Destined for the Alpha (16 page)

"I don't know." she could hear his breathing in the dark and grabbed his arm

"Are you sure? Everyone seems to know something I don't." Catherine asked again, starting to feel worried. All the times where someone has said she was much more than a Helian, that she had powers she was unaware of was starting to eat at her mind. Was there something to all this speculation?

Peter kissed her gently "Whatever it takes, I'll get you out of here alive."

He laid back down, pulling her with him, shielding her from the door with his own body, his warmth lulled her to sleep again in the darkness.

She was woken up with a swift kick and she felt all the air leave her lungs. Peter was quicker to act than her and pushed her out of the way of the next kick but Catherine still felt it and wheezed trying to take a breath.

Two days without eating and two days closer to her changing and she wasn't sure if she was in any shape to handle it. "Good morning, Helian, good morning Peter." it was Cordelia.

Catherine's eyes hurt from all the light and she blinked trying to adjust to it. "Unfortunately your friend Philippe could not give us any information as to where he placed the dagger so-"

"What did you do to him?" she shrieked, her heart racing, Cordelia had no morals, she could have done anything to her poor scholar. He had no part in this except being her friend in times of need.

"Ah, I suppose Peter will be the next to find out she replied before whipping out a crude instrument that looked to be a silver spike. Peter backed away in fear, she had never seen that look in his eyes before. "Up we go sweetie, let's go find out what our friend Philippe was doing." He stood up quickly and shot a look at Catherine who was staring up at him in shock and fear.

"Peter," she gasped leaning back against the bars and stood up, the vial, the vial, she chanted in her mind it was a mantra it was a prayer. "Let him go, Cordelia." the vial, the vial.

"Or what?" she laughed "you'll cry on me? give me your blood and you can both go." her face dropped when Catherine withdrew a vial containing silvery liquid. "Take a step closer and I swear I will stab him" she moved the sharpened silver spike to his chest and Peter shook his head at the small ingénue with fire in her eyes.

It happened in a flash, Catherine smashed the vial open on Cordelia's upper arm, her flesh melting away like butter, shards of the glass stuck in Catherine's hand making her hiss and she felt it, it was burning in her chest as if she was caught on fire and she howled in pain, it was unimaginable, she could barely breathe. Her head snapped, her eyes clouded with tears and saw the silver spike stuck in her mate's chest. Cordelia fell to the ground clutching her skin. "Say the words Peter!"

"Catherine I-" he couldn't breathe and crumpled to the floor. She ripped the spike from his body and screamed, the pain worsened, she clenched her teeth, the burning sensation was increasing "Blood offered, vlos belbaunin, joros emplaniilid" she hissed through the pain, each word painful and she stabbed through her hand, watching the blood travel down the spike and into the wound, she pulled the spike out, looking at the hole she had made through her hand, her alpha hadn't been healed all the way, but his wounds were slowly closing up on their own. The pain combined with her blood loss after two days of not eating had made her dizzy.

Her alpha was barely conscious and she could barely speak, she knew his lung had been punctured but he had to get up. "Peter," she tugged on his arm and he stumbled to stand, she pushed open the silver cage only to be greeted with a howl. The alpha was now aware of his beta's demise, the passed her as she writhed on the floor of the cage.

She was blindly running, that much she knew for free. The walls and windows were a blur of color and Peter wasn't even paying attention at this point. "Catherine!" a small voice called and she looked to see Mateo who was standing next to another door.

"Mateo, the Frenchman, Philippe, I need-"

He opened the door for her and inside was Philippe, bloody and unconscious on the floor. She groaned and realized this would take more of her, but it was Philippe, her only friend. She fell to her knees, not even realizing the pain and hissed as she shook him awake "Ca-Catherine?" he was barely together himself, his eyes were unfocused.

"Philippe, I need to go, say the words, I'm already wounded."

"What words?" he seemed to bed waking up a little more and noticing that there was another man slumped against the wall. "Blood requested."

"Blood Requested?"

"Blood freely given, vlos belbaunin, joros emplaniilid" and with a squeeze of her hand and a rush of power she fell to her hands, breathing heavily. She felt half dead and Philippe stood up quickly, pulling her up with him. "God dammit Cat, you look like hell."

