Page 27 of Runt of the Pack
Within seconds, the door swings open, and Vlad ducks into the kitchen, his intense stormy eyes immediately finding me. “Is everything alright?” he rumbles softly.
My gaze meets his in uneasy silence. I bend down and start gathering the broken porcelain pieces scattered at my feet. “Yeah...” I breathe weakly.
Suddenly, Vlad kneels before me. His large, gentle hand encircles my slim wrist, stilling my nervous motions. “Anya...?” he purrs, leaning in, his earthy, masculine scent enveloping me.
I exhale sharply as the truth crystallizes in my mind. Eyes locked with his, I blurt out, “An Alpha... You’re an Alpha?”
“I am,” Vlad states simply, his stare boring into me.
My breaths come faster as I process this revelation. “When you spoke of your pack in Rome, you really meant your pack, because you were—are—the Alpha.” He never outright deceived me about his status. Everything in me goes taut, a storm of emotions clashing inside.
“Hey now, easy...” Vlad’s voice turns soothing, his free hand coming up to glide along my tense jawline. “I bet the untamed wolf in you wants to bolt and start running away right now, doesn’t she?” he asks knowingly.
I inhale deeply and manage to regain some control over my visceral panic. “Maybe?” I whisper shakily.
“Well… don’t,” Vlad says, firm but gently commanding. “There’s nothing here to run from, my love. Listen, so much has happened so fast between us. I understand this might feel like too much to handle right now.”
He’s right. Grief, pain, joy, and sheer dread of losing this bond tangle tightly in my core. I cannot find the words to open my guarded heart to Vlad, to articulate these overwhelming emotions. After so long holding my walls up in isolation, I scarcely recall how it feels to let someone in fully.
Vlad’s fingers under my chin draw my eyes back to his patient grey ones. His gaze narrows, reading my poorly concealed distress easily. “Talk to me, Anya,” he urges, voice dropping into a gentle croon. “You’ve been so distant since the attack. I know you’re grieving the loss of Yulia. But this unease in you runs deeper... I feel it.” He inches closer, his breath laced with the scent of mint as it caresses my cheek. “You don’t have to be alone in this anymore, my lovely wolf. Whatever haunts you, let me help carry the burden.”
My throat tightens with emotion. Vlad means so well, but he does not fully comprehend the true scope of the bloody shadow now looming over us. I should confess everything, but panic has my tongue frozen.
Vlad’s steady hands come up to cup my face, forcing me to meet his stare. “We are mates now, you and I,” he says firmly. “Your trials are mine to share. Please, trust me as I trust you.”
His earnest plea breaks my paralysis at last. I cannot keep avoiding this forever, though the truth may destroy the haven I’ve found with Vlad. But the time has come to stop hiding from my past demons.
Eyes burning, I swallow hard and prepare myself to speak my truth. His fingers lace through mine, grounding me as I gather frayed composure. Ready or not, I have to come clean—at this point, it would be reckless not to.
Finally, in halting words, I paint the whole wretched picture—my history with the Alpha Krov pack, their brutal leader’s interest, and the only means left to me to escape his sadistic desires.
“Yulia’s death was a warning, Vlad,” I explain. “From him. He finally tracked me here.” Unshed tears clog my throat.
Vlad’s expression blackens with fury and pain on my behalf as understanding dawns. “Who is it?” he grates out. “Give me this beast’s name.”
I close my eyes, seeing again the handsome youth who morphed into a monster right in front of me. “Roan Mikhailov. Leader of the Alpha Krov pack.”
A litany of curses in Russian erupts from Vlad as he surges to his feet. For a moment I brace myself, expecting his blinding rage and fury to overwhelm him. But when his blazing eyes find mine again, they hold steely purpose instead of madness.
“That monster will never lay a finger on you again. I swear it on my life,” Vlad vows, his words razor-edged. “He and every last one of his depraved pack will suffer and pay for aiding his twisted desires.”
Despite the icy fear still choking me, Vlad’s fervent promise kindles a fragile ember of hope beneath my breastbone. I rise on trembling legs to join him, brushing tentative fingers over his clenched, white-knuckled fist.
“We will face him together,” I manage to whisper. Lifting my chin, I meet Vlad’s stare unflinchingly. “I won’t run or hide any longer.”
A fierce light enters Vlad’s eyes at my quiet bravery. Vlad crushes me against the solid bulk of his chest in answer. I cling to him, letting our shared strength leach away some of my paranoia. Whatever comes, I will not stand alone against the demon from my past again. With my brave mate and our growing numbers at my side, hope flickers weakly.
A sharp rap at the front door startles us apart. Wiping my eyes hastily, I follow Vlad to the foyer where one of our omega wolves lingers on the threshold speaking with a stranger. Their voices carry to us in snatches through the cracked door.
“...never met, but I heard you might help...”
“The Alpha will decide.”
“Please, I have nowhere else...”
Vlad strides forward out into the falling snow, assessing the ragged newcomer with a piercing stare. I hang back in the doorway, pulse kicking. More refugees come daily, but something about this one makes my skin prickle ominously. His scent... so familiar. Dread rises like bile in my throat.
As if sensing my presence, the stranger turns. His cruel eyes meet mine over Vlad’s shoulder, and my vision narrows to his leering visage. Even with brutal scars marring one side of his face, I recognize him instantly. Boris, one of Roan’s enforcers.
