Page 20 of Bond To The Alpha (Fated Bond #1)

LIANA

My heart pounds against my ribs as I watch Kane fall. Tears sting my eyes, but I blink them away furiously.

“Kane!” I scream.

My legs burn as I scramble up the snowy slope. I slip, hands clawing at icy rocks and frozen earth. Blood smears across the white ground, but I barely notice the pain. All I can think about is reaching Kane.

I need to get there faster. Why can't I shift? Why am I so damn useless?

My wolf is howling inside me in desperation to break free. But she remains caged. I’m just trapped in this frail human body.

I see two strange figures looming over Kane’s crumpled form and blocking out the weak winter sun from my view below. They’re not in their rogue forms, but I can tell they’re preparing to shift. One is aiming to attack Kane, and another is watching.

Why do they look so familiar?

“Get away from him!” I yell, my voice cracking.

No, it can't be…

They both turn their heads in my direction .

“Mama…Papa… .”

The same people who abandoned me years ago. The same blood that left me to fend for myself. And now they're here, among the enemy. Again!

This time, it's even so much worse.

“Back off!” I snarl, positioning myself between them and Kane's prone form.

“Haven't you done enough already?”

They’ve both changed a lot—not like there’s much about them that’s worth being remembered.

When did these two become rogues?

“Lia? Or is it Liana?” my supposed father says first.

I grit my teeth in disgust. He doesn’t even remember my name. I look at mom and she doesn’t look like she cares about seeing me, nor is surprised to.

“I said, move away from him!”

“I've heard you can't even shift,” my mother finally adds disdainfully.

“And yet here you are, trying to fight us with that flimsy human body of yours.”

“I don’t care, just back off. You can't have him.”

“Oh?” His eyes shine with malice. “And who's going to stop us? You?”

I clench my fists as I ignore the trembling in my limbs.

“If I have to.”

They exchange amused glances as if my defiance is nothing more than a child's tantrum. It's a look I remember all too well from my childhood, and it makes my blood boil.

“You abandoned me. You both left me to fend for myself. And now you show up like this? As monsters?” I spit out.

“Monsters? We're stronger than we've ever been. This is evolution, bijou.”

“Don’t call me that!” I snap. She used to call me bijou back then, and the sound of it now grates my ears to the worst degree.

“This isn't evolution,” I retort again. "It's corruption. You've lost yourselves completely."

Father takes a menacing step forward and I can see the claws beginning to protrude out of his nails.

“And what would you know about it? You, who couldn't even awaken your wolf? You're nothing but a failed experiment.”

I swallow that punch down my throat again.

“I may not be able to shift, but at least I'm still myself. At least I still have my mind and my heart. What do you have? Nothing but bloodlust and insanity.”

“Insanity?” Mother’s eyes flash dangerously. “We see clearer now than we ever have before. The world is ours for the taking.”

“At what cost?” I demand. “Your humanity? Your family? Was it worth it?”

I see something shift in her eyes for a split second, but it's gone as quickly as it appeared, to be replaced by that cold, predatory gleam.

“You ceased to be family the moment you refused to join us in our endeavors,” father scoffs.

The memory of their schemes, their cons, their endless pursuit of power at any cost, floods back. I remember the shame, fear and the constant upheaval.

“You never gave me a choice. You were too busy chasing your next big score to even notice I existed.”

“And look where it's gotten us,” my mother gestures to herself as if her life is something to be proud of.

“We're gods now.”

I shake my head in disgust.

“You're not gods. You're not even wolves anymore. You're just monsters!”

“Enough of this. Step aside, Lia. We have business to attend to." He glances meaningfully at Kane.

“No,” I say, planting my feet firmly. “I won't let you hurt him. He's more family to me than you ever were.”

“He’s your mate I see,” mother notes as she stares down at Kane behind me.

Father’s impatience distracts us again. "Last chance, Lia. Move, or we'll move you."

I stand my ground, even though I’m drowning in fear. “Do your worst. I'm not going anywhere.”

