The Alpha's Warrior Princess

Ch.16: Sparks Are Flying Everywhere!

(Alex’s POV)

I was still treading water in the middle of the pool. To say I was shocked at Alli’s comments would be a major understatement. I should have moved faster but my shock had kept me where I was. My mouth hanging open like a d*mn codfish or something. Until I heard Austin quietly say, “Alpha? What should we do?”

Well now THAT was a d*mn good question.

I just softly growled and began moving forward again. I wasn't sure what I was going to do yet, but I was d*mned sure I wasn't going to let April get hurt. I was right behind Alli when she finally stopped her sputtering. I stopped there, ready to intervene if Alli made a move to retaliate against April. I’m sure the look she was giving April wasn’t a pleasant one, but I couldn’t see her face, so I couldn’t tell for sure. All I knew was that April seemed completely unfazed by her.

I was grateful for that for a moment. But only for a moment. Because that's when April spoke. Her voice was calm, too calm, as she very clearly issued her warning. “Now, you listen to me, and listen well, because I’m only going to say this once. I want to make two things clear to you, Allison. One: I don’t want “your Alex”, keep him! And.. “Your Alex” can have you, too.” And with that, my world came crashing down around me.

I’m pretty sure April could see my pain as I felt it fill my features, but to be perfectly honest, I didn’t care. She didn’t want me. She was literally giving me away. Giving me to Alli. How could she do that? That kiss earlier was not the kiss of someone who didn’t care, who didn’t want me. Or maybe it was. Maybe she was no better than all these other girls who just wanted to get with an Alpha for themselves.

Except she doesn’t know we’re an Alpha. She doesn’t even know we’re a wolf. And she didn't try to trap us or deceive us. Max had a point, but then why would she say something like that? My heart was shattering and suddenly the pain from earlier was much worse now.

I couldn't make sense of anything and I started to feel like all the oxygen in the world was suddenly just sucked away. I reached up and clutched my chest as Max began to calmly and quietly talk me through this. You need to breathe, Alex. We'll talk to her, work this all out. But you need to breathe now before we start to sink.

I was confused for a second by that and in that moment of confusion I went under. The second the cool water hit my face, I started to snap out of it and as I resurfaced, Conner’s arms were sliding under mine for support. I nodded to him to let him know I was alright, but I saw the concern in his eyes. Just then April began to speak again and my attention went to her, a part of me hoping she would be looking at me, telling me it wasn’t true. Telling me that she did want me. That she was just gaslighting Allison or something. Anything.

But she wasn’t looking at me, and she certainly wasn’t speaking to me. It was still Allison she was focused on as she continued “and two: If you ever, and I mean ever, threaten me or anybody I care about again, you had better be ready to follow through. Because next time you won’t just be going for a swim, I’ll straight up kill you. So don’t f*ck with me!” With all that said, she simply got up and walked back over to grab her stuff.

She never once even looked back, as though she had tunnel vision and nothing else in the world even existed to her right now. I wanted to run after her, wanted to grab her, to shake her, to shout at her, to hold her, and to kiss her. To show her how wrong she was. I didn't belong to Allison. I belong to her.

She was walking into the house when my anger finally kicked in and I practically snarled to Conner, “get this b*tch inside and let her parents know what just happened.”

I was absolutely livid. How dare Allison treat anyone, especially her own cousin, like that? And who the h*ll does she think she's claiming like some piece of meat at auction? "Yes, Alpha!" Conner's response was immediate, as he wasted no time in grabbing Allison by the back of her now ruined dress and dragging her unceremoniously from the pool.

He drug her sorry a** inside, soaking wet and dripping all over the place. The rest of us were getting out of the pool as well when the shouting started inside. I could hear Johnathon's angry voice but not what he was saying. Though it must be bad considering he's a very even-tempered man. But I couldn't bring myself to care. I just grabbed my towel and dried off before going inside and heading up to my room where I got changed.

I need some time to cool off. I’m sure April does too. Confronting her right now would get me nowhere, and I was just cognizant enough to know it. Max? I asked quietly. I can't even begin to say how depressed I am right now.

Yeah? He responded in a similar tone. You alright, buddy? I asked with a sigh and he answered, Not really, but I’ll be fine once we get our girl back. Are you? Now that was the million dollar question, right there. One of the best things about Max? He’s always so confident and positive about life. I don’t know what I’d do without him sometimes. Now was one of those times. So we sat in my room for a few minutes and talked before heading back downstairs to try and find April.

(April's POV)

I had walked straight through the mansion, out the front door, and into the woods so fast I highly doubt anyone even saw me. I was super fast, it was one of the perks that came with my psychosis. Super speed! Gotta love it.

Anyway, as I entered the woods, the sounds behind me slowly dissipated and the further I went, the quieter the world around me became. Once I felt like I was alone, I began to relax. Sparks had come out of her hiding spot in my bag to walk across my shoulders, going back and forth as she rubbed against the back of my head, purring like a little motor boat.

We must have walked for a good thirty minutes before coming to a clearing where we stopped and I settled down in the tall grass to take a bit of a rest and think. Sparks hopped into my lap and I sat there petting her as I thought about everything that had happened. I sat there for a long while just quietly contemplating what to do about everything. Talking to myself like a crazy woman.

I didn’t need any of this bullsh*t. Not my Dad's sudden desire to throw a whole new family on us, not Alexander Moon and his bi-polar mood swings. And certainly not one Miss Allison Storm who thought the world should just bow down to her childish and inane whims! I had enough on my plate just trying to find my brother.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard something moving through the woods a good distance away. At first I thought it was Alex and the guys looking for me but then I heard a low, feral, growl, off to my left, and I jumped a bit. “SH*T!” I thought as I looked around.

