Claiming the Alpha

by Alicia Montgomery

  “Is she all right?”

  “Probably overworked, but yeah. But she’s staying there tonight.”

  Maybe this emergency was a blessing in disguise and it would be better if she were far away from New Jersey, where Anatoli wouldn’t be able to get to her. “I should go see her and make sure she’s … protected.”

  “You stay away from her,” Julianna bit out. “I don’t care what misunderstanding you had, but she was not herself when she came in last night. I don’t know what happened, but I know you had something to do with it.”

  “Your sister can tell me herself if she wants me to stay away,” he said. “Right now, her safety is my priority.” He turned the phone off and tossed it onto the passenger’s seat. He pressed his foot to the pedal and kept his eyes on the road. Please, he said to any god who could hear him. Let her be safe.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Adrianna had never been so exhausted in her entire life. The call came in shortly after midnight. It was a good thing she’d been tossing and turning for hours when her phone rang, but she didn’t expect to be brought out of bed in such a panic.

  Sometime after midnight, a gas line exploded in the kitchen of Muccino’s in D.C., just as the crew was cleaning up for the evening. Four workers had died and half a dozen more hurt. Her mother and uncle Dante were both in Rome, so she was the only one who could go there to deal with the crisis.

  The plane was fueled and ready in record time, and she made it to D.C. in the wee hours of the morning. It was a good thing she and her family had good relations with Senator Gerald Burns, the Alpha of Virginia and D.C, so she was able to come and go into the territory without having to ask for permission to enter. The senator even had a car ready to pick her up and bring her into the city.

  There was no time to wallow in pain or soothe her aching heart because she was the face of the company now; she had to be strong for her employees and their families. There were press statements to approve, news interviews to schedule, calls to take and field, and more important, employees to visit in the hospital and grieving families to console. Compared to their suffering, the pain in her heart at Darius’s rejection couldn’t come close. Besides, it was her own damn fault for letting her feelings get too deep when it was obvious he was only after one thing this whole time.

  “Ms. Anderson?”

  She looked up at Joan Miller, the manager of the D.C. Muccino’s branch. The middle-aged woman looked worse for wear, but she imagined she looked pretty similar herself. “You should go home, Joan.”

  “I will if you will,” she said.

  She gave her a weak smile. “I’m almost done, I swear.”

  “Do you want me to walk you to your hotel?”

  “I’m fine. Now go. Your kids are waiting for you,” she urged.

  “All right, but be careful,” Joan warned. “It’s pretty slippery out there.”

  “I will.”

  The fire department had closed down the entire building where the restaurant was located so she didn’t have an office, but the PR company they hired, Emerson Communications, offered one of their conference rooms as a temporary office and headquarters while they managed this crisis.

  It wasn’t very late, probably only after eight o’clock in the evening, but it was already dark, and snow had begun to fall again. Also, she realized that she hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours, and she was dead tired. Emerson Communications had booked her a hotel suite nearby, so it would be a quick walk and then she could collapse into bed and put this day behind her.

  She shut down her laptop, packed up her things and grabbed her coat, then made her way outside. The Meridien D.C. Hotel was on the same block, and she was glad it was only a short walk. She entered the lobby and headed straight for the elevators.

  As she waited for the first available car, she took out her phone, checking her email and news alerts for any mention of the explosion. When she heard the sound indicating the arrival of the elevator car, she walked straight into it without looking up.

  “Excuse you,” she muttered as she felt someone jostling her. When she turned around to face the front, there were four men taking up the bulk of the entire elevator. “Penthouse, please,” she said. None of the men pressed the button, so she cleared her throat. “Penthouse,” she said in a louder voice. One of the men turned to press the “B” button. “Hey! What are you—mmm!”

  The scream she tried to let out was muffled by a large hand that covered her mouth. Her heartbeat spiked, and she tried to get free, but two strong arms wrapped around her and she felt a small prick at the base of her neck.

  Madre de dio. She was being kidnapped.

  Whatever they injected into her was making her woozy and she struggled to keep her eyes open. Her feet left the ground, and the man who held her lifted her up over his shoulder.

  Stay awake! She took in small gulps of air. Her Lycan system would quickly get rid of the drug in her body, then she could shift into her wolf form and run away. But for now, she had to keep making them think she was out. Technically, it was forbidden to shift in front of humans except in cases of extreme emergency, but she was pretty sure this counted.

  “Grab the car and pop the trunk,” a gruff voice said.

  The sound of footsteps echoed through the near-empty garage. She willed her body to work faster at getting rid of the drug. Once she was in the trunk of some car or they decide to pump more drugs into her, it might be harder to escape.

  “What’s taking him so long? We gotta—what the fuck? You guys secured this place, right?”

  “Yeah, boss, we did.”

  “What the—motherfucker! Take care of him!”

  The grip on her tightened and she felt her kidnapper swing around and then run. She lifted her head, struggling to focus her vision as her head bobbed up and down as they sped away.

  There were three blurry figures behind her. One moved around fast and then two fell to the ground. The man carrying her faltered in his steps, making her bump her nose into his back. When she looked up again, she saw it. A flash of silver running straight for her.

