Alpha Noah

¬Abella

I can still hardly believe I’m standing in Alpha Grayson’s home.

It’s much nicer than I expected a Freedom Pack manor to be. Grayson has decorated it quite nicely, but the whitewashed walls and eclectic furnishings are the least of my concerns. He has brought me here to lay me upon a platter for Noah to come and collect. As much as I’m resentful, I should have known this wouldn’t last long.

Clearly Noah has given me a head start. Now he’s caught up.

“I’m Lexia,” someone says from behind me, making me jump. Turning on my heels, I see that standing beside Grayson, it’s a girl. Pretty, tall, blonde, she stares at me with nothing but kindness in her eyes. “It’s nice to meet you Abella, even if we don’t have much time to become acquainted.”

“What’s going on?” I question. I know of Lexia, as Alpha Grayson’s mate. She is the Luna of this Pack, and of equal importance. I’m not sure why she has any interest in getting to know me.

Grayson and Lexia exchange glances before she speaks. “We are thankful you chose our Pack to take residence in, as we are close to Noah, and when he told us you were here, we were of course willing to help. So the fact that you are here works out perfectly.”

“Noah is our friend. We would do anything for him,” Grayson adds.

Despite the dryness in my throat, I swallow. I wish I could run away again, as reality sinks in. I assumed I would be able to return and everything would work out, that I got my freedom and now I have to face the problems I fled from. Now, this powerful Alpha and Luna are going to turn me in to my mate, and I’m not sure I want that yet.

“Just get it over with,” I mutter. I expect to turn around and be lead into a car where I will be returned back to Noah’s back, but instead, I’m surprised to see him emerge from a room I hadn’t noticed was there in the first place.

He hasn’t changed a bit, although he does look tired. Shadows darkened his under eyes, making the emerald colour only more vibrant. He’s always dressed nicely, which must be mandatory as an Alpha, in at least some kind of dark button-up shirt. As frightened as I am by my future, I just want to walk up and brush those obsidian strands of hair from his eyes.

“You’re okay,” he breathes.

I look down at myself. “I suppose. I haven’t been up to much, and haven’t put myself in any danger. I haven’t even noticed the absence of Stace, which I was warned about.”

“I thought I gave you enough time, but at the end of the day, I promised I would hunt you down until I found you. So here I am,” Noah tells me solemnly. He doesn’t regret coming here though, taking me away from this life. He wants to return me to the life I had before… but what even was my life? Working for him, not knowing I had two mates? That’s what I want at least.

“Let’s go then,” I say grimly.

We don’t say anything, as we farewell Lexia and Grayson, and get into Noah’s awaiting car. The silence continues into most of our drive, until finally Noah speaks up.

“So no reaction to being away from Stace?” Noah questions, looking at the road, but still glancing constantly at me. Loosening a breath, I think about the mark he created, and how he healed it. It will happen again, he promised me, if he is absent. Thinking about the amount of pain I was in makes me nervous, but I’m still not desperate to return to his presence.

“No. What does he want with me? I get he’s meant to be the King, or whatever, but I can’t be bonded to him for the rest of my life,” I say.

I watch Noah bite the edge of his lip. “I know it feels confusing, but Daemons, or any kind of immortal hybrids for that matter are in serious danger here in this world. Stace is a King, but his main job is to ensure those in this realm are kept safe, and eventually, convince us all to come back. Because you’re mated to a Sin, you’re especially important to him.”

“I don’t want any of this. I should have used that Gaze Reader to remove all these mate-bonds. I don’t want any of this, Noah,” I say, although at this point, it’s just words coming out of my mouth; I’m not sure I mean any of it.

Noah sighs. “I understand.”

Looking out through the car window and into the darkness, I see only my reflection. I appear vacant, skin sallow, eyes empty. All of this has changed me.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“But I have to face it. I have to face my other mate, I have to face Stace… I can’t keep running,” I breathe, resting my forehead against the cool glance. Noah reaches over, resting his palm on my knee, rubbing rhythmically. Just his touch has me relaxing into the seat, allowing me to collect my thoughts, and begin considering what I’m going to do when we return to the Harmony Pack.

“All I know is Cian is desperate to see you,” Noah says.

Seeing his smile, I can’t help myself but to do so too.

***

“Finally, you’re back.”

I can barely make a step into Noah’s estate before Cian is rushing at me with what feels like immortal speed. Grabbing my shoulders, he pulls me toward him, his lips suddenly on mine. It’s brief, but I can feel the desperation, the anger that I left him like this. When he pulls away, he looks me up and down with that dark gaze at his, in complete contrast to his golden roots of hair.

He’s speaking to me, but out of the corner of my eye, I notice Noah watching. An uncomfortable feeling settles over me that he is feeling, no doubt.

“I’m sorry Cian, you can understand, right?” I ask him, hoping that despite his immortal dedencies, he can understand that I needed some breathing room from this whole situation. A muscle in his jaw flickers, as he shakes his head slowly at me.

Brushing past, I go to stand in front of Noah, but Cian grabs my arm.

“Don’t go near him, you don’t know what he has planned for you,” Cian says lowly, even though he knows Noah can hear him just fine. Glancing at Noah, I see a frown settle between his brows. Looking between them, I realise they have had a conversation that I haven’t heard yet, that is clearly a point of contention between them.

Noah’s voice is steady. “Cian, now is not the time, okay?”

“What’s not the time? What am I missing here?” I question, motioning for one of them to explain themselves. Noah’s gaze is trained persistently on Cian, eyes slightly narrowed, challenging the immortal to utter a word about this secret they are keeping.

Cian pulls me another step away from Noah, looking down at me. “I know this is going to irritate you, but I need to speak with you, alone. It’s in your best interest to just give me a moment of your time, even if you don’t want to.”

“Abella don’t, he’s just going to lie to you,” Noah insists.

But it’s too late to hear him out. All of a sudden, my body feels as though it’s falling, and immediately it hits me that Cian is transporting me away. Away from Noah.

I don’t scream, but I do lash out the moment my feet touch the ground. He is right beside me, so my hits reach his sides and his arms. He hardly flinches thought, grabbing my shoulders to steady me, letting my breathe out my anger. How dare he pull me away from Noah, when we have so much to talk about, so much to think about.

“Woah, calm down,” Cian demands, turning me around by my shoulders. “Look where we are before you decide to explode at me.”

My old apartment.

It’s dead empty, clearly vacant since I left, but it’s definitely my apartment. On the carpet, where Sam spilt her wine in a drunken haze once. A mark on the wall where I tried my cooking skills in the kitchen and failed.

“Why here?” I question. It’s not like him bringing me here is going to lead to my forgiveness for tearing me away from Noah’s estate when all I wanted to talk. “You know it’s not very democratic of you, bringing me away so you can have your own discussion with me, instead of allowing Noah in on the information.”

“Well it just so happens that this information is about Noah. He told me about it, and clearly has no intention of telling you himself, so I’ll do you the favour of imparting the knowledge,” Cian says, as I lean against the wall, tapping my foot impatiently.

I glare at him. “So why bring me here?”

“I thought you would be more comfortable knowing that Noah has full control over this Pack, and due to his weird daemonic abilities, can sense where you are at all times, as long as you are within his territory. I don’t get it either, but maybe that will make you feel better,” Cian offers.

I shrug. “Not really, but if you’re going to speak, do it.”

Cian loosens a breath, his shoulders slumping, as if he’s defeated. “Noah is planning something. And I don’t think you’ll like it.”

I narrow my eyes.

“He’s planning to take you away, to this Daemon realm,” Cian says lowly. “Which means you’ll never see me again.”