The Reedemed Alpha

Back story

~Hey guys! Those of you still with me and new to the story. This will probably be the last entry for a few weeks at most. I'm moving! So I'm going to be extremely busy for a bit. As always leave a comment and tell me what you think of the story, please. Stay tuned in and I'll catch you shortly.~

Johnathan

He watched her face slowly melt from tense fear to peaceful slumber near the end of his tale.

He was just going to sleep himself when he heard her scream. Running to her he tried to wake her but she was screaming so loud in fear. when she did finally wake he saw the terror in her eyes. The same terror she always held but this was not masked by hostility and defiance. This was pure naked terror. He felt so much sorrow as she told her story earlier. Anger now at seeing her looking so helpless. Too terrified to even shut her eyes. What she must have witnessed…he had seen things but he was at least sheltered as a child. The burdens that must be on her couldn't be light. He so wanted to protect her now that he found her. He now knew what James was talking about when he spoke about Cassandra. The feelings are instantaneous. The need to give her everything but the need to also have her want and need him were leveled with one another.

Rising quietly he went to the couch.

He just hoped she'd give in to him and soon.

Waking suddenly he sensed something different in the room. He darted his eyes to the bed to find it empty. Standing quickly his blanket flew to the floor. Going to the front door he paused. One of his books was on the table. Ancient folklore and mythical creatures. It had a piece of paper marking where it had been read last tucked inside. He went to the door and was just about to fling it open when he heard the bathroom sink squeak on. Rushing to the bathroom he shoved the door open so hard it crashed against the wall. Startled at the noise and seeing him she jumped. A little toothpaste foamed at the corner of her mouth as she spun around. Clad only in a towel wrapped around her. Her long damp hair in tangles down her back.

'Jesus!' She garbled. Turning quickly, rushing to spit.

'A little privacy please?!'

'My apologies.' He mumbled as he closed the door.

Relief flooded him that she hadn't tried to escape again. Freezing he grew suspicious. Why hadn't she? Hope then began to burn inside him. Had she chosen to stay? She came out and their eyes met. An awkward tense moment bounced between them. So many questions ached to be thrown at her from him. She looked away and walked back to the bed. Still putting her weight on her good leg. The brush she had in her hand, she gathered her hair over her shoulder and slowly began to untangle her hair starting from the ends. Avoiding his gaze.

'Vena?'

'What?'

'Why…' He was about to ask when he thought it best to wait. Clearing his throat he began again. 'Are you hungry?' He asked as he walked toward the fridge.

'No…thank you.'

Turning slowly he assessed her. No, thank you? She was using civility with him now?

'Are you alright?' He leaned back on the counter and folded his arms.

'Yes. I'm fine.' She was staring at her hair as she brushed slowly. 'You?'

Now she was asking about his welfare?

'I'm alright.'

Only the sound of her brushing her hair filled the silence.

'Would you like something to drink?'

She finally looked at him slowly. Her eyes bored into his for a few intense moments before she answered quietly.

'Water, please?'

Narrowing his eyes he moved to get her a glass and fill it from the tap.

Turning he handed it to her.

'Thank you.' She whispered as she took it.

'You seem…compliant this morning.'

She shrugged before sipping her water. Putting it on the nightstand she sat back and crossee her legs on the bed. 'I guess I slept well.'

'Or…you're up to something.'

They stared at each other.

Her face was blank. Not giving anything away

'Like what?'

'Escaping. Or maybe…something more heinous.'

'What would be the use?' She replied slowly.

'Have you made a decision then?'

She looked down, fiddling with the brush.

'Not exactly.'

'Not exactly? What does that mean?'

'What I just said.'

'Why?'

She shrugged again before getting up and sidestepping him to her suitcase.

'I don't have to make a decision right this moment. Besides, something about your story last night got me thinking this morning.'

'Really? Pray tell.'

Pawing through it she selected a baggy pair of jeans, clean underwear, and a shirt.

Turning she walked back to the bed and threw the clothes on it.

'You said, later the brother was used as a sacrifice and cast into the human world as penance until he found his mate. She would be his cure and the key to return.' As she talked she stripped off her towel. Now she stood before him bare. His eyes widened at seeing her naked. She was still too thin but still breathtaking. Her lovely clear skin was smattered with faint bruises. But her body was firm and her movements gracefully. Her breasts were small but mouthwatering.

'What um…what are you doing?' His tongue didn't want to obey his mind as he talked.

'Getting dressed.' Her response was nonchalant. 'Anyway, I think I'm onto something. If I'm right my decision will be the one I stick to. If I'm wrong it may be adaptable depending on your answer.'

