The Possessive Alpha
Chapter 109

DAMON POV

Before I cross the barrier of the cell, Simon calls out, stopping me in my tracks, “I never wanted to keep the information from you, but if I didn’t, my Luna would not have her Alpha. They would have killed you the second you were out of the territory. She wanted you there; she wrote you a letter. Gave it to me for you; I hid it in my dresser drawer at my house.” He rasps out, despite the antidote coursing through his bloodstream.

“You better hope to the Goddess that’s true,” I growl, Slade fighting me for control, hating that another person made the best decision for us without our input. Slade’s pissed that he was conned by a duplicitous b***h into making a decision he shouldn’t have all those years ago. “Because if Elle doesn’t make it home, I don’t care how far any of you run; I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself.”

I flash my eyes to my parents, letting them know they aren’t immune from this promise, “Especially you.” I nod to my mother, “you know more than you’re telling any of us, even your mate. Were you Cynthia’s accomplice?” My father’s head whipped to look at the shame washing over her as he puts some distance between them.

“I’ll send medical down here for you, Simon,” I glance at him, my eyes dead, “I won’t get the pleasure of killing you if you’re already dead. You two can stay here until I learn more,” I say, pointing to my parents, not trusting them enough to let them have a free roam of the territory.

Before another person can say a word to me, I am out the door, closing it behind me as the lock clicks into place. Not even three steps later, I hear my father’s booming voice as he yells at my mother, the little grenade I threw into their relationship detonating.

Taking the steps two at a time, I send a mindlink to the family doctor, telling her to come to the cells with a nurse or two. As I get to the top of the steps opening the door, I find Matt with his father and Jake, their face of shock when they see my body covered in b***d, but that’s not what causes them to gasp as they stare into my eyes.

“You’re eyes,” Matt whispers, his mouth hanging slightly agape while his father whispers, “what the f**k?”

“What?” I ask, looking between the three; another mystery is not what I need right now. “What the hell has gotten into you three?” Matt turns me around to face the mirror on the wall behind me. I find one bright blue eye while its partner is pitch black. What f**k does that even mean?

‘We don’t have time to talk about it right now,’ Slade growls, ‘there are more pressing matters to handle first. Once Elle is safe, we’ll talk.’

‘That excuse is getting old,’ I remark, but trust him, turning my attention back to the other’s fear ringing through them as they stare at me. Their blatant ogling makes me uncomfortable as my hairs stand on end. Andrew’s mindlink puts pressure on my mind, but I deny him, knowing he is trying to urge me along, but all this s**t keeps popping up like a cosmic c**k block.

I really came into this Alpha responsibility running head first. Looking at my father’s Beta and Gamma, I jump to the chase, having no time to waste with niceties or beating around the bush. I need to know where their loyalties lie. Is it with me? Are they with me or against me?

“I am going to make this quick,” I say, to them, my foot tapping with impatience as every cell in my body screams for me to get to the security office. “Where do your loyalties lie? With your future Luna and me or with my parents?”

Toby and Jake share wary looks at each other, having one of those silent conversations I had seen their sons mimic a million times. Turning their attention back to me like they’re sizing me up one last time before making their final decision. “We’re with you, Alpha,” they say in unison, turning their necks upwards, Matt barely paying attention as he stares at my eyes.

Taking a deep breath, pushing away the urge to punch him back into reality, my voice comes out in a deep growl as I give them orders. “Prepare our warriors in case the elite warriors breach the border,” I tell Toby before turning my attention to Jake, “get a warrior to watch over my prisoners; the medic team is on their way to care for Simon. When that is done, I need you to get a team together and talk with the council’s elite warriors.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they say, meeting my eyes one last time before I focus on Matt, whose attention hasn’t left my mismatched eyes.

“Are you going to snap to reality?” I ask, my voice guttural, more animal than it had been before. “Or continue standing there like a gaping i***t?”

