Page 20 of Becoming the Alpha

“Are there any of those tunnels you were talking about nearby?” I asked, turning to look at her. She raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious, but nodded. “There’s one in my room. Again, why?”

I glanced up and down the hallway, making sure nobody was around. I grabbed her arms and pulled her close. “Listen to me carefully. Grab Mom and disappear. Now. This very fucking second. Don’t bother packing. Dad just tried to force me to rescind my challenge and he threatened you two. If he gets a hold of you, hewillkill you. You need to leave - now.” I stressed.

Laura’s face drained of color and real fear flooded her eyes. I could smell the rotting apricots starting to envelop her normal vanilla scent. I pulled her into a tight hug again, my wolf ready to take over and lock her in our room with everyone else. He was going crazy, trying to protect everyone he loved. He was ready to take out the threat now. He didn’t want to wait another two days.

I took a deep breath and pulled away from Laura. I leaned down to her eye level, watching as tears streamed down her face. It broke my heart, but the only thing I could do to keep them safe was send them away. “You’ll be okay. Luke and Jake will meet you at the edge and take you to safety. I’ll send for you once I secure the Alpha position. Take care of Mom, okay?”

Laura nodded, not bothering to say anything. She sniffed, tears continued to stream down her face, but she didn’t bother stopping them. She looked every bit of the seventeen years old she was at that moment. I shook her softly, squeezing her shoulders. I needed her to start moving and get to safety. She blinked at me, before she sniffed and nodded. We gave each other another hug and then she ran down the hallway, bursting into my parent’s bedroom.

I squared my shoulders and walked into my room.

22

Lily

Jason walked into the door and my wolf backed off. She had been going crazy, leaving her mate alone with a very real threat. Dean had stood in front of the door, not letting me go back to Jason the entire time. I had threatened him, tried to get past him, and done everything short of attacking him in my attempt to get out. I was relieved when Jason walked in the door. It meant I didn’t have to kill Dean.

I folded my arms and gave my best stink eye at Jason when he approached me. He eyed me, giving me a wry smirk. “What’s that look for?”

“You know what this look is for, Jason Huntington. Don’t try to play coy with me. I may be mad right now, but I don’t want you in danger. You made me leave my mate who was standing in front of the most dangerous person in the world right now by himself. If I had tried to do that, how would you have reacted?”

Jason’s face darkened. His eyes blazed with the golden glow of his wolf. “Nobody would have been able to remove me from your side,” He snarled.

“And yet, you had your beta throw me over his shoulder and carry me away from you.”

Jason sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Lily. I just can’t stand you being in danger. I reacted and didn’t take your feelings into account. I apologize for my actions.”

I dropped my arms and wrapped them around his waist. He wrapped his arms around the top of my body and kissed my head. I breathed in his woodsy, clean scent and felt my entire body relax. I hated this whole discord between us, but I couldn’t forgive him right away. I needed time to process what his actions meant for my life now and how I was going to go forward, but I could hardly catch my breath with everything going on in our lives.

I pulled away from his embrace and inhaled sharply. “Alright, what’s the plan for tonight?”

Jason’s jaw clenched and I could tell he was about to try to keep us here again, but I raised a hand. “Don’t even try to keep us in this Goddess-forsaken room. My wolf is ready to tear this place apart. We need to be outside, at least for a little while. Plus, we both need to be at this meeting. The kingdom is going to change and I, for one, want to know what the people want it to change into.”

Jason shook his head, but his lips twitched with the effort of not smiling. He rolled his eyes and turned to Dean. “Alright, Dean. You’re in charge of making sure these two troublemakers don’t get themselves killed.”

I scoffed. “You’re giving Dean an incredibly difficult task.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at me. “Why is that a difficult task?’

“I’m a troublemaker,” I shrugged. “Don’t worry, I’m going to be sticking by your side, Jason. Dean-o is off the hook.” Jason scowled, but didn’t bother responding. Dean gave me a look that clearly communicated he thought I was crazy. Amara stood off to the side, watching the whole interaction like she couldn’t believe this was her life now.

“Fine,” Jason bit out. “Dean, you protect Amara. The rebels aren’t going to be happy that we’re bringing new people to the meeting so keep an eye out for viable escape routes.”

“Escape routes? Wait, why won’t they be happy? Don’t they need more people?” I asked sharply. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. I waited impatiently, annoyed at his dramatics. Apparently I wasn’t the only one. I caught Dean rolling his eyes. Amara’s face was turned down in a frown.

“For crying out loud, Jason, just spit it out already!” She snapped.

I blinked, raising my eyebrows in surprise. Dean looked amused, hiding his grin behind one of his hands. I glanced at Jason, who looked shocked. He blinked, his jaw falling open and his eyes wide. A giggle slipped out and Jason’s gaze slipped over to me. He gave me a small smile, looking pained.

“I was workingwiththe rebellion, not a part of them. Besides, there are some members who don’t exactly like me or who I am - whether I work with or against them. I’m not sure what they will do or say when we all appear there. Just humor me. I like having options and back ups,” He said. I looked at Amara and Dean who both nodded.

“Alright, let’s get some rest. Wait…” I said, glancing around and frowning. I realized we were missing an important member of our group. “Where’s your sister?”

Jason winced. “Laura and my mom are gone. They took the tunnels and headed out. Speaking of that, I need to call Alpha Luke. He needs to get them to safety.”

My eyes widened as surprise shot through me and I watched as Jason searched the room for a phone. I looked to Amara for help, but she stood there, looking confused. “Why did your mom and sister need to leave? Why isn’t it safe for them anymore?”

Jason didn’t even turn to answer. I felt a flash of anger and irritation at him, annoyed that he was ignoring me. I opened my mouth to snap at him when his emotions filtered through our bond, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty making me pause. I peered at him a little closer, realizing he had dark circles under his eyes and his shoulders were up by his ears. I blinked, not realizing my mate was suffering so much. I swallowed the guilt that was building up and grabbed his arm. I hated that I had ruined his life, but I needed to know what happened in that hallway.