Page 21 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

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Night threw me over his shoulder, wrapping his strong arms around my lower legs, and he started running.

The Kings’ compound became a blur around me as he sprinted for the tree line.

His steps fell almost soundlessly across the ground.

Everything was happening so fast that my brain was slow to catch up.

“I need all of my men to me now!” Troy’s voice boomed from the cabin. It seemed he’d recovered enough to holler at the top of his lungs. “Bring her back here!”

I looked up and saw Troy’s face, red with anger and humiliation, standing at the window, pointing down at us.

And that was when the gravity of the situation caught up with me.

I was being kidnapped by the Alpha of the pack that my mom, my schoolteachers, and every wolf in the Kings’ pack claimed was aggressive, feral, and unhinged.

I can’t just sit back and allow this to happen to me!

I balled my cold hands into fists and beat at his back, pretending that Night’s tight, muscular ass wasn’t flexing just a few inches from my face as he ran.

I tried to wiggle my legs, but his grip on me was as tight as steel, and my feeble attempts at fighting were no match for him.

I felt another burst of heat and anger flash through me, and I screamed, cursing both Night and Troy as loudly as I could.

“Put me down!” I called. “Put me down, you asshole!”

Night ignored me, so I continued.

“I’m so sick and tired of werewolves doing whatever they like to me! Why can’t any of you listen to me for even one second?” I punctuated my questions with another volley of ineffective blows to his back.

“Probably because you’re so fucking annoying,” he growled. “Shut up already.”

“No! I hope I scream until all you hear for the rest of your life is my voice!”

I had spent my entire life with my head down.

And now I was mad enough to leave any wolf who crossed me bloody and blue—if only my strength could match those desires.

All I had going for me was my voice, but it was unlikely that any of the Kings would hear me; the ceremony was still in full swing, and everyone would be focused on getting drunk or getting lucky. Few would pay the screaming any mind.

Angry tears filled my eyes and were stolen by the wind. Once again, I was powerless to do anything as another Alpha stole me away to do whatever he wanted to me. Why couldn’t I be in charge of my own life?

I wiped the tears on my arm and lifted my head to look back toward the Redwolf cabin.

I saw Troy’s men burst out from the door, eyes glowing brightly in the darkness.

Because they weren’t encumbered with a screaming, fighting girl, they closed the distance much faster than Night could run.

They were within thirty feet, now twenty, and the tree line was still a few yards away.

But before they reached me, men I’d never seen before exploded from between the trees, intercepting Troy’s men before they could reach us.

Howls split the night as the men engaged each other, some transforming into wolves, others remaining bipedal.

I knew those noises would alert the rest of the pack that something was going on.

Night ignored it all. His pace never slowed or faltered, and he never looked back—not even when the sounds of fighting grew louder.

Soon we reached the woods, and my vision of the fighting wolves, the cabins, and the only home I’d ever known was swallowed by trees and darkness.

Night was still running even after we had left the Kings’ compound behind for what felt like several miles.

The parts of my body that were directly in contact with Night were fine, but my back and my arms were lit with goosebumps, and my fingers were starting to feel numb.

I need to get out of this somehow. I knew I needed to escape, but actually freeing myself from Night was another story entirely.

Of course, Night was extremely strong. Yelling and fighting had done nothing to deter him—his grip on me hadn’t let up once, and he seemed to have enough energy to keep running at this pace forever.

I thought about the wolves I’d seen emerging from the forest to defend Night.

Then again, I liked my prospects with one werewolf rather than a small pack of them.

He’ll have to set me down at some point, right?

Even wolves need to sleep or eat or go to the bathroom.

I knew he would easily catch up with me if I wasn’t smart about my escape.

Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to level the playing field between us in terms of strength, agility, or speed.

If he wanted to find me, he would probably be able to track me by scent.

Troy had discovered my bag with the supplies I needed to escape, so even if I did get away, I would have no clothes, no food, and no real way of navigating through the surrounding werewolf packs’ territories.

My prospects were bleak, but I still needed to try, didn’t I?

I squeezed my eyes shut against the stinging tears.

