Filed To Story: Falling for the Alpha as a Surrogate Novel
A growl rumbles in me and from the corners of my eyes I see the palace security creating a circle around us. My muscles go tense, because I know that Xander sees it too, and I know he sees that his chances of escape are waning.
But a man like Xander, who is already on the run, playing his last card? That won’t cow him. It will just make him desperate.
And if he knows we’re going to take him out, he may do his best to leave as much collateral damage in his wake as he can. His knife, now, is pressed tight against a little girl’s throat.
So, I do the only thing I can.
I transform back into my human form and hold my hands out placatingly.
“Don’t do anything you’ll regret, uncle,”
I say quietly.
“If you give the girl to me now, we will give you a fair trial.”
“You have nothing with which to negotiate,”
he says, backing away, and Jessica cries out as he pulls her with him, reaching out her hands to me in a way that makes my heart twist with fear. Xander wraps his fingers in her hair, tugging hard and making her shriek, but her hands drop as she goes with him.
“She is mine, and I will take her. Now, call off your dogs,”
he growls, tipping his head towards the guards on either side of us.
I hesitate, suddenly wishing I had Cora’s mind or Sinclair’s strength because – Because, damn it, I don’t know what to do.
I take a step forward, not wanting Xander to put more distance between us, and his eyes narrow, his hand pressing the knife even tighter. So I counter, seeking to placate him, raising my hands on either side and shouting an order for the guards to lower their guns. My eyes flash to Sarah, who lays on the flagstones to my left, breathing softly and whimpering in pain.
Good, I think, alive. And then I refocus on Xander, who continues to slowly back away from me. For every step he takes, I take one step closer.
“Stop,”
he growls, his eyes fully focused on me, angry.
“Stop following me, you worthless girl – let me pass -”
I see, quite suddenly, that all of his attention is on me in this moment. That I’m pissing him off enough by continuing to step after him that he doesn’t notice the end of the courtyard behind him and the wide set of stairs that follow. If I can just…keep him distracted…
“No,”
I say softly, not pushing him enough to do anything to Jessica but wanting his attention here, on me. ”
You don’t control me, Xander. No matter how much you’ve tried, I’ve defied you at every turn.”
“You did nothing,”
he hisses, steadily moving backwards, three steps from the stairs now –
“I didn’t have to,”
I murmur, taking one step forward myself.
“I had the right friends in place – my sister, my mate -”
“Your sister,”
he spits, laughing.”
That human bitch – ”
He takes one more step back. Only two steps left… The insult rankles in me, but I don’t let it get far. I take another step forward, a larger one this time. God, it’s so close, I have to time this just right… Xander reacts as I hoped he would, taking another step back, a big one, big enough that his next step will land just on the edge…
Ella
My eyes flick to Jessica’s to find her gaze already on me. I stare at her, hoping she can intuit, hoping she has the courage to run when –
“If you think my human sister is a bitch,”
I say, taking another precise step forward, forcing Xander to rise his foot to take his final step back. As that foot falls, I bare my teeth.
“Then just wait until you really meet me.”
And as Xander places that foot down, and it falls on the edge of the stair that he didn’t know was there, I bare my teeth and transform in a flash.
Xander’s foot slips and slides unsteadily to the step below, unbalancing him. He flings out an arm to balance himself and while he keeps one hand steadily on Jessica – As I hoped, the hand he flings out for balance is the one that holds the knife.
The moment she feels the cold press of it leave her neck, Jessica screams and rips herself away from Xander. His hand is still knotted in her hair and I swear I hear it rip from her scalp as I leap for him, but I can’t turn and see Instead, I’m already in the air in my wolf’s body, sailing for him, my teeth bared.
His eyes are wide as my paws slam into his shoulders, as I take him down to the ground.
A garbled scream falls from his mouth as he whips the knife in his hand toward my side, but it’s too late.My teeth are already closing around his throat, digging deep.