“What does it mean?” Matt asks as he tilts his head. “Have you ever heard of that happening before?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter,” I remind him, stressing my words so he can drop the subject. “our pack is surrounded by Elite warriors right now. We don’t have the time to worry about my weird eyes right now.”

“You’re right,” Matt says with a gulp before shaking his head like it’ll clear his one-track mind, “we can worry about it later.”

“And we will,” I say using my new voice, a perfect cross between Slade’s and I’s, “but later. First, I need you to go to Theo’s house and get the letter Elle wrote me kept in the desk of Simon’s desk. Then you need to straight to the security office. Andrew has live feed coming from Silver Run.” With the verbal reminder, I turn on my heels, using my long legs to carry me away from Matt, forcing him to catch up.

“What are we doing about the Luna, Alpha?” He questions once he has caught up to my shoulder, using his height to his advantage. Within seconds we are outside the house, walking toward the forest’s edge.

“For now, nothing,” I sigh, as Slade’s whines bounce around my mind, as a tormenting reminder that with every move we take to bring Elle home, we get a big fat ‘f**k you’ from the universe. Like it’s not part of my destiny to be involved. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but what other explanation could there be? With every step I take to get to her, I get pushed ten steps back.

“You were right, and I need to trust that Elle can handle her s**t. I need to focus my attention on making sure I don’t die in a war before she can come home,” I say with sadness as we undress for the shift shoving our uniforms into the bag kept in our utility belts.

“I am sure we can find a way to sneak you through their defenses….” Matt trails off, and I feel his brain is trying to formulate different plans for getting past the warriors surrounding our area.

“At what cost?” I ask, “because from any way I look at it, the ends aren’t in our favor. Elle needs me alive, and there is certain death or banishment if I live. Neither of those outcomes benefits or protect her in the future.” Finishing my statement, I shift into Slade’s massive brown wolf, carrying my clothes in my jaw, my paws pressing into the dirt as he pushes through the woods. Matt follows for a time before splitting away from me to go to Theo’s house.

Within minutes, I am standing naked outside the security office. Dropping the clothes on the ground, I pull on my tactical gear. Using the time to enjoy a moment of peace to contemplate my choices, I take a deep breath of assurance before entering the small office.

The small space is overcome with the sound of bombs, and I Prevail booming through the speakers. It sounds like the chaos found in an action movie. As I walk down the hall to the room in the back, I find Andrew and Trent watching something on the screen while chowing down on some popcorn, passing the bag between themselves, so lost in what’s happening in the film they haven’t even noticed me entering.

“Really?” I boom behind them; they can’t be f*****g serious right now? “With all the bullshit going on right now, you’re watching a f*****g movie?” My voice startles the men as popcorn flies everywhere, making a mess on the ground. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching whatever came through Silver Run?”

“Alpha-” Andrew starts but stops in his tracks when his eyes snap to mine, seeing the change. “What the-” He starts to ask, but a growl from my chest shuts him up.

“We don’t have time for that right now,” I snap, pointing behind them to the monitor screens filled with whatever they’re watching. “Shouldn’t you be focusing on the live feed from Elle’s pack and not some shitty low-budget movie?”

“We are watching the live feed, Alpha,” Andrew replies, turning back to the monitors as a building blows up while warriors run everywhere. A mass of red hair on the edge of the screen caught my attention wielding a small dagger as she slices down her enemies, a strength radiating from her I had never seen before. “Our Luna was smart enough to record her take back. No one will be able to deny she did this by herself.”

“No, they won’t” I smile while Slade and I watch her in amazement, the angst we have felt since we woke up starting to calm at seeing her alive and well. Opening the mindlink to Jake, I get his immediate response. ‘Have you met with the warriors yet?”

‘We are approaching the border now,’ he replies, ‘is there something wrong?’

‘No,’ I reply, relief washing over me, ‘but bring a few of the highest-ranking representatives back with you. I have something they’ll want to see.’ I give him no more information than that closing the mindlink quickly. Returning my attention to the screen, I can’t help but smile, knowing my Luna isn’t only saving her pack and mine with this video.

