Page 8 of Alpha's Revenge Luna

“At least let me say a proper goodbye,” my grandmother pleads. Alpha Dion snarls but lets me go, shoving me toward her.

“You have five minutes,” he snaps at me, and my grandmother leads me to the kitchen while the Alpha follows, watching our every move.

The scent of freshly baked cookies lingers on her skin—her favorite scent, and a memory I’ll hold dear to my heart.

She always has cookies cooling to share with her visitors.

She is the sweetest woman in the world. And even now, under duress, they’re the first thing she reaches for.

“Cookie?” she ask s him, but he shakes his head as she pulls the plate from the windowsill; she offers me one, and I take one, biting into it. She smiles sadly before looking at Alpha Dion.

“Am I allowed to give her something?” my grandmother asks, and Alpha Dion glares at her.

“Just a family heirloom, nothing bad. It has been passed down through the women in our family. Her brother won’t have much use for the jewelry box or the necklace it contains,” she says before looking at me. There’s some unspoken message in her gaze.

“Just hurry; I would like to leave,” he tells her, and she rushes off, leaving me with Alpha Dion.

He mutters under his breath, clearly losing his patience. He glances at his watch. “If this takes much longerI will kill them both, Emery. I haven’t got time for this soppy shit,” he snarls.

“Feel free to leave me here, then!” I retort angrily. He’s ripping me away from my entire life, the only one I’ve known, and he can’t spare me a few minutes to at least try to calm my grandmother.

He takes a step toward me, and I flinch when my grandmother suddenly returns with a jewelry box.

She grabs a locket out of a box that belonged to my great-grandmother.

Alpha Dion snatches it from her, checking to ensure it is indeed just that.

He sighs, handing it back to her. She taps my shoulder, wanting me to turn around, and I do, allowing her to clasp it around my neck.

Alpha Dion shakes his head before snatching the jewelry box. As my grandmother embraces me, he rattles it to ensure it is just that. “Are you done now?” he asks her. My grandmother glances at him, but I don’t see the look she gives him.

“Hurry up, Emery,” he snarls, stalking down the hallway, and my grandmother glances over her shoulder.

“I filled the bottom of the jewelry box with belladonna; you remember how the locket works,” she whispers so softly I almost don’t catch her words.

She pulls away, staring me in the eye as I try to decipher what she is telling me.

My grandmother is an herbalist who dabbles in witchcraft; my mother always said she is a little cooky, and she has gotten worse with age.

“Belladonna,” she mouths to me, trying to get me to remember something she believes she told me.

I pinch my brows before clarity washes over me.

My eyes widen, and she nods, seeing the recognition on my face.

She rubs her thumb over the locket. “Compressed. One a day; there is a month’s supply.

You may need to figure out a way to escape before you run out; I will be ready for when you return,” she whispers, flattening out my hair when Dion growls, stalking up the hallway.

His footsteps draw closer, and my lips tug up as I realize the gift she’s given me.

She’s bought me time— time I didn’t think I would have.

“That’s my girl,” she whispers. Belladonna would stop my wolf from coming forward, delaying my shift.

He can’t mark me until I’ve shifted; the mark would not hold.

He also cannot mate me since Alpha’s have what’s called a knot, which fuses them to us.

It causes swelling at the base of their cock, and without a wolf, if a she-wolf tears without the ability to heal, she can bleed out.

“Emery, now,” Alpha Dion snaps, and I quickly grab the silver jewelry box, giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek.

Alpha Dion glares at me, and I rush to his side, clutching the jewelry box tightly.

It is my only hope, my only chance to get out of this situation.

Striding down the hall, I stop in the living room.

“Go on, hurry; I want to get home before dark,” he snaps, seeing me glance over at my brother, and I quickly race toward my brother.

“Did you drug him?” I ask him when I find him still asleep.

“Only with sleeping tablets. Your brother will be fine. It’s nothing toxic,” he snarls at me.

I raise an eyebrow at him. How could he say that when he held a knife to my brother’s throat and threatened to kill him?

He killed my parents, and he’s lost the only life he has ever known, all while he slept.

He will not be okay. He may never be okay.

“Please take care of him,” I plead to my grandmother before kissing Caleb’s forehead. My grandmother nods, tears streaming down her face. I fight back my own, taking one last look at Caleb’s peaceful face and leaning down.

“I’ll come back for you, I promise,” I whisper in his ear before kissing his cheek. Apparently, I am taking too long because Alpha Dion seizes my arm and hauls me out of the house, making me stumble over my feet.

He leads me to the back of the car and opens the door. I hesitate.

“Either get in the back with me, or I’ll put you in the trunk,” he threatens, making my heart race. Panic makes my skin itch; I can’t go in there. With one last glance at my grandmother, who stands on the porch, I duck my head and slide across the seat to the other side.

