Page 150 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

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When my eyes opened, I knew I wasn’t in my own body anymore. My soul had traveled to another plane of existence while my physical self had been left behind. I looked around and felt like I was peering through a membrane that cast the world in a faint gray hue.

Tall, densely packed coniferous trees surrounded me.

I didn’t know how I knew this, but I was certain this forest went on forever and ever.

I didn’t know what I expected when going into this ritual, but it wasn’t an infinity of trees.

My shoulders sagged with pressure at the vastness of it all.

The trees weren’t moving toward me, but it seemed they were somehow pressing closer, further illustrating how small I felt around them.

I had the sense that something was moving between the trees.

When I turned toward whatever it was, I was thrown to the ground.

Memories flashed across my vision, appearing and disappearing so quickly, I couldn’t comprehend them.

My head started to pound, and my vision swam.

The dizziness took hold of me and made me spin.

What little control I had started to slip from me until I remembered what Violet had told me: “… you’ll have to remain calm… open your mind…”

I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. I tried to focus.

I had control over these memories; I just needed to quiet my mind so I could see one of them at a time.

I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth a few times, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself standing on the Warg compound…

but it wasn’t the same as I remembered it.

This version of the compound was smaller, more like a little village.

There were far fewer cabins, and they all looked rundown.

I looked down and held my hands out. They weren’t my hands; they were smaller and more delicate than mine, the skin a few shades darker.

I turned them back and forth, but I saw no scars or tattoos or other markings that distinguished them.

I lowered my hands, then spotted my protruding belly. My mom was pregnant. With me?

My hands rubbed my stomach in slow circles. I didn’t have control over this body, so my mother was moving on her own. It was almost like she knew I was here somehow and was trying to show me as much as she could.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps running toward me permeated my mind.

A little boy, maybe six or seven years old, sprint my way.

One hand stayed on my belly as the boy got close.

I hadn’t expected to hear my mother’s voice, but I felt her mouth open.

I would have felt a shiver of anticipation had I been able to shiver.

“My, you’re in a hurry, aren’t you?” she said as a smile spread across my face. She had a slow, smooth voice, like a fresh honeycomb pulled from the hive. It was easy to listen to, which made me wonder if she had been a good singer.

The boy nodded. He couldn’t immediately answer her because he was still panting from his sprint. His black hair was an adorable mess. She chuckled and tried to pat the unruly locks into a more presentable style, but it didn’t work. If anything, she made the curls stick up more.

She gave a resigned sigh. “How are you doing today, Night?”

Shock arced through me. Night had known my mother? Why hadn’t he ever said anything? Maybe he didn’t know. He looks so young. Maybe he doesn’t remember her. Amid the questions, I felt a pang of regret that Night had met my mother when I’d missed out on everything.

My mind swam as more questions filled my thoughts.

As they inundated me, the image of the little Night began to grow fuzzy around the edges of my vision.

I was losing focus, which meant I was losing my grip on the memory.

I tried to push away my shock and open my mind again. Slowly, the memory cleared once more.

Night gave her a big toothy grin. My heart twisted at the unrestrained innocence on his cherubic face.

I would never have imagined that my mate had ever smiled so openly.

This version of Night had never known a day of real sadness in his young life, but that would change as he grew.

Sadness overwhelmed me for a moment as I mourned for the little boy who had been forced to grow up too quickly.

“I rushed over here ’cause Dom and me are supposed to be practicing our tracking,” Night said in one breath. “But I can’t find him anywhere. Have you seen him?”

My mother laughed again. It was light and almost airy despite the lower, more mellow tone of her voice. “Silly boy. I don’t think I should tell you even if I did know where he is.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I tell where he is, you’ll never get better at tracking.”

Night paused and pouted. He looked up with large jade-green eyes, and my heart melted for him. There was no way I could have said no to that face, but my mother wasn’t as easily swayed.

She patted his head. “Don’t give me that face, young man. You know I’m right. And you know Dom will tease you for the rest of your life if you can’t find him on your own.”

He let out a dramatic sigh and put his hands in the pockets of his denim shorts. His little thumb poked through a hole in the denim.

