Taken For The Alpha ✔️ - 39 - Wattpad

Taken For The Alpha ✔️

by Midika

YOU ARE READING

Taken For The Alpha ✔️

Werewolf

18+ read at your discretion!
My hands tremble by my sides. "Don't sleep with her..."
He steps toward me, his eyes dark. "Why not?"
"Whatever you were planning to do to her tonight, do it to me instead," I whisper.

Ayah has always been unremarkable in every way other than in the power she wields. Since she was little, she has been able to heal even the most fatal of wounds. Because of this, her father has locked her away, keeping her powers safe from the outside world. That is, until a man appears below her balcony, giving her a glimpse into the freedom she could finally have. However, the moment she starts to trust him, he takes her captive, revealing his identity to be a powerful Alpha who needs her to heal his younger sister. But when the girl's illness becomes impossible for Ayah to heal, she is dragged on a journey beside the Alpha to find an amplifier. On the way, she learns their connection goes deeper than their heated attraction, to a soul bond neither can deny.

Word Count: 1876

Ayah stomps along somewhere behind me, a furious edge to her jerky movements.

"I hate you. I hate everything about you," she hisses. "How dare you subject me to this horror."

I laugh under my breath. "That's the spirit."

Ayah is quickly learning that she does not enjoy walks through nature. It's a valuable lesson for her, although she's resigned so early into our journey.

This incredible forest hides a valuable secret. A magical amplifier exists somewhere in its depths, and I know vaguely how to get there, as long as the instructions I've been fed are correct. The amplifier should appear as a flower, growing in a clearing deep in the heart of the forest.

I love it here. I love the gentle sound of the breeze rustling through the canopy, the dappled light shifting at our feet, and the freedom in knowing there isn't another soul around for miles.

Well, somewhat. Another Alpha's home is buried amongst this forest somewhere. For my own sanity, we'll have to avoid it.

"This is abhorrent. I have blisters in between my toes. How is that possible?" Ayah has a slight limp to her gait as we weave across never before tread forest ground. Luckily for her, it's mossy and soft underfoot, although I don't believe she'll find much comfort in that reminder now.

"Your shoes are clearly ill-fitting. That will have to be remedied." I adjust the pack on my shoulders.

I've prepared enough for us to spend the night out here. It's not ideal, considering Ayah's mood and sore feet, but it may be necessary.

"At least this has taught me that I am not the kind of person who enjoys walks through the woods. This is miserable." She stumbles a little, her foot catching on a root. She has to use the sturdy face of a trunk to right herself again.

I smile a little to myself. "We've barely been walking half a day."

"It's half a day too long," she grumbles.

We pass by a cluster of bushes sprouting tiny blue flowers. We have forests back in my pack, but none like these. When I used to visit the Alpha who lives here when I was younger, I would spend a lot of time in this exact forest.

Not once did I run into this amplifier. It makes me wonder if the Alpha knows about it.

I look over my shoulder at her. "Do you want this amplifier or not, Ayah? I couldn't leave you behind without having you verify the magical properties of the flower."

I can feel the heat of her stare on my back. "Whatever."

"You are doing well. Hopefully it won't be long now," I assure her, pausing to lift a branch for her to step under. She scowls at me, even as I fall back into step next to her.

"I will not be spending a night here you know. I won't..." She glances warily at my dark grey pack, which is full with whatever we need if we do have to spend the night.

"We have to walk back the way we came, you know?" It feels mean to taunt her, but she may as well know what she's in for.

She gapes up at me, silvery eyes wide and aghast.

"Now why would you say that to me?"

"One foot in front of the other, Ayah. That is all it takes," I assure her gently.

She stares at the feet in question, her boots still shiny and new. She steps heavily, stomping irritably. It's cute, supplying me with enough amusement to entertain me for the rest of this walk.

"Ugh. You sound like my father when he had me trained to wield a knife for my own protection," she huffs out. "What a load of help that was."

I ignore her side eye. I'm sure she's considering all the ways she could get away with killing me. Unfortunately for her, if she does that, she won't be able to navigate her way back out of here.

"Your father reminds me of mine, you know." Well, before he died anyway.

"He does?"

"He was narrow sighted. He claimed he loved my brother and I, but all he really cared for was crafting the perfect heir."

He got what he wanted in the end. He got his heir, and he died knowing it. I often thought about spiting him, finding another occupation. Unfortunately, I actually like being Alpha.

And I couldn't let my brother's death be in vain.

"I am sorry about your brother. Truly," she murmurs, her voice softening.

I continue looking ahead, her words sinking in. She always seems to say the right thing. While I'm always sad recalling my brother, her presence and understanding makes it easier to bear.

