Fated To The Alpha: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (18 page)

As I started to realize that, I began to wonder if maybe I should just say out loud what Dad wanted to hear. There was no way I could actually mean it, but maybe if he heard me say it, it might be enough to get me out of there. I could pull off a convincing lie, couldn’t I? I had done it with the Morgandorf pack; they had spent weeks with me living among them, thinking I was someone I wasn’t.

But Dad had a lot more reason to doubt my word than the Morgandorfs had. Hell, he’d be expecting me to suck up to him, to go through the motions of singing his song without really meaning it. So if I said it, I had to make him buy it.

I was in the process of thinking how I was going to do that one night, crouched on the floor of that basement, when I suddenly heard a distant howl come from somewhere outside.

It was an alert to the pack; something big was going down. With a surge of new strength that seemed to come from nowhere, I got up and peered out through that little window, seeing everyone running about, trying to get somewhere in a hurry. A lot of them were shifting to their four-legged shapes in the process, too. And while my view out of that window wasn’t great, I could swear I saw more lupine shapes emerging from the trees.

The Morgandorfs were attacking.

All at once they were everywhere. It was like they had just appeared like a force of nature, swarming across the village. All at once, the village outside me had become engulfed in a sea of teeth, flying fur and bloodshed.

Ironically, it was my own confinement that was keeping me safe from the chaos outside.

Except that might not last for long, I soon realized, as I started hearing more chaos ensuing in the house above me. I could make out voices shouting, and lupine growls, and the sound of fighting and snapping. I couldn’t follow any details; it was all such a blur. I kept trying to listen for some specific sounds that could allow me to discern what was actually going on up there.

And then it stopped. Everything went quiet. I strained my ears harder, searching for something… anything…

And then I did hear something.

I heard the door opening.

And then somebody was rushing down them.  And as he stopped and stood before me, I blinked, convinced I had to be losing my mind again.

“Jeremy?” I choked.

“Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

“What’s going on?”

“I followed my pack here when they decided to launch an attack. I was afraid for you. But we’d better leave before anyone else finds you!”

He started tugging at my arm. “But wait,” I protested. “My family… what about them?”

“Your family locked you down here, for loving me,” he pointed out. “They’re not going to help you now.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

When he started running up the steps, this time I didn’t resist him pulling me along. We reached the house above, finding it empty of anyone else, but tables and furniture had been overturned and broken, and every door was standing open. Jeremy and I promptly shifted to our four-legged shapes and went running out the front door, into the scene of chaos outside.

It was just like that night when my pack had attacked theirs. It was like I was seeing a mirror image of the same fight—but I had no intention of staying to admire it. If someone from my own pack found me, they would most likely try to throw me back into that basement. And if someone from Jeremy’s pack found me… I didn’t want to find out what they’d do.

So we ran. We ran like hell for the trees as fast as our four paws could carry us. We put the chaos in the village as far behind us as we could. The open night sky of the village disappeared, giving way to the deeper, darker cover of the forest. We continued running, following the trail by feel, by scent, and by sound more than sight as we dashed through the gloom, weaving past trees and jumping hills and roots.

I could swear we only ran for a short while, but when we finally stopped I knew the village was already miles behind us. And at that moment, all I could think was:
Good riddance.
My pack, which claimed to love me, which claimed I had betrayed them, had in essence betrayed me. If who I wanted to love was such a crime to them, then I decided they would no longer have my love.

Fuck them all. Let them and the Morgandorfs kill each other for all I care. I was tired of being punished for wanting my own life, or trying to make a difference.

Besides, with Jeremy here, I had everything I needed. As we settled down in that little quarry by the stream, which I realized was in that place where we first met, I made sure to let him know that. It was ironic that I waited until we had shifted back to our two-legged forms before I pounced on him. “I was beginning to think I’d never see you again,” I breathed as I repeatedly kissed him. “I thought I was gonna shrivel up and die down there!”

“Don’t you have more faith in me than that?” he said, in between kissing me back. “Nothing on this Earth could keep me away from you.”

We rolled about in the dirt, our hands roving all over each other and our feet kicking everywhere. I felt up the muscles of his back and the firmness of his butt, while he palmed my breasts and suckled on my neck. I ground my crotch against him as he kissed along my collarbone, taking my tits into his mouth, making me quiver and moan.

Yes… yes… after so long… finally!

“Evie?”

I stared up into Jeremy’s face. “I missed you so much,” I breathed. “I almost went crazy without you.”

“I’m here now,” he said, his erection rubbing against the top of my thigh, making my pussy drip with anticipation.

“Don’t make me wait any longer!” I gasped.