I was quite literally in the middle of nowhere, all alone, with nothing to defend myself with. Sure I could fight, but would that be enough against a wild animal? “Okay, this could be bad” I said out loud. There was another growl, this time much closer, and also much louder, causing me to spring to my feet.

Whatever that was would likely kill me, but I wasn’t gonna go down without a godd*mn good fight. I knew I couldn’t run because the animal would chase me down, which meant running would just deplete my energy. I could climb a tree, but do I have that kind of time? I didn't know what to do.

Fight. It's all I can do. And with my weird extra strength, and my alter ego who seems a bit more ready to kill than me, maybe I actually stood a chance. Doubtful. But with that thought in mind, I scooted Sparks back into my bag and sat it between my feet, then dropped back into a fighting stance and waited. If I can just knock the animal out, I can make a run for it.

Soon enough, this huge a**, gnarly looking wolf, that seemed to have the mange or something and smelled like it had been rolling in sewerage, came leaping into the clearing. This son of a b*tch stood a good six feet tall and about ten, maybe fifteen feet away from me, snarling ominously.

“Okay, I’m a dead woman” I thought as I watched the beast before me paw the ground aggressively. I can't believe this is how I'm gonna die! As some mangy mutt's f*ckin dinner! "Nice doggie. You don't wanna eat me. I'm not even tasty." Okay, I know that was lame but I had to try, right?

Why the h*ll did I let Allison get me so frikin mad!? And where the h*ll was Alex when I actually needed him?! He’s gonna get a piece of my ghostly mind when this is all f*ckin over with! Yes, I’m ranting at a time like this! I did mention more than once that I’m psychotic, remember? Besides, can you really think of a better f*ckin time to go on a panicked rant?

I was so focused on the snarling beast as it towered over me, that I didn’t notice my little baby crawl out from her hiding place in my bag and scurry off to my right a little ways.

She disappeared under a small bush without me seeing her, but at least she would be safe there. Just then the beast leapt at me and I rounded on it with all my might, delivering a roundhouse kick to it’s chest that sent it sailing to my right a good fifteen to twenty feet.

I retook my stance with far more confidence and calmness than I felt and just waited, figuring it was best to let the beast do all the work so I could conserve my energy and strength. The beast landed on his feet, snarling angrily at me as it started to bound toward me again. I was prepared to slide under the beast's belly and punch upwards into its ribs as it passed over me but I never got the chance.

To my profound shock, the beast was thrown off its course by a big, black, blur of fur. When my eyes landed on the two creatures now facing off with each other, all I could do was stand there, mouth agape, and watch as the two animals collided with each other. One being the rabid wolf, the other being this huge panther-like creature.

I’d never seen anything like it before in my life. It was huge. Just as big as the massive wolf and with sharp claws that glinted in the sunlight. It also had these big tusk-like fangs that resembled a saber-toothed panther and as I watched the beast's muscles roll under its silky fur I noticed it had black stripes that were just a shade or two darker than the rest of its black fur.

I felt like I was in some sort of freaky monster movie or something. When I finally came to my senses, I grabbed my bag intending to run like h*ll. But when I lifted it I realized it was too light. I looked down to find my bag was missing something very, very important to me, then jerked my gaze back to the pair of fighting beasts. “F*CK!” I thought, but just then the feline beast before me met my gaze and staring back at me were two beautiful blue, diamond-like eyes I knew all too well. “Sparks!?” I gasped, shocked to my core.

I must have distracted her a second because just then the wolf brought his massive paw down across her head and knocked her to the ground. Dumb mutt that he was, he used her momentary disadvantage to turn his attention back to me.

Snarling viciously, he made to leap at me again but Sparks got to him first. She flew at the wolf and brought her claws down along his side, causing him to howl out in pain as she ripped his flesh open. The wolf staggered away from her but rebounded quickly enough to go on the attack once again, this time lunging for Spark’s neck, going for the kill.

Sparks moved but he still caught her on the shoulder and she rawr’d out just as I heard more howls in the distance. “s**t, his pack! They’re coming!” I shouted as I habitually threw my bag over my shoulder while looking behind me as if I would be able to see them coming.

Turning back quickly, I shouted to Sparks “Finish that mutt and let’s get out of here before they come!” As though she could understand every word, Sparks slinked around the wolf and when he lunged again she brought her sharp claws down again, catching the wolf under his snout then ripping down his neck along his jugular all the way to his stomach.

The wolf fell to the ground and I watched his eyes roll back inside his head as his breathing began to slow to a stop. But we couldn’t stick around and make sure he died, so I just started running at my full speed. However, Sparks had a different idea and before I knew what was happening, she had head butted me on the back of my knees, causing me to stagger a bit. Then she grabbed me by the neck almost like a Momma cat would do to its kitten, tossing me in the air like a rag doll. When I came down, I landed on her back.

Curling my arms around her neck, I held on for dear life as she bounded across the field and into the woods again, moving away from the mansion. She ran for a bit before we came to a ravine.

I thought she was going to jump the ravine so I tightened my hold on her and closed my eyes. The next thing I knew, Sparks flew out over the ravine and a split second later we were in the water and coming up for air.

I looked around me to find we were in the river. She had jumped down instead of across and now we were floating down river with the current. About thirty minutes later, she was hauling us onto an outcropping of rocks and I got off her back, then flopped onto the rock and huffed for breath. After a second, I looked at my shy little kitten who normally wouldn’t hurt a fly and said “So? …You’re a prehistoric panther. Didn’t see that one coming.”