Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
“I asked the same thing.”
“And I’ll say what I said before. What’s it fucking matter? Her twin nearly melted my head off and everyone’s on my ass for wanting to know where I can find the bitch?” Brandon snapped with a surprising amount of hostility.
Nolan leveled a look in his direction, one that was scarily calm.
Brandon held his brother’s stare for a few tension-filled seconds before averting his eyes.
“Just let me know if she says anything useful.” He muttered, quickly storming off.
His footfalls echoed down the hallway up until he reached the door that would lead to the winding staircase that brought you to the ground level.
Nolan was still staring at the spot. Brandon had occupied when he said, ” I’m going to talk to him.”
“Nolan, is everything alright?” I asked, placing a hand on his arm to stop him.
The sharp edges of his jaw and lips softened when he turned to look down at me.
“I’m not sure. He’s always on edge, but this is worse than usual. I’ll see if I can find anything out. Let’s hope I get to him before he finds the liquor.” He grunted, tossing me a look that told me Brandon would be in deep shit if he drank his way through Nolan’s whiskey collection.
With Nolan and Brandon gone, I had nothing left to do but fixate on Zeke’s forlorn stare and the witch it was focused on.
Tessa sat on the cot in her cell, her back to the wall and her feet stretched out in front of her. There was dried blood on her forehead, peeling where it reached the corner of her down-
turned lips.
“Has she said anything?” I asked.
“No, she’s been surprisingly unhelpful.” Zeke said sarcastically, his chin in his hand. “You know, I’d never been in a rush to find my mate. It wasn’t until I saw you and Nolan together that I started feeling like there was something missing. It’s… hard to believe that she’s it. My missing piece.”
My stomach clenched painfully at the bleakness in his voice. It was terrifying to think that the selfless man who dropped everything to help Nolan and I wouldn’t get the future he deserved. Even with all the power I held at my fingertips, I had no clue what to do to help him.
“Have you spoken to her?”
He didn’t meet my eyes, instead choosing to look at the floor. His reflection stared up at me. Its eyes were familiar. I’d know them anywhere, just as I knew the sound of his laugh by memory. The hopelessness in them, that was foreign.
“No.” Was all he said, and for several seconds we sat there in absolute silence.
The clock on the far wall ticked louder and louder as its hand continued to move. Zeke forced out a sigh, his shoulders slumping.
“Nolan already told me, Daisy. You can stop beating yourself up trying to figure out how to say it.”
I winced. “What did Nolan tell you?”
“The best way to get answers from her is to use the mate-bond. She might be a witch, but even humans can feel the bond when they’re mated to a wolf.” He replied.
Zeke pushed himself up from the chair and took a deep breath, his expression torn in two as he ran a hand through hair. It stuck up in all directions, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. The hulking warrior responsible for running an entire pack, even if it was smaller than mine and Nolan’s, was hesitating all because of one little witch.
The loss of his dimpled grin and easy going attitude was like a kick to the stomach, but no amount of supernatural healing could wipe away the guilt.
“You don’t have to do this. You know that, right? If you want to walk out of here and never come back,
I’ll support you. Nolan will support you too, but I’ll still tell him to back the hell off for good measure.” I assured him, forcing a smile at the end.
“I know you both have my back. You and Nolan have been like family to me. Even if it weren’t both our species on the line, I’d go in there for you guys.” He said, his soft tone contradicting the fact that he was easily six foot tall and comprised of hardened muscle.
The emotion that had been on his face was wiped clean, leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake. It was chilling to see Zeke put on the same stone-faced mask Nolan often wore. For some odd. reason, it reminded me that Zeke was just as much as an Alpha as Nolan was, even if he didn’t spend much time in his own pack.
At the last minute, he turned.
“Nolan isn’t the only one who’d do anything for his people.” He winked and slipped inside Tessa’s cell.
The metal chair was cold and hard against my backside and only grew more uncomfortable as the minutes slipped away. Every time Zeke spoke, I’d analyze Tessa’s face for the slightest reaction. It was clear she had training that extended past magic. She remained silent the entire time, through every single question and accusation Zeke threw her way. Even when he threatened her with death, she didn’t so much as blink.
The only reaction she had came in the form of a grimace, and it was when Zeke mentioned the mate-
bond between them.
She wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips, glancing away from him in favor of staring at the far corner of her cell.
“You think some stupid bond is going to change anything? Please. It means nothing.” She chuckled incredulously, then waved her hand in Zeke’s direction.” Just get on with the torture already. Anything is better than this.”
I didn’t have to be linked to Zeke to feel his hurt. Even if he did hide it perfectly, it was there just beneath the surface, bubbling and festering away like an open wound. Things between Nolan and I weren’t always perfect, and I knew from experience how badly it could hurt to be cast aside by your mate.
Zeke didn’t dignify her with a response. He shook his head ruefully and left the room. When he emerged into the observation room, he made a beeline for the door and left without a word. The urge to storm in there and smack the hell out of her was strong, so strong that I had to take a few deep breaths to keep calm.
‘Zeke interviewed Tessa. He just left, so you might run into him.’ I mindlinked Nolan, giving him a heads up before he found out some other way.
Nolan’s disappointment trickled down the bond, mixed with his concern for Zeke.
‘She didn’t tell him anything, did she?’
‘No, she didn’t. She actually said that she’d prefer torture over having to talk to him.’ I scoffed, glaring at the witch through the doublepaned glass.
“If you’re going to stand there and glare at me, you might as well come inside and do it to my face.”
Tessa called out, her voice crackling through the speakers mounted in the corners of the room. Who knows, maybe I’ll tell you a secret or two. You wouldn’t imagine the information I’ve got locked in my head.”
“
I had almost given into her obvious goading, seconds away from storming in there to defend Zeke.
Even with her egging me on by holding what she knew over my head, the way she phrased it made me pause. It was the inspiration for a plan, one that required someone specific for it to work.
‘Hey, Nolan. You’re on your way here, right?’ I called out, tapping my foot impatiently.
Tessa continued to talk, but I easily tuned her out. She wasn’t as vicious and condescending as her twin. Her attempts to piss me off were mediocre and half hearted at best.
‘Yeah, I’m a couple minutes out. Did you need me to bring anything?’ He replied.
‘Actually, I do. Pick up Zeke and Rowena and bring them here. I’ve got a plan.’
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?