Deprived (Daughter of an Alpha Book 2)

by Kaitlyn Taylor

  “I don’t think it’s safe to bring her here,” he pulled away at the thought. “With Malachi and the Council, I don’t want to put her through that kind of danger.”

  “The Council is after the girls and I and Malachi could easily get to her back in Fairy Territory. She’d actually be safer here with you,” I explained.

  “Dion! Deja! You need to get downstairs!” Deni yelled as he ran towards us down the hall. “Drop the trunk, Dion. There’s no time for that.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked as Dion dropped my trunk. He could have been a little bit gentler about it, but I knew now was not the time to bring it up.

  “The prisoners in the dungeon are gone,” he said, breathing heavily attempting to catch his breath.

  “What?” Dion and I said in unison.

  “Nico wants all of us downstairs in the dungeons,” Deni continued. “There’s blood everywhere. Every guard was killed in the attack.”

  “How did we not know about this?” Dion muttered to himself as he started making his way down the hall.

  “The dungeons are two levels below the main the level of the Castle,” I answered. “If they killed all the guards and went through the outside entrance, it makes sense that no one heard anything.”

  “Well, that explains it but that does not mean I’m happy about it,” he barked but then looked apologetically at me as he realized he was taking his anger out on me. We mentally worked it out and there were no hard feelings.

  As we walked down the stairs, we were met by Gavin who wore a very concerned look. He had bad news to share and it was almost like he was afraid to tell Dion.

  “What is it?” Gavin asked when he reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “The dungeons have been attacked,” Gavin told him.

  “I know,” Dion said. “We’re headed there now.”

  “No, not just the Werewolf Dungeons,” Gavin grabbed Dion’s arm gently to stop him but quickly let go when my brother turned around. “The Fairy Dungeons have been attacked as well. Every dungeon has been attacked.”

  “We need to go home then,” Dion decided. “We need to make sure that everyone is okay and then get things back in order. We can return when that is all settled.”

  “So, we’re leaving instead of being thrown in the vault?” I asked just to make sure that I understood. It was hard to follow them sometimes.

  “I’m not going to force you to come back,” Dion turned towards me. I knew it was because of the conversation we just had upstairs, but it meant a lot that he was actually listening to me.

  “I should go with you,” I sighed. “We need to be a united front.”

  “On second thought,” Dion thought for a moment. “I’ll take Deni back with me and we’ll clean up the mess. You and Gavin stay here as the Sorcerer Representative when it comes to anything involving Malachi. He’s here in Werewolf Territory and we would be stupid to leave the werewolves by themselves to try to fight him off if he attacks again.”

  “Is that the plan then?” Gavin asked.

  “Yes, that is the plan,” Dion answered. “You will be the acting Alpha here until I get back. You know how I think and what decisions I would make so if anything needs to be decided I am trusting you to be my voice.”

  Gavin nodded his head in agreement and watched as Dion and Deni walked away from us. Kory and Kody would open a portal for them so that they could get back to Fairy Territory. I am sure all the Alphas will be leaving to get back to their own territories if every dungeon was hit.

  “So, what happens now?” I asked Gavin.

  “We figure out who did this,” he replied looking down at me with loving eyes.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” I questioned

  “What do you mean?”

  “It was Malachi,” I said. “Before he went through the portal do you remember what he said.”

  “He said ‘sorry for the mess’,” he repeated.

  “Deni said the dungeons were full of blood because of the murdered guards,” I recalled. “Wouldn’t that be considered a mess? Even Dion called it that.”

  “You’re right,” Gavin agreed. “You’re absolutely right.”

  He bent down and planted his lips against mine, my arms slowly wrapping around his neck as his mouth continued to hypnotize me. I hated the moment that he pulled away but there was a crisis going on, so I was forced to understand and let him loosen his grip on me.

  “You’re so smart,” he complemented. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that but it’s a good thing that you’re here.”

  “You would have put it together eventually,” I laughed.

  “Are you guys seriously being all lovey dovey right now?” Luna’s voice echoed in the entry way. “Every prisoner has been released and you two are making out at the front door.”

  “Once again, Luna, your timing is quite annoying,” Gavin told her. I tucked my head into his chest so that she could not see me laughing.

  “So I’ve been told,” Luna mumbled. “What’s going to happen now? Levi said he was leaving to go home but what about Malachi? He’s still here.”

  “I don’t know about the others, but Gavin and I are staying here,” I told her. “Gavin is the acting Alpha for the Fairies until Dion returns.”

  “Do we still have to go down to the vault?”

  “I can’t see that being a priority anymore,” Gavin answered this time. “Your safety is obviously important but with all the prisoners out of the dungeons all of Medova is in danger now.”

  “How long is it going to take before we get them all back?” I questioned looking from Luna to Gavin. “There were at least fifty werewolves down in that dungeon and they were all let loose by Malachi and his followers.”

  “We’ll have to send the guards out to find them and bring them back,” Gavin assumed.

