*Eva*
I faced my mate. His eyes were raging hot and his gaze was laser focused on me. The tension in the room was so thick I could hardly take in more air.
“What did you do, Eva?!" Zander's voice roared and I felt Susan stir. It was the first time I had felt her properly move on her own accord.
She had surged forward simply because I begged her. But now I felt her move closer to me.
'No, Susan.' I commanded her. 'Hold back.'
If she took control right now and she did something on instinct, it would likely mean our death. Zander had proven to not care about me or my well being.
“Shift!" he ordered me.
I remained still. I didn't want to shift and be naked in front of him.
“I said shift." He stepped further into the room. “I will not tell you again."
Obeying, I focused on my human form and shifted back. I stood there in front of Vincent and Zander completely stark naked.
I tried my best to cover my chest but it was futile. My mouth was stained with the blood of the guards I had just killed. My body shook from the cool air that blew in through the door. I was sure that everyone had heard what had taken place in the ironing room.
I was going to be even more of an outcast now, but I didn't care. I would do it again if it meant that those idiots would leave Vincent alone. He had stood up for me without even knowing me even after I had been so cruel to him.
“Can you look away at least?" I asked the brooding Alpha. He was still heaving heavily trying to get the air into his lungs. I could tell that he was holding back his wolf.
“No." But surprisingly, the man reached for the shirt beside him and threw it at me. Zander's voice was still cold and low. “Why did you kill my men?"
I hurriedly put on the shirt thankful to not be in a vulnerable state anymore. “They were hurting my friend."
That was the only answer he deserved.
Zander let out a low warning growl. “Those were some of my best men."
“Oh, well, if that is your best then your army must be weak if I could take them down without any true training."
The adrenaline was slowly draining from my body and I was settling back to normal. I may have had the Alpha blood running in my veins but I didn't have the training of an Alpha. That attack had taken a lot out of me. I had to use the ironing board to steady myself.
My chest rose and fell slowly. It felt like no matter how much I breathed, I still felt like I wasn't getting enough air in. The room tilted to the side and I lost my equilibrium.
“How dare you?" Zander sneered as he approached me. He looked like he was ready to beat me into submission but then Vincent stepped in.
Vincent knelt in front of Zander. “Please, Alpha. Have mercy on her. She didn't know. She was only led by her anger."
Zander didn't even pay the man any attention. “You will pay for this, Eva."
“Alpha, please," Vincent grabbed his Alpha's leg. “She didn't know. She is grieving the loss of her family. She has been hurt by the enemy and she believes that we are the enemy. In time, she will learn."
“Don't, don't…" I tried to speak. I didn't want Vincent pleading my case to this man. I knew what I had done and I would not take it back. “I did what I had to do. I will…I will…"
Then my body tumbled to the ground and my chest tightened as I continued to gasp for air.
***
*Zander*
She tumbled to the ground but my wolf reacted quickly and reached for her before her head could hit the ground.
Tiny little beads of sweat accumulated on her forehead and the little baby hairs clung to her skin. She was warm, like overheating warm. Her body shook in my arms and her eyes fluttered closed as she settled into my arms.
I didn't lift her into my hold. I just held her there, making sure that her body didn't tumble to the floor.
“Alpha, please. Have mercy on her." Vincent lowered his head and inclined his neck as a sign of submission. “If you are to punish someone it should be me. I am the one to blame. I should have stopped her. I should not have fought with the guards and interfered in their business."
“Enough," I ordered the Omega.
I knew of Vincent. He was a quiet man. The man had lost his parents as a young pup and was forced to take the Omega rank.
He was weak, thin and could hardly fight off a baby chick. But he had stood up to the men that laid dead on the floor for my mate.
I felt a pang… My ex-mate.
I had rejected her, but for some reason I still felt this attachment toward her. No matter how hard I tried, she was always on the forefront of my mind.
Eva shook in my arms and I decided to lay her on the folding table at the edge of the room. I knew that what she was feeling was likely the after effects of the rejection.
This would only be the first of many phases she would go through.
I could see that she was in pain but her wolf did well to shield her from the majority of it.
My stomach twisted into uncomfortable knots. I had done this to her. I was the cause of this pain that she was going through.
I stared at her for one more long minute before I turned to face the Omega who was still on his knees. “Rise, Vincent."
Vincent stood to his feet. “Alpha."
“What happened?" I closed the distance between us. “The truth. I don't want you taking blame that does not belong to you. I order you to tell me exactly what happened."
Then he told me the story. How Eva had cut my clothes and how Tom and David had walked in and began abusing my mate. He told me how he fought them off so she could make a clean getaway.
It was hard to deny the possessiveness that overtook me as he told me the story.
It was no secret who Eva was to me. I had denied her publicly in front of my men. They all knew the rejected Luna. But that did not mean that she was to be touched by any of the people in this pack.
'But you gave her a low rank,' my wolf told me off.
He was right. I had given her the title of Omega. Omegas were the servants of the pack. They were told to do the scut work and be worked hard.
But for some reason, when I had made her an Omega, I didn't think of this. I just knew that I could not have her around me.
I looked down at the dead bodies at my feet. Now I didn't feel as angry as I had before. She was within her rights to protect herself.
“She has wounds on her back from the hit, Alpha," Vincent looked at me. “She was flung across the room and her back hit the wall hard."
Sure enough there was a large crack in the wall.
From all the time I had spent in Blue Lake, I had never seen the girl train or fight with anyone. I had thought that she was this weak little pup who must have had some kind of disability.
Even the night when she beat me, she had to ask her friend Lola to step in to help her.
Now I knew it was because she lacked the training.
But what she had done here in this room was sheer animalistic instinct. She had used her Alpha power to save Vincent.
My men were highly skilled and trained. She should not have been able to take them down easily the way that she did. But yet here they were laying on the floor dead.
“You do not breathe a word of this to anyone. Do you understand me?" I stared at the pack member dead in the eye. “What happened here today is not to be repeated."
He bowed his head. “Yes, Alpha."
“Now go and get Monica. Tell her I need to clean up," I ordered.
“Yes, Alpha." And then he rushed out of the room but not before he took one long lasting look at Eva on the folding table.
He was entranced by her. I could see it in his eyes. The woman was attractive. But that didn't mean that I wanted other men looking at her. Rejected or not I still held my claim over her.
I heard a low whimper leave her mouth.
I rushed to her side.
Even from here, I could feel the heat radiating from her.
I wanted to reach out and comfort her but I held back. I couldn't touch her. I couldn't get close to her. Even being in this room alone with her was dangerous.
I was cursed.
My mother had made sure that I would never know love the way the goddess intended for me. She had cursed my mind against my mate long before I even knew her.
I stared down at the sleeping beauty that was said to be my demise.
Why of all people did it have to be her?
Maybe I should have killed her that night. Maybe I should have ended it all for her the moment I found out she was my mate. It would have been a mercy to her.
“Dad," she whimpered in her sleep.
I could see the tears streaming from her closed eyes.
She was dreaming. Trapped in a vivid nightmare from the looks of it.
“Dad, please…" Her voice was strangled and her chest heaved up and down heavily.
I needed to move her. She couldn't stay here. There were too many ears listening and I didn't want anyone seeing her like this.
Reagan had set all of this into motion.
He had taken everything from her and I had delivered the final nail in her coffin.
My heart squeezed tightly.
I never wanted any of this. I had a plan and now that plan was compromised.
“Goddess give me strength…" I scooped Eva into my arms and walked out of the ironing room but through the back entrance.
I had a feeling that this was only just beginning.