The Alpha’s Heir
Chapter 10

*** Alejandro ***

All hell breaks loose. Alpha Aiden hits the deck, unconscious, Salma has a gun in her hand and is shouting about her friend being imprisoned, and poor Eva is locked away in a cell. However, the more I take in the scene in front of me, the more I realise that something is amiss.

Eva is hysterical, she shouts to Aiden and rants at Sal for hurting him even as my wife continues to shout. “Get the wire cutters, Ale. They f*****g locked her in. She is in a cage. Eva, why the f**k have they caged you?”

“SALMA! STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW. He didn’t imprison me, I imprisoned myself. Ale, stop her, I’m dangerous. I could hurt you; I could hurt everyone.”

We both stop as Eva’s words leave Salma visibly and verbally stumped. Eva has never hurt a fly in her life. “How are you dangerous, Eva? Are you sick? Where’s Summer?”

Aiden gr0ans on the floor as he rouses.

“For f**k’s sake, Sal, they’re our friends! Try asking first before knocking him out.” I help Aiden up off the floor, relieved that he isn’t cut, and the bump that looked like a mini mountain is already starting to recede.

“As I was saying, we have so much to tell you both, and I don’t know where to start, so I think I will let my girl tell you while I recover from getting my head pounded.” He throws a look at Salma, resentful, and yet a bit wary too. He’s a clever man, Alpha Aiden, and he is right to be wary. I would be too. Salma is overprotective of her best friend and right now she is livid at her current circumstances.

Eva fusses over Aiden, checking his temple and his eyes through her bars. I know from watching them interact with one another that this isn’t a case of Aiden holding Eva against her will.

So why is his mate and Luna locked in a cell?

A very comfortable cell, I must admit, but a cell all the same.

“I think you owe him an apology, Sal,” I tell my wife, who hisses me back into submission.

“No, she doesn’t. It’s okay. I’ll give you that one, Sal, but only because I know you did it in outrage for Eva. I know you would do anything you felt necessary to look out for her and I’m actually happy she has a friend who would fight for her. We might need that in the future. Eva, please tell them what has been going on.”

Eva explains everything to us. I am perplexed and lost at some points, especially when she starts to explain about Mages and Dire Wolves, the danger they pose and how she feels safer in the cell. Then came the tale of the Werewolf Council placing her under house arrest and, finally, how we can help reverse the manifestation of her wolf.

“Eva, just give me the list of everyone who has caused you harm, pain and upset and we’ll go kill them now.” My Sal is still feeling murderous and in her heightened state of vigilance, she is missing the subtleties. This isn’t about eradicating people, this is about Eva facing her demons and putting them to rest.

“Chula, I think what Eva is telling us is that she has to tell people that they hurt her and why, so she can move on from it. She doesn’t want them all dead, not yet.” Eva gives me a small smile of thanks. “Just tell us if there is anything we can do, and we will help.”

“So, you said this was a mix of business and pleasure. What’s been happening in your life?” Aiden is back to the point and it’s a relief to have his diplomacy.

“We need some information. Do you know a werewolf from the Moon Stone pack who goes by the initials J.R.?”

It is our turn to share, and this time I let Sal do the explaining. By the end of it, Eva and Aiden are as shocked as we were when she shared their tale.

“So, your father’s mistress is in a relationship with a werewolf from the Moon Stone and you think he helped her to poison him? I mean we don’t keep a full register of other packs, just the higher ranks. I don’t recall a J.R. in them. Do you have anything else to go on?”

Sal hesitates but I don’t know why until she explains it. “Ricky, my little brother, has met him and can identify him but he’s only seven years old and I would rather he didn’t have to. I want to protect him; he’s been through enough. I don’t want that information to leave this dungeon.”

“No, we won’t involve children,” Eva assures her. “I will speak to my father; he will come and visit me if I ask him to. I won’t say the reason behind me asking but I’m sure he can give me his pack register or something. Besides, he’ll have to come soon and bring my mother so I can confront her.”

Eva doesn’t look happy at the prospect, and I can’t say I blame her. She has a huge task ahead of her. What I don’t understand is why the Werewolf Council has allowed her to stay in the pack and why she has a time frame for reversing her manifestations. It seems Sal has the same queries when she asks Eva why they didn’t take her away and why she has six months to heal her wolf.

“Oh, yeah, that’s our other news. I didn’t want to say anything so early on, because we’ve only just found out. Aiden and I are having a baby.” Happiness swirls with a sinking feeling right in the pit of my stomach. I feel Sal tense, only for a second, but I know from this tiny action that she is thrown by the news.