Maybe dying of exposure or hypothermia is better than whatever this Alpha has planned for me.

I’d known Troy all my life, but I’d had no idea he was capable of something as sick as confining me to his room to be his own personal sex toy.

Who knew what depraved plans this wild Alpha could have in mind for me?

In my dreams, those green eyes had been filled with nothing but tenderness and lust, but I couldn’t trust that, could I?

I stiffened when Night’s pace suddenly began to slow. He let out a sigh as he came to a stop. Here’s my chance! I need to—

“Ouch!” I cried out as Night dumped me onto the cold, hard ground.

I was sure I’d bruised my tailbone. “Damn it,” I snapped, pulling myself into a sitting position onto a nearby stump.

“Can’t you be a little more gentle? Don’t you know that I’m human, and I’m freezing my butt off right now? Or have you never met one before?”

Night grunted in response, sounding like an animal. Which, I supposed, he was.

I continued grumbling to myself, pulling my knees up to my chest. My plans were dashed now that I was free of his grasp.

I realized that I was in much worse condition than I’d thought.

Away from the comfort of Night’s body heat and the firm strength of his grip around my legs, my whole body was now shaking with shock and adrenaline.

I tried to control my breathing and buried my face in my knees in an effort to calm myself.

This stupid wolf is just standing there watching me have a panic attack…

And then something warm draped softly over my head and shoulders.

I gasped, lifting my head to see that Night was offering me his black cotton shirt.

I was inundated with his woodsy and slightly floral scent, and I eagerly shoved my arms through the sleeves, pulled the shirt down over my knees, and popped my head through the collar.

I froze as I laid eyes on the shirtless Alpha.

I had seen countless shirtless men on the Kings’ compound, but none of those men held a candle to Night.

His body was all hard muscle, defined and tight.

I now had a much better view of his tattoo and the way that the heavy, black lines sliced across each other.

The tattoo spilled across his shoulder onto his chest and down his arm, where it ended in a thick, black band around his wrist. Old scars slashed across his chest, stomach, and shoulders.

My gaze slowly followed the trail of dark hair that ran between his washboard abs down to the hard “v” that I’d read about in the books I’d borrowed from Mom’s personal library.

In those books, the woman always went crazy for the body of her man—looking at Night, I thought I finally understood exactly why.

My gaze lingered around the waistband of his black sweats, and my face went hot. This man was a god.

Night made a low sound, something between a scoff and a growl, and my eyes snapped back up to his face.

His eyes were almost too bright to look at, but my gaze didn’t waver.

This burly Adonis had just kidnapped me, and no amount of hotness or intensely green eyes could change that I was by myself with an unknown, likely dangerous man. I couldn’t allow myself to forget that.

“Thank you for the shirt,” I said. “But I’ll need to go back for the rest of my things. You have to take me back.”

His mouth smoothed from a slight frown into a straight line, and he turned away from me to look back in the direction we’d come. Unbelievable. Was he ignoring me?

“Hey,” I snapped, rising unsteadily to my feet. His shirt fell down to my knees, and I limped over to him. My legs hadn’t totally recovered from hours hanging in Troy’s room or the shock of our escape, but at least I could sort of walk. “Are you listening to me?”

He remained quiet, staring into the darkness. I clenched my fist. At home, I was always afraid to speak out of turn around a wolf even after they disrespected me. With Troy especially, I tried to keep my head down and hold my tongue. It should have been the same with Night, but it wasn’t.

Around him, my tongue became sharper, and I didn’t hesitate to let him know how I felt.

Maybe it was the adrenaline that still vibrated in my body or the fact that, in kidnapping me, Night had rescued me from Troy, but there was more to my bravery than that.

Of course I was afraid of what he could do to me, but deep inside, I knew that Night was someone I could speak my mind to without worrying about violent retaliation.

After all, if he’d wanted to kill me, he would have done it already.

I nudged his shoulder, and when I didn’t get a response, I punched his perfect, sun-kissed bicep. I winced at the sharp pain that ignited from my knuckles and spread across my hand. All the while, Night remained statue-still, his attention never wavering from the trees.

