Filed to story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
I blinked the tears away, swallowing the knot in my throat. It ached as it went down, forming a weight in my chest that wouldn’t go away.
“Yeah, he was.” My whisper danced along each corner of the room before fading into the darkness.
Brandon’s eyes drifted to the floor. “I can imagine how Nolan’s taking it. He’s never going to let that one go.”
“I’ll spend every day of the rest of my life reminding him it wasn’t his fault.”
“You might have to.” Brandon voiced his agreement.
I continued on, explaining what happened after Sean and grandma had been attacked. Brandon was more than angry to hear about grandma, which was another surprise. The woman truly did make everyone fall in love with her. My heart clenched painfully at the thought of the woman I considered my second mother.
She’d be so disappointed to know what I had attempted to do.
When I reached the part about Rowena, that was the first time I’d seen Brandon show any glimmer of happiness. His eyes flashed with just a hint of his wolf before the color died off and the beast went back into hibernation.
I shouldn’t have mentioned it since I had no intention on elaborating, but I finished by telling Brandon I knew who the second witch was.
“Who? Who is it?” He leaned forward in his shackles, tilting his head.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Brandon opened his mouth, probably to goad me into telling him, when a sound came from beyond the heavy wooden door on the other side of the room. It sat to the left of me, far out of reach. There was a long groan, followed by a squeal from the hinges as it opened.
Even in shitty lighting, I could make out that head of hair anywhere.
It was an open flame streaked with golds and yellows, beautiful if not for the scowl marring the face of the person it was attached to.
“Ember.” I snarled, but it wasn’t nearly as threatening as it could’ve been had my throat not felt like I’d swallowed the Sahara.
Considering there was nothing else to focus on, it was all too obvious to notice the smirk
Ember tossed Brandon’s way. She sauntered into the room wearing a pair of skin-tight leather pants and a low-cut blouse the same fiery shade as her hair. Propping her hand on the flare of her hip, she opened her mouth, but the only sound that filled the room was Brandon’s voice.
“I told you not to come back here without that pizza. All that talking you did and you’re doing a shit job at keeping me alive.”
Ember visibly stiffened, her entire body going rigid. Her eyes, which were a deep brown tinted red, flashed like hot coals.
“And I thought I told you to shut your damn mouth.” She hissed, barely craning her head to toss the words over her shoulder.
Seeing as Brandon’s number one quality was running his mouth, I already anticipated what he’d do next.
“Fuck, I feel bad for any pets you’ve ever owned. You were the type of kid to squeeze her hamsters to death weren’t you? Seems like the kind of psychopathic thing you’d do.”
Digging the heel of her leather boots into the ground, Ember spun to glare daggers at Brandon.
“Oh, shut up about the stupid pizza!”
The two continued to argue, shooting jabs back and forth until Ember was quite literally smoking. It rolled off her shoulders in waves, filling the dingy room we were locked in. Brandon didn’t seem to care in the slightest. If anything, I’d say he was enjoying riling her up so much, but that- that didn’t make any sense.
She jabbed a finger at him, and Brandon snapped his teeth in response. The longer I watched two, the more I realized they had forgotten I was even here.
Fuck, they’re arguing like a married couple -wait a damn second…
There was too much for my brain to process. Between my brother’s death, Rowena and Holly’s betrayal, the blood witch herself capturing me, and the identity of the second witch, I had too much information and emotion to sort through. It would take me years to process it all, to move on from the rage and the pain that followed.
There was no way-no way in hell that this was possible. It was too much of a coincidence.
I focused on Brandon’s eyes as the two snarled and cursed at one another. There was clear hatred there, which would’ve been soothing if it weren’t for the sharp edge to it.
I recognized that edge intimately.
It had been the same edge in my own eyes when I’d first met Nolan-when I realized how much I wanted him.
“You two are mates.”
Two heads snapped in my direction so quickly I swore I heard one of their neck’s crack. Just like that, their argument was snuffed out. There wasn’t even a sliver of its heat leftover.
“Told you she’d find out.” Brandon sang, his teeth bared in a sarcastic grin.
Ember’s stare burned into my face.
Somehow I knew her words weren’t for me, but for Brandon.
“Shut. Your. Mouth.”
My heart downright shuddered in my chest. First Tessa, and now Ember. Two extremely powerful elementals both mated to
Werewolves. There was an odd feeling tickling my spine, like a puff of breath blown at the back of my neck. For the smallest of seconds, my thoughts drifted to the stranger Sean mentioned, the one watching over me.
Why did it feel like they were responsible for this? No, that couldn’t be possible. It must be the excitement messing with my thoughts.
“When did this happen?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Ember’s lips curled back, her nose crinkling and eyes flashing with anger. I wasn’t stupid enough to think she’d actually answer me, which is exactly why I couldn’t bite back my snort when Brandon shouted over her head.
“Remember when this one here attacked the Vamp town, and I chased after her? She found out what we were, then she captured my ass.”
Ignoring Ember and her rising temper, I craned my head to the side to look at
Brandon.
“That’s why you’re here?!”
It had to be, there was no other alternative.
No demands had been made in exchange for
Brandon’s return. Hell, none of us even knew he was captured to begin with.
“Why don’t you ask my mate here why she chose to capture me.” Brandon shot back, putting special emphasis on his words.
