The Hidden Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 2)

Damon looked at her dumbfounded. He didn’t believe her. For the next ten minutes, she did her best to explain what had happened and how Blake had told Seth to take her to safety. Her mind couldn’t wrap around the fact that Damon was just standing there, staring at her, instead of running out to call his Yako and two Ninkos, gather a small army, and do what he had to do, what was sane and normal to do: save his Inari. She tried to explain better. She took everything from the beginning. Maybe she hadn’t been clear, maybe she was tired and he thought she had dreamed everything or had gone insane. It was as if everything she said hit a wall and dispersed before reaching Damon Sylfur’s ears. She didn’t know when the realization hit her, but the second it happened, she jumped to her feet and ran out the door before the fox-shifter understood what was happening. It wasn’t that Damon didn’t believe her, he didn’t care. He didn’t want to run to Blake’s help and he was simply stalling by asking her questions and suggesting her story didn’t make sense.

Amelia was disappointed to see most of the fox-shifters had gone back inside. Nevertheless, she started yelling at the top of her lungs, hoping her voice would cover the merciless rush of the wind. After all, they were shifters. They had to hear her. Not all of them were like Damon, their Inari, were they? They couldn’t be.

Her idea worked and she was soon surrounded by people she barely knew, but who seemed genuinely worried about Blake, Seth, Elena and Aaron. Some of the women even showed concern for her condition and urged her to go back inside while they took care of everything. She ended up in new, dry clothes, in an armchair in front of Damon’s fireplace, with three shifter-brides fussing with her wet hair, the blankets they had buried her under, and the hot tea they insisted she

needed to drink. Of course the shifter-brides would be the ones to make sure she and her baby were okay. The pure blood vixens couldn’t care less. Despite herself, she was so exhausted that she dozed off. The women were massaging her shoulders, caressing her hair, whispering encouraging words in her ear… After everything that had happened on the other side of the lake, Amelia was grateful. They made her feel better and gave her hope. Nothing could happen to Blake. It was impossible. No matter how many Tricksters they sent after her, she was strong and smart. She had five tails and three devoted friends who knew how to fight. Everything would be okay, and now that Damon had been forced by his people to take action, Amelia could rest and wait for Seth to come back to her.

She jumped awake when the door was slammed open and a group of angry men entered the cabin. The three women were still by her side, and they immediately scooted closer to Amelia, ready to protect her from whatever was coming.

“We need a doctor.”

Amelia recognized Seth’s voice and a weight was lifted off her aching heart. He was alive, he was fine. And he was in the next room, so close to her.

“A doctor? He… she doesn’t deserve a fuckin’ doctor!”

That was Damon’s voice, and his words chilled her to the bone.

“Damon, please. Let’s talk about this later. We’ll explain everything. She’s dying! You can’t let her die!”

There was a commotion and Amelia wanted to throw the blankets off and go see what was happening. The women pulled her back down and begged her to be patient. They knew better than anyone how Damon could be when he was angry. Amelia couldn’t tell for sure, but the noise coming from the next room indicated a fight. Screams and curses, accusations, threats… Sometimes, Seth would raise his voice, but Damon would cover him with more curses.

“You bunch of worthless losers lied to everyone! And Roman thought he could deceive us like this, didn’t he? Who did he think he was? Let her die! She’s not my Inari!”

It was clear what was happening and why. Somehow, they had figured out that Blake was a woman. Amelia started crying uncontrollably and begging the three shifter-brides to let go of her and let her run to Blake. Dying? Blake couldn’t die. Damon had to get over himself and call for a doctor. If she was that badly injured, her body wouldn’t be able to heal in time.

“No, Amelia, it’s not safe!”

“They are angry, so angry… They might hurt you.”

“Think about the baby…”

“I don’t care! Let me go! Let go!”

