Chapter 3: Blood in the Pines

 

Badum. Badum. Badum.

The frantic rhythm of Jace's heart sounded like an alarm bell in the quiet of the master bedchamber.

Trapped across the broad expanse of Elias's lap, Jace could feel every cord of sculpted muscle beneath the Alpha's bare skin. Elias's large hands remained firmly anchored to his waist, fingers splayed possessively over Jace's ribs, refusing to yield an inch.

"Alpha... please!" Jace gasped, his face burning like hot coals as he planted his hands against Elias's chest to shove himself backward.

Elias let out a low, rumbling chuckle that vibrated straight through Jace's palms.

"Such a frantic little creature," Elias murmured, his lips parting in a dark, amused smirk. "You trip into my lap, and now you behave like I am the one who pulled you down."

"I-I lost my footing!" Jace stammered, his heels finally catching the floorboards as he scrambled off the couch, tumbling onto his knees on the rug. "I didn't mean to touch you, sir! I swear I didn't!"

He bowed his head so low his silver hair swept the carpet, his chest heaving with mortification.

"Forgive me, Alpha! I will leave at once!"

Elias sat back against the leather cushions, his sightless eyes gleaming in the dark. He didn't order Jace to stay. He merely tilted his head, listening to the hurried scramble of Jace's boots as the boy darted out the door and sprinted down the hallway.

Once the sound of Jace's footsteps faded, Elias reached up, his fingers brushing his own collarbone where Jace's warm palms had rested moments before.

The scent of cinnamon and wild violets still clung to his skin like honey.

"Sweet, innocent little wolf," Elias whispered into the empty room, a breathless smile curving his lips. "I don't know how much longer my restraint will hold."

By evening the following day, the sky over the Blackwood Estate turned the color of bruised iron.

Thick, suffocating storm clouds rolled in from the northern peaks, blotting out the moon. Rain began as a gentle patter against the high glass windows before escalating into a violent, howling torrent that rattled the stone walls of the fortress.

Elias hated thunderstorms.

He didn't hate them for the noise, and he didn't hate them for the darkness. He hated them for the ghosts they dragged out of his past.

Storms brought back the bitter memories of his childhood...the sound of his father's drunken shouts echoing down the marble halls, the heavy thud of fists against flesh, and the quiet, agonizing whimpers of his biological mother as she shielded her seven-year-old blind pup with her own fragile body.

Sitting in his high-backed chair in the private study, Elias's fingers tapped a restless, frantic rhythm against the polished armrest.

One, two. One, two. Tap. Tap.

He drew a harsh, shallow breath.

"Jace," Elias commanded into the empty room, his voice strained and tight. "Bring me chamomile tea."

Down in the adjacent parlor, Jace was folding fresh linen when the summons reached his ears. He hurried to the kitchen, prepared the steaming pot, and carried the porcelain tray up the stairs.

He knocked once, pushing the door open softly.

The fire in the study had died down to glowing orange embers. Elias sat by the dark window, his broad shoulders hunched forward, his face swallowed by shadow.

"Your tea, sir," Jace whispered, carefully setting the cup on the small table beside him.

Jace turned to quietly exit, but Elias's deep voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Don't."

Jace froze, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Sir?"

"Don't leave," Elias said, his voice dropping into a raw, vulnerable rasp that struck a sharp chord in Jace's chest. "I don't want to be alone right now."

Jace hesitated. He looked at the towering Alpha who commanded fifty bloodthirsty warriors during the day, now looking like a solitary island in the dim room.

Silently, Jace crossed the rug. He lowered himself to the floor near the hearth, crossing his legs and resting his hands in his lap.

For long minutes, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the crackle of birch wood and the furious roar of the tempest against the glass.

Finally, Elias broke the silence.

"Why don't you fear me, Jace?"

Jace looked up, blinking in surprise.

"Sir?"

"The warriors bow with shaking hands," Elias said, his head tilting toward the sound of Jace's breathing. "The maids look at the floorboards whenever I enter a room. That's what Gavin said...They think I am a monster forged in the dark. But you... you walk beside me without trembling."

Jace looked down at his own hands, his fingers curling into his trousers.

"I can hear your heartbeat when you're near," Elias continued softly, his voice softening with genuine wonder. "It's different from anyone else's in this house. Quieter. Calmer."

Jace considered the words, searching his own heart for the answer.

"Maybe... because I trust you, sir," Jace whispered. "You are harsh with your warriors, but you have never laid a cruel hand on me."

Elias went completely still.

Slowly, the massive Alpha rose from his chair. He walked across the rug, his heavy footsteps silent, until he reached the hearth. He lowered his tall frame, sitting directly on the floor beside Jace, so close their shoulders were separated by mere inches.

They sat side by side, listening to the rain.

