Alpha Girl (Wolf Girl Series Book 3) Page 4

  “Run got lost … and came back three years later. Some say the Dark Woods will hide the cave from you, only revealing it when you are ready. You could be gone years.”

  What. The. Fuck. Did she just say?

  I yanked my hands out of hers and stood, backing up to the wall. “Whoa, you never said anything about being gone years.”

  She shook her head. “It’s just a possibility.”

  Hah! I barked out a laugh. “I could just possibly get lost for three years? No way.” I pointed to the ring on my finger. “I am marrying the love of my life and if I am gone for three years his entire family will die, including him, because of a curse your people put on him!” I yelled and she bowed her head in submission, which made me immediately feel guilty.

  “Shit, I’m sorry.” I stepped closer to her, then rubbed my face, trying not to have a panic attack. Dark Woods for three years to save thousands of people? Pass. HARD PASS. “I just … I can’t, Astra. It’s asking too much. If you could guarantee me I would be in and out in three days, I would totally do it, but the thought of getting lost for years … I can’t.”

  A single tear slipped from her eye and she wiped it away with the back of her palm. Turning back to face me, she walked over to the little wooden alter she had set up and kneeled before the purple flickering candle, clasping her hands and muttering unintelligible words under her breath.

  I sat there awkwardly, unsure what to do when she stood, a smile back on her face. “I understand, Demi, and I respect your choice. Let me give you a tour? See if you can help in another way?”

  I frowned.

  She called me Demi, not Alpha, and it felt like a slap in the face, but I ignored it.

  “Absolutely. I can totally help in other ways. Food, goods, I mean whatever you need I can get them when the war dies down.”

  She nodded and we stepped out of the room and back up the stairs.

  Two hours later, I knew exactly what she’d done. She didn’t “give me a tour,” she threw my heart into a blender and hit pulse. I’d been through the dying wheat fields, the rotten corn crops, the completely foul fruit orchard, all black with disease, all screaming: You are a piece of shit if you don’t go into the Dark Woods and heal this land.

  “The land is dying from the loss of the alpha’s magic that is tied to it. That can only happen when the trial alpha reaches the Cave of Magic,” Astra had told me as we’d walked through the putrid corn field.

  I’d just nodded at first, ignoring her apparent sales pitch. But then she brought me to the birthing center. There were over two hundred women currently pregnant, and when Astra set one of the brand new babies in my arms, I frowned when I noticed something was off with the child. He seemed happy enough but … I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  I stared down at him, so small and innocent, while I tried to figure out what was nagging at my brain. Weeping came from the room down the hall as Astra leaned in close to me. “Born without a wolf. It will happen until our new alpha goes through the rite of passage, finds the cave, and shows they are worthy and claims the land and people.”

  I stared at her in horror, and then back at the baby. The eyes. It was the eyes! They were … brown. Beautiful brown baby eyes, but … not the magical blue of the Paladin people. I inhaled, smelling the baby.

  Human.

  “Are you telling me that two Paladins just gave birth to a human?” I whisper-screamed to her. How the hell was that possible? Even a Paladin and a human would have a child that could shift into wolf form.

  Astra nodded, stroking the boy’s forehead lovingly as I held him. “Not enough magic to go around now that Red is gone.”

  The guilt of her words hit me like a ton of bricks. I quickly handed her the baby before the sob ripped from my throat. Then I ran down the hall and burst out of the door. The cool breeze hit my face as I thought of what that poor mother must be going through. What that child would live with. Was being human awful? No, but to grow up different, among wolves and not being able to shift or heal, he’d be a freak. Because of me. He was a beautiful healthy baby boy, but he wasn’t a wolf, not like he should be. My breath came in and out in ragged gasps as I surveyed the dying land before me. What I’d seen today was a good people, a hardworking people who didn’t deserve to lose their magic, their wolves, all because I was scared of being gone too long.

  ‘I need to see you. I have to talk to you about something in person. It’s important,’ I told Sawyer as the panic threatened to fully take hold of me.

