The Alpha’s Wild Princess

18

I said nothing, and he continued.

“The reason I’ve sought an audience with you is so that we could come to a mutual understanding that we have a common enemy. And, as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he opened both his palms as he said the last part and formed a small smile.

“So, you seek an alliance?” I asked him and he chuckled.

“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

“I see no reason to.”

His voice becomes solemn, “A lot of us have lost something to Malcolm’s reign. From what I’ve heard about you, it has not been so long since you were in my shoes,”

I stared at him silently. I could tell he was sincere, despite his underhanded tactics; it was almost like he could not help it. It must be a part of the nuances of belonging to the pack of the Bayou.

“What do you propose?” I finally asked.

“That we join together to take down Malcolm. In the process, we’ll take out Phoenix too. Without Malcolm, he will have no place to hide and he will have no choice but to surrender.”

When he finished, the room was silent, but his words were exactly what I had expected.

“Okay,” I said,

He looked shell-shocked for a second like he had not expected an easy acceptance.

“Don’t look too surprised, Marcel. I have given your words a lot of thought, and there is no point wasting time. We have a common interest and the sooner we work towards it, the better for us all,”

He smiled and stood with me.

“I could not agree more, Mr. Northwood.”

“Call me Nicholas.”

CHAPTER 11

PRAIRIE

T

here was a time when I would have given anything for love. A time, I would have given anything for the love of my father and brother, and acceptance from my peers - not to be seen only as the daughter of the tyrannical Alpha.

I thought those times were long behind me, but I guess not. Over the past two days, I had been cursing out Nicholas Northwood every chance I got. That seemed to be every second of every day because that was how much I seemed to think about the bastard.

Two days since our wedding night, two days since he’d held me so tenderly it had almost brought tears to my eyes. It had been the most wonderful night of my life and then he’d disappeared.

Disappeared without a single word, no note, not even a f*****g text.

I was going to scratch his eyes out the next time I saw him.

Or maybe not.

The morning after that night I had woken up late after a long night of tossing and turning wondering where he was and if he had been attacked by one of the other factions. I didn’t even have his number to call or text him, and I was too ashamed to ask any of the guards.

What kind of wife did not have her own husband’s number?

The house was empty when I finally got around to leaving my room that afternoon. I was in the kitchen attempting to make myself something to eat when I looked out the window and saw him. Except it was not just him, there was a small crowd of people on my back patio and they seemed to be celebrating.

A pain in my chest twinged with hurt at the thought that I’d been left out of whatever celebration was going on while the other part forced the pain down like I always did whenever I would see Alexander praise Phoenix for something I had done better. It happened so frequently that I’d just stopped trying.

Thoughts of my family reminded me of the task I’d undertaken when I agreed to marry Nicholas. I cursed at myself for slacking off over some stupid crush that I had over the same man who did not even bother to find me when he returned. Instead, I saw him flirting with another woman.

My eyes found him again like they had a mind of their own. To be fair, Nicholas kept his hands to himself, but the little slut could not seem to keep her own hands off of him. It was like she had been living under a rock these past few days and had not gotten word that the man she was practically caressing was married.

I could not take it anymore. I walked out the back door toward them. Lucas, bless his heart, saw me first and skipped excitedly towards me. At least one person was happy to see me. The rest of them looked at me suspiciously while others did not even attempt to hide their animosity.

“Prairie, you’re here!” he yapped on excitedly about how much he’s missed me and how he wanted us to go toe to toe on another jam, and Nutella marathon. I laughed at his exuberance.

“I’m not letting you stuff yourself with strawberry jam, buddy. It’ll give you a stomachache,” I said to him while mindlessly staring at Nicholas, I’d been out here for five minutes already, and he had not even noticed. He was wearing a loose white shirt and khaki pants that made him look like a hippy, especially with his long, tousled, wind-blown hair.

God, he was beautiful. Why was he smiling so hard at the slut? He never smiled like that at me.

“You sound like Fiona,” Lucas said, bringing me back to the conversation. I glanced down to find him looking dejected, it tugged at my heart, even though I didn’t know why. I knew he was just a kid, but I was not supposed to care for any of them. I had an agenda, and I needed to stick to it and then figure out a way to get the hell out.

“Oh, honey, please don’t compare me to stuffy old Fiona; we both know I’m more fun than she is,” I said to him with a wink. He was so cute, so much like a little Nicholas that the resemblance was a little jarring.

It planted thoughts I should not be having, thoughts of whether or not was already carrying Nicholas’ child. My hands instinctively went to my stomach, and I looked up to find him watching me. I had no idea how long he had been staring at me, but his gaze followed my hands. They rested on my stomach for the longest time while my heart thudded in my chest.

“Did someone call my name?” Fiona’s voice pulled my gaze away from Nicholas. I turned to find her wrapping her arms around Lucas and placing him in a headlock, which he managed to wiggle out of before running toward a group of kids a few feet away.