The Alpha Who Saved Me

Chapter 11

Tala’s paws stomp the earth as she picks up speed. She can hear him behind her and knows that he will catch up in no time; after all, he’s an Alpha. She doesn’t give up, though. Ducking her head a little more, Tala pushes forth, jumping over logs and boulders, dodging trees and bushes, she streaks through the forest like lightning. She feels lighter on her feet for some reason, but she doesn’t think too much on it, because it helps with her speed.

Not daring to look behind her, she continues until she breaks through the tree line and sees the lake that she and Cici were just at the day before. Tala can still hear Duke on her trail, so she doesn’t stop for the quick drink that she was hoping for. Running across the open field, she is almost to the other side when she hears his command.

Tala, stop!’ Duke’s aura stops her in her tracks, and Tala drops to the ground, whimpering as she waits for Duke to saunter up to them, ‘Shift! He commands.

We have no choice but to do as he says, since we are still part of his pack, and he is still our Alpha. Tala gives me back the driver’s seat as she tucks tail and heads towards the back of my head.

Sorry, Quinn. I thought I’d be able to outrun him.’ Tala apologizes.

‘It’s not your fault, Tala, he’s an Alpha, and so much faster than us.’I try consoling her.

“We are Alphas too, Quinn!’ Tala whines.

“Yes, but we haven’t been sworn in yet, so we aren’t as strong as we should be.’

“Stop talking to Tala, Quinn, and look at me.” Declan commands, this time without this aura.

I lift my chin and look him in his eyes, but I’m not as confident as I usually am. Not when I am on the ground naked, having a staring contest with the guy that I was just **early this morning.

“Do you need something, Alpha?” I see his slight flinch when I address him by his title and not his name.

“How much did you hear, Quinn?” He sighs.

“I heard enough and let me just say that you can do whatever you want with your life, but you will not dictate mine!” i’m putting up a pretty good front right now, but deep down, I want to crawl under a rock and hide away for a while. I seem to be having a bout of girly feelings, and I’m not used to that. I’ve hardened my shell and built a wall since I lost everyone I loved, but now, Declan seems to be breaking that wall down.

“I’m not trying to dictate your life, Quinn. I’m on your side, but mother seems to think that because I **up, I need to now bow down to the she-* and do as she says.” He grabs hold of my upper arms and brings me to my feet, “Lila is insisting that I marry you off, and once she becomes Luna, she will have the right to do so.” He sighs, dropping his arms once more.

I scoff, “Over my dead body will that *marry me off! It will be a cold day in Hell before she will ever have a say over my life!” My hands are fisted at my sides. Declan’s mention of Lila has brought forth Tala once again and she’s digging to get out.

The Alpha smirks, “I knew you would say something like that, and that’s why I was arguing with my mother about it. You are too strong willed to ever allow someone else to rule over you.”

I lose a little bit of the fire as i respond to his last statement, “I didn’t mind having you rule over me, Declan. You are an amazing Alpha, but I cannot stand by and let some *tell me what to do, especially when I know that she’s done something sneaky in order to place herself in this position. You’re smarter than this, Alpha, don’t give up just because she’s breathing down your neck.”

“I know what you’re saying, but I only have a little time left before we find out paternity. I’m just glad that I have you here to help me keep my sanity until then.” His smile is a little on the sad side, but it changes once the words I say are out of my mouth.

“I’m sorry, Alpha, but I won’t be here. I’ll be returning to my own pack by the end of the week.” I feel awful, especially now that I see the look on Declan’s face.

“What are you talking about?”

“Cici and I took a drive yesterday and visited my old town. Turns out, there are still a few pack members that survived, my brother’s best friend and Beta, Spencer, being one of them. Apparently, him and about twenty-four others have been squatting in the town for about a year now.”

“That can’t be. I had my warriors scour the area for survivors, and there were none.” He says in confusion.

“Spencer was away at a Beta Training camp when the attack happened. He didn’t even know his family was killed until he got home a week

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later. He hadn’t heard who had caused the attack, so he didn’t want to take any chances in revealing himself to you, while you were rebuilding. As for the others, I haven’t talked to them myself yet, so I don’t know their stories, but Spence said that some were out of town as well.” I try to remember everything that was said earlier, but my brain is all messed up at the moment.

“Spence? Are you that close to this male that you have a nickname for him?” Jealousy rears its ugly head in Declan’s eyes, but I ignore it. There is no sense in arguing about it at this point. Besides, he has no right to be jealous.

Rolling my eyes. “Did you not hear me when I said that he was my brother’s best friend?” I don’t care if my response is a bit harsh. This day has gone to *, and I just don’t give two *any longer, “Anyway, the pack may be small, but they still need a leader, and that’s me. So, I’ll be out of your hair by the end of the week.”