They both start coming towards me, their bodies now morphing into their gigantic rogue forms, and I brace myself for an impact, despite knowing I don't stand a chance against them.

A twig snaps close by, and I turn around, still ready to defend Kane with my bare hands if necessary. But instead of more rogues, I see Jimmy appearing from the treeline.

As if responding to some silent command, the rogue werewolves—including my parents—snap their heads in unison towards the east. Their eyes glaze over like puppets yanked by invisible strings. And without a sound, they retreat into the shadows of the forest, leaving behind nothing but bloody paw prints in the snow.

The abruptness of their departure immediately makes me wary. This isn't normal rogue behavior—even if they are not normal ones. No one just gives up on their prey, especially not a wounded prey like Kane.

Something called them away—or someone.

Kane’s chest rises and falls with shallow breaths; each one of them I hear is like a small victory against an encroaching darkness. I press my hands against his wounds to make the bleeding stop,

“Kane? Can you hear me?”

I press my ear to his chest and listen for his heartbeat. It's there, faint but steady like a drummer marking time against impossible odds.

By this time, Jimmy has gotten closer to us.

I ignore him as I tear strips from my skirt, using them to bind his wounds as best I can. My hands shake, and I silently curse my lack of medical knowledge.

What I wouldn't give for a healer right now.

“Those rogues—“

“Not now,” I snap, still not taking my eyes off Kane. “He needs help.”

As if summoned by my words, howls echo through the trees.

Some pack members burst into the clearing, shifting from wolf to human form as they approach the scene of their helper from another pack, being broken and bleeding, me covered in his blood, while Jimmy is standing uselessly to the side.

“He needs a healer. Now,” I tell them.

I watch some of them quickly find things around us to use in improvising a stretcher, and I try to help whoever I can. Eventually, he's transferred from the ground to the stretcher. and I try to follow, but Jimmy grabs my arm and pulls me back.

“Let go,” I snarl, attempting to wrench free.

“I need to go with him.”

Jimmy's grip tightens. “You're not going anywhere until you explain what I just saw.”

I now have to watch helplessly as they carry Kane away.

But Jimmy's hold is unrelenting, and I know I won't be able to break free without a fight—a fight I can't afford right now. Especially not when it might cause me even more delay getting to Kane.

I turn to face Jimmy, fixing him with a glare that would wither a lesser wolf.

“What do you want?”

His eyes narrow and he’s searching my face for... what?

Guilt? Fear?

“Those rogues,” he says slowly. “Two of them... they were your parents, weren't they?”

I'd hoped, foolishly perhaps, that he wouldn’t notice.

"Answer me, Liana," Jimmy presses. "Were those your parents?”

“I have nothing to say about that,” I defiantly respond.

“Nothing to say?” Jimmy's voice rises in disbelief.

“Your parents show up as rogue werewolves that have been attacking our pack for months on end and you have nothing to say?”

“That's right,” I reply. “It has nothing to do with me.”

Jimmy's next laugh is harsh and disbelieving.

“Nothing to do with you? They're your parents, Liana. Your flesh and blood. How can you stand there and say it has nothing to do with you?”

I clench my fists so tight my nails dig into my palms. The pain is helping me focus, pushing down the rising emotions trying to overwhelm me.

“I am not responsible for their actions. Neither do I owe you an explanation.”

Jimmy's eyes harden. “No, you owe the entire pack an explanation, and you will explain yourself to everyone, why you’ve been living among us, pretending to be one of us, all while your family is amongst those plotting against us.”

“I haven't been pretending anything. I've given everything to this pack. I've worked hard, contributed, and built a life here. The fact that the people who gave birth to me turned out to be monsters doesn't change who I am or where my loyalties lie.”

“Loyalties?” Jimmy scoffs.

“Why don’t we talk about how convenient it is that you showed up right when the rogues decided to retreat? Let's talk about how they all looked in the same direction at the same time as if someone was signaling them. Someone like, oh, I don't know you.”

“Are you accusing me of something?” he asks angrily.

I reply coolly, "I'm just pointing out that if we're going to start throwing around baseless accusations, there's plenty to go around."