Suddenly....

CRACK!

A deafening thunderclap split the sky in two, shaking the very foundations of the stone mansion with the force of an earthquake.

Jace gasped in pure reflex, jumping sideways straight into Elias's side!

His hands grabbed the thick fabric of Elias's tunic, his chest pressing flush against the Alpha's broad ribs as the lightning flashed through the windows.

Elias froze.

Jace froze too.

For two heartbeats, the world stopped spinning. Jace looked up, his wide grey eyes locking onto the Alpha's chiseled jaw, his breath mingling with Elias's in the dark.

"I-I'm sorry," Jace whispered, his voice trembling. "The thunder startled me..."

Elias didn't answer. His chest was heaving with rapid, shallow inhalations. The sheer overload of Jace's scent, his warm body pressed tight against his ribs, and the sweet breath against his neck completely incinerated the Alpha's composure.

His wolf snarled behind his ribs, screaming to take, to hold, to claim.

Terrified of losing control, Elias violently shoved Jace back!

"Leave!" Elias roared, surging to his feet with sudden, ferocious anger. "Get out of here! Right now!"

Jace scrambled backward across the floorboards, his eyes wide with hurt and confusion.

"Alpha, please..."

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Jace scrambled to his feet and fled down the corridor, the heavy study door slamming shut behind him with a thunderous bang.

The following morning dawned cold and grey, with a lingering drizzle hanging over the mountain valley.

Elias did not summon him for morning tea. He did not ask for his riding boots. The master suite remained locked, cold and silent.

Down in the grand entrance hall, Beta Gavin intercepted Jace as the boy was carrying fresh linens from the laundry.

"Jace," Gavin said, his tone brisk and businesslike as he held out a thick, wax-sealed parchment. "I have an errand for you."

Jace stopped, wiping his damp hands on his apron.

"For me, sir?"

"Take this missive to the border posthouse past the eastern stream," Gavin instructed, pressing the envelope into Jace's hands. "It contains troop rotations for the border guard. It must be delivered before noon."

Jace looked down at the heavy black wax seal, his brow furrowing.

"Alone, sir? Outside the estate grounds?"

"It's barely two miles down the main trail," Gavin replied, waving a dismissive hand. "You'll be fine. Just stay on the path and return before the fog thickens."

Jace nodded, tucking the envelope securely into the inner pocket of his woolen coat.

He stepped out the iron gates, the cold drizzle soaking his hair within minutes. The mountain woods were quiet, shrouded in thick grey mist, the pine needles muffling every step of his boots.

He had walked nearly a mile down the trail, crossing the wooden footbridge over the roaring mountain stream, when a sharp twig snapped to his right.

Jace stopped dead in his tracks.

Three large, burly wolves stepped out from behind the towering pine trunks, blocking the narrow mountain path completely.

They wore the leather armor of the rival Eastern Border Pack, their faces scarred, their dark eyes glinting with malicious amusement.

"Well, well," the lead warrior sneered, stepping forward with his arms crossed over his broad chest. "What do we have here? A stray little sheep wandering outside the Blackwood pen?"

Jace took a cautious step backward, his heart leaping into his throat.

"I am on official business for the Blackwood pack," Jace said, keeping his voice as steady as he could. "Let me pass."

The second warrior barked out a harsh, mocking laugh, stepping around to cut off Jace's retreat.

"Official business?" he laughed, eyeing Jace's slender frame and long silver hair with predatory greed. "You're that new Null servant everyone's talking about. The Blind Alpha's pretty little lapdog."

Before Jace could react, the lead warrior lunged forward, his heavy, calloused hand clamping tightly around Jace's upper arm.

"Let go of me!" Jace cried out, struggling frantically against the crushing grip.

"You smell like weakness, boy," the warrior growled, his free hand shoving Jace violently to the ground.

Jace hit the muddy trail with a painful gasp.

His coat tore against a sharp root, and the sealed envelope slipped from his pocket, landing face-down in the mud. A sharp rock sliced across Jace's cheek, drawing a thin line of bright red blood.

The third warrior stepped forward, his heavy iron-toed boot planting itself squarely on the envelope, grinding the paper into the filth.

"Let's see how pretty you look after we take you back to our camp," the warrior sneered, reaching down to grab Jace by his silver hair.

Two miles away, inside the quiet study of the stone mansion, Alpha Elias sat behind his desk, staring blankly into the cold hearth.

Suddenly, a violent, blinding jolt ripped through his chest!

A wave of pure terror, humiliation, and sharp physical pain exploded across his soul, so intense it knocked the air straight out of his lungs.

Elias gasped, his hand flying to his collarbone.

Jace.

It wasn't his own pain. It was Jace's. The soul bond that had stirred within him since the moment the boy arrived was screaming like a siren in his blood!

