

Theodore turned back to Roman. "Okay then. If you say so. I accept her. She will come with me. I hear the Luna here has handled economic activities excellently."

It was as if Roman got a reawakening. He suddenly realized Solenne wasn't going to be around to run pack activities for him. He would lose money!!

"You can't do this." Roman stood, and the guards behind Theodore shifted. Roman stopped. "She is my Luna. You cannot take her.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want you to make her a slave."

"I cannot reduce a Luna to a slave," Theodore said evenly. "She will have a use for my pack. That is all you need to know." His eyes returned to Solenne, and for the briefest moment something unreadable passed through them.

"I need her," Roman said quickly. "The pack affairs cannot survive. She handles them."

The Armored Alpha moved before anyone could process it. His hand closed around Roman's collar and the knife was at his throat before Roman's next breath.

"Reject her," Theodore said. "Now, she is bound to me. Afterall, you suggested her first."

Roman's hands trembled at his sides. His eyes found Solenne's for one moment, not with love, not with remorse. With calculation.

"I, Roman Martins," he said, his voice shaking, "reject you, Solenne Samuels, as my mate."

The pain tore through Solenne and she shrieked, her hands pressed to her chest as the bond unraveled.

She pressed her eyes shut. "I accept your rejection," she whispered. And then, only in her heart, she felt a bit of relief, to finally be free from Roman.

Theodore released Roman and sheathed his knife in one fluid motion. He straightened his armor, then turned to look at Solenne.

"Your Alpha," he said, loud enough for the whole courtyard to hear, "did not want you to stay because he loves you. He wants you to stay and keep working for him like an ox." He let that sit. "He did not keep trying to bargain or beg. He did not ask for a single condition on your behalf." He tilted his head slightly. "You ran this pack's affairs, I assume. You kept things moving while he spent your pack's treasury on a woman who is not his wife."

Dilara made a small sound from the ground. Roman stared at nothing.

"She is bound to me now," Theodore announced, addressing the gathered wolves, the guards, the kneeling figures in the dirt. "Let no one in this region mistake that." He turned back to Roman one final time. "I will return for the remainder of what you owe. Have it ready. If I must come back a third time, you will not enjoy what I bring with me."

Roman nodded. He looked smaller than Solenne had ever seen him.

Benjamin appeared at Solenne's side. His hand closed around her elbow and lifted her to her feet.

"Come," he said.

She did not fight him. There was nothing left here worth fighting for.

Benjamin opened the rear door of a black vehicle and guided her in.

Through the tinted window, she could see the packhouse she had spent half her life maintaining.

Roman had already turned away. He was speaking to one of his guards. He did not watch her go.

Dilara was still on her knees, one hand pressed to her belly, watching the car with wide eyes. Alpha Ian had risen and was dusting off his trousers as though the afternoon had simply been a mild inconvenience. The Armored Alpha chose to use his chariot.

Solenne looked away from all of them. The car rolled on and she watched her old life fade into oblivion.