She used all her strength and determination to push them aside and run. Before opening the door to the next room, she turned to see if they were all right, and the looks on their faces made her hesitate. One of them was sprawled on the floor, another had hit her head on the table and was holding her temple, and the other one was cradling her arm. Had she really pushed them that hard? That wasn’t possible. She never wanted to hurt them, she had only wanted to take them off her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Blake’s naked body was on the couch, barely covered with a thin blanket. Amelia ran to her side and caressed her hair. There was blood everywhere, flowing from her ear, her shoulder, right hip, and a huge gash under her left knee. But the worst wound was the one on her abdomen. She took her friend’s head in her arms and swore to protect her no matter what.

Seth and Damon were still fighting. Damon’s fox-shifters were constantly trying to break them apart, so no one was paying much attention to Blake anymore. They knew what they had to know, and now they didn’t care about her. Just like they didn’t care about Elena, who was on the floor, pressing a hand to her neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding, and Aaron, who was leaning over her, even though it was clear he was close to fainting. He had covered Elena with a coat, but he was naked, just like most of the men in the room. Seth had found a pair of trousers somewhere, and Damon had wrapped a blanket around his hips, but Amelia could tell no one had really had time to think about their appearance.

Someone had called the doctor, because an old man made his way to Blake’s side and reassured Amelia that it was okay, he was there to help and she could let go of her friend. It had probably been a shifter-bride. Apparently, these women were the only ones who actually had a soul. The rest of the night was a blur. Amelia slipped in and out of consciousness, jumped awake every time either Damon or someone else screamed profanities at Blake or Seth, then fell asleep again, but she never let go of Blake’s hand or moved from her spot on the floor, next to the couch. At some point, she woke up in Seth’s arms, his purple eyes staring down at her. Fear and pain. That was all she could read in them.

“It’s okay, beautiful. I’m taking you to bed. It’s okay now. It’s over.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Kyubi

Amelia insisted they went back to Ekviknuna as soon as possible, so the moment it was safe to move Blake, they left Damon and Canada behind. They had no promise they would be safe in Alaska, but Sebastian, Charles, and Julian were a thousand times better than Damon. Amelia and Seth were convinced Blake’s uncle had had something to do with the attack, and the idea of spending another day among his people made them uncomfortable.

Blake was healing quickly, but the trip exhausted her. They arrived in Ekviknuna late in the evening and took her straight to her room before her uncles had a chance to bombard her with questions. Damon had already told everyone about their deceit, so it was natural for the Sylfur brothers to refuse to leave the mansion when Amelia told them there was time to talk about everything later, when Blake would regain her powers. Even though they were tired, Elena and Aaron made it their job to guard Blake’s room from then on. Seth agreed, as he was well aware of the fact that the two Ninkos were the only people he could trust at the moment. He had to look after Amelia and deal with the clan. With their main Inari in disgrace, Clan Sylfur had fallen in complete chaos. Seth knew Sebastian, Charles, and Julian would all want to claim leadership, and he only hoped they would end up arguing amongst themselves, which would buy Blake some time. Unfortunately, the three brothers were smarter than that.

Amelia ended the call and slipped her phone back into her pocket. She looked at Blake’s form under the heavy duvet and sighed. Her friend hadn’t said anything since the night they were attacked, and it wasn’t because she couldn’t talk. She didn’t want to. She wasn’t in shock either. Blake was stronger than that. Elena and Aaron were alive because Blake had protected them. The Tricksters’ intention had been to get rid of the two Ninkos and the Yako as quickly as possible, so they could all focus on Blake. Her five tails and incredible fighting skills had given them a hard time. After Seth took Amelia away from the battlefield, Elena and Aaron tried to stand their ground, but they ended up being saved by their Inari a couple of times. When Seth came back, he found Blake fighting four Tricksters at the same time. She was tired and close to giving up. If he had taken Amelia to Damon, he would have been too late.

No, Blake wasn’t in shock and, physically, she was healing fine. The problem was that she didn’t know how to face her uncles and the whole clan. She had been prepared for many things, but not for that. Amelia sat down on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers through her friend’s short, black hair.

“Blake?”