Another howl, this time closer "Hurry!" it was Mateo who was standing at the door, he looked panicked.

"Philippe, please." She gasped and held her chest "Grab Peter. We have to go, there is something wrong." 

He rolled his eyes, "there is a lot wrong."

Philippe was right, there was a lot wrong, Ivan not showing up, the elders not stepping in despite them saying she would be unharmed until her changing. She stepped back out into the hallway and Mateo pointed at a stairwell at the end of the hall "down there and go right, you'll make it out"

She barely could see the stairwell he was gesturing to, and Philippe was barely strong enough to carry Peter, and with her alpha still drifting in and out due to the silver that wasn't healing quite as fast as it could. The pain burned in her chest and she was dimly glad she could take the pain for him instead of having him experience any more than he had already been through. She fell down the first few stairs and stumbled down the rest, holding onto the wall to prevent any more injuries. "Catherine, please let me."

"No," she cried "just take care of Peter!" the staircase took forever to the bottom and when they reached the bottom of it, they continued their run down the hallway. She burst through a door into the late evening air. It was cold, it was dark. Cordelia had told them it was morning? What was going on? How long had she been asleep?

She didn't know where they were or where she could go with an unconscious werewolf and a half awake Helian. "Where can we go Philippe?"

Another howl, it was alpha Roland, he was out for blood. "Not back there."

She fell to her knees and the forest floor grew a soft padding underneath her as if to apologize for being so hard. Ever since she had sacrificed for the sages, the forest had always been so accommodating, as if they shared a special unspoken friendship.

"The sages?"

"I don't know where they are Catherine," Philippe replied and Catherine looked around, she was as lost as he was.

"Um," she started and looked at the ground. Time to test this friendship "take me to the sages?" she asked the moss that had grown.

"Have you gone mad, I told you I don't know where they are! We need to pick a direction and go! Now!"

They heard the sound of wood creaking and she looked up to see a large tree bending to the right, as if to show her the way, or was it? Catherine had nothing to lose. She turned right and began running, the forest all blended together into a blur of blackness, she felt lightheaded as they continued, Philippe behind her. She tripped and fell and ripping her dress up, moss that had quickly grown beneath her feet softened the blow but not by much. She was unsure if she was even running in the right direction anymore. Another howl and she groaned, could he not give up? There was no way she was going to outrun a werewolf to find the sages, and she had no idea if she was even close to the sages. It took them hours last time to find their compound. She tripped again, the blood loss combined with the residual pain from her alpha made it too hard for her to go anymore. This was it, she was going to get ripped apart by alpha Roland and Philippe would have to watch.

"Catherine!" Philippe called, she could hear the fear in his voice "I don't know where you're taking us but we need to be there now, he's gaining!"

She was breathing heavily, trying to stay conscious and could barely do that much, the glass digging into her hand was a painful reminder that she had to keep going. "I need to hide," she whispered to the ground, hoping the forest really could hear and it wasn't just her imagination, another creak, the tree was bending left this time and she scrambled to her feet, swaying slightly, it would not be long before she was unconscious. Finally she saw it, the same shallow cave that they had trapped the people she had set free in, it was less than a few feet deep, no more than an outcropping but enough for the forest evidently. She walked up the hill, coughing and crying and collapsed against the wall. Philippe followed her and looked around "We're going to die, this is nowhere to hide Cat."

The floor shook and she whimpered realizing it was most likely they were going to be torn to shreds, however, she watched dense trees shoot up in front of the small cave, creating a solid wall of wood. They were trapped in about three feet of space, barely enough to lie in by the forest and safe as long as Roland didn't find them behind it.

"Philippe I can't, not anymore" she gasped quietly, her breath coming out in small wheezes, the pain and the blood loss mixed together and her eyes fluttered shut.

Chapter 13

He woke her up a few hours later, she was almost delirious when her eyes snapped open. "He's awake Cat, you have to do it now, he's dying."

"Who's awake?" she groped in the darkness and felt the shards of glass dig deeper into her palm as she finally grasped his face, he hissed in pain as she scraped him.

