Seven

FAITH

A spatter of white dust rained down before me as I stared in horror at how easily he had just ripped my silver chains free. 

It wasn’t just his strength that terrified me. It was that the silver didn’t seem to affect him at all. He grabbed it like it was nothing when, even without my wolf, it burned right through my flesh. 

“Time to go.” Alpha Reed said, but my eyes flicked back to the door leading to the chapel. “That wasn’t a request.”

Swallowing hard, I nodded. 

He was right. I didn’t have a choice.

The snarls and growls continued, getting louder. It was only a matter of time before the guards burst through the door, or worse, Alpha Jones or Cain. 

The smoke clouding my vision refused to clear as I blinked repeatedly and felt myself begin to sway. The gas they had used was too potent to handle in my state, and I stumbled back into a round table behind me. 

Alpha Reed reached out and grabbed me, cursing under his breath as he pulled a small glass vial from his suit jacket and opened it. 

I wasn't strong enough to fight back as he grabbed my face and poured half of the black, bitter liquid into my mouth before holding his warm, calloused hand over my lips so I couldn’t spit it out. 

It was vile, burning every inch of my mouth, and my body trembled with disgust as I had to fight the urge not to vomit. 

“Bottoms up,” He muttered before drinking the rest, showing no emotion as he did so. 

It took only a moment before I began to feel it. My vision became clear, and my mind sharpened as if I had just been shocked awake by being dunked in ice water. 

He slipped the empty vial back into his pocket before grabbing my chains and pulling me to the back of the room, where a window was cracked open. 

It was large enough that we both fit through it easily, but the chains around my ankles got caught on something, and I found myself falling head-first out of the window. 

The chain freed itself halfway down, and my feet went over my head, my back hitting the ground hard. 

I grunted at the impact, blinking several times as I stared at the bright blue sky. 

“Gods,” Alpha Reed muttered in annoyance, rubbing his temples with one hand. 

“A little help would have been nice.” I hissed, rolling to my side to stand, struggling with my dress and chains. It wasn’t until after I said it that I remembered I was speaking to an Alpha and quickly dipped my head in submission. 

“Little late for that,” He responded but didn’t sound angry like most other Alphas would be. 

“This is what we came for?” A woman said as a group of warriors dressed in all black seemed to emerge from the shadows. “Doesn’t look like much. You claiming a bride, Kaiden?” 

She was intimidating to look at. Her head was buzzed, and black ink could be seen on her scalp. She had a dagger strapped to her thigh, but it was clear, unlike her bloody hands and arms.

Alpha Reed let out a low growl, glancing at me with disgust as if he needed to see me again to confirm he wasn’t interested. He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his dress pants as he glared at her, unamused by her question. 

“Don’t be foolish.” He said, and while I wanted to send an insult his way, I was too distracted by the feeling of my necklace warming until it was hot against my skin. 

It was familiar to me, and my breath picked up as I stepped away from Alpha Reed, not wanting anyone to touch me. 

“Wait!” I gasped, reaching up to touch the amulet around my neck. I could feel the thrumming from the other side and knew someone had it. “My amulet. I can’t leave without it. It’s still in there.”

“Ugh,” The woman groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “We don’t have time for this.” 

I turned just in time to see her storming toward me, unable to brace myself as she knocked me into Alpha Reed, who promptly picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

“No, let go of me! You have to…” My words cut off as the thrumming stopped and the metal began to cool. Whoever had my amulet could cause significant damage, even from afar, and the only two men who would have it would be thrilled to be able to use and abuse my powers. 

“I don’t like being told what to do,” Alpha Reed said, and I grunted as he bounced me further up on his shoulder, the hardness of his bone and muscles knocking the breath out of me momentarily as he took off at a run. 

His people fell back slowly, and every so often, he would slow to keep pace with them, but he kept moving forward. 

Every so often, I could hear wolves chasing us, but a few members of Alpha Reed’s pack would fall back each time, separating from the group. 

By the time they returned, our pursuers would be gone, and the warriors with us would have more blood on them than before. 

My hands had landed on the small of his back, trying to steady myself, but my focus was on the amulet, waiting for it to heat again. If they used it while I was touching Alpha Reed and made me use my magic on him, it would be catastrophic. 

He would kill me before I could blink. 

The sun had just begun to set when Kaiden finally slowed, the air cooling as noise in the distance started to reach us. The warriors smiled widely as we passed the first house. The relief they felt was evident as they rejoiced at being home. 

People watched us with happiness and pride as they saw their warriors returning home alive, but their expressions quickly changed to shock and disgust when they landed on me. 

My wrists and ankles were still chained, my dress was ripped and dirty, my face was bruised, and I had been slowly bleeding from my wrists down Alpha Reed’s back for the past several hours. 

Blood rushed from my head, making me sway as I was promptly placed on my feet, but a gloved guard hurried forward and grabbed my chains, pulling me along. 

A large stone castle stood in the middle of the town, something I had only ever heard about in historical romance books or seen in movies. The large structure was almost magical, as if the stones had natural glitter in them, glowing under the setting sun. I had thought all castles had crumbled centuries ago and never dreamed of seeing one in person.

Yet, the bubble of wonder popped as a loud whistle filled the air, followed by a sharp snapping noise and a groan of pain. 

I leaned closer to Alpha Reed, peering around the guard pulling me forward, and felt my stomach turn as I spotted a man chained to a post, his back dripping with blood and strips of loose flesh. 

“Don’t worry, Princess.” The tattooed woman hissed from my other side, and I tensed. “I’m sure you’ll have your turn on the post soon enough.”