The dagger cuts me, I can feel it, but it slides away from my skin to clatter on the ground as Xander’s body crashes into the stone steps. My jaws close, my teeth meeting, and instincts take over as I shake my head, ripping the life from him as I tear his flesh.
I feel him go still beneath me quickly, leaving no time for a last gasp or a final word.
I did my job well.
My chest heaving, I stand above him for a moment, looking down into his face, making sure his eyes are dead.
And then I disdainfully step away, wanting nothing more to do with him, wanting the taste of his putrid blood out of my mouth.
I transform back into my human body as I continue to stand above him, my shoulders still heaving, and I drag an arm across my face, wiping the blood away from my mouth with my sleeve as much as I can.
Guards converge around us, shouting orders and I blink suddenly, brought instantly away from my primal instincts to protect and back to my reality, where I’m standing above a dead man on the palace’s steps.
My first thought is for Jessica, and I turn, seeking her – But suddenly, I see flashes ahead of me and turn wide-eyed back to the stairs.
Because I realize with quick horror that while I concentrated only on Xander, and Jessica, and the guards… That this is still a palace in the middle of a city on a night when we hosted a very large party.
And that the stairs ahead of me are crowded with people who look at me in shock. And press, who snap pictures of their Queen covered in blood.
There is a momentary pause when I panic and stare out at the flashing cameras, but then suddenly – quite suddenly – everything is chaos. An arm grabs me and I look up into Conner’s face, blinking in surprise to see him there And I turn when I hear Jessica’s voice, screaming her sister’s name
“I have to get to Sarah,”
I say on a gasp, knowing that she needs to be healed.
“You have to get inside, Luna,”
Conner says, his voice worried. I tug at his arm but he won’t let me go, so I glare up at him.
“Seriously, Ella,”
he says, his voice low as he whispers his words,
“you’re covered in blood, and the Alpha is going to flip out if he sees you here like this -”
“But she -”
“She’s breathing,”
he says, nodding to me,
“she’s conscious – let us take her inside, you can heal her there -”
And I look up at him, blinking a little, and then I nod, agreeing to it, realizing that he’s right. Because I am panicking right now, and trying to do everything at once, and completely forgetting that I’m a Queen and not some vigilante who can just do what she wants Conner, seeing that I understand, nods once to me and then stands straight, supporting me as I step away from Xander’s lifeless form. Conner’s hand is still supportively around my arm as we begin to stride towards the entrance to the palace.
“Jessica!”
I shout, seeing that the girl is scared and struggling against the guards who hold her back from her sister, at whose side medics are already gathering.
Jessica whips her head to me, her eyes scared.
“Come with me!”
I command, holding out my free hand. The guards hesitate but then let the girl go as they see my serious face. Jessica rushes to my side, wrapping her hand in mine, whimpering in fear as she does.
I pull her close to my un-cut side, wrapping my arm around her.
“The doctors are going to bring Sarah in,”
I say quietly,
“don’t worry, all right? I’ll keep you safe.”
“Do you,”
she says, looking back,
“do you promise she’s all right?”
“I promise, Jessica,”
I say quietly, meaning every word of it.
“We just all need to get inside, okay? And Sarah needs people to lift her, and you and I?
We’re too little for that. The doctors – they’re going to help bring her in.”
Jessica nods shakily, pressing herself closer to my side, but she trusts me and lets me guide her to the door.
We’re almost there when suddenly a large form fills it, and my knees go almost shaky with relief as I instantly recognize my mate.
I want to throw myself in his arms, but I’ve got Jessica with me now know that I can’t. Not yet. and I Conner removes his hand from me now, knowing that I’m safe, and he steps back as Sinclair takes a step forward, his face livid and scared and breathless all at once.
“Ella,”
he growls, stepping close to me and glancing momentarily down at Jessica and over at Conner, assessing them as threats in his panic.
But I reach up and place my hand on his cheek, shaking my head.
“I’m fine, it’s fine,”
I say, nodding fervently.
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?