“Evie?”

Jeremy mounted himself above me, lining himself up with my opening. My breath came in short gasps as he slowly pushed down into me.

Yes… yes… YES!

“Evie!”

Something touched my shoulder. Something that felt like a hand. And it didn’t feel like Jeremy’s. In fact…

I didn’t feel Jeremy at all anymore.

I suddenly sat up. Jeremy was supposed to be on top of me, giving me the long overdue fucking I had been craving. He wasn’t. And the ground beneath me felt wrong. It wasn’t soft dirt I felt beneath me, but hard basement floor. There was no open night sky above me; there was a ceiling. I was surrounded not by trees but instead by four bare walls.

“No… NO!” I screamed, suddenly jumping up and running to the wall, unable to accept that it was there. But it was there, perfectly solid under my hands, which began frantically clawing at it.

“I WAS OUT! I WAS OUT!”

“Evie! Hey!”

A hand fell on my shoulder again, and I turned to its source. I blinked at the sight of another face I felt like I had not seen in eons. “Charlene?”

“Your dad finally agreed to let me come down to visit you. I thought you’d want some company… unless you’ve got some already, so to speak?”

In spite of the things she’d said to me the last few times I’d seen her, I really was happy she was here…

Or was she?

After what I had just experienced, I couldn’t be sure of anything now. I couldn’t trust what I saw.

My brief smile vanished, and I scurried away from the apparition of Charlene, ducking into the corner. “No!” I whimpered, my hands grabbing my head. “You’re not here! You’re not real! You’re in my head!”

“Evie! Come on, it’s all right! I’m here!”

Breathing hard, I started to chant, “I’m losing my mind! I’m losing my mind! I’m losing my mind! I’m losing my mind!”

“Hey! Calm down! I’m really here!” Charlene exclaimed, dropping to her knees and pulling me into her arms, hugging my head to her chest and stroking my hair. “You’re okay! You’re okay! I’m here!”

As she held me I started to calm down, slowly beginning to consider the idea that she was really there. The fact that she was touching me lent some credence to her presence… but then, I had imagined Jeremy touching me too.

But something about this felt more genuine than any fantasy. The way her hands were tenderly stroking my head… there was nothing imagined about that.

I slowly lifted my head to her face. “Charlene?” I cautiously whispered.

She chuckled softly. “Yeah. Still me.”

I finally let go. I threw my arms around her midsection and broke down crying against her belly.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Eventually I regained my composure, and was able to start asking her questions. “How is everyone?”

“It’s been weird out there,” Charlene said. “It seems like everyone is either talking about you or the Morgandorfs. Half the pack has been saying how much they hate you and how they can’t believe you betrayed us like you did. Others are saying how sad they are for you, either because of what your dad’s doing, or because of how the Morgandorfs obviously brainwashed you.”

“What do you say?”

Charlene paused, looking uncomfortable. “I wanted to hate you for a while, Evie. I’m not gonna lie. I know I said some things to you that… must’ve hurt.”

“A little,” I lied.

“But then that thing with your mom happened.  She’s still outside, chained to that stake. That was when a lot of us started thinking Leon was taking this too far, and we started pleading with Leon to make your dad let you out of here. And Leon would always just say that you weren’t going anywhere until you’d renounced all ties to the Morgandorfs and all that.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard it enough times from my dad.”

“Well, the good thing about your mom being leashed outside is that anyone who wants to can walk right up and talk to her. So that’s what I’ve been doing.”

I frowned. “Then you can tell her I’m sorry about this. She’s in that position because of me. I never meant to get her—”

“Hey, don’t worry, it’s okay! She doesn’t blame you for anything! In fact, if anything, she’s more on your side than ever now after this. She says all she did was open the door for you for a minute, and you didn’t even get very far out of it, and if this is how Leon responds to that, well, she can understand that much more why you’d prefer anyone over him, even a Morgandorf.”

In spite of myself, I choked out a chuckle and rolled my eyes.

Charlene paused for a moment, looking like she was contemplating hard what she was about to say next. “And, if you ask me, I’m starting to get the sense of why you’d go with that particular one, now that I’ve had the chance to talk to him a bit more.”

I looked up at her, blinking in confusion. “Wait, what?  What are you talking about?”

“Yeah…” she said, biting her lip. “I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell anyone but you about this. Well, you and your mom.”

“What is it?”