“Congratulations!” we both shout to them because we are genuinely happy for them and their happiness. However, another couple around us expecting just highlights that we aren’t and the disappointment at being the only ones who aren’t leaves me feeling sad. Sal and Eva hug and I shake Aiden’s hand again.

He whispers to me when the girls are talking. “How long have you two been trying? I heard the change in both your heart rates.” I explain to him it hasn’t been that long, less than three months. “It’ll be the stress stopping it. As soon as Sal can stop worrying about what happened to her father, it will happen.”

I find comfort in Aiden’s words, especially since he isn’t bragging about getting the job done faster than me, or about being more of a man. Maybe if we can get Dominga and find this werewolf, both Sal and I could finally relax and enjoy being newly married and us getting pregnant will just happen.

When Sal comes back to me, I pull her close to me, not caring that we have an audience. They understand how it feels to be completely in love with an amazing person too. “Ale!” she whispers to me, but I k!ss her quickly to silence her.

“Once this is all over, I want us to go on our honeymoon, Chula. Where would you like to go?”

She reels off a list: Bali, the Seychelles, St. Lucia. “But to be honest, I don’t care as long as I’m with you, Ale.”

She is becoming more open and loving with me in front of our friends, and that means the world to me. I don’t want her to be shy about us. I want to shout from the rooftops that she’s mine, but Sal has always been more reserved and formal until now. It feels amazing.

“What can we do to help, Eva? Is there anyone you need us to bring here to confront and talk to?” Sal asks her.

The most obvious choices are her mother and her ex-husband, but Ryan is dead and her mother is already being dealt with.

“I’m going to phone Melanie and invite her here. She wants Summer and her baby to bond, and I think confronting her about her affair with Ryan could be a start.” She pauses for a moment, obviously still contemplating her next moves. “I would like to make contact with one person, I’m not sure if you still have contact with him, Sal. He didn’t do anything wrong, but I only found out recently that he didn’t, and I was hurt by what I thought were his actions. I just want to speak to him about what happened and draw a line under it. Can you get in touch with Luke? I’m hoping a phone call or a video call will suffice.”

After sharing our troubles, we head back to get Ricky. We have a loose plan of action and friends to support us. What could go wrong?

*** Melanie ***

It is a surprise to hear from Eva. Her silence convinced me she had changed her mind about Summer bonding with my baby. Disappointment flowed through me at the prospect, but I knew I had to respect her decision. After all, she has been very gracious towards me despite everything I have done and if seeing me pregnant with her husband’s child is too much, I completely understand and respect her decision.

The nightmares about Ryan continue to plague me and I continue to isolate myself in my home, not even leaving to get groceries, just surviving on what is in the cupboards or the small amounts of bread, milk, eggs, butter, and yoghurt that my milkman brings me. Fortunately for me, the milkman brings potatoes, fruit, and vegetables as well as fresh orange juice. There is no reason to leave, except for hospital appointments and now to visit Eva.

Eva explains to me that she is having therapy and that she needed to discuss some things with me so she could move on in life. She assures me she will still facilitate Summer being involved in my daughter’s life.

I know I’m going to have to answer some tough questions from Eva. My cheeks flame in shame at the appalling way I treated her. With Ryan gone, my thoughts have become clearer, and I am riddled with guilt and embarrassment over my actions. As much as this is going to be hard and uncomfortable, I want to do this. Maybe giving Eva what she needs to move on will allow me to forgive myself and move on too.

Eva tells me that Aiden, her boyfriend, will come and drive me to her new home. So, the following day, I sit and wait for him and, despite waiting for what feels like three lifetimes, he rings my doorbell bang on time. When I open the door, Eva’s boyfriend is there with a tall ginger woman.

“Hi, Melanie, I’m Aiden and this is my sister, Amber. Could we please come in and talk before we take you to Eva? There is something we would like to discuss with you.”

I invite them into my home and sit uncomfortably, waiting for them to explain what they want to discuss with me.

“Something has happened in Eva’s life, and she is under house arrest. When you come to see her, she will be in a cell but it is nothing for you to be worried about, nothing will happen to you or your p… child. You will be completely safe. Do you understand?” I nod that I did although I have a million questions about what they just told me.

“Good, so before we can grant you access, we need you to sign this Non-Disclosure Agreement.” Sh!t, it sounds like Eva is in deep sh!t if I have to sign an NDA. I quickly sign the form and ask if we can go now. They seem satisfied with that.