  Darius.

  He sped up and caught up with them, grabbing her arms and pulling her from her abductor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they tumbled to the ground.

  “Run, Adrianna!” he urged as he scrambled to his feet. “Get away from here.”

  He turned around to face the man coming after them. As her vision focused, she saw something metallic in the other man’s hand. A gun.

  “No!” she screamed. Darius lunged for the man, and his body jerked as three gunshots echoed through the garage. Her inner wolf howled, and she struggled to control it while getting to her feet. As she stumbled towards them, she heard a fourth gunshot.

  “Oh, God!” Darius was lying down on the cement floor on his back, his shirt stained with red. The other man was a few feet away, facedown and unmoving, blood beginning to seep out from under his body. “Darius! Darius, please!” She knelt down and cradled his face in her hands. “Please be okay! Don’t die!”

  His eyelids flew open, and he gave her a weak grin. “I won’t.” To her horror, he let out a sick gurgle and spat out some blood. “The bullets went through. My body will heal in no time.”

  She knew he was right; he was a Lycan after all and the wounds were probably starting to close already. It didn’t stop that pit in the bottom of her stomach from forming. “I should get some help. I can call—”

  “No!” His hand grasped at the lapel of her jacket. “No. I’m fine. We should go. I can’t be found here like this.”

  She hesitated but realized that if they got the authorities involved, it would be terribly messy. They could cause trouble for the Virginia clan, and the senator would not like that. “I have a suite. We can go there.” She hooked her arms under his chest. “Can you make it up the stairs?”

  “I can,” he said.

  He was heavy, but she was a Lycan too. She could carry him up bridal-style, but he would probab
ly protest. The walk up twelve flights of stairs wouldn’t be good for his wounds, but using the elevators were too risky.

  They were nearing the staircase entrance when a loud screech made them both look behind. Loud shouts and curses came from the direction of where they had left her kidnapper bleeding out on the ground, followed by the sound of a car door slamming and then an engine roaring away.

  “Do you think they escaped?” she asked.

  “Perhaps.” He gritted his teeth. “They should pay for what they tried to do but—” He let out a hiss and clutched at the wound.

  “We’ll take care of that later,” she said. “Take a deep breath. It’s a long trip up.”

  The climb up to her suite was slow and daunting as Darius struggled with his wounds. He tried to keep his face neutral, but she could see that he was in a lot of pain. She nearly cried with relief when they reached the top floor, and she quickly got him into her suite.

  “I’m all right,” he said as he disentangled himself from her.

  “You’re still bleeding,” she pointed out. “C’mon.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom.

  He grimaced when he looked at the pristine King-sized bed. “I’ll ruin the sheets.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Ay basta! Stop being such stubborn man!” She practically pushed him down on top of the covers. Reaching for the bottom of his shirt, she lifted up the fabric gingerly. “Ugh. That’s nasty. But,” she peered at the two holes on his abdomen, “it looks like it’s stopped bleeding. Take that shirt off, and I’ll get some towels to clean you up.”

  She headed into the bathroom and twisted the tap in the sink on, then ran two hand towels under the water. When she came back to the bedroom, Darius had his eyes closed and his breathing was even. Good. Sleep would help the healing process.

  Just as she’d predicted, the wounds had stopped bleeding. His flesh was knitting itself back together, but the skin hadn’t regenerated yet. Gross. She cleaned up around the lesions, wiping the blood and dirt from his skin. It would be a few hours before he was fully recovered, but at least he wasn’t going to die.

  As soon as she was done, she went back to the bathroom and tossed the towels into a plastic laundry bag, giving herself a mental note to throw them into the garbage before she went to work. Her blouse and suit were ruined, so those went into the bag too.

  She stepped into the shower and twisted the tap on to the hottest setting she could stand. It felt good, the water washing over her and cleaning off the remaining blood that clung to her skin.

  God, this was an awful day. First the explosion, then the kidnapping. She didn’t even want to think about who those men were. She was exhausted beyond belief. The only bright part was that Darius was here and he was going to be all right. She didn’t even care about what happened yesterday. He survived, just like he said he would. That was all that mattered.

  When she was done, she wrapped herself in a robe and headed back into the bedroom. She stopped when she heard voices.

  “Darius? Darius!”

  His eyes were still closed, but his mouth was moving. “Ta … Ma … Thoms … Elena!” Arms reached out, then dropped down to his side as his body tensed. His face twisted in agony, and he let out a pained moan.

  He was dreaming. But what should she do? Wasn’t it bad to wake up someone who was having a nightmare? Or was that sleepwalking?

  His breathing was deep and heaving, and she reached out to touch his chest. If he moved around too much, it would set back the healing process. His muscles jumped under her touch, but then he settled back into the pillows.

  He was talking again, but she couldn’t understand half the words. It sounded like he was pleading, and the agony in his voice made her heart clench. She climbed into bed next to him and lay her head on his shoulder. “Darius,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his warm skin. “It’s going to be okay.”