  His reply was immediate. ‘Are you okay?’

  Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t imagine losing my wolf, not now that I knew she was the one reason I was left living, that she was my protector when Vicon and his buddies took my virginity against my will.

  ‘No. I’m not. I need to see you, Sawyer.’

  ‘Alright, I’ll have Eugene escort you back to me when he gets there, but can you bring some protection? Maybe twenty Paladins? The Wild Lands are crawling with Ithaki and vampires right now.’

  Ask more people to risk their life for me? Sure thing.

  ‘Okay,’ I said.

  ‘Okay … see you tonight.’

  “You okay?” a familiar voice called behind me, and I quickly wiped my tears and spun on my heel.

  Rab. I sighed when I saw him. “Come to gloat at my emotional weakness?”

  He shrugged. “I came to see if you were hungry. My mate just made lunch. She wants to meet you.”

  I internally groaned, looking to the door of the birthing center, where Astra waved me off.

  “I’ll meet up with you later!” she said, as if she’d overheard us.

  “Sure,” I told him, wondering why he would invite me to lunch after he was such a dick to me before. Why would his mate want to meet me? Hopefully, she was nothing like him. I wasn’t in the mood to dine with two assholes.

  We walked across the burned blades of grass. It looked like a recent fire had scorched the land, but Astra had explained it was just the sudden loss of alpha magic when Red died.

  Rab gave me a long side-glance and I growled. “What?”

  He chuckled. “I can’t believe our last remaining alpha is a city wolf.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe you’re related to sweet and charming Arrow.”

  His lips twitched into a half grin and then fell. “I can’t believe Red died so that you could live…”

  I stopped walking, my throat tightening as his words. “Hey, that was a low blow.”

  He shook his head. “No, what I meant was … I can’t believe that Red crossed over Ithaki land to save a city wolf who happened to be his long-lost granddaughter.”

  Oh.

  “Yes it was … synchronistic.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he sighed, looking deeply into my eyes before inhaling through his nose, as if smelling me. “I think he knew. I think on some level he knew who you were.”

  I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I wished I had gotten to meet the old man, to know him. I tried to think back to our conversation, and any indication that he knew we were related.

  “Rab! Food’s getting cold. Get your butt in here!” a female yelled down the street, and I grinned at the sassy way she spoke to him.

  “Oh, I’m going to like her.” I let the amusement play out on my features as he scowled at me. He stalked off toward the beautiful woman standing in the red doorway who was waving us over, and I followed him.

  As we approached, I examined her closer. She looked to be about mid-twenties with her brown hair in a long silky braid over one shoulder. She had those intense almond shaped turquoise eyes, and a smattering of freckles across her nose that made her look young and innocent. I swallowed hard when my gaze went to her abdomen and I noticed her belly was swollen with pregnancy.

  “Hello, Demi. I’m Willow.” She smiled at me and bowed her head slightly in greeting.

  “You’re pregnant,” I said stupidly, instead of
actually greeting her like a normal person. That’s why she invited me; she didn’t want her baby to be born human. This was all a part of their plan.

  Oh Lord.

  The guilt trip was being laid so thick I could barely breathe.

  She nodded. “Only four months along, but yeah.” She grinned at Rab. He reached over and rubbed her belly as the smells of something savory filtered out to us on the porch.

  “Come on in.” She stepped back and ushered me inside.

  I gingerly crossed the threshold, the guilt of her unborn baby weighing on me with each step. If I didn’t go into the Dark Woods and find that damn cave, then her baby would be born human … without a wolf.

  I swallowed hard, looking around her home. It was similar to my guest cottage but seemed more lived in. She had the table set with some type of bean stew and a fresh bowl of rice. The tablecloth was a deep red, and there were some dried husks of wheat for decoration in the centerpiece. “Sorry there is nothing fresh. As you know, the crops have been failing since we lost Red.”

  I paled.

  “Dry rice and beans, courtesy of Wolf City,” Rab grumbled.

