Chapter 11: Memories
Roman
Thank the goddess Pierce recognized that Samantha was going to try and escape. She wouldn’t have, but I’d have been pissed off if she’d have stabbed me thinking that injuring me would give her a head start
I knew she was going to have fire, and I knew she was going to challenge me, but damn I didn’t know how much I was going to like it. Yeah, I’m irritated. Yeah, I want to strangle her for thinking that the measly piece of metal she pulled out of the toilet was actually going to hurt me. But that fire, that fight? Damn am I turned on
I once again wonder how Alpha William didn’t know she was an Alpha. He must have. He’s not a strong and powerful Alpha not anymore, but he was at one time and I’m sure his pack will be again when his young son finally takes over in six years. So, he must have known and that makes me wonder… did he know who she was when she arrived at his borders?
I crawl into bed behind Samantha, pulling her body against mine, then putting my
y arm over her again to hold her in place. When she starts to struggle against me, I growl at her until she settles. Once she does, I go back to my thoughts about Alpha
William
If he knew who she was, did she come from a nearby pack? Was she possibly from the rare pack that abused their Alpha females because they weren’t males? She said her parents were dead, so I still think it was a battle. I’ll have to go back to our archives and see what pack wars happened over the last eighteen years. Since I don’t know when she arrived at Alpha William’s pack, I’ll have to start at the beginning. It’s very unlikely that it was in her first five years. He didn’t say anything about anyone else at his borders, so she ran on her own, possibly with assistance part way if she was very young. Perhaps a
ybe even another family member who didn’t survive helped her to get away.
Beta or
Thirteen years. It’s a long time to search through records of pack wars, it’s worth it for me to figure out who my mate is. It would be easier if I knew that Alpha William knew Samantha’s family, but in reality, the old Alpha is the kind of man who would take anyone in who needed help. He basically said just that. If it were me, I know I’d take in a child at my borders.
I look at my mate wondering just how bad her physical state was when she arrived at Alpha William’s pack lands. He adopted her, so whatever pack she left, her family’s pack had been defeated. As the Alpha family, they would have been killed to ensure that no true heirs could ever return to take over the pack. So, maybe, Alpha William knew her or her family. Maybe that’s why he gave her his name
1 take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. I have too many questions and no answers. I want to know who my mate is. I want to know why she’s so desperate to get away from me and I want to know who she is hiding from. I know she thinks that I won’t exact revenge on her behalf, but I will I will destroy whoever took her family from her. I will give my mate the
revenge that she deserves
Sleep refuses to come, even knowing that Pierce will stay alert and that Samantha can’t get away from me. But I have too many thoughts in my head and unbidden, thoughts of my mate and her plight bring the memories of the loss of my best
friend, Theodore.
I think back to the pack that I destroyed because they attacked Theo’s pack. Samara wasn’t there. I’ve wondered for many years if that’s because the Alpha of that pack wasn’t the leader of the attack. Perhaps he was paid or promised something if he and his pack attacked. I’ll never know, because I didn’t give him a chance to tell me. I was so angry, so sure that I’d find Samara in his pack, that I beheaded him before he could say a word to me.
What would I have done if Samara had ended up at my borders? I would have done exactly what Alpha William did Şamantha. At the time, I wasn’t the Alpha. But my father would have adopted her, giving her his name and therefore, his protection. He would have made her my ‘sister‘ and when I took over, his protection would have transferred to me as the Alpha and I’d have kept her safe
My thoughts keep me up the rest of the night. I’m actually a bit surprised when I feel Samantha fall into a deep sleep, her heavy breathing letting me know that she finally fell asleep. In the morning, I link my guards, letting them know that I’m going to go for a run before we leave.
1 quietly make my way out of bed, slipping out the front door.
+15 BONUS
“She’s sleeping, but stay on guard. She’s already tried to escape once and she tried to quickly make a weapon,” I say, giving the guards the piece of metal she tried to stab me with last night. “Do not let your guard down for a second. Link me if you hear her moving around, or if she opens the door.”
“Yes, Alpha,” they say, and I make my way to the forest behind the hotel. There’s a reason most packs stay at this hotel. They don’t have to make it fancy because there’s a big open forest right behind it that the hotel owns. I looked into it once and it’s owned by a wolf pack, which makes sense and is smart. It’s probably how they fund their pack. The pack that owns the hotel is wealthy, but not as wealthy as we are in the north.