“You still need to be sworn in as Alpha, Quinn. You can’t just take over.” Declan crosses his arms in front of his chest and stares down his nose at me.

Are you refusing to swear me in?” I ask defensively.

“I never said that, but I need to know that you are ready to take over as Alpha. Not everyone is fit to be one.” He says, sternly.

I squint my eyes at the Alpha before me, “You’ve said that I would make a great Luna someday…”

He cuts me off, “Yes, Luna. I never said anything about being a good Alpha.”

Ah *, Tala has pushed me back as she steps forward, not only in my head, but right up into the Alpha’s space, “Declan Storm, are you seriously going to stand here and deny me my birthright because you are afraid of being left alone with a she-*that you knocked up?” Tala lets out a soft growl, “You better answer that wisely, because I’m about two seconds away from kneeing you in your balls, Alpha or not!”

Duke comes forward and snickers, “Have I ever told you how *you look when you’re angry?”

Declan’s wolf takes us by surprise with his question, so we are not quite ready for when he pulls us into his arms and slams his mouth against ours. Tala struggles for a moment before she relaxes into the

kiss. I sigh as I shake my head and pull her back. Once I’ve taken over again, I push the Alpha away and glare at him.

“My wolf may be a pushover, but I’m not! You can’t just take advantage of a situation because you can’t control yourself, Alpha!” I scowl.

Declan takes hold again and raises his hands, “I’m sorry, you’re right. I have no excuses for Duke’s behavior.”

I study him for a bit before I say anything, thinking back to him arguing with his mom, “Why is Amelia trying to marry me off to Gavin?”

I think out of everything, this is what hurts the most. I thought of Amelia as a mother, and now she wants to get rid of me? I don’t understand any of this. I don’t know if I even want to hear his answer, but I know I have to, in order to try and get some sort of understanding

“It’s not that she wants to, but she’s worried for you. She knows that once Lila becomes Luna, she will marry you off to whoever she wants and we both know that she is evil,” He scrubs the back of his neck as he slowly walks around nervously. “She’s only choosing Gavin because he is family, and she wants to keep you close to us. Hell, I want you close as well, but I can’t sign that contract not to him.”

“Is Gavin really that bad, or is it because you are jealous?” *right, I said it! I’m not going to beat around the bush. I know Declan has feelings for me, and I wish he would stop pretending that those feelings are not the reason for some of his decisions, “Not that I would agree to marry anybody anyway, unless they are my mate, but I want to know your reason, so tell me, Alpha* are you jealous of me being with someone else?”

He doesn’t answer me; all he does is gaze into my eyes with his deep brown ones. I can see how deep his feelings are for me just by looking into those pools of chocolatey brown orbs, I don’t know how, but I

do. I just don’t want to assume anything, and I want to hear him admit it. He won’t, of course. No Alpha wants to show their weaknesses, and even though I’ve seen glimpses of his feelings for me, he won’t full-out admit how deep they go. He won’t give me that power over him. I believe that Lila sees it too, and so she holds her own power over him because of it.

*Please trust me when I say that you do not want to marry my cousin.” It’s all he says as he grits his teeth. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“I don’t want to marry anyone! This is just another reason why it’s a good idea that I return to my own pack.” I see the hurt in his eyes, and it cuts me just a little bit, so I soften my voice, “I will not be far away, and will always be your friend, Declan. I could never turn my back on you, but I can’t stay within your pack once Lila becomes Luna, you must know this.”

He remains quiet, because he knows that what I say it true. The truth is, ever since he kissed me in his office, I’ve felt closer to both him and Duke, and these feelings scare me, because I know that they can never be acted upon again. Even if I wanted to give up the chance of finding my mate, I cannot have Declan as a chosen one either.

“I need to be alone, Alpha.” I say in a whispery voice.

“Quinn, will you please come back to the packhouse with me, so we can discuss this more?”

“Is she still there?” I raise my chin, already knowing the answer because I saw her with my own eyes.

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He lowers his head, not wanting to look me in the eye as he nods, “Yes, as soon as mom heard about the pup being mine, she demanded that I move her in, so we can make sure that nothing happens to my heir.” He chokes on the last word.

I ignore commenting on the fact that she’s already living in the packhouse, “Then the answer is no. I will return at some point to remove my things, but in the meantime, I will stay with Cici until the end of the week.”

“Quinn, you

It’s my turn to cut him off now, and I do it by using my own aura unknowingly. *You have a Luna waiting for you at home, Alpha. I suggest you return to her and let me be. I am no longer your concern.”

The expression on Declan’s face is one of pure shock, but I don’t ask him what it’s for. I simply turn and walk away, but just when I’m about to shift into Tala, he calls out to me in the most desperate voice that I have ever heard, and I pause in my shift.

“I need you, Quinn! Please don’t leave…”