Never in my life have I felt the kind of fear I am feeling right now. I am Alec Ashford. The big bad alpha. Nothing terrifies me. Nothing shakes me. Well except for the terrified scream of my daughter,
“Is that Aspen?” Piper asks in confusion, her eyes now dry.
She already knew that the night Sadie and I were drugged resulted in a child. Just like me, she hasn’t interacted with Aspen. On her part, I think it’s mainly because she’s been focused on Calvin and besides, even if she wanted to get to know her niece, I doubt Sadie would allow.
Without giving her or her question a second thought, I get out of my office, rushing towards where her scream came from.
All kind of thoughts ran through my mind as fear gripped me. What if something bad happened to her? What if she is hurt? What was wrong? Why did she scream?
My heart felt heavy. My chest felt like it had a boulder on top of it, crushing it. Making it hard for me to breathe. My legs literally carry me as I rush to get to Aspen as quickly as I can.
“Slow down, Alec,” Piper’s voice carries towards me, but it sounds drowned out over the loud beating of my heart.
I ignore her and continue running. Soon I am out of the back door and outside. I scan the area, looking for any signs of my daughter but there are none. Sniffing the air around, I lock in on her scent.
“Hurry up, she maybe in danger,” Knox urges me, his fear feeding me. He is pacing in my head in agitation.
I swear, if someone has hurt her, there will be hell to pay. I know my pack wouldn’t hurt a kid, especially my child. I didn’t tell them about Aspen, though. I didn’t think there would be a need, given she looks just like me.
Knox gives me his strength. Aspen’s scream came from the training arena. I speed there, probably going faster that I’ve ever gone in my entire life.
I get there. My heart stops beating for a second when my eyes fall on one of my pack members, gripping Aspen’s hand tightly while shaking her.
“Mommy! Help me,”
Tears fall down her green eyes as she screams in fear. She’s trying to pull her hand away from her but she won’t let her go.
A growl vibrates from my chest and I see red. My body starts to vibrate as both my essence and that of Knox combine. I know what is happening. It has happened before when I was furious. Instead of shifting into Knox, we both take control and we do a half shit, where we are not fully human and not fully wolf.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, hurts my daughter and gets away with it.
We were just about to attack when the sky darkened for a while with lightning cracking. There is a gasp from some of the others who were there when Sadie appears next to Aspen, still in her hospital gown.
I don’t really know her name, but I know her. The bitch has been trying to get me in her bed since Lola left me three years ago. She let’s go of Aspen and steps back. Her eyes kept shifting from Sadie to me.
I take steps forward, walking further into the arena. Closing in on my daughter and mate. Everyone scrambles away, giving me a wide berth. I don’t care, though. My focus is on my daughter, who is holding tightly to her mother. Still crying.
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11:38 Mon, 25 Aug • @
Chapter 6
“What happened, Aspen?” Sadie kneels down to her level and asks while smoothing down her hair.
“It hurts, mama,” she cries, holding her upper arm.
I approach them slowly so as not to scare her, given that I am still in my half shift.
My eyes lock in on the bruise marks on her upper hand. The anger inside me surges to higher heights. I am Sterally vibrating with the need to tear out her fucking heart.
“Where does it hurt, baby?” Sadie’s voice is gentle as her eyes scan Aspen’s body.
“My hand an–and h–head”
“And where is Martha?”
“She was taking too long to make b–fast” she answers. “I got bored.”
I assume b–fast meant breakfast. I find it cute how she has shortened the word.
“Tell me what happened, Aspen,” I demand softly, my voice distorted by my half–shift form.
She turns her head and looks at me. Unlike other kids, who shake in fear whenever they see this form, Aspen doesn’t look fazed. There is no stitch of fear as her eyes collide with me.
“I wanted to see warrior fight, like in our pack. I didn’t mean to. I bumped into her and she got angry. I tried apolowgising but she didn’t let me. She hurt my hand. I said sowwy again, but she shake me.” Her speech is distorted even more because of her crying.