I pulled my hair in frustration and moved in front of him.

From this angle, his larger, broader body shielded me from the cool spring breeze.

He seemed especially large with the moonlight at his back; his dark body cut an impressive figure.

But I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about how angry I was and how anxious I was to get home.

“Listen,” I said, jabbing his chest with my finger. “Take. Me. Back. Now.” Each word was another jab to hard muscle.

Finally, Night’s bright green gaze fell onto me, and the rest of my words caught in my throat.

The moment his eyes met mine, I remembered the dream I’d had just a few nights before.

In it, my back had been pressed against the trunk of a tree, my arms and legs wrapped around the green-eyed stranger’s hard body as he thrust into me over and over again, forcing me to feel pleasure the likes of which I’d never known—

Night’s eyes narrowed, and a low rumble emanated from his chest. I took a couple of steps back, a jolt of fear raising goosebumps on my skin. I knew a warning when I heard one.

“Why don’t you sit back down and shut up,” he said. “I need to listen for my wolves, not some dumb girl who doesn’t know how to be grateful.”

“Grateful?” The fear began to subside, and anger surged in its wake. “I thanked you for the shirt, didn’t I?”

“Not just about the shirt,” he said. “I saved your ass from Troy and whatever fucked up shit he had planned for you tonight.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You owe me, girl, but you’re lucky that all I’m asking for is your silence.”

My hands balled into fists. “I’m lucky? The girl who was kidnapped from my home only minutes ago, who’s standing here practically naked?

You’re saying I’m lucky? When the person who kidnapped me can’t offer even an ounce of sympathy or—or understanding.

I owe you?” I shook my head hard enough that my hair freed itself from the collar of Night’s shirt and fell around my shoulders.

“Forget this. I ought to just walk myself home.”

He scoffed. “If you’re stupid enough to walk yourself back into the lion’s den, then go on already. Save me the trouble of listening to you nag at me.”

“Fine. I will.” I turned from him in a flurry of indignation and marched into the forest, heading back the way we’d come. From the position of the North Star in the sky, I knew that if I kept heading straight, I ought to find my way back to the Kings’ compound.

But as I pushed my way through the trees, I found the forest much more unforgiving than it’d been when I was draped over Night’s shoulder.

The floor, covered in layers of sharp sticks and pine needles and jagged rocks, sliced at my exposed feet.

I couldn’t see very well, and I found myself almost running into the thick trunk of a tall tree every few steps.

All the while, branches snatched at Night’s shirt, my legs, and my face.

All this combined with the fact that my body hadn’t recovered from Troy’s harsh treatment, made the experience ten times worse.

I was exhausted after only ten minutes of trudging through the forest, but my pride and determination didn’t allow me to turn back to Night.

Though it was miserable, though I knew I was doomed to miles and miles of this torture, I kept going.

I hoped that the activity would keep me from succumbing to my exhaustion.

I tried to think of Mom and of the garden to keep my spirits up.

When I get back, I’ll talk to her about leaving with me.

After I tell her about what happened with Troy, she’ll understand exactly how unsafe it is with him as Alpha of the Kings.

Mom knew everything about the forest, and she knew more about what human cities were like.

She’d be able to guide me to safety if only I could get back home in one piece.

I stumbled when a tree root snatched at my feet.

I fell into the hard, cool trunk of a tree.

As I tried to right myself, howls pierced the night air.

A deep fear shook through my bones as I heard the sound of dozens of light footsteps headed my way.

Soon, shining eyes emerged from the darkness, followed by large, dark shapes—the hulking forms of the wolves that had burst from the treeline earlier.

My arms wrapped tightly around the tree’s trunk as if I could blend into it simply by holding on as tightly as possible. When the wolves reached me, would they hurt me? Would they kill me? They were closing in fast, and there was nothing I could do to defend myself.

All the rumors said that the Wargs were bloodthirsty, vicious beasts even when they weren’t in their wolf form. Was I about to see that firsthand?

I squeezed my eyes shut as they drew nearer, giving up any hope of making it out of the forest alive.