Dear Alpha

PROLOGUE For years and years the Alphas in the west Isles of Scotland and the Alphas in England had never had an agreement. It was perceived by the British that they were barbaric while the Scottish thought their brothers were also barbaric. It was rare for a Scott to ever marry a British. But then the story changes with this one tale. 1203 “Oh for the love of God come back here Angel!” Nineteen year old Deni shouted as she ran after her horse. But her horse did not break its pace. Rather it galloped faster and further down The Valley. “Angel!” She cried out in frustration as she ran after her. Deni who had wanted to fetch water for her horse to drink had been startled when she had heard her horse neighing loudly and galloping. She turned and saw that her horse had taken a flight and three little boys were standing, their feet all wobbly. “What happened?” She asked them. The boys were all shaking in fear. She knew them, they were very naughty boys from the village and all hung within the ages of six, eight and nine. “We tried playing with your horse, but then she became scared and she ran off.” One of the boys stammered. Deni was too confused to even be angry. “You are quite lucky Angel didn’t trample you.” Deni snapped at the boys as she ran back after her horse. The thing was Angel was a wild horse and she still had not been tamed. Whenever Angel sensed danger, she became aggressive and it was such a good thing that she had not trampled the boys or they would have most likely been dead. Deni was the only person Angel could stand. Angel never let anyone close to her except her owner. That was how she had ended up running after her horse with such haste. “Angel come back!” Deni shouted. Then as she ran, she saw that there were some men on horses, in a large gathering. And Angel happened to be standing right with them. Deni ran after her horse and stood to an abrupt stop when she saw the men. These men were giant. Large, muscular and scary looking. They had either fire red, brown orange hair or thick black hair. A few were blonde but they looked as wild as their companions. They had mean frowns on their face, or maybe that was just how they were. She couldn’t tell for sure, if that was just how their faces were. And she saw what they were wearing. They had on plaids. British men did not wear plaids. And then she trembled when it dawned on her. These were Scottish men. This was a Scottish army. What were they doing here? Then one of them came down from his horse and it seemed like he was the most powerful of all. It was he who had Angel’s saddle in his hand. As he approached her, Deni saw him even more clearly. He had long wild blonde hair and his eyes were the greenest she had ever seen. His arms were as muscular as his entire body and there was a scar slashed on his arm, making him look even meaner. He looked like he could rip a man apart with his bare hands. In Deni’s life never had she met a man who had made her insides tremble. Just his approach towards her terrified the life out of her. She unconsciously took a step back away. “Are you the Rider of this horse?” He demanded when he approached her. She looked from Angel to him. “Aye,” Deni nodded. “She is mine.” “I find that hard to believe.” He said with a very heavy Scottish accent. She was right. He was Scottish. “This is a wild horse.” He stated. “She is not a wild horse!” Deni snapped. The man rose his brow and Deni shut her mouth quickly. What had come over her? She had no idea when she had actually raised her voice. The truth was that she hated it when people referred to Angel as a wild horse. The man’s face became so hard at the way she had raised her voice at him. And then Deni swallowed. “She is not a wild horse.” Deni said a bit more quietly now. “I know a wild horse when I see one.” He said. Deni pursed her lips. “She is not a wild horse.” Deni emphasised still remaining calm. “And she is for me.” The man looked at her uncertainly. “Wild horses like this don’t belong to the English.” He said with such disdain in his voice. It was no new news that the British and the Scottish hardly ever associated. The British saw the Scottish as Barbaric and the Scottish saw the British as strung up peacocks. Both ways, they did not like each other. Deni had never seen her horse Angel ever remain calm bedside someone. But with this stranger, Angel was completely obedient. Like he had cast a spell over her. “She is mine and mine alone.” Deni said. Then she stretched out her hand. “Thank you for holding her for me. But I demand to have her back.” Angel neighed. The man scrutinised Deni and Deni felt like he was seeing right through her clothes. For some odd reason, she felt like she was naked and then the sudden urgency for her to cover up her body came up. The man spoke in Gaelic. “These English are barbaric fools.” He obviously did not know that she could speak Gaelic if not he would not have said that. She was quite intelligent and a very good scholar at that. She had learnt Irish and Gaelic from her books by herself. His men laughed behind him and then he threw Angel’s reigns at her. “If I happen to see this horse roaming around again.” He said as he came close to her. This time he said it in English. “I would take her to be mine.” She just stared at him and then she took Angel and then Angel started neighing loudly. The poor baby was probably frightened by all the men. “Don’t worry Angel.” Deni whispered calmly to her horse’s ears as she touched her gently and massaged her head. “I’m here now.” And Angel became very still and stood silently. She was aware that the men were looking at her in bewilderment at how quickly she had calmed Angel. Then she got on Angel’s back and she turned to them and despite how much she did not want to, she said. “I bid you farewell.” And then she galloped away. Her heart still racing at the sudden encounter. She had never seen a Scottish army in her life before. What were they doing here?