Page 46 of Cruel Alpha

“Your eye is too noticeable,” I told her as softly as I could. “He’s right: an Arbor fighter would know to attack you from that side. We don’t need you getting hurt just to give Alyssa time to get away.”

“That’ll be my job.” Ethan’s face was set and certain, and I’d never been more grateful for him. Julia and Alyssa didn’t put up any more of a fight, and time was running short.

“Take the back way out; the fewer people see you leave, the better,” I told them. I didn’t think any member of Lapine would sell Alyssa out voluntarily, but nor did I think that Arbor would have to apply much pressure if they got their hands on someone who’d seen which direction she and Julia ran in.

With great reluctance, I continued,

“Be safe. I have to start organizing our troops.”

Julia nodded, and Ethan clapped me on the shoulder before I knelt down to say my goodbyes to the twins.

“You two be good for your Mommy, okay?” I said. “Have fun staying over with Uncle Ethan.” I dropped a kiss onto each of their heads, breathing in their sweet baby scent. I’d missed so much of their lives already that I could barely stand to send them away again, but it was for the best. Ethan would make sure they were safe.

Alyssa followed me to the door, cradling herself as I lingered on the threshold.

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“I know, Baby,” I said, reaching out to draw her closer. “But you can do this. You’ve had plenty of practice now, and it’s just running. Your wolf will know what to do. She’ll stay for our children; I know she will.”

A tiny smile lit up her face: a weak ray of sunshine breaking through heavy winter clouds.

“Our children,” she repeated.

There was so much I wanted to say to her, but time was running short. I could hear Leo and Liam giving orders in the distance: it was time for me to take charge.

“I’ll come and find you as soon as it’s over,” was all I could say. Alyssa’s smile disappeared, replaced by that determined, demanding expression I was so utterly in love with.

“You better,” she said.

Then there were arms around my neck, and soft lips were pressed hard against mine. My hands went to her waist on instinct, pulling her against me. I relished the soft give of her breasts and her belly against the hardness of my torso, and my wolf howled with triumph inside me. I had missed this so desperately that the last three days had felt like thirty years. To touch her again was heaven; to taste her was even better. I sucked one of her plump lips into my mouth, nibbling on it until she went pliant against me. I could have luxuriated in her for hours, but no matter how wild she could drive me, my need to protect her came first.

I separated us extremely reluctantly, dropping one more light kiss on her pink lips.

“I promise.” I didn’t know what I was promising. To make it out of the battle alive? To come straight back to her? To never leave again? I would promise all of it and more, so I supposed it didn’t matter. With one last look at those hazel eyes—shining with unshed tears—I readied myself for war.

Chapter 21 - Alyssa

The ground beneath my paws was hard and frosted, but I’d been running for long enough that hot blood was coursing through every inch of my body. I wished we’d had a chance to test the harness with the twins in it before we had to put it into use; though Jace had promised that I could run flat out without jostling Jack and Emmy too much, it felt wrong, and my steps were careful as I tried to keep them comfortable. They were already having to deal with the cold air and the whip of icy wind in their little faces—though I’d bundled them up to the point where they were almost spherical—they didn’t need to be bounced about in their stiff leather seats on top of it all. They were quiet as we ran, which was a blessing I hadn’t expected: how did you tell a two-year-old that they have to keep quiet or they might die?

They were certainly being better behaved than Ethan, who gave another irritated huff of breath. Bringing up the rear in our party of three, he was forced to keep pace with me, and it was clearly far slower than he would have liked. I couldn’t deny that I was glad he’d volunteered to come along: Julia and I were scrappy, but neither of us were fighters, and any wolf would think twice about attacking our party when they saw the enormous grey beast who guarded us. Even his scent was aggressive, like cold metal and leather, and I pitied any Arbor hunter who tried to take him on.

Ahead of me, Julia was also generously lowering her speed to keep pace with me. Her little black wolf—who shared her brother’s splash of white, only on her chest rather than her back—might not be as powerful or as fast as Ethan, but her single whitened eye made her look fierce in her own way.

How long had we been traveling? Twenty minutes? Thirty? However long it was, I’d never kept my wolf’s shape for even half as much time before. Despite the fear that set me on edge, the unfamiliar surroundings, and the added stress of carrying my children on my back, I felt utterly stable in my wolf’s form. Was it because she knew I needed her now, and she was willing to stay? Or was it because I’d finally stopped fighting her, finally given in to the part of me that didn't care what Caleb had done in the past, only that he was my mate now and for the rest of our lives.

The sound of snapping branches to the east had all three of us on edge, picking up speed as we attempted to sniff out the scent of unfamiliar wolves in the air. There was nothing on the wind but distant rabbits, maybe a fox or two, but we remained vigilant as we pushed ourselves towards the bridge. In the near distance, I could see the tree line of the forest we would have to pass through, the shadows shifting and changing as the trees’ bare branches shook and rattled in the wind. For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw the outline of a wolf before it melted back into the darkness, and my hackles rose. It felt like something was closing in on us, like it was herding us to where they wanted us to go.

The thought was ridiculous. We were following the path we’d always intended to take. No one was leading us anywhere. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of fur—light tan—but when I blinked, it was gone.

Then the vision hit me fully:

Wolves snarling. Teeth gnashing. The smell of copper and ice.

The battle was in full swing, with Caleb at the center of it. His wolf form exuded power, and he ripped through every challenger who dared to try him.

The other wolves were nothing but blurs of fur in various shades of brown and black and grey, all flashing teeth and ripping claws. They were background noise, blurred in my mind’s eye.

Through the mass of blood and fur, a tan wolf came into focus. He was grizzled around the muzzle, clearly a fighter: Leonard Pearce. I wanted to call out, to warn Caleb, but I had no voice. I wasn’t there. I was at the edge of the forest halfway across the island.

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