Page 5 of Forced Alpha Bride
“Okay.” She pulls back, her eyes shimmering just a little. “You better get going. Call me soon, please?”
“I will,” I answer, squeezing her hand before I turn to walk away.
I go out through the front hall, letting the big doors close behind me with a loud thump. I cross the gravel drive to my little car and hop in, starting it up. Looking up to the dark, jagged edges of Wolfshade against the night sky, I feel a surge of excitement in me that is more anticipation than anxiety.
I’m going to meet the man of my dreams!
As I leave Quartz Key, my home, this thought becomes a certainty, and I put all my hope and faith into the future—and Iris Porter.
Chapter 2 - Damon
Muscles aching, knuckles bleeding, and chest heaving, I stand in the center of the fighting ring, trembling so hard that I have to fight not to fall down.
Fight. All I’ve done for the last six hours is fight. Scratch that—my whole life has been a fight!
I take slow, careful steps towards the podium where the council members wait. My vision is blurry from the hits I’ve taken, and there are flickering shadows made by the torches set in the walls, but I know the elders are still there, watching me.
Judging me.
As I lurch towards them, I pass the bodies of the men I’ve killed. Some of them might not be dead, but they are certainly defeated. Thirteen bodies lay between me and the stone dais that rises above the wide, cold stone floor.
The Gryphon Eyrie pack was built on the principle of the alpha’s challenge. It was the only way to ensure that the strongest wolf would always lead the pack. The actual fight has not happened for a long time, though. After Roderick won it, there was no challenge for almost a hundred years.
And now the old wolf is dead, and they could not refuse me.
I stagger closer to the row of torches set high in the wall above where the council members sit. I can see their faces now, and they all wear expressions of shock and horror.
I must look like a nightmare, practically crawling out of the darkness, covered in blood and open wounds. Good. Let them see this and remember it, should any of them ever think to challenge me.
When Roderick died, the council intended to swiftly transfer the title of alpha to one of their first-family sons without the alpha challenge. If they did it quickly and smoothly enough, the pack wouldn’t have time to protest, and a lot of them probably wouldn’t mind. Gryphon Eyrie has come a long way from its bloody roots.
But I came, and they could not refuse me. By ancient law, it is my right to challenge, and all eligible candidates must fight.
I struggle closer to the dais, moving around the bodies of my enemies. I have no idea if they are alive or dead, and I don’t really care.
I make my way to the lowest stone tier and look up. The elders are glaring down at me, sitting at the long, curved table on top of the dais that overlooks the fighting ring. We’re deep underneath Roderick’s manor, in the ancient pit where the rules of our clan were made.
I look at the elders one by one. Ledra, on the far corner, glares at me with steely eyes, her mouth in a firm line. Beside her, old Norman looks like a fat fool, a man overrun by age and too many of life’s pleasures. On the other side of the arc, Bryce and Cora stare at me, both of them showing a healthy dose of fear.
Good. That means they won’t move against me. That’s the whole point of this challenge—a show of strength.
In the middle of the table, the alpha seat sits empty. I slowly cast my eyes to either side of it. On the left, Mitchell stares at me, his expression blank but his eyes full of rage. Almost as old as Roderick and twice as ruthless, Mitchell would have fought in the challenge if he thought he had a chance of beating me.
His son was in here somewhere… everyone who was fit for the alpha position had to fight. Did I kill his boy, Scott? I don’t even remember.
Memories of the battle itself descend on me, clouding my mind with screams, yelps, and the thudding of heavy blows. I close my eyes and wait for it to pass, knowing that the echoes of this slaughter will live in me for the rest of my life.
But it was worth it.
Slowly, I open my eyes and look at the chair that sits at the alpha’s right hand.
Regina.
She glares at me, her pale, cold eyes like bitter ice raining from the highest peak in a deadly snowstorm. She sought to control the pack from the moment Roderick died, and she had a few ringers in the naming ceremony she could easily control.
What a nice little plan she had to gather the boys before the dais, have them make little speeches, then pick one to use as her puppet. Sorry, bitch. Not on my fucking watch.
As I glare at her, I see her nose crinkle slightly as she holds back an expression of pure disgust. She’s always hated me, and the feeling is more than mutual.