“You said sorry?” Sadie asks as if she wants her to be clear.
Aspen nods her head. “She called me a bad word. She said, my mommy didn’t teach me manners, so she will do it.”
The air turns chilly as both mine and Sadie’s fury fill the air. I could almost taste it. My eyes turn to the said bitch, and she takes a step back. Before I can do anything, the air around us cracks.
Sadie appears in front of her.
“Close your eyes, baby,” she commands Aspen, who does as her mother told her.
Lucy must have seen something in Sadie’s eyes because she tried to run away. Before she can even turn, though, Sadie grabs her face, her hands digging into the sides of her face.
“I’ve never really liked you, Lucy,” Sadie begins. So that is her name? “You were always a bitch, but today you took it too far.” “She was being a brat,” Lucy, probably not knowing when to shut her fucking mouth, says.
“Really, let’s see how you fare when you are up against someone your own size,” Sadie says, her tone more menacing than I have ever heard it.
She begins to speak, but it’s not in English. Hell, it’s not in any language I’ve heard before.
Lucy starts screaming, clutching Sadie’s hand and trying to pull them from her face. Sadie holds firm as power begins cracking in the atmosphere.
Lucy continues screaming, her pain–filled scream echoing through the space. It sends chills down my fucking spine and shivers
11.38 Mon, 25 Aug O
throughout my body
Blood begins leaking from her eyes, nose, ears and mouth. She gags from the blood coming from her mouth, but Sadie doesn’t stop. She continues in that foreign language that almost sounds like she’s chanting.
Finally, she stops. Lucy stills before crumbling to the floor after Sadie lets ‘s her go. There is no heartbeat. Sadie killed her, but! can’t really say I blame. I was about to do the same.
“No one hurts my daughter and gets away with it,” she warns, addressing those around us as they watched her with wide eye, fear etched on their faces
I shift back. The good thing about being able to half shift is that I am not naked when I shift back to human. My clothes are torn, but they are still on.
I step beside Sadie and address those present, Jasona and Piper were here, but this didn’t concern them. “You watched as art adult basically bullied a child and did nothing. Is this what this pack is about? Would you have stood by if she were your child, a relative’s, or a friend’s?”
No one says anything. They all drop their heads to look at the ground in shame.
“Look at me!” I demand, and they lift their heads. “This shouldn’t have happened. Not just because she’s an Alpha’s child, but because she’s simply a child. You are adults; you had the chance to stop Lucy, but none of you did.”
Shock gasps fill the area as they finally learn about Aspen’s true parentage. Fear clouds their eyes as they realize they just allowed their Alpha’s daughter to be bullied.
“Each one of you that was present is going to face me in the ring for forty minutes. That will be your punishment, and trust me when I say that I won’t go easy on any of you… You are dismissed.”
The ring is as its name suggests. It’s a circle in the middle of the arena. We have our matches there. A match ends when one of the opponents taps in surrender. This time, I won’t be giving those twelve pack members that option. They won’t be able to surrender. Not until I am done with them
I watch as they swallow, because they know what this means. They scramble to leave, but soon enough, they’ll be back here to face their punishments.
Once they are gone, I turn to Sadie, who had Aspen in her arms. She had stopped crying and was resting her head on Sadie’s shoulder with her eyes closed.
I want so badly to touch her, to hold, but I stop myself. I was already on Sadie’s shit list; I didn’t want to make it worse.
“I’m sorry for what happened. I swear it won’t happen again,” I promise, through gritted teeth, disappointed in those twelve pack members.
“It better not, Alec or this,” she points to Lucy. “Will be a regular occurrence.”
I nod my head. Without another word, she turns and leaves with our daughter. Aspen snaps her eyes open. She gives me a small smile and a wave before closing her eyes again.
My heart swells at the action. I watch them walk away and it tugs something inside me. I want them in my life. I want them so badly, it hurts. so I make a promise to myself to fix things between me and Sadie. Even if she won’t accept me as a mate, at least ! am hoping to be in Aspen’s life.
