The Lost Beta 6 - Between the Alpha and the Outlaw

Emily felt her heart beating 

heavily against her ribs as she held the chilly glass. Alexander stood beneath her window, he was lost in thoughts as he stared into her eyes as though he wanted to remind her of who she was before anything happened.

She was afraid to open the window. The guards would rip him to pieces if they caught him. She didn't care, she needed to see him.

Like a silent promise, he slowly raised his hand palm out. She almost broke at the gesture. She remembered how close they were in the clearing that night, uttering promises she never imagined where possible .

Emily looked back. No footsteps yet. No shadows moving in the hall. She could have this moment if she was careful.

"What're you doing here?" she asked in a slow still voice.

"I should be asking you the same," Alexander replied in a whisper and a ferocious gaze in his eyes. "I'll take you home now."

 ---

She wished she could jump into his arms and never turn around as she held tight the windows ledge. However, she's no longer the same terrified omega who had stumbled into Moonshadow territory a few weeks earlier. She had seen too much, learned too much.

“Emily,” he said, voice low, “you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to be their pawn.”

Her throat tightened. “It isn’t that simple. Lucien, he's my father.”

For a moment, she thought he would argue with him as his jaw tightened. Rather, he gazed up at her with a bare, nearly shattered face. "He is not your future."

She was ready to reply when she heard movement at the distant side of the courtyard. Two sentinels emerged from the shadows and faced Alexander.

Panic knifed through her. “Go,” she hissed. “They’ll kill you if they see you.”

But he didn’t move. He simply maintained her stare, as if he could sear his affection into her very essence. With one final glance that almost broke her, he vanished into the shadows

---

At dawn, Lucien called her to the war room. She walked in on legs that felt hollow, her mind still replaying Alexander’s face in the moonlight.

Lucien studied her as if he already knew her secret. “Someone was here last night.”

She gulped, not wanting to affirm or deny. Her silence was enough for an answer.

He stepped closer, his voice deceptively soft. “Do you think your Alpha lover can save you from what’s coming?”

Heat rose to her cheeks. “He’s not”

“He’s everything you wish you could run to,” Lucien cut in. “But you were born for something bigger than love.”

Emily’s hands curled at her sides. “You mean bigger than your vendetta.”

For the first time, Lucien’s calm cracked. His eyes gleamed with something close to pain. “You think I wanted any of this? That I wanted my mate slaughtered, my name cursed?” He exhaled, long and tired. “We are what our enemies made us.”

She wanted to believe him. But her heart still pulled in a different direction.

---

That afternoon, Emily walked the training grounds alone, feeling the eyes of the rogues on her. Some looked at her with hope, others with resentment. She no longer belonged anywhere.

She buried her face in her palms and sat on a toppled log when she reached the boundary of the field. Every choice seemed impossible.

If she stayed, she might become the leader her blood demanded. If she left, she’d abandon the only family she had left. Alexander wasn't just her fated mate, he was her weakness and her strength in all of these.

The scent of rain and moss permeated the atmosphere as the wind intensified. She could just picture the night he kissed her again, deep in Moonshadow territory.

She looked up to the storm clouds that were building to the east. Whatever she decides, everything is about to change.

Furthermore, she was uncertain of everything.

---

Lucien convened a council meeting in the great hall that evening. As warriors crowded the room, Emily stood next to him, attempting to maintain her composure.

Lucien declared, "The Moonshadow Pack is getting ready to attack." Among the rogues, murmurs were heard. "They want to take what is rightfully ours."

Emily's chest became stiff. She understood exactly who was responsible for this careless attack. Alexander was coming for her.

A fighter with scars walked forward. "They will overrun us if they breach our walls."

Lucien squinted his eyes. “They won’t breach them. Not if we show strength.”

He turned to Emily, and a hush fell. “You will stand with me when they come.”

Her pulse jumped. “You expect me to fight them?”

“I expect you to choose your destiny,” Lucien replied coldly. "You will lose everything if you hesitate."

She could feel the room enclosing her. There would be no hiding now.

---

That night, she couldn’t sleep. Every hour, she imagined Alexander fighting his way to her door. Every passing minute she couldn't help but imagined Lucien watching her betray him.

As the morning sun ray hit the lands, there was a gentle knock on her door. When she opened it, she saw a young, rogue girl with terrified eyes.

“There’s something you need to see,” the girl whispered. “Outside the east wall.”

Emily donned her cloak and trailed her through the twisting passages until they appeared in the dim morning light.

At the boundary of the clearing, nestled among the trees was a piece of leather flapped on a branch.

Her heart nearly stopped. She recognized Alexander’s handwriting.

Midnight. The old river crossing. Come with me.

She held the note tight & breathed heavily.

If she chose to run now, there is no going back.

---

The hours crawled by. Emily spent them pacing, weighing every consequence.

She could stay here and lead a war she didn’t believe in or an alternative would be to escape to a future she did not yet trust.

She put the note in her boot and dressed in black as the sun went down. It felt heavier with each step down the hallway. Every shadow seemed alive with accusation.

As she slipped through the outer gate, she stared long at the crest over the stronghold door, the mark of her blood.

Part of her would always belong here. But her heart belonged somewhere else.

The wind bit at her face as she crossed into the trees.

She didn’t look back.

---

At midnight she got to the river. The moonlight was slanting silver across the lake, and the current was swift.

Alexander's gaze was fixed on her as he stood on the other side. He appeared to have gone days without sleep.

Both of them stood still for a moment.

With his boots subsiding in the mud, he stepped into the river. 

Emily inhaled sharply. Though she eagerly wanted his warm embrace, she stood still.

"You came," he remarked in a hoarse voice.

She couldn't utter a word but nodded.

Just before she could cross a chilly voice broke through the darkness behind her.

“Would you turn your back on your own blood?”

She spun around. Lucien stood in the trees, his face pale with rage.

---

Lucien raised a hand, and dozens of rogu

es stepped into view, weapons drawn. The river hissed at her feet, the only thing separating her from Alexander and the war that would decide everything.