Elias's sightless grey eyes blazed with a terrifying, blood-red fire.

"GAVIN!" Elias bellowed, a roar so monstrous it cracked the plaster along the ceiling.

He didn't wait for a reply. He didn't grab his coat. He didn't even grab his sword.

Kicking the heavy study doors off their iron latches with a single blow, Alpha Elias tore down the marble staircase like an apocalyptic force of nature!

He burst through the main courtyard, scattering armed sentries like dry leaves, and plunged headlong into the misty pine forest.

He didn't follow the road. He didn't need eyes. He followed the scent of blood, cinnamon, and the screaming terror echoing through his soul!

Back on the mountain path, the Eastern warrior had just hauled Jace to his knees, his fingers tangled roughly in the boy's silver hair.

"Scream all you want, Null," the warrior mocked. "No one is coming for you."

Suddenly, the earth beneath their boots began to violently tremble.

A deafening, primal roar tore through the forest canopy....a sound so terrifying, so full of ancient, unbridled slaughter that every bird for five miles took flight in panic.

CRASH!

A massive pine tree thirty feet away exploded into splinters!

Before the warriors could even draw their daggers, a towering, black-haired demon crashed through the falling timber.

Alpha Elias moved like a freight train forged in iron.

Without breaking stride, Elias's massive arm shot out, his fingers locking around the lead warrior's throat with bone-crushing force. With a single, savage roar, Elias slammed the two-hundred-pound man spine-first into a granite boulder!

CRACK!

The stone fractured. The warrior dropped limp into the mud, coughing blood, his ribs completely shattered.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" the second warrior shrieked, scrambling backward in terror.

Elias spun on his heel, his blind, clouded eyes burning with lethal, terrifying fury.

He didn't speak. He stepped forward, caught the second warrior's outstretched sword-arm with his bare palm, and twisted it with a sickening SNAP.

The warrior howled in agony, dropping to his knees. Elias's heavy boot slammed into his chest, launching the man ten feet through the air into the raging stream below!

The third warrior stood frozen in place, his dagger trembling in his grip, his knees knocking together in pure, paralyzing horror.

Elias turned slowly. He walked toward the remaining man, his boots crunching against the wet gravel, radiating a suffocating Alpha aura that made the very air smell of ozone and burning blood.

"Please..." the warrior whimpered, dropping his blade and falling to his knees. "Mercy..."

Elias reached down, his fingers clamping around the man's tunic, lifting him clean off the ground with one arm.

"If you ever step foot on my mountain again," Elias whispered, his voice a low, venomous rumble that vibrated through the man's skull, "I will rip your throat out with my bare teeth and feed your bones to the wolves. RUN."

Elias hurled him into the thicket. The battered warrior scrambled onto his hands and knees, fleeing down the path without looking back.

The forest fell into absolute, deafening silence.

Elias stood in the middle of the trail, his chest heaving with ragged breaths, his bare knuckles dripping with the blood of his enemies.

Slowly, the terrifying Alpha dropped to his knees in the mud.

His trembling hands reached out blindly across the wet pine needles until his fingers brushed against a shivering, fragile shoulder.

"Jace...?" Elias whispered, his voice cracking, entirely stripped of its earlier ferocity.

Jace sat in the dirt, clutching his torn coat, staring in wide-eyed awe and terror at the lethal warrior who had just torn through three men to reach him. Blood trickled from the small cut on Jace's cheek, but he didn't feel the pain.

All he felt was the massive, warm hands carefully gathering him off the wet ground.

Elias scooped Jace into his arms, lifting him effortlessly against his broad, muscular chest. He buried his face into the hollow of Jace's neck, breathing in the trembling scent of cinnamon and wild violets like a starving man offered water.

"I have you," Elias choked out, his arms tightening protectively around the boy. "I have you, Little Wolf. You're safe."

Jace buried his face against Elias's shoulder, his fingers curling into the Alpha's tunic, his quiet tears soaking the warm fabric.

Elias carried him every step of the two miles back to the estate, his boots heavy and relentless against the mountain trail.

When he kicked open the iron gates of the courtyard, fifty armed sentries, warriors, and house servants stood gathered in stunned, horrified silence.

Alpha Elias stood before them drenched in rain and enemy blood, carrying the fragile Null servant securely in his arms like the most precious treasure on earth.

"WHO GAVE HIM THE ERRAND?!" Elias roared, his voice echoing off the stone ramparts like thunder.

From the front rank of the elite warriors, Beta Gavin stepped forward slowly, his face pale, his hand resting cautiously on his sword pommel.

"I did, Elias."

Elias turned his sightless face directly toward his closest friend, his jaw locking tight, an unmistakable promise of bloody violence blazing across his brow.

"You what?!"