"His death hardened me. It made me cruel, for a time," I admit, feet crunching through a pile of dead leaves. "Perhaps I still am."

She watches the side of my face. "You aren't as much as I thought you would be..."

I shake my head, rubbing a hand through my hair. Ayah isn't the type to assure me of what isn't true, just to preserve my feelings. But considering I'm holding her here, making her heal my sister doesn't bode well for my moral compass.

"You have every right to believe I am cruel. I seduced you under false pretences," I remind her tightly, my stomach cramping at the reminder.

She pauses, picking carefully past a prickly bush. It snags her shirt for a moment, but doesn't make much of a tear.

"I would have done far worse for my sister, had I had one." Her expression is hard.

"I want Iris back desperately." I run my hand down the back of my neck, feeling the faint dampness of sweat there. "But some days I fear I am fighting so hard for her because I couldn't save my brother."

I startle at my own admission. Ayah doesn't make a big deal out of it, nodding along with my words.

"Then we will save your sister. After, you can figure out how cruel your father truly made you." She wiggles her brows at me, although her insinuation cuts deep.

She still doesn't know if she can trust me. I know myself, that I'm not going to rescind my promise to give her freedom. I actually want it for her now, even if giving her up will be difficult.

And not because of her power, either.

We continue walking in silence. I allow Ayah to walk in front of me, setting the pace. It gives me time to survey our surroundings before checking the map I traced. We appear to be making ground, heading in the right direction.

The bush grows denser the deeper we walk, shadows draping over Ayah's tense form. Her black hair that has been hiked up into a ponytail is coming loose in places, raining down over her neck. It sticks to the sweat there, and suddenly, I'm left contemplating what I would do to pull her to a stop to relieve all her tension on the forest floor.

A small hump appears in the ground, and before I can warn Ayah, she steps on it at a funny angle, and her ankle twists.

"Ow!" She yelps, pitching to the side.

I grab her arm before she can fall, steadying her against me.

"Ayah, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she insists through gritted teeth, but the moment she lowers her foot back to the ground, she jerks it upward again immediately. "Ow...I've hurt my ankle."

I kneel down on one knee, pulling the leg of her pant upward and her thick sock down as far as I can to inspect it. There's no visible injury, although it's already beginning to swell, and the sharp inhales of breath coming from Ayah tell me how much pain she is in.

This is bad.

I look up at her, concern creasing my brow. "How much pain are you in?"

Her face is contorted in a pained grimace, worsening when I brush my fingers against the swelling flesh. I don't think it's broken, but she's twisted it badly.

"A bit..."

I stand again, twisting.

"Here, hop on my back. We aren't far now."

She hesitates. "Hop on your back?"

"Do you have a better idea? Or shall I leave you here to fend for yourself as the sun sets?" I look over my shoulder at her, grinning at her sour expression. There's no way she can walk the rest of the way on her own, and she knows it.

"You're a bastard, you know that?" She mutters under her breath, but hops onto my back anyway.

I lift her, my hands sweeping to catch the backs of her thighs. Her arms loop over my shoulders and around my neck I resume walking between the trees. Her injured foot sways beside me, continuing to swell and redden.

"Are you certain you can carry me?" She asks softly in my ear.

"I am an Alpha. I have enough strength to fight an army," I rumble back, inwardly smiling at the way she tenses.

"Yeah, I know," she breathes.

We travel for at least an hour more into the forest, Ayah on my back. I've kept her occupied by insisting she tell me all about her favourite stories, of all the adventures she wished she could go on but has yet to.

She's deep into a story of how she has always wanted to travel in a little boat across seas, when I realise we've come upon the hidden slope. It's concealed behind a thick line of trees I battle through before moving upward.

And right there, in the centre of a tiny clearing, is the flower. Surrounding it, the grass has been eaten away by magic, leaving nothing but a circle of packed dirt.

The flower itself is pale white, the long petals glistening. There are five petals, with a small green bud in the centre. Just looking upon it, it is clear this is more than just an ordinary flower.

"Here it is," I marvel softly, gently setting Ayah back down on her feet.

"Wow, this must be magical." She kneels down beside it. "The moon will be encouraging it's magic, no doubt."

The flower itself, despite no sunlight hitting it, has a glow to it that reflects onto Ayah's face. She gazes upon it with wide eyes of wonder, having seen nothing like it before.

It certainly looks more magical than the rock we sourced.

"How can we verify it?" I ask, looking closer.

"Allow me." She reaches out, her fingers grazing the nearest petal to her.

Suddenly, she jolts, like a shock reverberating all the way through her. Her throat constricts, she gasps, and then her eyes flutter closed, and she slumps onto the ground, unconscious.