  “Why would Malachi do this?” Luna asked. “How does letting the prisoners out benefit him?”

  Gavin and I looked at her as she spoke, wondering why we had never asked ourselves that question. We were worried about what happened next when we should have been trying to figure out why he did it to begin with.

  “You said there are at least fifty werewolves down in the dungeon, right?” Gavin asked me.

  “Well, not anymore but, yes, there were at least fifty down there. Why do you ask?” I wondered.

  “There were just as many down in our own dungeons,” he told me.

  “What’s your point?” Luna asked hurriedly. I do not know why she wanted him to rush through his explanation but I glared at her just so she knew I was not okay with her attitude towards him.

  “The point is,” Gavin said. “He now has two hundred plus people that will join him and his army. They’ll be so grateful that he let them loose they’ll be more than happy to follow him.”

  “Army?” Luna and I said together.

  “That’s what he’s doing?” Luna asked softly. “He’s building an army?”

  “That’s the only thing that makes sense,” I mumbled. “It’s one thing to have followers but if he’s building an army then that means he intends to start an actual war.”

  “We should have known that this was coming,” Gavin shook his head, upset with himself for not seeing this before. “I need to tell Dion before he leaves.”

  He walked away from the two of us, hoping to catch my brothers before they left for home. Luna and I stood there together as we thought about what we had just discovered. This was all becoming more and more serious with each day that passes and I was beginning to think that this was all becoming too much to deal with at just seventeen. Would I actually make it see eighteen? It was only a month away but with the threat of war who knows what will happen.

  Chapter Ten

  Juda

  When Hudson told me that the prisoners had been let out back in Giant Territory I tried to process how anything like that could happen. There has never been a break out like that in any of the territories, making me ask all these questions that I k
new no one had the answer to. It was Deni who suggested that the second in commands stay here in Werewolf Territory while the Alphas go home to take care of the mess. The only thing good that came out of these break outs was that the girls and I no longer had to go down to the vault. The Council was so focused on these break outs that there was no time to think about killing us. I still could not believe that they were actually plotting against us. I knew they did not like us because we were girls instead of the boys the Alphas usually had but I did not think they disliked us enough to want to kill us. We were different, that they were correct about, but our parents always said we were special. We were part of a prophecy that the Council was unaware of. Our fathers never told the Council about it because they were afraid the they would misinterpret what it meant and think that we were the threat instead of Malachi. Turns out they thought we were a threat without seeing the prophecy, so the girls and I are screwed no matter what.

  “I’ll take your trunk back upstairs,” Hudson offered as he reached for the handle closest to him.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I told him. “I’m sure you have more important things to deal with right now.”

  “I don’t mind,” he smiled. “There’s nothing for us to do right now anyways while Nico, Nero, and Roman try to clean up the mess here.”

  “Shouldn’t we help them?” I asked, not sure of what my role was since I was told to stay here by Juno.

  “Nico said we weren’t needed right now,” Hudson answered. “He’ll come get us if we are.”

  I followed him up the stairs as he carried my trunk with one hand. There was not a lot inside but the trunk itself was heavier than it looked. As giants, weight was not much of an issue, so I was not surprised that he was holding it with one hand, but I still felt like I was perfectly capable of carrying my own trunk. At the top of the stairs, I caught him glancing in my direction and just as I was about to ask him what he was looking at he faced forward and continued on down the hallway. I had been fighting with myself ever since we were up on the mountain. It was cold up there and even though the fire was hot I still shivered violently until Hudson wrapped his arm around me, using his body heat to stop me from shaking. It was a simple gesture that I normally would not have thought too much about but being that close to him changed something in me. I had just finished telling him that I did not expect anything from him and that we did not need to do anything permanent just because my father wanted us to and then there he was being nice and making me feel and think things that I had been trying to avoid. I had not told him that my feelings were changing because I meant what I said that night before dinner. I did not want him to think that I went back and forth and that I expected him to follow along.

  When we reached my chamber door he turned the handle pushing the wooden slab open, letting me enter before he followed, dropping the trunk just beside the fireplace. He turned to walk away after nodding his head in my direction and in the back of my mind I kept hoping that he would turn around to look at me again. He walked slowly almost like he wanted me to stop him. I fought once again with myself but in the end my instinct took over instead of logic.

  “Wait,” I said as I ran over to him, shutting the door before he could leave. “Just, wait.”

  “Do you need something else from me?” he asked curiously but I could see the smile that he was trying to hide.

  “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. Now that I had stopped him I suddenly had no idea what to do next. I did not think this through before going after him.

  “Then why did you stop me?” he questioned, taking a step towards me making me back myself up to the wall. I did not notice it at first, but my chest began moving up and down much quicker than usual and I was able to see out of my peripheral vision. He took another step towards me, reaching his arms out for my waist. “You can stop me anytime.”

