Page 55 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter
He starts to turn me around, but alphas crowd the door. We’re blocked in, stuck with Gideon.
“Not so fast,” Gideon says. “Sit. Down.”
Someone slides a chair out of the crowd and Javi stares at it. The scene is too familiar—because my mother sat in a chair just like this when Gideon put her on trial right before he threw her into the sea.
My heart pounds, and I take a shuddering breath.
“Calm down, girl,” my father scoffs. “Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to your mate. Now you just kneel beside him while he says his piece.”
Javi reluctantly heads toward the chair, then takes a seat. I kneel beside him as instructed, my head down, Javi’s hand on my shoulder. I don’t know what Gideon’s plan is, but there could only be one reason he brought us here: to hurt us.
And if he’s letting me stay, he wants me to hear whatever he’s about to say.
“Mr. Boyd told me all about you, Javier,” my fathe says. “Where you came from…what you were like when he picked you up.”
“That life is behind me,” Javi snaps. “I got clean.”
“Kraken addiction is a serious problem, doesn’t just go away,” Gideon says. “They had you dosed up, fucking and fighting down in Miami—isn’t that right?”
“Like I said?—”
“I’m asking for a yes or a no, Javier.”
Javi squeezes my shoulder—and I wish I knew him better so I could tell if he’s trying to comfort me or himself.
“Yes,” he breathes.
I chance another glance up before I get a warning growl from Ephraim. Javi looks unreadable as always, except for the tic in his jaw. A muscle twitches repeatedly in his neck, still winding up, up, up…
“Shit like that can break an alpha,” Gideon continues. “But you survived adversity. You escaped. And now… you’ve landed in just the right place to find redemption.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Javi says.
Gideon gets up from his throne, tall and broad-shouldered even as he gets older. I cower, keeping my head down as he walks slowly toward us. He’s focused only on Javi, though that doesn’t make me feel much better.
“I used to be an addict too, son,” Gideon says. “And with the help of the Heavenly Host, I was redeemed—as you can be too. Here on the Rig, we believe in the Gospel of Strength, and I am here to grant you salvation.”
A shadow falls over me as Gideon reaches out and puts his hand on Javi’s head. I half expect Javi to explode with rage, to give up on his composure—but I know it would mean death for us both.
“I’m giving you my daughter, Javier,” he continues. “The chance to continue my family line and keep preaching the Gospel of Strength on the Gulf. I hope you’ll come to think of me as kin.”
This is all a game—promising Javi power and safety.
And it must be tempting, right?
“What’s the catch?” Javi asks.
Gideon withdraws his hand, the performance paused. He hums thoughtfully as he stalks back to his throne. Each step echoes—too loud in the hushed tension of the chamber. Around us, the other alphas circle like carrion birds, barely leashed. Hungry. Waiting.
All I can think about isher.
My mother.
On her knees in this exact room, on this same cold floor, right in front of that throne.
It was the last time I saw her alive.
“You have to learn our ways,” Gideon says. “And you’re certainly strong enough, tough, brutal. But you haven’t been stern enough with her.”