Charlene took a breath. “A couple days ago, I was out wandering the woods along the border, and I ran into him, just hanging around. So, naturally, the first thing I tried to do was chase him away. But he wouldn’t budge, even when I threatened to rip out his entrails. He just kept asking about you. I kept on threatening him and telling him to get lost and everything, and he kept on trying to find out where you were, why he hadn’t seen you, and all that. And finally I told him that you were locked up down here because of him.” She paused again, getting a faraway look in her eye. “And then, like… the way he looked at me… and then the next thing he said, that really stuck with me. He said, ‘That’s what the pack that claims to love her does to her for choosing to love someone?’ …And I just stood there, not sure what to say. I couldn’t really think of anything to defend what we’re doing to you after he said that.”

I listened raptly, not saying anything yet.

“So, anyway, after that, I came to your mom, and I decided to tell her about it.  I mean, I knew it was risky, ’cause if anyone else found out about it, I’d be in almost as much trouble as you. But I figured your mom didn’t have any reason to rat on me. And it turned out she encouraged me to go back and meet him again, to see if I could come to understand him better. And, you know, I was hesitant. He was still a Morgandorf, you know. But I went. I ran into him again in the same place.” She paused again, and added, “And he wasn’t alone this time.”

I leaned forward. “Who?”

“It was this girl… the Morgandorf alpha’s daughter.”

I couldn’t help smiling when I heard that. “Andrea!” She was still there for me, trying to be my friend even now. That meant a lot.

“She told me I wasn’t the only one who was going against her pack. She said if her father found out she was there, he would—and I quote—‘rip out her insides, stuff her with goodies and string her up to use as a piñata.’”

I managed a small laugh. “Yeah, that’s an Andrea line if I ever heard one.”

“So, anyway, we got to talking, mostly about you. And before I knew it we were beginning to talk about a plan.”

My eyebrows went up. “What kind of plan?”

At that point, Charlene turned to look up the stairs behind her, as if checking to see if anyone was listening. And then she stepped up to where I sat on the floor, and knelt down in front of me, leaning close to me to whisper, “We’re working on a plan to get you out of here.”

Well, I sure as hell perked up when I heard that. “How?”

“Shhh!” she said, putting a finger to her lips. “I’ve been going back and forth between Jeremy and your mom with this, discussing ideas and all that. We don’t have all the details worked out yet.  We’re still working on it. But it’s gonna involve creating some kind of big diversion, to get everyone somewhere else, on the other side of the village or maybe even out of it. And… here’s the part you’re not gonna like.”

I grimaced. “What is it?”

“It’s gonna have to wait at least another three days, when Leon lets your mom off of that chain.”

I groaned, letting my head droop.

Charlene took hold of me by the shoulders. “Your dad is okay with me coming down to visit you,” she said. “I’ll be able to come keep you company from time to time, if that helps you keep your sanity. And we’ll be working on bringing the plan together in the meantime. Trust me, we’re gonna get you out of here.”

That was enough for me, I decided.  I lunged forward and threw my arms around her.

*

We spent the next few days in planning mode. As she said, Dad allowed Charlene to visit me whenever she wanted. I’m sure he’d have been a lot less generous if he’d cared to listen in on what we were talking about.

Through Charlene, I was kept apprised of what was going on outside that basement. There was a lot of talk among the pack about how they were going to make the Morgandorfs pay for how they’d “corrupted” me. Some of the pack wanted to respond in kind, by abducting one of theirs. Some suggested they should find Jeremy, saying that the party that picked me up should have gotten him too, lamenting all the lost time they could have been torturing him. Others wanted to simply wage a war of attrition, and make them all pay. Of course, most of these were the ones who had spent years looking for any excuse they could think of to march into Morgandorf territory and just kill them all outright.

I was gladdened to learn that not everyone was down with what Leon and my dad were doing. There were especially a lot who disapproved of Leon’s treatment of my mom for what little she did for me. And even some of the ones who thought of me as a traitor felt that my punishment was being taken way too far. Some. Not enough to rally against Leon, though.

We were having a difficult time coming up with a plan that we felt comfortable using, because most of the ideas being tossed around usually opened the door for someone to get hurt. One advantage we had was that Andrea was still on our side, and since she hadn’t been banished from the village the way Jeremy had, that meant if we needed to we could get her to stir up the Morgandorfs for something. Unfortunately, we couldn’t seem to come up with a way to use that that didn’t involve one pack attacking the other.

Still, even if our planning sessions weren’t really going anywhere, I was more than grateful for Charlene’s company. It meant the world to me that she didn’t hate me anymore, and with her coming down to see me, I was able to sleep much better and keep from feeling like I was losing my mind.

And then came a day when Charlene came down those steps—and not alone.

There was Mom, coming down right behind her.

At once I bolted up from the corner I sat in and dashed into her open arms. “I’m so glad you’re here!” I sobbed.

