Page 65 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

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Stalactites and stalagmites were jagged teeth sticking out from the top and bottom of the cave but for the small hole in the ceiling near where Tavi and I sat.

That hole let in a ray of bright sunshine, particles of dust glittering and dancing throughout, but that bit of beauty didn’t touch either of us. Not while we were in captivity.

We were in a fairly spacious cavity within the cave.

It reminded me of the cave where Vincent and I were almost attacked by three feral wolves.

There had been a massive hole in the roof of that cave, and Vincent had fallen through it.

It had been cool and damp like this one, but the larger hole gave access to sunshine and fresh air.

This cave had no such “comforts,” if they could even be called that.

To our right, the cavity narrowed into three separate tunnels.

If I concentrated, I could hear the babble of the Kootenai River down one of the paths.

The other two were quiet. If I had to guess, the one that sounded like the river would lead us to freedom.

First, we needed to break free of these chains.

But we couldn’t do it. We tried everything we could think of, including yanking at our chains, but against steel, there was nothing we could do.

All we did was exhaust and bruise ourselves in the process.

We tried shifting, too, but Troy had obviously planned for that.

With our arms chained, we couldn’t get them in position to complete the shift, so we were forced to remain human.

I had vowed to myself and Tavi that I wouldn’t cry again, but this was all so frustrating and scary.

After being chained up in Troy’s basement and kidnapped by Night, I had believed that I’d lived through the worst terrors of my life, but this was a whole new level of awful.

Neither Tavi nor I could do anything but wait for Troy, Samson, and Harlon to return to do…

whatever they were going to do to us. It was maddening.

Unable to stay quiet as my frustration and desperation mounted, I turned to Tavi. “Why can’t Troy just leave me the hell alone?” I demanded. “Why can’t he live his own shitty life as far away from me as possible?”

Tavi sighed. She was just as exhausted as I was, and just as at a loss.

“Alphas will use those who are closest to their enemy to cause them pain and throw them off their game. Night told us that was the reason he kidnapped you at first, but now we know it was because you’re his mate.

Troy wants to keep Night off his game. He would have smelled Night on you, and he would’ve clocked that Night hadn’t left a claiming mark on you.

Taking you away from him will make both you and Night weaker because Night hasn’t fully claimed you.

If Troy keeps you away from each other long enough, Night will be an easier target. ”

“Fuck,” I whispered, clenching my hands tight. It was impossible for me not to think back to the day Night had found me. Now Troy had, once again, bound me against my will. Only this time, he’d done it with the intention of hurting not just me, but my mate and my best friend, too.

“If me being away from Night will make him weaker,” I asked, “what will happen when—if Troy kills me?”

“According to the Elders, wolves who have lost their fated mate have gone completely insane from the grief and the depth of their loss. It takes a strong soul and a powerful wolf to be able to live through something like that. Taking you proves that Troy knows that Night is stronger than him. If he wants to take Night down, this was the only way to ensure a victory.”

My jaw dropped. I’d always known that Troy hated me, though I’d never understood why.

Year after year, I watched him grow more and more unstable, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Who would listen to me? I mean, I had been just a human girl, the most hated person in the pack.

Even if I pointed out what was obviously going on, it was safer for everyone to keep their heads down rather than looking too closely at Gregor’s only son.

Troy’s instability was obvious now, seeing how things had turned out. The night Troy was going to become Alpha, he had locked me up in his bedroom to be his sex slave. And now he’d done it again.

When Gregor was alive, he had kept Troy on a short leash.

But I wondered now if he had done that because he, too, suspected that his son could become a liability to the pack.

Gregor wasn’t a sociable Alpha, and he was so old-fashioned that he kept women and children as second-class citizens in his own pack.

That said, it was obvious to everyone that everything he did was to ensure the Kings’ rule of the Idaho panhandle.

Gregor would never have wanted to leave his pack in the hands of someone who was incapable of ruling.

Troy, however, spearheaded efforts to attack the Wargs without cause, and he lived to flaunt his power over every wolf he encountered—not just Kings and Wargs, but the Camas, too. He was a murderer and a menace who stopped at nothing to make sure he was always on top.