The drive to Eva’s new home takes about forty minutes and, although the car is luxurious and the drive is pleasant, I am eager to get out of the car and stretch my legs and breathe the fresh air into my lungs.

Saturday is my usual day I spend with my children. However, when I got the call off Eva, I quickly asked their dad to rearrange, which he agreed to. I will spend the day with my boys tomorrow instead. I never change my time with them, but this is important.

As we pull up outside the extremely large house, I cannot help but be in awe. “Eva lives here? It’s huge.”

“We have an apartment inside until the cottage is finished, but this all belongs to me and now it belongs to Eva too.”

Before we go in, Aiden reminds me that Eva is under house arrest, but I don’t need to be alarmed or scared.

They direct me down into what I presume to be a cellar, the air turns colder with each step I take. As I walk into the room where Eva is, I don’t even see her. Instead, I come face to face with a massive man with the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.

“MATE!” he spits at me through gritted teeth, and even though he is grimacing at me as he stares me down, I don’t feel in danger or threatened. I have never felt safer.

“Max, stand down. Go back to your Luna. MAX! Snap out of it!”

I have no idea what is happening but the man who I now know is Max backs off away from me and sits on the other side of the bars to Eva, who I notice for the first time.

“Hi, Mel, this is Max… my… bodyguard. Max, this is Melanie.” He gives me a short nod and looks away.

I try to break the ice; it feels so tense, and I have a feeling I’m the reason everyone is on edge. “So, Eva, what trouble have you been creating to land yourself in prison?”

When Eva smiles at my question, I almost feel the tension disappear.

*** Eva ***

Max is wound up tight, Melanie doesn’t seem to realise what is happening and Aiden is trying to calm Max without coming across as strange to Melanie. “Call for Preston please, Aiden. I think Max could use a break.”

Melanie doesn’t seem to notice when Aiden’s eyes glaze over, she only has eyes for Max and occasionally me. I wonder if she can feel the pull like I could with Aiden? I just hope Max handles this better than Aiden did to begin with.

“Thank you for coming, Mel, please make yourself comfortable and if there is anything you want or need, please let us know.”

I pull out my notepad and consider the questions I have for her.

“I have some questions; I think you can answer some of them for me and that will help me to understand and accept what Ryan did so I can heal from his mistreatment. I just want to reassure you that I will only hold you accountable for your own actions, not anything he did, but any insight into why Ryan was so hateful would be appreciated.”

She nodded to me. “I will be as honest as I can with the information I have. Please, ask away. I want to help you if I can.”

With that assurance, I steady my nerves and start to confront the pain of my past.

*** Junior ***

With Nikki’s mage power, we manage to make it onto the Onyx River territory without detection. It is still daytime, but I argue that the sun is our friend in this case, as we need to see who is about and where we are going.

Dominga is unwell this morning and we decide she should stay at the hotel for now, so she doesn’t slow us down. She looks suspiciously between Nikki and I, her eyes narrowing into slits, but what can be done? She wants to be rid of Nikki, and I want to hurt my father’s bastard. This has to be done.

When Nikki propositions me, I know Dominga has reason to be concerned. She waits until we are halfway to the Onyx River before she does.

“We could help each other, Junior, and I think we would make a good team,” she starts off. “Dominga is old, she can’t give you an heir, she’s human and doesn’t know anything about our kind. Can you imagine her as your Luna?”

Nikki has a valid point, but I don’t tell her that these thoughts have been swimming around in my head since she joined our cause.

“I could, though.” She doesn’t add to that, she just leaves it hanging between us. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, but how do I get rid of Dominga now? I am in so much sh!t with my father, my pack, and the Mafia now too.

“Dominga was right after all. You joined us because you wanted me?” I accuse her, although there is no malice in my voice, and I consider it to be gentle in approach.

“Oh no, I joined you so I could get revenge. I still want my revenge. But I also want a pup, a family and to belong somewhere. It was actually Dominga accusing us of it that gave me the idea.” That does make sense. I have also thought of nothing other than what Nikki could give me in comparison.

“So, what exactly is it you want from me, Nikki?” I just want blunt, straight answers, no messing about. “You said you wanted to help me claim my rightful position and you wanted revenge… Tell me what else you want now.”

“Make me your Luna, I will give you the pups you want and need to carry on your legacy. Imagine our pups, Junior, with your Alpha b***d and my mage abilities. Our pups would be magnificent.” I slam her up against the tree and she smiles back wickedly at me. “We could be good together, you and I, Xavier Junior. All I’m saying is think about it. But be quick, I’m ready to have some fun. Are you?”

