Alpha (The Rachel Valentine Series Book 2)

by Samantha Allard

  “But you’re going to be.” The smile on her face widened. “You just won’t be alive long enough to enjoy it.”

  “And how about the ones who don’t want to give that part of us up?” Sophia asked. She’d been silent until now. “I don’t want to be human.” Her lips curled up in a snarl and she growled. I’d never seen this part of her. It was one thing to know that she was a wolf, but I pictured her as more like a house cat. Someone who curled up by the fire and slept. It was impossible to picture her as a hunter, at least it had been until now.

  “You really don’t have any choice. I can take it from you. You can either be awake or unconscious.”

  At her words Henry stepped forward. He was like a statue and it hurt me to see him that way.

  “But let me be polite. Is there anyone who wants to do this of their own free will? Don’t be shy. Just put your hands up.”

  I noticed that four out of the six had their hands in the air. The two girls and the two boys. Peter and Sophia glared at Rose. If looks could kill, the old woman would have died on the spot. But it looked like it wasn’t going to be that easy. “Henry, get them out of the cages and into the other room.”

  She waited for all of them to be out of the room before she turned her attention back to the rest of us. She put her hands together as if she was about to clap and moved her fingers in an odd motion. Sophia yelped before her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the ground with a thud. It had happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to react.

  I darted forward, reaching out to her. “Sophia! What did you do to her?”

  Peter shook his head and edged away as Rose advanced on him. “You can’t do this. The wolf is all I am. You can’t have it.”

  “I can do whatever I want.” Her forehead glistened with sweat. “You’re the one who said no. It didn’t have to be this way.” Her hands made the same motions. This time they weren’t smooth. The spell took a lot out of her, but it still took effect. Peter fell against the stone wall and slid to the ground.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  Rose walked back to the doorway and retrieved a walking stick I hadn’t seen before. “I don’t expect you to understand, but he’s my son. I would move heaven and hell to have him back and tonight, with you, I’m going to be able to accomplish that. You should never have taken him from me.”

  It wasn’t all on me. Henry and Michael had dealt the last blows, but I didn’t think that mattered. Rose blamed me, and I was going to pay the ultimate price, so she could bring Jonas back.

  There wasn’t much that I could do but watch as Henry came back in the room. He took Peter first, essentially swinging him across his shoulder as if he didn’t weigh anything. Then he came back for Sophia. Whatever spell Rose had used was strong enough that neither of them woke up. As soon as Henry left with her I looked around my cage. There had to be something that could help me, but besides a few small rocks, there wasn’t anything. I snatched one off the ground and hid it in my hand. Henry walked back through the doorway and to my cage.

  I stepped forward and grabbed hold of the door. In a test of strength, I would lose, but all I needed was a little time. Henry didn’t even stop. He grabbed the lock and twisted it. The metal snapped. When he went to open the door. I switched the position of my hand and touched his fingers. They felt cold. What had Rose done to him? “Henry, can you hear me?”

  The blank stare seemed to clear slightly and for a second, I thought he saw me. He looked confused. “Henry, I need you to help me.”

  “Oh sweetheart. Do you think that I’d leave him alone with you? I had to bury the memory of you deep. You certainly affected him in such a short amount of time,” Rose said. “Henry, you know what you need to do.”

  The door was yanked out of my hands and I backed away as Henry stalked into the small space. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Rose laughed. “You’re still human, what do you think you can do?”

  I lashed out with the rock, catching him on the side of the head, the temple. He grunted and stumbled. Darting underneath his arm I dashed to the door, being careful not to look Rose directly in the eye. Honestly, I didn’t have a clue if that would help, but I didn’t have anything else. I didn’t get far. Henry grabbed me, around the waist and lifted me off the floor. His arm tightened and something inside me popped.

  “You really are full of surprises. Henry, bite her now. I can’t risk her trying something like that again.”

  “What?” I didn’t have time to react. One minute I was in his arms, pretty sure that he’d broken a rib, the next, pain exploded against my neck. I screamed, trying to wriggle free of him, but it was too late. Blood dripped down the curve of my neck and spread a warm path across the front of my chest. “Henry, stop, god please stop.” Tears ran down my face. Pain and panic made me fight against him.

  He moved, his mouth breaking contact with me. Oh god, what artery had he hit? How much blood was I losing? Henry kept moving and I pressed my hand to my neck. My vision swam in front of me. Rose stepped out of our way and I was shifted in his arms, until he carried me like a baby. If you held a body with an unbreakable grip. The others watched us, and I noticed the body in the centre of the room.