Ever since I was a child, my mom had drilled it into my head to respect the land so that the land would be fruitful.

She had taught me that an Alpha and his pack should ensure that they ruled justly.

With an Alpha like Troy, someone who desired only destruction and power, I knew it wouldn’t be long before the crops died off and the land became infertile.

I wanted to talk to Tavi more about our situation and Troy’s possible plans. I wanted a better idea of what we were dealing with and what our prospects would be. But before I could speak further, I heard footsteps down one of the tunnels. They were getting closer.

Tavi and I shared a look, and tried to brace ourselves as much as we could for the visitors.

Soon, Troy’s face emerged from the darkness like a specter. Behind him, Samson and Harlon’s faces emerged much the same way.

“I thought my ears were burning for a reason.” Troy’s sharp, white teeth glinted through the darkness as he sneered at us.

Seeing him and hearing his voice again sent anger lancing through my chest. All I could think about when I looked at him was Violet—the sight of her blood on his chin, her body falling to the ground, limp. It sent me and my wolf to the height of rage.

I jerked from the wall, glaring up at him. “You must have a death wish, Troy,” I spat. “If you think you can enter Night’s territory and kill his mother without consequences, you’ve got another thing coming—”

As I spoke, Troy continued walking closer. As I neared the end of my threat, his eyes, if possible, became an even darker, inkier black, and his hand shot out to wrap tightly around my throat.

Tavi screamed. I would have gasped if I had the breath to do so. As it was, I couldn’t make a sound, especially when he tightened his hold on my neck. My pulse beat wildly under his fingers, as if it alone could force him to let go. My face went hot as capillaries burst beneath my skin.

“You stupid bitch.” With that, he knocked my head once, hard, against the ground, and black dots danced in front of my eyes.

“Watch your fucking mouth. The whole area is going to be mine soon enough, and when that happens—” He knocked my head against the ground a second time as Tavi screamed for him to stop.

“When that happens, I’m going to let my men have their way with the dirty Wargs women. And I’m going to enjoy it.”

I couldn’t say anything. Part of me knew that he wouldn’t kill me—not before he’d gotten what he wanted—but that didn’t stop every cell in my body from screaming for breath, screaming that he was going to choke the life out of me.

I tried to jerk my body free of his grip, but no matter what I did, Troy’s hand remained like a vise around my neck.

My head pounded. I thought for sure that I was going to pass out.

“Let her go, you coward!” Tavi screamed.

The word caused Troy to turn to Tavi now.

“Yeah, you heard me,” she went on. “Attacking a couple of women who can’t even raise a hand to defend themselves? You’re a fucking coward!”

With a snarl, Troy let me go. I gasped air back into my lungs so fast I coughed on it as Troy stalked toward Tavi.

“I knew Wargs women were stupid, but I didn’t think they’d be this dumb,” he said. “You know, I only took you because it would hurt Night to know that his precious sister was at my mercy, but I’m not actually interested in you.”

“Lucky me,” she said.

Troy’s scowl deepened. “I won’t tolerate any disrespect from some worthless bitch. If you’re smart, you’ll keep your mouth shut.”

“I’m going to enjoy watching Night tear your throat out, you piece of shit.”

Troy gave a chuckle, but the sound was full of darkness, of threat. “I don’t think he’s the one who’ll taste blood.”

Before Tavi could respond, Troy backhanded her. Blood spurted from her mouth and across the wall, and I didn’t even have the breath to scream. Before she hit the ground, he grabbed a fistful of her shirt and punched her in the face.

Blow after blow and kick after kick landed on Tavi, leaving awful marks and bruises across her skin.

My eyes watered with effort as I tried to scream for him to stop, to take his aggression out on me instead, but I couldn’t even do that.

My throat was crushed, my lungs were burning, all I could do was gurgle and wheeze while inside my wolf and I howled together.

Eventually, when Tavi had been beaten so thoroughly that she couldn’t remain conscious, he tossed her broken body to his two men. “Keep the bitch alive but enjoy her however you’d like.”