  Willow reached out and smacked him on the back of the head. “What’s gotten into you, mate? Where is your gratitude? Would you rather your pregnant mate starve?”

  Rab’s cheeks pinked and he cleared his throat. “Thank you for the food,” he half growled and sat down.

  I liked her, but I frowned at Rab as we both sat down at the table. “You’re welcome, Rab.” I said his name like it was made of poison as Willow served me a plate of steaming hot beans and rice. There was also a spicy looking relish on the side.

  Willow barked out a laugh. “You know his name is Rabid Wolf for a reason, right?” She bared her teeth in a mock growl and he playfully smacked her butt.

  I chortled, my mouth going slack. “Rab is short for Rabid!”

  He squared his shoulders, shoving a mouthful of beans into his mouth. “It’s a strong name.”

  Yeah, for a psycho asshole, which he was, but there was a playfulness to our banter and I relaxed into that.

  “Demi needs a Paladin name.” Willow mixed her rice and beans as I started to take a bite.

  “She needs to earn it. It’s not given out for free,” Rab said through gritted teeth.

  Willow rolled her eyes at her mate. “I’m aware of that. Who says she can’t earn it?”

  I tipped my chin to her in thanks but Rab laughed. “Astra and Arrow both risked their lives to sneak into Wolf City and plead with her to help us and she gave them canned food and turned them away. That’s not the trait of an alpha.”

  “Hey!” I slammed my fist down on the table and the glasses clanked, causing everyone to jump. “I’m sorry.” I looked at Willow, but she seemed unbothered by my outburst.

  Then I glared at Rab: “I only found out I was half Paladin a few months ago, and an alpha a few weeks ago. Excuse me for having to think things through before throwing away my entire life to help people who have been nothing but assholes to me and my mate.” I shoved my engagement ring in his face. “The mate that I need to rush and marry so he doesn’t die from the curse your people put on his family!”

  The table went silent, and I didn’t realize how loud I’d gotten, but I’d definitely screamed the last part. Rab sighed, looking down at his food in an apparent act of submission. Willow’s gaze flicked over to my ring and she grinned. “I love her. She’ll be a perfect alpha.”

  I yanked my hand back and rubbed my face. “I’m sorry I lost my temper—”

  Willow snort-laughed. “You’re a Paladin female. We would expect nothing less.”

  I gave her a small smile, grateful to feel so accepted but still annoyed Rab and everyone expected me to just ride in and save the day the second they told me they needed help.

  “The curse on the Hudson family was a mistake,” Rab finally said. “A mistake our entire people have lived with for as long as I can remember.”

  Fair enough. We all made mistakes, but the curse was still there and a huge problem in Sawyer’s life. “Well, you can’t expect someone to just easily get over that mistake when it impacts their entire life. In Wolf City, they have contests to win the alpha’s heart, where you compete with dozens of other women. He dates them all at the same time because of your curse. It’s messed up.”

  Willow shook her head. “I would kill them all.”

  I grinned. This chick was going to be a good friend, I could tell.

  Rab dropped his fork on the plate. “Okay, I get it, we messed up forever ago and there is a good reason city wolves hate us. Can we move on?”

  I nodded, shoving a mouthful of yummy spiced beans into my mouth as a flavor explosion of cumin burst across my tongue. “Yes. Let’s move on. I know you don’t like me, but I’m all that you have left, so I’m just going to have to do.” I shrugged.

  Willow stilled. “Does that mean … you’ll go to the Dark Woods and prove yourself as alpha?”

  Her hand went to her belly and I sighed.

  “Yes. You think I’m going to let your baby be born a human and eat dried beans and rice for the rest of their life? I told you, I’m here to help.” Dammit, their entrapment had worked. I was going all in.

  Rab looked me up and down then, scanning my body with the gaze of a predator as if looking for weak spots or wounds to exploit. “Run was the greatest alpha of our time, and it took him three years to find his way through the Dark Woods to the Cave of Magic. Do you really think you can even make it out of there alive?”

