Mated To The Alpha Bully

34

He held me like that for some time, and it was exactly what I needed. Then he pulled back and stepped away, turning his face so I couldn't get a good look at him. "I'll drive," he said in a low voice.

Once we were back on the road, Kaden behind the wheel this time, we fell into silence again, but some of the tension between us had vanished. At the very least, I no longer doubted my place in the pack anymore.

We continued through the mountains, the road empty other than a lone truck or car now and then, with the forest on either side of the winding road. Only the moon and our headlights illuminated our path, and I wondered if Kaden planned to drive through the night, or if we would stop and camp somewhere.

"Tell me about your parents," I said. Kaden rarely ever talked about them, but the past was looming over us tonight, and I thought I might get a rare chance to get him to open up more.

Kaden didn't respond at first, and just as I opened my mouth to tell him to forget it, he said, "They were great alphas, and even better parents. Honest, fair, and kind, though they had a firm hand when it was needed. I never had to worry about taking any issues or concerns to them, and none of the pack did either.”

He sighed and pushed a hand through his dark hair, the other one on the steering wheel. My eyes tracked the movement until I realized that I was staring at him instead of the road. I snapped my gaze back forward. If only I had the excuse of being at the wheel to make sure I wouldn’t do it again.

Luckily he didn't seem to notice, and to my surprise, he kept talking. “My mom was an artist. She was always painting, drawing, or crafting something. Our house was always full of things she had made, usually with me or Stella."

"She sounds wonderful. Do you still have any of her work?" I didn't remember seeing it in his house.

"Somewhere, yeah. I put it all away after she died. It was too hard to look at it."

"And your dad?"

"He was really good at fixing things. Cars, computers, plumbing, you name it and he could figure out the problem and get it working again. He did the same with people's problems too. He told me that was the real secret to being a good alpha—figuring out what the problem was and trying to find a way to fix it." His face turned grim. "That's what he was trying to do with our pack. He knew our pack would die out if we didn’t rejoin the rest of the Zodiac Wolves. The intermingling of all the packs makes it possible for the bloodlines to remain strong, and for each pack to thrive in numbers without inbreeding, but being exiled cut us off from that. We’ve scraped by with deserters and outcasts, but we could be so much more if we were allowed to return. My parents realized that, and they tried to do what was best for the pack.” His hands clenched around the steering wheel. “But the Leos made sure that never happened."

I wondered what it would be like to grow up with such love all the time, and how awful it would be to have it snatched away from you like that. No wonder Kaden hated the Leos so much. “How did it feel when you got your revenge? When you killed the Leo alpha?”

Kaden’s low growl in his throat was answer enough for me. “It felt like justice. Although I didn't just get revenge for my parents. I did it for you, as payback for him killing your father and your pack."

My heart beat faster at that. But before I could respond, something flashed in front of the car, illuminated by the headlights. A wolf, stepping right into the road directly in front of us, too quickly for either of us to react. Kaden had just enough time to swear before we rammed directly into it. The car crunched, and to my horror, the wolf didn’t budge at all. Like we'd hit a huge boulder instead of an animal.

Then I had the feeling of being weightless, of Kaden’s arm pressing me back by my shoulders, before we were tossed back to the ground, rolling over and over. I heard glass breaking and the high shriek of metal being torn, and someone was screaming. It took me a moment to realize it was me. Everything was chaos and confusion and terror, until the car finally came to a standstill, with Kaden and I suspended upside down.

For a moment, there was silence, filled only by the pounding in my ears. Then sounds began to filter in from outside. Scuffling paws, the sound of noses sniffing nearby, and when I craned my neck over, I saw the shadows of a dozen wolves in the headlights, their bodies elongated and cast at strange angles. A single growl pierced the night, and then it was joined by many others, making the air almost vibrate with the sound.

We were surrounded.

Chapter Fifteen

“Are you okay?” Kaden asked, his voice low.

“I think so,” I said, wiggling my toes and fingers. Everything hurt, but at least I could still move. “Are you?”

“I’ll be able to fight. We need to get out of here fast if we’re going to survive."

No s**t. I struggled with my seat belt, frantic to get it off. I would drop to the car roof the moment I was free, which would leave me vulnerable to attack, but I couldn't stay like this either. “Let’s drop on three,” I suggested.

“One,” he said, softly enough that only I could hear. “Two… Three.”