The Alpha's Greatest Revenge

Shadows on the Border

Leah POV

A cold blade pressed against the back of my neck before I could even scream.

The heavy silence of the pack house garden shattered in an instant. I had stepped out onto the rear stone patio for just a few seconds to catch my breath after leaving Benedict asleep in the master suite. The night air was thick with the scent of damp pine, but the smell of ozone and sour blood warned me I was not alone.

"Don't move a muscle, little orphan," a harsh voice rasped in my ear.

I kept my spine stiff, my hands hovering near the waist of my coat. "Who sent you?"

"The regional council sends their regards," the man growled, his grip tightening on my arm as he dragged me backward toward the tree line. "The elders want the boy. You are just collateral damage."

"Touch her and you die where you stand," a voice boomed from the darkness.

Benedict stepped out from the shadows of the porch. He was shirtless, his dark hair messy, his golden eyes glowing like twin suns in the pitch black of the mountain night. His Alpha aura flooded the yard, so heavy and dense that the stone beneath my boots seemed to tremble.

The intruder flinched, pulling me closer as a human shield. "Stay back, Alpha! I will slit her throat!"

"You don't know who you are holding," I said quietly.

Before the rogue could react, I slammed my elbow back into his ribs with every ounce of force I had. The sharp crack of bone echoed through the trees. He gasped, his grip loosening just enough for me to duck under his blade and spin away.

Benedict moved like a shadow. He closed the distance in a heartbeat, grabbing the intruder by the front of his throat and lifting him clean off the grass. The sound of Benedict's fangs extending was sharp in the quiet night.

"Who ordered this attack?" Benedict snarled, his voice dropping into a guttural roar that shook the leaves above us.

"Marcus," the rogue choked out, his eyes wide with blinding fear. "Marcus paid us to take the child while you were distracted!"

Benedict didn't hesitate. With a swift flick of his wrist, he threw the man headfirst into the trunk of a massive oak tree. The rogue crumpled to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

Benedict turned to me instantly, his heavy chest heaving as he scanned my body for injuries. "Did he cut you?"

"I am fine," I panted, my heart hammering against my ribs. "He said Marcus sent them for Ethan."

"Charlotte!" Benedict roared toward the house.

The heavy glass doors burst open, and Charlotte ran out onto the patio with her dagger drawn, Olivar right behind her.

"Guard the boy's room," Benedict commanded Charlotte, his voice absolute. "Marcus has crossed the line. He sent mercenaries onto pack land."

"I am on it," Charlotte said, turning on her heel and sprinting back inside.

Olivar stepped down onto the grass, his dark eyes assessing the unconscious rogue near the tree. He looked at me, then at Benedict. "The elders are getting desperate. They know once the regional board processes your permit overrides tomorrow morning, they lose all leverage."

"They lose everything tonight," Benedict corrected, his hands trembling with rage. "Olivar, stay with Ethan. Leah, come with me."

"Where are we going?" I asked, following him as he marched toward the private side entrance of the house.

"To the vault room," Benedict said, opening the heavy reinforced door that led down into the basement level. "If Marcus is hiring mercenaries, he will try to destroy the remaining blue-root supply next to force your submission. I am securing it in my personal safe."

We hurried down the winding stone stairs, the air turning cool and damp as we descended into the depths of the pack house. The lower level was silent, lit only by dim yellow wall sconces. Benedict pulled open a thick steel door at the end of the corridor, revealing a small, private stone room filled with heavy wooden chests and locked metal cabinets.

He walked over to a central table, pulling a small wooden box from a shelf and placing it on the surface. Inside lay three jars of dark blue liquid.

"This is the rest of the batch," Benedict said, looking up at me. "Enough to cure Ethan completely and supply your company for a year."

I stepped up to the table, looking down at the jars. "Why didn't you just give me all of it from the start?"

"Because I was terrified," Benedict admitted softly. He reached across the table, his warm fingers brushing over the top of my hand. "I thought the moment you had the medicine, you would pack your bags and leave me forever."

"I still might," I said, though the words lacked the cold edge they used to have.

Benedict walked around the table until he was standing right behind me. His chest pressed against my back, his body heat wrapping around me like a blanket. His hands came around my waist, pulling me tight against his hips.

"You can try to leave," he whispered, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. "But I will spend the rest of my life following you."

"Benedict, we are in a vault basement while rogues are outside," I breathed out, though a familiar pulse of heat flared low in my stomach at his touch.

"The house is secure," he growled gently, sliding his hands under the hem of my shirt. His palms were rough and warm as they slid over my stomach, moving up to cup my breasts. "And right now, I need to know you are safe. I need to feel you."

"You are relentless," I whimpered, tilting my head back against his broad shoulder as his thumb rolled over my peak through my bra.

"I am a man who almost lost his mate twice," he whispered, turning me around in his arms so I was facing him.

He lifted me easily, setting me down on the edge of the heavy wooden table. The jars of medicine sat just inches away, but my focus vanished the moment his mouth came down on mine. He kissed me with a dark, desperate hunger, his tongue sliding deep into my mouth, claiming me without apology.

I let out a low sigh, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck, my fingers tangling in his damp hair. The fear from the patio attack melted away, replaced by an intoxicating surge of desire that burned through my veins like wildfire.

Benedict unbuttoned my trousers with quick, forceful tugs, shoving them down my thighs along with my lace underwear. He parted my knees, stepping between my legs, his broad chest heaving as he stared down at my slick, exposed entrance.

"Look at what you do to me," he growled, unbuckling his belt and freeing his thick, throbbing length. He didn't wait. He guided his head to my opening and thrust forward, burying himself completely inside me in one smooth, heavy stroke.

A sharp gasp burst from my throat, my hips lifting off the table to take him deeper. He filled me so fully that my vision blurred, my inner walls clamping around his shaft with a tight, desperate grip.

"You feel so tight, Leah," Benedict groaned, his eyes dropping shut for a second as he shivered from the intense sensation.

He began to move, setting a deep, slow pace that stretched me to my limits. Every time his hips slammed against the edge of the wooden table, a wave of liquid heat shot straight up my spine, making my toes curl.

"Faster," I demanded, gripping his muscular shoulders as my body craved the hard, punishing rhythm he had given me earlier.

Benedict let out a low laugh, a sound of dark pride. "As you wish, my queen."

He accelerated instantly, his thrusts becoming hard, fast, and relentless. The heavy wooden table creaked beneath us under the force of his movements. My hands clawed at his back, leaving faint red marks across his skin as he drove into my sweet spot again and again.

"Say you belong here," Benedict panted, his golden eyes glowing bright in the dim vault light as he pounded into my core. "Say you belong to me."

"I belong to no one!" I cried out, my voice echoing off the stone walls as the intense knot of pleasure in my lower belly tightened to a agonizing point.

"Liar," he growled affectionately, leaning down to capture my mouth in a hard, bruised kiss while his hips kept up the brutal pace.

The friction was overwhelming. The gold mate bond flared wildly in my chest, flooding my limbs with a blinding warmth. My inner muscles seized up violently, squeezing his thick shaft as a massive climax crashed over me, making me shriek his name into the quiet room.

Benedict let out a primal roar, driving deep inside me one last time, his hips locking tight against mine as his own release hit him. He poured his hot seed deep into my womb, his whole body shaking as he held me tightly against his heart.

We stayed on the table for a long time, catching our breath in the quiet stone vault, our sweat-sheened skin cooled by the basement air.

"We have to deal with Marcus in the morning," I whispered, resting my head against his neck.

"Marcus is already done," Benedict said, kissing my forehead gently. "Tomorrow, we take back everything they tried to steal from you."