I let Pierce come forward and pull the shift after stripping off my shorts. Then, I sit back in our mind and let him run. My mind is in turmoil after my sleepless night. Samantha’s story is too close to Samara’s. Hell, even her fake name is close to Samara’s and it’s bringing all that old anger and frustration back to the surface. I need to figure out how old Samantha was when she came to Alpha William’s pack. Was she six or sixteen? For me, it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t get justice for Samara, but I sure as hell will for Samantha
I growl, loud enough in our mind that even Pierce growls softly. I hate not knowing my mate’s real name. Of course, if I did know her name, she might actually try to reject me. Now I smile, thinking of her ineffective rejection. She’d meant it, for sure. The fire in her eyes had practically begged our mate bond to accept her useless rejection. But, of course, all pack members are taught how to properly reject someone for a reason. There is only one way to do it. But she had done it anyway and in a room full of Alphas and other ranked members. My girl is ballsy, that’s for sure.
‘Alpha, we can hear our Luna moving around in the room,‘ one of the guards links me.
‘Stay alert. I’ll head back,‘ I tell them.
‘Can you imagine what our bond will be like when she learns to trust us and accepts us as her mates?‘ Pierce asks.
I know he feels almost desperate to mark Samantha, not just because she’s our mate, but she’s also an Alpha female. An Alpha female that someone, somewhere wanted dead. And I have no idea how long ago that was? If she was sixteen when she came to Alpha William’s pack, they could still be trying to find her. If she was six well, hopefully they will have given up on finding her by now, assuming that she died. I wonder what time of year she was found. In spring or summer, she could have gotten farther on her own, even if she was young. In winter though..
‘Alphar one of the guards say, the link closing before he can finish what he wanted to say.
I ignore my shorts and race up the stairs to our room. There I find Samantha, fighting against two of my guards, one is on the ground unconscious. She has a cord in her hand that she’s wielding like a whip and in the other she’s made some piece of plastic into a shank
I rush up behind her grabbing the arm with the cord and pulling it behind her back while grabbing the one with the shank and pressing her arm against her chest, holding her body to mine.
“How many times are we going to do this, beautiful?” I growl in her ear.
“As many times as it takes, you assholer
Maybe it’s because I’m feeling raw after my restless night, or maybe it’s because I can smell my warriors‘ blood from where she’s obviously stabbed them, but my patience snaps. I extend my canines and sink my teeth into her neck. It’s not her marking spot and it’s not on either side of her spine where a typical bite of dominance would be, but it’s close enough that I feel her body go still and stiff in my arms, I also feel the power in her blood. Shit, she’s almost as strong of an Alpha as I am.
“Stop hurting my warriors,” I growl around her neck. I catch the faintest scent of fear. I don’t like scaring her, but I refuse to allow her to hurt my pack members.
“Nod if you understand,” I growl. Talking is making my tongue move over her neck. I can feel her body shiver in response. Even she isn’t immune to the mate bond. Maybe I can use that to my advantage
#25 BONUS
She slowly nods her head. I growl once more to let her know I’m serious, then I pull my teeth from her neck. Because I do care about her and I don’t like forcing my dominance on her, I hold her while I lick her wounds closed. I can almost hear her gritting her teeth as her body continues to shiver from the touch of my tongue.
She feels so good in my arms. I can’t wait until she’s here because she wants to be. But for now
“Drop the shank in my hand,” I tell her, opening the hand that was holding her arm against her chest. I don’t remove my arm. I have no doubt that if I gave her the chance that she’s spin and try to stab me too.
She does and I toss the shank to the quard. Then I turn her body so she’s looking at the warrior on the ground.
“What happened to him?”
“Kick to the head. I didn’t kill him. If he’s the strong warrior that I would expect you to have guarding an Alpha female and the woman mated to the strongest Alpha in the country, then he should be waking up soon with a nasty headache, but he’ll be fine in a couple of hours,” she says, haughtily.
She’s right, I had my strongest warriors trading out to guard her overnight. But it doesn’t mean that I like them injured.
‘She’s as strong as her blood tastes if she was able to knock Andrew out with one kick,‘ Pierce remarks, obviously impressed
with our mate. He begins purring proudly and I see her eyes flick back to me. She is strong, and she’ll only get stronger once
I start her in warrior training again. I’m sure she hasn’t been participating since she arrived in Alpha William’s pack, not if she was pretending to be an omega, of course, that’s a double–edged sword. If she’s stronger, it will make it easier for her to
get away from me.
1 look at the other two guards. Their wounds are either closing or have already healed. She really wasn’t trying to kill them.
She was just trying to get away.
“Take Andrew and go get cleaned up. We leave in an hour.”
“Yes, Alpha. Do you want us to send more guards?”
“No, I’ll take over from here,” I tell them. “But have someone go get my shorts from the edge of the forest please.”
They nod and then lift Andrew off the ground, each putting one of his arms over his shoulder before dragging him off
I feel Samantha’s body tense in my arms again.
“Problem?” I ask her, still holding her body against mine.
She shakes her head stiffly. For a moment, I think she’s planning to attack me, but then I smell the hint of arousal.
I smile. She just realized that I’m naked behind her.
I lean forward, putting my mouth against her ear.
“Something on your mind?”
Cooper
Well, she got closer to escaping this time.