Alpha Dion climbs in beside me, shutting his door, and the driver starts the car. We follow the succession of cars down the long, winding, dirt driveway. I press my head against the cool glass, peering out the window.

“You’ll regret taking me as your mate,” I whisper to him.

“And why is that, Emery?” he asks, pulling his phone from his pocket.

“Because one day I will be your downfall; maybe not today, next month or year, but when you least suspect it,”

Alpha Dion laughs, and I glance back at him. “A man’s gotta sleep,” I tell him.“You better do it with one eye open,” I add when his hand reaches over and grabs my hair, yanking my head back.

Alpha Dion’s grip tightens in my hair, and I can feel the pain intensifying as he pulls back. I let out a faint gasp, but he doesn’t seem to notice it. His hands roam over my body, making me shiver in disgust. He leans in closer, his breath hot on my skin.

“Little mate, I wouldn’t tempt me,” he snarls, his other hand wrapping around my throat. His thumb presses against the pulse point on my neck. “But I crave something else. I crave your death, and accidents happen,” he growls.

I grit my teeth, my hair pulling painfully as he tugs on it. My heart rate spikes with fear as I try to pull from his grasp, but it is no use; he is too strong for me A tear escapes from my eye as he moves away from me, returning to his phone call without another word.

My thoughts immediately turn to escape this nightmare alive while keeping Caleb safe at the same time. An idea forms in my mind right then – an idea so crazy and desperate there is no way it can work…but maybe it is worth a shot?

Taking a deep calming breath, I speak up once more.

“Just as I crave yours, asshole,” I manage to squeak out through gritted teeth as Alpha Dion glares at me with raised eyebrows and amusement mixed together.

“I may accidentally stab you while you sleep,” I add defiantly before shrinking back into the corner of the car seat again.

I stay pressed against the door where I’m just out of arm’s reach.

Alpha Dion just snorts at my threat. “You’re brave; I’ll give you that, little mate,” he says, patting my thigh.

Alpha Dion quietly chuckles darkly at my threat and leans back, his eyes glinting with amusement. “You have a feisty spirit,” he says. “But don’t think for a moment I won’t put you in your place if you step out of line.”

The drive away from my grandmother’s home is long and silent. I’m sandwiched between two burly men. Hours slip by as we continue to drive when we pull into a dimly lit gas station. As the car slows, an idea forms in my mind almost instantly; this is my chance to escape.

The limo comes to a sudden halt at a gas station.

Dion, the bane of my existence, steps out, his cold gaze resting on me for a moment before he instructs one of his men to refuel the car.

My heart thunders in my chest as an idea sparks in my mind—I can run.

I move to slide across the seat and open my door when Alpha Dion speaks.

“Where do you think you’re going?’ Dion snaps at me.

“I need to use the restroom,” I lie, injecting as much innocence as I can muster into my voice. He growls, climbing out of the car, and so do I as I stare at the restroom just inside, the neon light lit up above the door.

He looks at me suspiciously for a moment before nodding. “Fine, make it quick.”

A hushed conversation with guards and I am allowed to leave under the watchful eyes of Dion’s guards.

The air is filled with the buzz of conversation from a group of teenagers loitering outside the store, though I don’t doubt that Dion would hurt them if I tried to ask for help though it is taunting seeing so many people who could.

However, it is not worth the risk to their lives.

The screech of the car door opening and closing has me glancing around, the sound of the pump nozzle sucking the gas, and the low thrum of the music playing in the store.

Stepping through the sliding door, I notice the fluorescent lights give off a sickly green glow.

The cashier’s face is grayish under the lights, her lips pulled down in a permanent scowl as she rings up a customer.

I make a beeline for the restroom, knowing I won’t have long before they come looking for me.

The restroom door swings shut behind me, and I’m alone. Alone with my thoughts. Alone with my fear. I take a few deep breaths, steadying my racing heart when I spot a back window, an escape route. My hands are shaking as I fumble to open the window.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, I manage to pry it open and clamber out into the fresh air. My feet hit the pavement as soon as they leave the window ledge, and I stumble out of range of the gas station, hoping not to be seen.

I take off running, not sure where I am going but determined to put as much distance between me and him as possible.

Only I don’t get far. Dion’s guards are quick and brutally efficient.

My legs pound against the asphalt as shouts erupt behind me just as I hit the tree line.

Twigs and branches scratch at my bare legs.

Tearing at my dress even more. The dread propelling me forward drowns out the stinging pain in my lungs until suddenly, I’m jerked back.

A hand closes around my arm, halting my progress.

The next second, a vice-like grip clamps onto my wrist harshly.

Glancing up, I find the hand belongs to Alpha Dion as my eyes meet his furious ones.