“Okay,” he said. “Anyways, how’s your tummy?”

“My tummy? Oh, are you asking about the baby?”

He nodded.

“She’s doing really well, thanks for asking.” I felt a twinge at my back, and my mom straightened to ease the slight pressure. She rubbed her stomach in gentle, loving circles. “Did you know that this little girl is very special?”

“She is?” His eyebrows raised. “How come?”

“Well, for a lot of reasons. But one of them is because she’ll be your mate one day.”

He paused, and then he frowned, his nose scrunching. “Ew,” he said. “Girls are boring and yucky.”

She tilted her head back and let out a louder laugh. “You won’t always think that way, sweet boy.”

“Uh-uh. Girls never like wrestling with me or digging in the mud or doing any other important stuff. They just wanna play pretend or tell secrets.”

She continued to smile, enjoying his little rant.

He took out one of his hands and pointed to his chest with his thumb. “I’m special,” he declared. “That’s what my momma tells me.”

“She’s absolutely right.” She patted his head again. I tried to commit the feeling of his curls to memory—they were even softer back then. Her hand lingered in his hair as if she was thinking the same. “And because you’re so special, Night, you’ll need a mate to match, won’t you?”

He considered that. “Will she like playing?”

“Of course.”

“And wrestling?”

“Sure!”

“And we’ll be friends?”

“She’s special, remember? She’ll like to do all the same things that you do, and you’ll become closer than friends could ever get.”

He still seemed skeptical, which made my mother laugh.

“My daughter is destined for greatness, Night, and so are you. It’ll be on you to help protect and guide her so she can fulfill her destiny.”

I expected Night to protest more, but he only tilted his head. “How do you know?”

“A mother always knows. Fate has intertwined your lives, and that tells me you’ll accomplish some amazing things together.”

“Oh.” He pursed his lips, deep in thought.

Then he nodded to himself and thrust his hand toward her.

“Okay, fine. I’m already gonna protect you and my momma and the whole pack when I get older.

Everyone except for Alpha Pete.” He frowned, and he became the stern, stoic Night I knew.

But almost as soon as the darkness appeared, it vanished.

“But I’ll protect the baby too if she’ll help me. Deal?”

My mother accepted his hand and shook it. “A deal is a deal,” she said with a smile. “She’ll be by your side the entire time, and I can’t wait to watch the two of you grow up.”

The scene shifted suddenly. The membrane I was looking through began to shift and shimmer, obscuring my view of Night.

When it cleared again, I was standing in a kitchen.

My mother was holding a warm mug of ginger mint tea as she stared out of the window above the sink.

It was impossible to tell the true color of the sky through the gray haze, but given the sun’s position, it looked like it was approaching dusk.

Heavy footsteps entered the kitchen, and a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped around my mother from behind. She leaned back against the man’s chest, and he kissed the side of her neck, his hands on her belly.

My heartbeat quickened. Was this my father?

“How are my sweet girls doing?” he asked. His voice was even deeper than Night’s, almost just a growl.

“We’re happy and healthy,” she said. “How is my mate?”

“Better now that he’s with you.” He kissed her neck again. “It’s been a long day, but coming home to you makes it all worth it.” They shared a quiet moment while she finished her tea.

She turned in his arms to look up at him, and I knew I was looking at my father. If I could cry in this state, I would have. But I couldn’t make my mother cry in her memories.

My father was tall, muscular, and handsome in a casual, almost boyish way, with light brown hair and blue-gray eyes. There was something so familiar about him even though I’d never laid eyes on him before.

“Dominic and Night are out practicing their tracking again,” she said.

“I know.” He laughed. “I caught Dom hiding from Night in a juniper bush.”

“Wow.” She giggled. “I can just picture that. Those boys are so funny.”

My father pulled her as close as he could.

Her stomach put some distance between them, but neither seemed to mind.

They swayed gently together as if pushed by a light breeze.

I could feel the strength of the love my mother had for my father.

It was like a tightly corded rope. But underneath it was a distant sense of sadness that marred her happiness and love.