  My wolf surged to the surface then and I glared at him. “Have you ever had an alpha who was a split shifter?”

  Willow lifted a finger. “Angel wolf, and no, we haven’t,” she agreed, and Rab shot her a glare.

  “You’re not trained,” Rab said. “The first cold night, you’ll lose your fingers to frostbite.” He took a bite of rice and beans, chewing it slowly.

  Okay frostbite sounded bad, but after my time with Marmal and running through Dark Fey Territory, I was no longer scared of being alone in the wild. “Then teach me as much as you can in the next twenty-four hours, because I’m going and I’m coming back in three days with magic that will fix this land and save your people.”

  He looked at me like I was a puzzle he couldn’t figure out. “Our.”

  I frowned. “Huh?”

  “Our people, and if positive mental attitude could help you out there, I wouldn’t worry so much.”

  I smiled, taking another bite of food.

  “But it can’t,” he growled. “So be ready for a master class in woodland survival.”

  I gulped.

  Was I really doing this? Going out alone into a place called the Dark Woods in order to find some magical cave and possibly get lost for years?

  No, I couldn’t think like that.

  Seeing Willow stroke her pregnant belly longingly though, I knew I had to try, and I could leave nothing to chance. Nothing.

  “Willow, do you have a fancy dress I could borrow?” I asked.

  Eugene showed up later that afternoon and I made him turn right back around and take me to Sawyer. That I was staying was something I had to tell him in person, and there was something I had to do in person too. I’d asked Astra to accompany us, as well as twenty guards. Surprisingly, Rab himself had volunteered to go. He and I had turned a corner, and I was grateful to no longer be butting heads with him.

  “Why are we traipsing through war-torn woods with you all dressed up?” Eugene asked as he held a gun at his side, finger on the trigger.

  I smoothed the red and gold silk handmade dress that Willow had given me. With the bright colors and the way it draped over one shoulder, it reminded me of an Indian Sari. I’d tied up my hair into a sleek bun and used beetroot powders Willow had given me to stain my lips and cheeks.

  It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my wedding day look, but it would have to do.

  “Because I’m going away for a while and I won’t leave wi
thout being Sawyer’s wife first,” I said, determined. I wasn’t going to go into some crazy Dark Woods and let the curse kill my mate if I ended up gone for three years.

  Eugene stopped dead and looked up at me, tears glistening in his eyes. “Does he know?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. I know he has a lot going on.”

  Eugene cleared his throat, straightening his shoulders and nodded. “I’ll get you there and back safely. Don’t worry.”

  He stepped in front of me with seemingly renewed strength as we continued our walk through the woods. I stumbled over ferns and small shrubs, holding up the edges of my dress to make my way over to Astra. We’d left the Paladin horses and donkeys in favor of going on foot. A troop of twenty warriors on horseback was loud; we could be stealthier this way.

  “Astra?” I stepped next to her and she looked up at me with a smile. Always smiling at me this one, such an innocent and loving soul.

  “Yes, Alpha?”

  I’d long stopped asking her to call me that. “You’re like a priest or a pastor, right?”

  She frowned, looking confused.

  “Like … you are an important person of God. You … marry people?” I hedged.

  Her eyes widened as a grin broke out on her lips and she looked at my dress in a whole new light.

  “Yes, Alpha, it would be my honor to oversee your joining union.”

  Joining union must be what they called a wedding. “Okay, great. Thanks.”

  We crept through the trees, and the once far-off noises of war grew closer and louder. Nothing new to see here, folks, just creeping through the war-ridden woods to surprise my fiancé with a wedding he knew nothing about.

  ‘Hey, we’re like twenty minutes away. Are my parents and Raven still in the bunker?’ I asked.

  I really wanted my dad to walk me down the aisle, but I wouldn’t pull him from safety if things were still in a lockdown kind of situation.

  ‘Yes. Everyone who isn’t fighting is down there. It’s a secret bunker under the school … which has been completely shelled out.’