  Rose had kept herself busy getting Henry to sort it out for her. It looked like a clock face and the other kids were chained to each of the slabs. Jonas, pale and unmoving was in the centre. Henry and Michael had done a real number on him. A few feet from him was a table with a book on it. Henry laid me out of the slab next to Jonas. I could barely move as the blood dripped onto the cold stone beneath me, but I turned my head away from Jonas. If I was about to die I didn’t want the image of a dead madman to be the last thing I saw. I reached out and grabbed Henry’s hand. He looked down at me, but there was no recognition in his eyes.

  “Don’t leave me, please.”

  Rose entered the room. For such an elderly woman she walked with speed and an almost uncontainable glee. She walked passed us and to the table. “Henry, let go of her hand, collect the bowl and go cut the others.” Yells of protests filled the air and the youngest girl started to cry. “A poor choice of words. I only need enough blood to fill the bowl. You won’t even miss it. All of you will fill it.”

  A knife? Henry turned around and pulled the knife free of its holster. I’d never felt so useless, but I’d never found myself bleeding out before either. The bite was supposed to trigger the change. What would happen first? Would I die, or would my body heal the damage? I didn’t feel any different. If I could get the knife away from Henry, all I would need to do was stop Rose. If she was dead, would Henry come back to his senses?

  Can I kill someone? No, I didn’t need to kill her. I just had to stop her. As Henry was doing what he was told, I tried to keep my eyes open, since closing them would be a terrible idea. After a moment, Henry stepped into my line of vision again. He stayed there. The knife in his hand. If it was in the holster I might have been able to take it away from him, if I was quick enough. In his hands? Tug of war with a blade?

  Rose was saying something. I grabbed Henry’s wrist, the one with the knife. It was now or never. A surge of adrenaline flooded through me. I didn’t know if it was the wolf who was waking inside of me or it was sheer desperation. I sat up, twisted his wrist and drove the knife in his stomach. “I’m sorry, Henry.” He dropped to his knees as I pulled the knife free. The sound made me want to throw up.

  “Henry!”

  I stumbled toward her, my hand shook, but I managed to close the distance between us. She backed away and, in that instant, I remembered how Peter and Sophia had edged away from her, the fear inside of their eyes. How she’d wanted to take something from them that some might have wanted to give her, but not all of them. The knife slipped from my hand and Rose smiled. “Oh no, you’re not going to get away with this that easy.” She looked confused before I punched her. Her head snapped back, and she crumbled to the ground.

  I left her there, bent down and pic
ked up the knife. My vision swam in front of me, but I managed to get back up.

  “Rachel?” Sophia called my name out, groggy.

  “Can you guys break the chains?” A sweat had broken out and my eyes burnt.

  “I think so.” There was a straining noise before an audible step. “Wait a minute, where are you going?”

  Henry hadn’t moved from his place on the floor. I stumbled past him. “I need some air. I don’t feel right.” Nobody had told me how quickly the change took place in that moment, it felt like my skin wanted to split open. “Get Rose and Henry into the cages and then get out of here. Get help.”

  “What about you?”

  I didn’t answer her.

  Epilogue

  A scream escaped me as I ran into the night. The rain came down hard and heavy as my body popped. The shape of it changing. The pain indescribable. I collapsed to one knee, half slipping in the mud. I struggled to my feet, using my hands and slipped again before I got to my feet. I grabbed my neck and my vision went dark. The wound had closed, but the blood still felt fresh.

  All I could do was run, to put as much distance between me and her. I’d wanted to kill her, she was dangerous, and I didn’t feel safe at all. At least the others were safe. I slipped to the ground, my body shot forward, my back arching as the momentum carried me down the hill and I hit the small stream. Cold water hit, shocking me and stopping the transformation for a blissful moment.

  I had his blood, mixed with mud, on my hands.

  Is Henry alright?

  It all happened so quickly. Him on the ground, his eyes closed. The knife in my hand. The one she planned to use to kill me. Everything hurt. It felt like my bones had turned into jelly and were being stretched to impossible lengths. I scrambled back to my feet. I had to get away from everyone. Even in my currant state I knew that a freshly turned wolf was something dangerous. A wolf. Damn. It wasn’t like I hadn’t wanted to be changed, but not like this. Another sharp stab of pain went through me and I fell to my knees. My back arched again. Like a cat hit with water. Another scream escaped me, low and drawn out, like a howl. I blinked, trying to get rid of the mud in my eyes. It was dark, but I could see. The world looked different. Had my eyes changed? I rubbed at my face, but that felt odd, like fur against skin.

  My hands had changed. I looked down at the paws dug into the mud. No. Oh God, no. I collapsed back to the ground, the pain overriding every part of me.

  When I opened my eyes again, the whole world appeared different. I stumbled a little as I tried to find my feet, as if my body always knew how to, I started to run. I ran to the trees. I ran away from the Academy and I ran away from the mess I’d survived.

  To Be Continued…