  What was he dreaming about? And who was Elena? So many questions ran through her head. But the adrenaline was leaving her body, leaving exhaustion to take over. I’ll just close my eyes for a bit, she told herself.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Darius had recovered from many injuries in the past, from cuts and abrasions from fights to knife and gunshot wounds that had hit major arteries. However, he had to admit that waking up as his body healed had never been quite as pleasant as it was now.

  Adrianna’s head was on his shoulder and an arm thrown over his chest. He could feel her steady breath against his skin as her parted lips were pressed up against his bicep. Her hair was splayed down her back like a mahogany carpet while the robe she wore had parted sometime during the night and her bare breasts were pushed against his arm. He reached over and lifted a lock of hair that had fallen over her beautiful face, brushing the smooth skin of her cheek.

  He glanced down and saw that the wounds on his stomach had closed up. The skin was still pink and the skin webbed, but it wasn’t even swollen. Slowly, he turned to his side so he could cradle her body. Her eyelids fluttered, and by the time she opened them to reveal her mismatched eyes, he had fully enveloped her in his arms.

  “Is it morning?” she asked sleepily.

  “No, it’s not even dawn.” He held her tighter, hoping she wouldn’t try to get up. He just wanted to feel her like this for now. And maybe longer.

  “I can’t believe you came,” she whispered. “It was a good thing too. I guess my parents weren’t being overly cautious. The mages must have someone keeping tabs on me and they knew that I was alone.”

  She had already come to the conclusion that it was the mages that came after her. Of course, he didn’t know for sure if Anatoli was behind the attempt to kidnap her. Or if Mila had been telling the truth at all. If he didn’t say anything or contradict her, he wasn’t lying. At least that’s what he told himself.

  “I told you I would protect you, Adrianna.” He stroked the side of her face with his fingers. “And that you didn’t have to worry about me.”

  “That you did.” She didn’t move or flinch away from his touch. “I should tell my mother—”

  He tightened his grip. “It’s early, no one will be up yet. It can wait until later.”

  “I suppose …”

  “Sleep, lupoaică,” he urged. “You still have a lot to deal with when you wake.”

  She relaxed against him and sighed. He was wide awake, and he figured he could use this time to think of what to do tomorrow. Maybe he could track down those men who tried to kidnap Adrianna and get some information. Or go back and find out what Anatoli was up to. Or maybe—

  “Darius?” She squirmed away from him, then lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

  “Yes?”

  “Who’s Elena?”

  His muscles tensed up at the sound of the name. The involuntary response didn’t escape her notice and her eyes widened.

  “How do you know that name?”

  “Um, from you. You were saying it in your sleep.” Her brows scrunched together. “And other things too. Ta … ma? And Thom?”

  “Mama, you know the meaning as it is the same in English, but Tată is Romanian for father.” He rolled onto his back, releasing her from his embrace. “Thomsin and Elena were my brother and sister.”

  “Were?” He saw her flinch visibly. “Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” She inched back, shrinking with dejection as she curled away from him.

  He let out a sigh and faced her. “It was a long time ago.”

  Mismatched eyes blinked up at him. “What happened to them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You … don’t know? Did they just disappear?”

  “They died, all of them, but I don’t know how.” He paused, debating with himself if he should go on. Maybe it was better she knew now. So she knew what she was dealing with if she chose to continue this path they were on.

  But where would he begin? From the start, he supposed. “We lived in a Lycan settlement village in Romania. One day,
my father got a letter from a man claiming to be his father. Gregor Corvinus. He had apparently gotten my grandmother pregnant and left her behind to start a new life in America with his wife and his son. He invited my father to come to New Jersey and be part of The Family. We were poor and barely surviving, so he went so he could make a better life for us.”

  “Oh, Darius.” She moved closer and took his hand in hers.

  “I was nine when he left, Thomsin was five, and Elena was just a baby. He was gone for five years but would send us every cent he made and letters almost every week. One day, we got the letter my mother had been waiting for. He was sending for us, and we would be living in New Jersey with him.” He remembered Mama’s excitement as she clutched the letter to her breast. “So, we packed up what little belongings we had and made our way to America. I was fourteen.” That journey was so clear in his mind. The fear. The anticipation. The elation that they would all be together again. “We got here and well, it was just as my father had said. Our grandfather—his father—doted on us. We lived in a nice home—not a mansion, but it didn’t have dirt floors—and my siblings and I went to school and wore new clothes. Then one day—”

  The lump in his throat made him stop. She squeezed his hand and he felt the tightness in his ribcage ease. “I was sitting in the kitchen doing my homework. My parents where there and Elena was sitting in her high chair. Thomsin was on the floor, playing with his toys. That was the last thing I remember. Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital.”

  “What?” she said in an incredulous voice. “That’s it? But your family—”

  “Was dead. That’s what my Grandfather told me when I woke up. My mother on the floor. Father a few feet from her. Elena and Thomsin … none of them had any injuries, and there was no evidence of foul play. Grandfather was heartbroken and he died soon after because of grief.”

  “Darius, I’m so sorry,” her voice choked up, and she scrambled to his side, pressing her nose to his shoulder.