The Alpha’s Claim

Episode 3

Sloane…

“Bury her in the north. The snow would cover up every trace of her grave,” Tyra’s voice echoed. “Baby, we have to leave,”

“Just one second,” Rowan’s voice followed. His footsteps echoed as they approached, then I felt his figure over me. “Maybe we would have had chance, Sloane Decker, daughter of Uriel,” he said much lighter.

I felt my body lift from the ground, the winter breeze blowing against my skin like I was levitating.

I know you thought I was dead. Yeah…me too. But after a while of total black out, I began hearing the voices around me. From Tyra, to the doctor, to Rowan , down to the guards who kept complaining of how heavy I was.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I was still alive, but I couldn’t move. Kind of like I was locked in my subconscious. I could hear every body and everyone around me, but not move. That was the problem because I was about to be dead…dead. Like dead and buried.

After what felt like an hour of driving, the car came to a halt and the guards took me out. They had gone all the way in when one of them quit.

“She’s a dead b***h already. The hell do we need a grave for?” He asked, taking himself out. I landed with a thud, my brain doing the shouting. “Cover her up with the snow. She could be some wolf’s meal by morning,” they burst into a pearl of laughter.

My skin grew cold as they covered me with the snow. Their footsteps receded, and I was left alone to find a way to wake up. There was no trick to it. Non that I knew of. The longer I stayed in the snow, the closer I was to my actual death.

The cold seeped deeper into my skin, numbing every cell in my body. I felt each snowflake as it pressed against my skin, its chill spreading like poison. I didn’t know how long I laid in there, trapped in my subconscious.

My mind drifted in and out, caught between memories and flickers of awareness. Most times, they were flashes of my time with Eve. While most times, they were flashes of my life under Rowan.

Then faintly, I heard voices and footsteps approach me. I felt something, a hand probably, warm and large, wrap around my shoulder. At first I thought it was part of my imagination, until I felt my body getting pulled out of the snow.

“She’s alive,” the masculine voice whispered, rough yet filled with urgency. I sensed another being walking up to him.

“Her system is shutting down. Hurry, send for the cart!” The second voice ordered. Relief coursed through my veins as I was carried away. The moon goddess had sent a savior my way, but how sure was I that I wasn’t being sent back to Breecera pack?

******

“How long now?”

“Twenty four hours,” the second faded voice responded. I felt a faint sting of warmth on my face. Felt like the sunlight, a refreshing air traveling into my system. The cold was gone, and I was left to find a way out of my mind.

“If you can hear me, I’ll like you to reach for my mind in yours,” the masculine voice said. It was getting clearer, the darkness surrounding me began to lift like his words bore some kind of spell. “I’ll like you to fight,” he added, his breath fanning against my skin.

I struggled to respond, but my body refused to obey. It felt like I was locked in a dark transparent glass, unable to reach anyone but able to hear them. But the voice didn’t give up. I felt the hands shaking me , warmth pouring into me from them like a lifeline.

The shake grew gradually, from gentle to almost aggressive. And soon, I felt myself fighting my way out. With a monumental effort, I opened my eyes, gasping for air as I sat up.

“You’re okay…you’re okay,” the voice helped me keep my balance on the chair. I was so busy catching my breath that I didn’t notice the amount of people gathered until I lifted my face.

This wasn’t the Breecera pack. None of them looked familiar. Their build, their looks, their tattoos, they were just different.

“Wh…” I tried to speak, but my voice sounded like a faint screech. I guess that’s the effect of staying locked in your subconscious for hours, Or days.

“Return to your posts, I’ll handle this,” the familiar masculine voice ordered everyone. One after the other, they left the room. I took the opportunity to scan the room while the figure addressed some females who were the last to leave.

They looked like they had a little argument before he silently dismissed them.

“Girl problem?” I blurted, trying to get down from the bed when I realized my legs were chained.

“So much for someone whom I brought back to life,” he replied, turning around and began to walk towards me. The closer he got, the clearer his features became. He had this attractive stare with a mix of dread.

I watched him brush his raven black hair which fell messily across his shoulder, revealing a faint scar carved from his jaw which traveled into his shirt. He towered over me, broad-shouldered with a raw power that didn’t need to be flaunted.

I glanced at the chains binding my ankles, then back at him. “Why am I in chains?”.

“You’re a stranger and may as well be a threat,” he replied, not flicking an eye away from me. I swallowed, taking a deep breath and starting a prayer in my head. No way did the moon goddess send me away from Breecera pack only to end up a slave.

I stopped struggling with the chains, falling back to the bed to think through my next course of action when the thought flashes across my memory. My child. I reached for my stomach, pressing against it gently like I could feel the child inside.

“My…” I breathed, feeling my heart taking a dive into my mouth. His attention was drawn back to me, like he was ready to know what the issue was. This time, he was way closer than earlier. His scent was all around me, pinching every nerve in my body.

My wolf grew restless, an unseen force pulling us closer to each other until I heard the purr of my wolf in my head. “Mate”.

I saw the look in his eyes. He must have heard it too, maybe in his head. Instead, he pulled away, taking slow steps backwards. The door opened and our attention was taken away from each other.

“A corpse of a girl is being searched for. And I believe she’s sitting right next to you,” an aged man walked in, dropping a news that threw me into shock.

******