Barron: The Ruthless Bear King (The Hybrid Series) Book 7

Chapter 33: Spence's Dilemma

Spencer

I have been Gamma for a long time in this pack; I have seen and heard things, but kept my head down and did what was asked of me. I don't always agree with what my Alpha does or says, but I usually stay out of his private affairs and do what is assigned to me as Gamma. Kevin is usually kept in the loop with whatever Alpha Seth does or agrees on; I didn't particularly like him or his sister when they first came here, but who was I to say anything about the Beta of the pack? Kevin always gives out bad vibes, but he usually gets the job done when something is asked of him. I always stay behind and do not get involved with certain matters unless they affect the pack. I trained hard, and I am head of security and protector of the Luna; it is always the Gamma's job to protect the Luna of a pack or assign her bodyguards.

My father was a former Gamma of the pack until he passed away a long time ago, and I took over; I have a brother, Maddox, who is twenty years younger than me, but he is a little more shy than I am. He trains and can defend himself, but he prefers to work on the technical side of security; he was one of the best hackers around. We are single wolves; we have not found our mates, but it doesn't mean that we don't enjoy an occasional female in our bed; we just haven't committed to anyone as yet. Maddox travels a lot to find all the latest technology that helps us or sells our upgrades, and he runs the security business that we own. Princess Sophie ended up being betrothed to our Alpha, and I was shocked because Amy was his mate, but when he rejected her for Sophie, I knew it was more of an alliance thing going on, and I did my job of getting her protection detail set up anyway.

She was miserable at first because it was a mating she didn't want, and I tried to be her friend as she had no one here. We became good friends, and she would confide in me, and I kept it to myself; we built trust with each other, and I respected her as my superior. As the years went on, they became close, and she fell in love with him and had three beautiful kids with our Alpha; I made sure that she and the kids were always safe. I hated that he abused her in the beginning, although she tried to hide it at first, and then Alpha changed on Sophie, I realized it was after Amy came back to town. I never trusted Amy, and there was always something strange about her and how close she and Kevin were; it never sat well with me. He was protective of her, and there was nothing wrong with that, but if I didn't know any better, I would think they were having an incestuous relationship.

When there was a hit sent out by Prince Rowe, I knew that was a mistake, but Alpha Seth never listened to me, only Kevin; he wanted to impress King Roman, and Kevin screwed it up. Now, he has tasked me with finding a way to have Prince Rowe killed; however, it was put on the back burner because of what transpired at Alpha Ares's Luna Ceremony. I heard about it as it spread throughout Ravena, which has caused quite a stir, and people are starting to rise against King Roman in favor of Alpha Ares; even Prince Kyan, at this point, would make a better King. After the ceremony, Alpha Seth came back a changed man and started abusing Princess Sophia again; I was shocked until I found out she had a child with her true mate, King Barron. They were forced to reject each other in favor of the alliance with Seth.

Alpha Seth proved to be the demon he was, and I wasn't shocked because there were little things that annoyed me. The Elders always thought I was the glue that held the pack together; that's why I never left. I was going to help Sophie escape and show her the best path to Elvira, where she would reach there quickly, and she would get sanctuary. King Emile was no friend of Alpha Seth or King Roman; he was just keeping the peace to avoid war, and King Dominic was always neutral, so I knew Sophie and the kids were going to be safe. The plan was a week from now, but Sophie jumped the gun without notifying me, and I had to delay looking for her, totally forgetting the tracker system on the car. I had no time to disable it before Seth found her location. She had a burner phone, and I couldn't get in contact with her; I called the motel, but the manager wouldn't answer the phone, and I knew this was going to be bad.

Kevin was also watching me to see how I would react; they were onto me, so I had to play it cool; I feared what Alpha Seth would do to Sophie and I wanted to get in contact with her brother, but the mere thought of telling someone hurt because of the spell that he had placed on the pack so that no one could leak the abuse of Princess Sophie. I saw Kevin get a small closet equipped with a single mattress, a few bookshelves, and a chest of drawers. The closet had an ensuite bathroom, and they changed the locks. I was confused when Kevin smiled at me and said, "They found your little girlfriend; Alpha is not too pleased." I held back my anger and said, "So, he is going to lock her away, that's his wife, his mate, the mother of his kids, and most importantly, our Luna." Kevin said, "Relax, Spence, he just wants to scare her from leaving again," tapping my shoulder and leaving the room.

I went to her quarters quickly and found a few of her books that she likes, and came across a small picture of a baby; I hid it in one of the books and placed it on the shelf. Something didn't feel right; Amy looked at me, smiling, and asked, "Why is it that you are so concerned about your Luna?" "Do you have feelings for her, Spence?" I said, "I have a little empathy for people who are having a rough time," before excusing myself. However, she was right; deep down, I did love Sophie, but also knew that I could never have her, and respected that. I never said anything or touched her inappropriately; I always kept it professional, Sophie was an amazingly strong woman, and everyone would have been happy to be her mate. Unfortunately, some people don't know what is right in front of them and end up losing out on something amazing.