************************************

ELLE POV

“Here,” Emma says, handing us the small earpieces, each of us inserting them in our ear; with three different pack leaders involved in this takedown we need a way to communicate without using a mindlink.

“You got everyone out?” I ask as I shove the tiny earbud into my ear, Xander’s voice coming through the tiny speaker. “Welcome to the party, Alpha. Ready to get this s**t started?”

“You know it,” I reply as we make our way down the hall, Doreen behind me when she grabs my arm, stopping me in my tracks and taking a belt off of my h*p I hadn’t noticed before.

“For the rightful, Alpha,” She says, a sad smile on her lips, her eyes glazing over with a sad memory. “It’s been passed down the family for generations. The pack has kept it hidden for your rightful return.” Pushing the belt into my hands, she bows her head in respect. Unsheathing the emerald green handle reveals a simple and elegant dagger that’s perfectly balanced. Touching my cheek with a tenderness a grandmother would show to her grandchild as she looks me in the eye, “now go get that bastard and free Silver Run.”

With a final nod to the warrior who came with her, she reaches behind, pulling on the sconce nailed to the wall. Seconds later to reveal a secret passageway. She sneaks inside, giving me a little wink before closing the door behind her and disappearing into the hidden hallways within the packhouse.

As the lock clicks into place, another forgotten memory slips inside my mind of Theo and me hiding in the tunnels from my mother as she hunts me down for another lesson in toxins and torture. The memories have been trickling in for the last few days, small things at first but more and more with each passing hour.

My only explanation is that Damon’s venom in my bloodstream, combined with my eighteenth birthday and being home, has weakened the bullshit spells my mother put on me. I wonder if Damon is starting to remember too? ‘Probably not,’ Scarlett chimes in as I wrap the sword around my waist, the lightness surprising me. ‘Our venom would have been burned out of his system faster because it was helping combat the amount of silver and wolfsbane in his b***d.’

Once the belt is secured around my h*p and thigh, easily hidden underneath my dress, Theo turned away to keep watch. I look at the others while Taylor nudges Theo to continue onward. We make our way further into the house, Eli’s voice coming through our earpieces, “The first wave is done. Are you guys moving yet?”

“Yeah, we are,” Theo replies, guiding the group down the hallway as we listen for any of Tiberius’ enslaved rogues but find none. Perhaps they are being pulled in too many directions at once, with Eli attacking from the north while Xander and his men take the south. Or maybe, as I suspected, only those truly loyal to Tiberius are left, the others taking their mates and getting the hell out of dodge.

“Remember, if my mother makes it out of this battle alive,” I whisper to my friends as we get further into the house, “she is a prisoner and not to be trusted.”

Theo chimes in with his commentary, “better to just kill the two-faced b***h,” but one look from me has him silent. Xander’s voice in the earpiece, ‘we are gaining ground quickly, but no sign of Tiberius; how about you, Alpha Eli?” Who only grunts in response, not too thrilled about working with a rogue, but he knows the only way to keep his pack protected from Damon’s wrath is to guarantee I make it back to him alive and in one piece.

Rolling her eyes, Charity whispers into the earpiece, “stop the petty pissing contest, Eli, and tell us your f*****g location.” Muscle memory has us checking each room quickly, finding nothing as we make our way into the house. Unable to find our targets of interest move along quickly, not wanting to risk staying in one place too long. Not worrying about the cameras in the house because they are on a constant loop or Silver Run while the real-time video is transmitted to New Moon and the council directly.

“Time to split into our groups,” I say as we go up the stairs; using our hand signals, Theo, Emma, and Taylor go down the hallway. Charity and I continue creeping our way up the steps until we reach the top level to work our way down.

Taking the first room on the right side of the top floor, a mass of red hair snaps as emerald green eyes peer into my soul, a look of utter disappointment crossing her face while soft ‘tuts’ escape her lips in judgemental condescension. “Oh, Elle, what have you done?” She questions, but I barely hear her over Scarlett’s growl.