'...and what is that?' He swallowed as she snapped her bra on efficiently and pulled on her clean underwear with ease.

'The cure and key part I've been going over and over in my head.' Putting on the jeans she worked them up her legs and buttoned them around her waist. The waist hung low. Pulling on her thin black belt she tightened them around her.

There she stood. In her jeans and a bra. s*x on legs and a temptation no beast or man could refuse.

His hand reached out and slowly grazed her shoulder. The skin was soft and smooth. Looking into her eyes he stepped closer. His fingers trailed lower until they met the slope of her breast that was cupped snugly by the bra. His body hardened at seeing her breath in. The action made her breasts swell.

Looking up at him she spoke.

'Tell me the truth. That story you told me…the brother of the king, that's you?'

'Yes.' He managed to husk.

'I thought so. Even if I didn't choose to stay with you, you'd take me anyway. To the fae lands. Because I'm your key. Your cure. Am I right?'

'Yes.' He wasn't surprised at her intelligence in making the connection.

'But if I choose to go you'll help me help my friends that are trapped?'

'Yes.'

'What exactly did you need to pay penance for?'

'Its a long complicated story.'

'As you said, we have time. Cliff notes please.'

He sighed before sitting on the edge of her bed.

'My brother, as you deduced, is the king. He found his mate. Cassandra. Beautiful and smart. But I saw her as a fragile human. One who would be the death of my brother one way or another. Human women…in my experience, were all so…' He paused at the look on her face.

'So what?'

He gritted his teeth. 'Manipulative, fiendish, and selfish.'

'Is that right?' She crossed her arms as she sat down on the bed. Her breast pushed up with her motion.

'Yes. But…when a shifter finds their mate, they will die if the other is killed. Shifters don't usually mate with humans. At least one hadn't in a very long time. Humans served the fae lands as slaves, pets, and sort of allies in the human world.'

'Slaves?' She sneered.

He shifted. 'Yes. Witches would covet them for their appearance to blend into the human world. Shifters would use them as servants, and vampires would use them as food incase hunting was scarce.'

'Go on.' She pressed as he paused again trying to gauge her reaction but her face now remained impassive.

'Well I knew one day she would die. Taking my brother with her. Or she'd betray him. So I tried to make a deal with her. She said she'd leave at first if I wiped her memory along with his. Confirming my belief that she would betray him. She backed out in the end. So I turned to make another deal with my family's sworn enemies. Witches. There was a war between fae factions and witches. They wanted power and would kill anyone to get it. They harvested others' powers to fuel their own. My parents died because of them.'

He breathed deep at the painful memory of his brother returning severely wounded with the news. His face was grief torn. His mother grew weak before perishing a few days later.

'Come to find out Cassandra was half witch. Far worse than I originally believed. They took her. I planted seeds of doubt in my brother to make him think she was having an affair with his gamma.'

'Gamma?'

'Its a third in command of a wolf pack. It's essentially a Sergeant of an army. I knew he would be weak without her but I had a plan to wipe his memory. In the meantime I'd take over the pack until he was healed. He believed the story. But he found out the truth. To say he was angry was an understatement. My eyes were burned with hot silver. Then I was cast in the dungeon. It's a dark pit where no one comes out alive. Reserved only for the worst alive. While I was down there life went on. Two lovers were reunited and she became pregnant. But while my brother went feral without her he created some new enemies. Which made them hex him with a spirit box. It's a spellbound box that's reserved for evil spirits that refuse to move on in the afterlife. They lust after our bloodline. Turning the host crazy after being possessed by them. So anyway, my brother gave Cassandra the choice of whether I live or die. She transferred the spirits to me after it was obvious there was no exorcism that would cure my brother.'

He broke off with a dark chuckle.

'The spirits wanted her unborn child. I was the perfect vessel. So I was possessed then put in a coma for a while. Let me tell you the spirits haunted my dreams. They never let me have a moment's rest even in my subconscious. My eyes were then healed by Cassandra and I was cast into the human world. She said when I found my mate she would be the cure. Why or how I don't know. But I've lived here for quite some time. The voices took over every waking and sleeping moment. Until I met you.'

He brushed a damp tendril of hair with his fingers.

'They stopped the moment I saw you. Now you are the key for me to return.'

Her face still was stoic as she stared at him and absorbed his tale.

She looked down before breathing deep then fixing him with a cold stare.

'Well then,' She stood up and plucked up a shirt before throwing it on. 'I hope you enjoyed the show. Because I'll choose to stay for the sake of my friends. But what you just saw will be the only thing resembling any kind of intimacy from me.' With that she plucked the book from the table and went outside.