I was worried, and my wolf was uneasy; I didn't know what to expect when Alpha and the Luna got back; did he hit her again? Was she going to be a shell of herself from all the disappointment in her life? No one deserves the abuse she suffers because of a mating; if I had the means to get her out of this hellhole, I would. I saw the car pull up, and my heart broke seeing the busted lip and sad eyes; she had a cut over her eye, and her jaw was swollen. I saw that she recoiled from Seth, and I wanted to punch him in the face repeatedly until he stopped breathing, but I held it in. Kevin was watching my reaction to seeing Sophie like that, and I had to hold in my true feelings, but I wanted to comfort her so badly. Seth dragged her in, and she didn't say anything; she smelled of multiple wolves, including Seth, and my blood boiled; he had the guards assault her.

He called us over and said, "She is no longer my Luna," and the rage had us submitting to him, and he said, "The b***h is w***e for hire, and she will join the maids in cleaning the place up; no one outside the pack house will know about this. However, she had been demoted to a s*x slave, and I would take Amy as my mistress and acting Luna." I was shocked, and he looked directly at me and said, "Move your protection details to my Luna," and he kissed Amy, and I said, "Yes, Alpha." He made me follow him, and he tossed Sophie on the mattress; I was hurt for her, and I tried to talk to him about this insane plan of his before he sent me out of the room. I came back a few minutes later to check on her, but she had passed out, and Seth was still fuming; he looked at me and said, "If you try to help her in any way, you will be killed on sight," and walked away.

I couldn't believe he spat on her and treated her worse than a common w***e, I was appalled. Later in the night, I checked on her, hoping she wasn't too badly injured, when I heard her crying. I went to my quarters and I linked her, "Sophie," and I felt her open her mind; I said, "I will get you out of this, I promise," and she said, "Thank you, Spence," and the link went silent. As the weeks went on, I tried to get in contact with Kyan, but Alpha Seth didn't let me go to Issy's wedding for fear that I would get someone to Alpha Command me to speak up on Sophie's behalf. He was right, I was going to ask Alpha Ares for help, but he kept me on pack grounds for fear that I would double-cross him. They tried to get me to join in their activities in humiliating Sophie, but I refused.

I stopped speaking to a lot of my men about that, and I just did my job and thought of ways to get her and the kids out; I couldn't reprimand anyone when it came to abusing Sophie, because I was an outcast. The first time she had to work for Seth, they abused her badly; she was out for a few days recovering from bruising on her body, vaginal and anal bruising, cigarette burns, and split lips. After that, almost every two days, she was in a guard's bed, others like Kevin and a few head warriors came to her, and I would walk past the room where it happened, hearing the thumping of the bed and slight moans, mainly from the men. Seth never lets her shower after, so they could smell the wolves on her to humiliate her, and Amy would make rude jokes and laugh at her. Sophie would get to see her kids once a week once she made sure she serviced enough men to Seth's liking.

That way, she would stop fighting because she loves her kids and wants to see them as often as possible; Sophie hides her pain behind her eyes, her wolf is weak from heartache, and I was surprised she hadn't died yet, but she was hanging on for those pups. I watched Sophie in the garden as the sun shone on her; she was so beautiful, Toy walked up to her, pouring his bottle of water over her head, and she never once flinched or looked back to see who it was; she lost her sense of smell, and she was slowly dying inside. After I made comforting remarks to her, my mistake was touching her shoulder as I caught Amy watching from the window above. I went on my merry way, trying to call someone for help, and every time I did, I was in an immense amount of pain and I lay on my couch gasping for air.

Alpha Seth eventually summoned me to see Toy and Britton in the room, along with Kevin; I knew this was about today, but I pretended I didn't know what was up. That was until Alpha Seth said, "Prove yourself to this pack and go in there and have your way with Sophie." I said, "I have proven myself enough, I will not go in there and defile a woman because the rest of you choose to do it; I prefer a consenting woman who would enjoy s*x rather than see it as a chore or traumatic." I felt a punch to the gut by Seth sending me to my knees before kicking me repeatedly on the ground and pulling my hair so I could look in his face as he said, "You will go in there and become one of her clients, or I will kill someone close to you, and you very well know who I mean," and order the men to drag me to Sophie.

I felt horrible and tried linking my brother to run, but his block was up, and the further away he went from the pack, we would need to contact each other via phone. I was upset, and I looked at Sophie as I tore up, saying, "I won't do it, Sophie," and yelled at the door so whoever heard it would tell Seth that, but I could sense no one was there. Sophie looked at me with such compassion, and my heart melted when she kissed me; I wanted to kiss her for so long, but not like this, and I refused to do it, but she convinced me that I would be saving her and my brother if we did. She was right; I had to stay alive if I wanted to continue to protect her, and I promise to get the word out somehow, and hopefully before things get worse. During our fun time, I made sure that it was enjoyable for Sophie so she could forget her troubles, even if it was for a short time.

In our heavy session, I had to hold my wolf back from knotting her; he loved Sophie, and I could understand why; she was a feisty, strong, intelligent woman, something we loved, but seeing her like this had broken us too. We decided to keep seeing each other, and for the first time in a long time, she was happy; the weeks flew by, and in the few times we spent together, we were both in love with each other.