Mom pressed her face against mine and stroked along my spine. “I am too. I was so sad for my baby pup.”

“They chained you up like a dog!” I whined. “Just for being good to me!”

“It doesn’t matter what they do to me, Evie,” Mom said.  “Because I’m never going to stop caring about you.”

Charlene let us hug it out for a while longer, before she finally had to step in. “Okay, as touching as this is, there is a reason we came down here.”

I looked to her, seeing the determined expression on her face, and I started to get the idea. “You’ve got a plan?”

Mom and Charlene exchanged serious looks. “Yes, we do have something in mind,” Mom said. “But I don’t think you’re going to like what it is.”

I frowned. “What is it?” I deadpanned.

Charlene sighed. “Well… like you said, you didn’t like any of the plans we came up with because they all involved someone attacking someone else. And you wanted us to come up with a plan that didn’t. Well…”

“Well what?”

Charlene swallowed uncomfortably. “We couldn’t come up with one. So we came up with the best plan we could, and we’re going with it.”

“Hey, no! Don’t do that! I don’t want anyone getting hurt on my account!”

“It’s our choice,” Charlene said. “If we can help it, the only ones getting hurt will be us.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “What is this plan exactly?”

Charlene looked to the floor, making an uncomfortable noise before answering. This couldn’t be good.

“Oh, god, I’m gonna hate this plan, aren’t I?”

Mom was the one who finally spoke up. “Charlene is going to convince the pack that she found your boyfriend, Jeremy. And she’s going to tell them he attacked her. Then she’s going to get them riled up to go find him and bring him back here, but she’ll lead them in the wrong direction. Now for the ones who stay behind in the village, Andrea will tell the Morgandorfs that we attacked her and lead them here. When the rest of the pack tries to fight them off, I’ll step in and try to mediate things. And while everyone’s distracted, Jeremy will come in here and smuggle you out.”

I looked back and forth at both of them like they were completely insane. Which for a moment, I honestly entertained the notion that they might be. “You’re serious,” I said, blinking at them. It was an observation, not a question.

“Completely,” Charlene said.

“You don’t think this is just begging to go completely wrong?” I shrugged.

“We know it’s not a perfect plan,” Mom said. “But it’s the best we’ve been able to come up with.”

“Well that doesn’t speak very highly of the other options, because that’s a terrible plan!”

“Yeah, we know,” Charlene sighed. “And it gets worse.”

My eyes widened, my brow furrowing. “Worse?”

Charlene cringed. “This is the part you’re really not gonna like. We made the decision that to really get the pack riled up, we’re going to have to make it look like Jeremy really attacked me. Bad.”

“You mean…” I frowned, getting the picture and wishing I wasn’t. “He’s gonna… you can’t do that for me!”

“It was my decision,” Charlene said. And then she took a breath, letting me know she was about to say something else that I wouldn’t like. “Just like it was Andrea’s decision to have me do the same to her.”

I grabbed my head. “Oh, god, this is going too far!”

Mom stepped forward, taking hold of my shoulders. “It’s what everyone is willing to do to get you out of this!”

“But there’s a million things that can go wrong here!” I protested. “If you bring the Morgandorfs here, who’s to say you can stop them from hurting anyone else? And Charlene, what are you gonna do when the pack realizes you’re leading them on a wild goose chase?”

“We know there’s a lot of risk involved,” Charlene said. “It’s impossible to completely predict how everyone’s going to react. So we can only plan things to a certain point and then play it by ear.”

My head heavy, I stepped backward into the wall and sat down on the floor. “Oh, this is so messed up! This is so not what I wanted!”

“And having you locked up down here is not what we wanted,” Mom said, stepping up and kneeling down in front of me. “You went to extreme measures for what you wanted. What we’re doing is no different.”

“It
is
different!” I protested. “What I did, I risked myself for no one
but
myself! You’re all risking yourselves for me!”

“And that’s our choice to make,” Mom said. “We’re doing it because we love you! You can’t ask us to sit by idly while you waste away down here!”

I frowned, and looked away from her. Mom reached out to touch my face, bringing me back to face her. “I want you to understand something else, Evelyn,” she said. “I still don’t completely trust that Morgandorf boy. Maybe that’s my own prejudice as a Caldour talking, but that’s how it is. So when I tell you I’m putting my safety on the line and putting yours in his hands, I want you to realize what a leap of faith I’m taking.”

I regarded Mom hard. I did not like what they were planning to do… but as of this point, it was the only possibility I had heard for getting me out of that basement. And as long as I couldn’t come up with a better option, I had no grounds to refuse them.