I’m rock hard solid for her, but niggling in the back of my mind is Dominga… I was madly in love with her not so long ago, but now I feel indifferent towards her. How did things change so dramatically?

Her hand begins to move back down my body, unable to leave me dissatisfied, and she grips my hardened c0ck as she does. “I know you want me too. Just think it over and maybe we could do something about this thick rod of yours. It must be bothering you.”

I bet her body is smooth and toned, and still able to bear fruit. I want her; I admit it to myself. However, I’m not going to give in so easily. I want her to be grateful. I want her to beg.

“I will consider your proposal once my father’s bastard is disposed of,” I tell her firmly.

“If you say so, Alpha. Just let me go until you are ready.” The challenge is there. I already have her pinned against the tree with my hands and my d!ck, which now throbs with need. She is willingly giving herself to me. All I have to do is accept.

Without further thought, I smash my lips over hers, just to test if we will be compatible, when suddenly I feel eyes on me. When I look around, no one is there. I’m just paranoid. However, the disruption means I am able to stop myself taking things further with Nikki for now.

We hide in a cluster of trees near the packhouse. Nikki tells me she can feel Eva inside and we try to hatch a plan to draw her out when something happens.

“That’s Eva’s daughter right there, Junior. Do you feel the connection?” I shake my head. The brat is nothing to me. “The woman with her is human. I don’t know who she is. The wolf is Gamma-ranked. This might be an opportunity to draw her out. If we take the little girl, Eva will surely come out of her hiding place.”

I run towards the little girl to snatch her away before the decision is made. I didn’t account for the Onyx River being prepared for an attack too.

*** Eva ***

It is tense in the cell. I want to speak to Melanie alone, but Aiden and Max won’t leave, and now Amber and Preston are here too. It is embarrassing going over the more intimate details of my marriage and my husband’s affair with Mel. It is torture doing it in front of a wider audience.

“You knew about Summer and me, so why didn’t you stop it, Mel? That’s what I find most hurtful. You knew he was married but you carried on seeing him.” Melanie drops her head at first, but then she looks me in the eyes and speaks with conviction. She accepts full responsibility and apologises.

“Eva, I had known Ryan Jefferson all my life. I fell in love with him and really thought we would end up together, married with a little house and a white picket fence and for a long time, he led me on. He used me. I loved him, I gave him my virginity and he just discarded me.”

She pauses while she gains her composure, and with her being pregnant, I want her to be comfortable.

“When he came back into my life a few years later, it felt like a second chance to be with him and this time he wanted me too. He lived with me, Eva, he came home to me every night and he told me that you two were separated and estranged but you were holding him to ransom with his money. I was stupid and needy. I didn’t care about you and your little girl because I was finally getting Ryan back. I was selfish and wrong.”

Summer returns from her afternoon with Mrs Moore, so I call our talk to a halt. I don’t want Summer to see or hear this, and I need a break too. I speak to Lina, who tells me that finding out about Melanie came after the manifestations. Melanie didn’t cause the manifestation in Lina, Ryan did and Melanie cannot and should not pay for Ryan’s crimes.

“Thank you for your honesty. I need to take a break.” Max offers to take Summer out for fresh air and when Melanie sees an opportunity to spend a little time with Summer, she asks if she can go too. I smile when Max shrugs indifferently. Despite his outward appearance, I know his wolf will be going crazy inside him.

When they leave, Aiden asks Amber and Preston to give us a moment too. He unlocks my cell, and the tears are falling before I can stop them. “Did it help, Shortie?” I shake my head no, because it didn’t, it didn’t help Lina. I don’t know how to help her. What if I can’t?

“She said Ryan’s actions caused the manifestations, not Melanie’s, but how can I confront Ryan when the fvcker’s dead?” He holds me in his warm embrace and strokes my head soothingly while I rant.

When there is a lull, he k!sses me softly on the lips. “Eva, I have an idea. Maybe you don’t have to confront Ryan? Maybe you need to remember everything he did, by talking about it or writing it down so you can address it and then heal from it.”

I contemplate what he has suggested and I think that could work. We don’t get to discuss it any further as the security alarms screech all over the pack house.

As Alpha, Aiden must be there, he quickly locks me back in the cell before running out to see what the breach is. “Aiden, get Summer. Check on Summer.”