  The logical side of me wanted to push him away but now that he was this close to me again I could not do it. I let him close the gap between us and I let him kiss my neck until he reached my face. His moss green eyes flashed before me, silently asking for my permission before he continued. With just one blink I went from standing against the wall to my legs wrapped around his waist. He walked slowly while he simultaneously planted his lips against mine. Something warm shot through me making me forget about all the logical thoughts that kept telling me to stop.

  He stopped in front of the fireplace, dropping down to his knees and lying me down on the black rug. He was on top of me now, staring down at me with desire. I cupped his face just before he bent down and kissed me again, both of my hands sliding down his back as he put more of his weight on me. He lifted himself off of me so that he could rip his shirt off over his head, throwing it towards the couches before leaning against me again. He slowly untied the strings on my shirt while he kissed my neck, working his way down my chest. He pushed himself up again so that my own shirt could be removed. It did not take long for both of our pants to be thrown far away from us, our skin touching one another for the first time. He paused for a moment before continuing, brushing my hair behind my ears. He was being gentle, which was not something I thought I would ever say about him. He was kind to me, but he was tough and had no problem being violent. Never with me but I had seen it when he was around other giants.

  “We can stop if you don’t want to do this,” he said, giving me one more chance to back out before anything went too far.

  “No, don’t stop,” I begged.

  He wasted no time once I gave him permission. The feeling of him inside me was addicting and as he moved in and out I found myself holding on to him never wanting to let go. He moved faster, my body feeling like a bomb that was ready to explode. His hands slid up and down my body only increasing the buildup that was waiting to release. A spark flew from the fireplace and at the same time, my body released the pleasure that had been hiding, satisfaction painted on my face.

  He rolled off of me landing closer to the fire as he turned his head towards me. Even I had to admit that there was something there between us and it was not because of what we just did. He was the one person in all of Medova that I could count on even when he knew he should not be a part of whatever the girls and I were up to. He had proven that time and time again.

  “So, what made you change your mind?” he asked as I turned my head away from him, staring up at the ceiling instead.

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “I guess I wanted you more than I thought.”

  “I knew you would come around,” he laughed as he sat up reaching for his pants, slipping them back on as he threw my own over to me.

  “I still don’t know what I want, Hudson,” I attempted to explain what I was thinking but it was turning out to be harder than I thought. “I may have wanted you physically, but I don’t know about anything else. There’s a lot going on in my head right now and I just don’t know about anything anymore.”

  “Do you honestly think that because we had sex that I would expect us to be bound?” he asked looking at me as if he were offended. “I’m not expecting anything from you, but I’ll be here for when you decide that it’s what you want.”

  “It’s not fair to make you wait for me,” I said, not realizing that I was worried about that until the words fell from my mouth.

  “We have a lot of time to figure this out,” he said. “I’ll wait for as long as I have to. It’ll be a lot easier if we can have sex every once and a while.”

  “I think we can make that happen,” I laughed just as a knock came at the door. I quickly slipped my shirt on, tying it back up before Hudson turned the doorknob.

  “What are you doing in here?” Luna asked as she stepped inside, inviting herself in. “And yes, I know about my timing.”

  Hudson looked at me for an explanation, but I just shrugged it off. Luna stood between us looking more at me but occasionally glancing at Hudson.

  “Kota had another vision,” she said. “She’s in her room with Nathan and she’s f
ine but I thought you would want to know.”

  “Of course, I do,” I told her, looking over at Hudson who looked just as concerned. “When did this happen?”

  “Just after Kory and Kody left to go back to Sorcerer Territory,” she explained. “She fainted as soon as it was over, and she’s been unconscious ever since. She’s been looked over and everything is fine, we just have to wait for her to wake up.”

  “Did she say anything about what she saw before she fainted?” I asked as we all walked out of the room to head for Kota and Nathan’s chambers. It was strange to think they shared the room now. It used to be just Kota’s room but now it belonged to both of them.

  “Nathan said the only thing that came out of her mouth was ‘book’, but no one knew what it meant,” she told me as we reached the room, meeting Declan, Deja, and Gavin who had been standing there since Luna left to come get me.

  “Where’s Nova and Roman?” I asked when I noticed they were not around.

  “They’re still helping Nico and Nero clean up the dungeons,” Deja answered this time. “I sent Kya down to tell Nova what happened.”

  “Are we able to see her yet?” I wondered next, needing to see with my own eyes that she was okay. Deja nodded her head ‘yes’ before opened the door and whispering to Nathan that we were coming in. He was sitting next to her on the bed, holding her hand as he waited for her to open her eyes.

  “It’s like she’s just sleeping,” he said as we surrounded the bed.

  “She is just sleeping,” Luna said comfortingly. “Which means she’ll wake up as soon as her body feels that it’s had enough rest.”

  “I don’t remember hearing about the prophets fainting when they had their visions,” Hudson spoke quietly.

  “She didn’t on the first one,” Deja pointed out. “She came out of it screaming but she didn’t faint. Unless she has had other visions that she didn’t tell us about this is the only one that she’s fainted after.”

  “That’s not true,” Nathan added. “She fainted at our binding ceremony. We both did.”