"Peter, you have to, he's asking for you. I think he's dying Cat."

She fell over and she felt Philippe pull her to Peter's body, she felt his body, and then his chest. "Peter," she could still feel his pain, but she knew taking his pain wasn't enough, silver was eating away at him.

"Catherine, you're okay."

She smiled, tears filling her eyes, she definitely wasn't okay, and was unsure of how much more of herself she could give, but for her alpha she could give it all "Peter," she heard Philippe say behind her "say it: Blood requested"

"What?"

"You have to say the words, she can't heal you if you don't start the ritual."

"Peter, you're dying." she cried, feeling tears run down her face at the prospect of her mate withering away underneath her.

"I can't do that, my Cat, my mate, I can't do that to you."

"Say it Peter, god dammit!" she hit him and felt the pain, her body was slowly weakening, she was going to die with him.

"I don't feel anything, just tired." he smiled "I just need to rest, and I’m fine."

"Peter, say the words, please." she cried hanging her head.

"No need."

"You're killing her Peter, she's dying! Say the fucking words!" Philippe’s voice was shrill and hurt her ears.

"Cat I-"

"Peter, I can't help you for much longer, come the fuck on!" she slapped him and he hissed as the shards in her hand cut his cheek

"Blood requested," his voice sounded unsure, Catherine sighed and paused, realizing she had no way to draw blood.

"Philippe, you have to bite me." she said quickly.

"Cat-"

"Now dammit!"

She felt him grab her neck and pull her up and the kiss her gently on the neck, licking her jugular and felt him sigh against her skin before sinking his teeth into her skin, she yelped and relaxed against him and he gently dropped her to the ground. The familiar lightheadedness came back and she grabbed her neck, feeling the heat of her blood "Blood freely given, vlos belbaunin, joros emplaniilid" she pressed her bloody hand onto his wound and gasped when she felt the power flow through her body, it was almost painful this time, as if it was too much for her to handle. The leaves on the trees that had grown to hide them glowed as she saw a flash of light. Her alpha was healed. Catherine felt Philippe grab her before she fell forward "Philippe please, did I do it?"

"You did it, ma petit chiot, you did it." He pulled her onto his lap and she leaned her head against his shoulder and passed out from blood loss. She did it.

She woke up and Philippe was sleeping. She was woozy and hungry, but they had to make it to the sages. Roland would track them by scent sooner or later. If this was the same outcropping as before, they were not that far from them. "Peter," her head was pounding as she crawled off of the scholar's lap and shook his leg. He sat up "Catherine?"

"We have to go. Roland is coming. The sages."

The dull glow of the leaves was wearing off, he could barely see her. "How do we get out of here? Catherine?" he grabbed her shoulders and shook her awake.

She put her hand against the trees and they all suddenly parted at her touch. It was daylight and she looked down to see her perfect gown, torn to shreds and covered in her own blood, her neck was sore and she could barely stand as she stumbled out of the forest, coughing. Peter caught her and stared at his mate in horror. She was dirty and bloody and fading in and out of consciousness "We have to go Peter, the sages, we must go, there is something wrong, Philippe." her voice was raspy and she wasn’t sure if she had said anything at all.

"The sages, we could go back to the compound what about the elders? They'll side with us."

Philippe grabbed Peter and looked at him seriously "listen to the girl for fucks sake."

"Okay, the sages." he nodded, even Philippe looked bad, blood ran down his grey shirt where Catherine had fallen asleep last night, he was healed but there were still cuts in his pants where he had been beaten earlier. Catherine reached out to him, the hole in her hand barely healed from the night before. Peter grabbed her hand and looked at it "What have you done Cat?" he said horrified.

He picked her up gently, and she whined at the contact flopping over like a dead doll in his arms. "The sages then."

"Hurry, we don't have much time."

Catherine watched the sunlight through the trees. Occasionally asking where they were and constantly startling herself awake, as the forest got darker she realized that they must be close. Peter was in a sprint and she lulled her head to the side as she realized her scholar was close behind her. She smiled at him and reached out before they abruptly stopped. Peter pulled her closer to him but she could barely register the motion and smiled when Philippe grabbed her hand