I’m alone in the cell and a sense of foreboding overcomes me. Something bad is about to happen. I can feel it. I need my little girl back in sight.

*** Melanie ***

When I am giving Eva the answers she asks for, I am embarrassed and feel wretched that she has to hear some of the stuff I am saying. Moreover, the fact that I had actually done those things in the first place made me feel even worse. I had no consideration for her based on the few details Ryan had given me. It just demonstrates to me how much I loathe myself, how little respect I have for myself to want to be with a man who treated his wife and child so shoddily.

Eva has a lot more grace and decorum than I do. She shows no outward reaction to my confessions, just as she promised. She is at least twice the woman I could ever dream of being.

I ask if I could play outside with Summer for a little while. I just want to talk to her about my baby, who will be her sister. She is so young she probably doesn’t understand. The man with the lovely eyes comes with us and I wonder at the place I’ve been brought to that a little girl who isn’t quite three years old needs a bodyguard.

Nevertheless, it is clear that Summer is comfortable and close with her bodyguard. “Up, Maxxi,” she shouts to him, and he picks her up like she is a flower and places her on his shoulders, causing her to giggle. Summer is such a beautiful girl, so full of light and love. How on earth is Ryan Jefferson her father? I rub my tummy and pray that my daughter takes after her sister and not her father.

“So, you’re carrying the child of the Luna’s ex-husband?” Max asks. Shame and guilt trickles down my neck. I didn’t have to wait long for the comments and judgements.

“This baby will be Summer’s half sister because they share a father. However, this is my baby.” I sound a lot surer of myself in comparison to how I feel. “Why do you call her ‘The Luna’?”

“I didn’t mean any offence. I was just curious.” My cheeks flame again. I am jumping ahead of myself. “And I call her Luna because she is the boss now, well, the female boss. And she’s too short to be called the female boss.” He smiles quickly before his face becomes guarded again. I am confused by him, he seems indifferent and yet intrigued at the same time.

“Maxxi, down. And run,” Summer shouts when we reach a piece of flat grass. As soon as Max places her feet on the floor, she imitates a wind-up toy, running as fast as her legs can carry her. We both laugh at her and her enthusiasm.

“She is such a sweet little girl,” I say as I watch her roll about and giggle in the grass. Max nods his agreement; a smile almost reaches his eyes. But in the blink of an eye, the whole atmosphere changes.

Max grabs me by the shoulder, causing me to shriek. “Something is wrong, get to Summer now.” I nod to him and run over to Summer; however, she thinks I’m playing and runs away from me, giggling and asking me to catch her.

Panic fills me, as I struggle to keep up with her. I turn back to Max and there is another guy there and a woman in the background. Max and the guy fight and shout and then the woman shoots something from a pipe in her mouth and it hits Max in the neck.

Max falls into a heap on the floor and the other man grins at me, as he sprints towards Summer.

I have never been athletic or sporty. I have never been particularly fast or fit, but as I see the menacing look in the man’s eye, I know nothing good is planned for little Summer. I don’t know how I do it, but it’s almost as if I fly to Summer, who also senses the danger and runs to my open arms with fear and tears filling her eyes.

However, an unknown, unseeable force stops me. My hair follicles pop in my scalp with the pressure of being held back but I can’t give up, the man is gaining on us.

I scream as I force my body forward. The man reaches for Summer, and I run headfirst into his side, knocking him off balance. I quickly push Summer behind my back, they will have to go through me to get to her.

And that is, unfortunately, what he does. The force of his weight hitting me is what I imagine being hit by a bulldozer feels like. I scream out in pain and when I open my eyes, Max’s eyes meet mine. The woman who had been in the background is fleeing on foot and Max and the guy fist-fight.

I must pass out from the pain because I am sure Max transforms into a large dog. In my pain-filled haze, I hear snapping and cracking and growling.

When I finally wake up, I’m in a white room, surrounded by machines and lights and beeping. Max is asleep in the chair next to my bed, he needs a shave, but it looks cute. Why is he here and where is ‘here’?

“Max?” I try to wake him, but my voice is gravelly and croaky. “Max!”

He jumps when he wakes up. “Melanie… Thank the goddess you’re awake. You’ve been out of it for two days. I was so worried you were never going to wake back up.”

“Where am I? What happened?” Flashes of my last memories fill my mind; my hands quickly go to my tummy. “My baby?” I know from the look on his face he was dreading me asking.

“I’m so sorry, Melanie. Your injuries were too severe. Your baby didn’t make it.”

The room fades from my sight as I howl and scream in pain.