Wolf was poised and ready to pounce on anyone who tried to go away with their mate, Alek could taste his animal’s hostility. Suddenly, he felt a shift inside them, Wolf getting jerked hard to the right, his hindquarters hitting the ground before he shot back up. He inched backward on high alert, their body heat spiking to an uncomfortable temperature. Alek shook inside Wolf’s body as the air started to shimmer around them.
Oh no. Alek panicked. Wolf?
Heat waves radiated on all sides of him, preventing anyone from getting close. Wolf was losing the surface to something far more dangerous than any of them, and the first shifter who sensed it was Wick. He flashed forward and yanked Bell to safety, sparking a jolt of electricity that zapped through Wolf, past Alek into the depths of his soul.
“Everyone take cover!” Mac yelled, then shifted into his white wolf, along with the rest of his brothers. They weren’t as big as Justice or Wolf, but all of them were larger than most shifters.
Alek watched in horror from the inside as his pack mates began to scatter, scooping up their pups and hauling ass towards their cabins. Oh no. Wolf! Don’t let him out. Alek felt the monster coming, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Wolf was the only one able to hold him back, but from the way Wolf was snarling and snapping left and right, Alek knew they weren’t gonna win this time.
I’ll have to run, Alek. I don’t think I can hold it.
You have to! Or let me out so I can touch Bell. He can stop this.
If it touches our mate. It could kill him.
Then run, goddamnit!
Wick continued to hold Bell around his waist while his mate struggled in his grip, begging his king, any damn one, to just tell him what was happening. Alek could just imagine what the entire scene looked like. Justice and his betas were in an attack formation, and Wolf was acting as if he had rabies. It was enough for him to say ‘fuck it… just run’. Wolf backed into some shrubbery, singeing the dull green leaves, which sizzled and fell to the cold ground.
“No one touch him!” Justice ordered.
Alek was glad he could only see the pain in his brother’s eyes and not feel it. He could feel nothing but Wolf and fire. And anger… so much anger.
Run! Alek shouted.
“Aleksei!” Bell hollered as Wolf turned and dashed into the woods, aiming for maximum speed to keep anyone from following.
He felt Wolf put up their shield to mask their scent. It could be dangerous if his siblings chased him. They had to get to the top of the mountain before it was too late. Alek was jostled as Wolf navigated the trail they’d come to know well. Alek could hear his mate shouting his name and the farther away he got, the harder it was for Alek to keep pushing. He felt that loss, that pain like nothing he’d ever experienced. Belleron! Alek cried. If he was going to survive he needed his mate. Now, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d just sealed his doom. Alek’s spirit sunk to his feet.
Alek stay with me!
He couldn’t, he was devastated. He’d run. His mate had expected him to stick up for him but all he’d done was undermine him in front of everyone again. Then, when tasked with a serious responsibility, the first where they’d have to unite with the vampires, Alek had tucked tail and run. It didn’t matter that he was trying to keep them from getting burned by the flames of the Underworld. He’d turned his back on his family and his mate. How the hell was he even an alpha?
Stay with me, Alek.
Alek grunted and yelled out in agony when Wolf was knocked backwards and thrown into the base of a tree with the force of five shifters.
Fuck! Alek hissed.
He’s too strong, Alek. I need you with me. Wolf got to his feet fast, sprinting past their secluded cabin, taking them to a place they hadn’t been to in years.
Alek struggled to link his mind with Wolf like he needed him to in order to hold the monster back. Again, Alek was torn. He didn’t agree with any of what had just happened. Wolf had taken the surface, manhandled his mate, and completely left Alek out of the decision. They weren’t in accord and it didn’t look as if they ever would be. A fucked-up-in-the-head-multiple-personality-dysfunctional alpha. Maybe it was time for him to die.
No! Come on Alek—fight, push. I need you!
The beast knocked them to the ground again, working extra hard to defend against them both and seize control, taking out any and everything around it. Wolf howled in agony at the feeling of ribs cracking, as he was thrown into the air again and slammed into the cold earth on his right side. Alek wished he could let that pain take it all away instead of enduring the piercing sting in his heart. His soul was numb. Hopeless. Getting up took more effort from Wolf this time as Alek battled with his own shit inside. He didn’t want to keep going, didn’t want to be trapped in that dungeon beneath the ground, but at least there he could die alone in his misery.