BENEATH HER DARKNESS: The Alpha’s Little Demon
Chapter 98 – One Team
PATREA…
I watched in awe as a young female stepped out of a car, and I knew right away that she was my granddaughter. She was shorter than I expected given that both Adora and I were on the taller side. She must have gotten it from her father.
I listened as she conversed with Alpha Stone in full confidence, but it didn’t slip my gaze that her eyes were sad. I wished she’d let me into her life because, after everything I’d been through and was about to do, meeting her was the only thing that seemed normal in my out-of- the-ordinary life right now. The normality that I was craving.
“Are you Patrea?” Her voice broke as our eyes met.
Everyone vanished around us as my heart warmed at the way she was looking at me.
“Althea? Yes, my name is Patrea… I’m sorry, I didn’t know I had a granddaughter. If I knew, I would have done more so I could get out of there earlier…”
I wanted to say so many things, and I kept blabbing, but she didn’t let me finish as she moved past Alpha Stone and went directly to me, flinging her arms and wrapping them around my body as she slammed her head on my shoulder.
“Mama…” Her whole body shook, and sobs escaped her throat as she hugged me tightly. “Mom told me you told her if she gave you a grandchild, you wanted us to call you Mama. I hope the offer still stands.”
“You can call me anything you want, and I won’t complain. But yes, call me Mama if that’s okay with you.” Tears trickled down my face as I cupped her face and peppered her with kisses.
Her body was glowing with purple and silver sparkles, illuminating the space around us. She was happy. Usually, young witches, especially children, cannot control their happiness, which radiates out of their bod*ies through sparkles. But as we grew older, we learned to control our emotions and our sparkles because, in the reality of life, there were times we tried to hide things that made us happy.
“You’re so beautiful. And you look exactly just as how she had shown me from her memory.” A smile curled on her lips as her eyes beamed with happiness, and for a moment I almost forgot the pain that I saw in there earlier.
“Are you disappointed that I am not like the usual grandmother? I think I will never age.”
“No, not at all. You can be a pig, Mama, and I will still like you!” She answered in a high-pitched voice, sounding too excited, and someone from behind me snickered. I knew right away who it was without even looking.
My eyes rolled as confusion flashed on Althea’s face before she shifted her attention to the demon behind me. Her eyes widened as she pulled me away, and we almost bumped into Alpha Stone before she stood in front of me in a protective stance.
“He’s not a shifter…” She said it in a hushed tone.
“I am not, thankfully.” Lucius chuckled, his eyes shifting between Althea and me.
“Is he an ally, Alpha Stone?”
“Yes,” the Alpha answered.
“Are you sure?”
Instead of responding, Alpha Stone cleared his throat, and the next thing I knew, a tall man moved his arm in front of Althea, blocking her from Lucius, before speaking in a deep but loud voice.” Who are you?”
“Lucius, Prince of the Underworld.”
“Where is Lucy?” Althea asked, and I didn’t miss the sharpness in her tone. Brave like me and Adora, but the man beside her was still holding her up and keeping her from moving.
“In the underworld. Lucija, or Lucy, as you call her, trusts me, so I guess you better do the same, young witch.” Lucius winked at Althea before giving him a smug smirk.
“Stop looking at her that way!” The man growled.
“I can look at anyone the way I want to and in whatever way I want.” He answered sarcastically, and the next thing I saw was the man who was being possessive of my granddaughter launching forward to attack Lucius, but he was thrown backward when Lucius fired an airball at him.
“Blade!” Althea shrieked as she fired lightning toward Lucius, but the demon prince blocked it, which knocked Althea back, making me scream as well as I ran toward Lucius, holding his arms up.
“Don’t you dare hurt Althea!” I screamed at him before I tilted my head to look at Althea.
She was conscious, and Kingston was helping her back to her feet while Alpha Stone was speaking with the man Althea called Blade.
“I didn’t!” Lucius yelled back, his palms facing up. “It was just a defensive instinct. They were the first to attack.”
“Then stop looking at her as if you want to eat her!”
“The f*uc*k! I was simply amazed that she’s your granddaughter, but I never looked at her the way I looked at you! You know fairly well who I want to f*uc*king eat!”
“Stop playing with your words! I will never forget you’re the prince of l*st, Lucius! So please, spare my granddaughter, or, I swear to the spirits, I will be your worst enemy!”
“Let my hand go…” He hissed, his eyes blazing red, and I swear, I saw his fangs elongating. I should be scared, but too many emotions were in my chest right now, and that fear had no space in it. I let him go, but my eyes never left him.
Soon, Alpha Stone was standing between us. “Calm down. Let’s talk. But before that, let’s make things clear here. Althea is off-limits.”
“The f*uc*k! How many times do I have to explain that I don’t f*uc*king fancy her and I will never, even look at her in that way!” His fangs retracted, but his eyes were still blazing red as he brushed his hand over his hair in frustration.
Alpha Stone tilted his head to look at me, a teasing smile was now on his lips, and I was left baffled for a few seconds until he spoke. “I guess, it’s all clear now. No need to be jealous, Patrea.”
“What?” My eyes widened. Why would he think it made me jealous? For spirit’s sake, of all people – I mean, of all creatures – I would never, for the life of me, end up liking someone like him.
“Just kidding. I’m just trying to lighten up the atmosphere here.” He smiled awkwardly at me before he looked at where Althea was.
She was standing beside Kingston, while Blade was a few feet away from them. I didn’t notice where the man who drove them here was, but the car was gone. He was probably sent away, leaving just us in this area.
“We’re supposed to be one team here. If you’re here, it means I need your help so I can bring home my Luna. We might be from different species, but I am begging everyone to set aside their differences. I need your help. Lucy needs our help.” Alpha Stone began, his gaze shifting between each of us.
I built an invisible shield to make sure his words would not be blown by the wind for others to hear. I could feel the sincerity in the Alpha’s words. All these times that he was in my presence, he had never truly shared or shown us what he felt. Except for tonight, when he tried to break everything in the kitchen.
“I’m not sure if I’m needed here. I just stepped in because of Althea…” Blade stated, but he didn’t finish his words.
“The only reason you were not summoned is that I have no idea where you are. But we need your help too. But I will not f0rce you to take part if you don’t want to. I’m just thinking we need extra protection for Althea, especially while Patrea and I are in the Underworld.”
“What do you mean? You’re going there again?” Althea asked.
“Yes. With Patrea.”
“No. She’s not going back there!”
I rushed to her side and held her hands, smiling warmly at her, trying to convince her. “I’m okay. I want to. No one is forcing me, I want to help Lucy. She doesn’t belong there, Althea.”
“But I just got you.” Her eyes were pleading.
“And you will always have me from now I promise you, I will come back.”
“What if you can’t?”
“I will. Lucius promised me that.”
“Do you believe him?” Do I? I asked myself.
I swallowed hard before nodding my head. “Yes, I do.”
“He’s a demon, Mama…”
“I know.” I pulled her into a hug as I placed my lips beside her ear and mumbled my reply. “I have lived long enough with demons that I want to believe I know when a demon can be trusted or not. I trust Lucija, and her trusting him a*s*sures me that I was right about him. He’s not like his father.”
“Can I go with you?”
“No. Not because I don’t think you’re weak or something, but we need a strong witch in this realm so we can work confidently down there.”
“What if I don’t know what I need to do?”
“I already know what you need to do; I can teach you. But I will never f0rce you. If you don’t want to do it, just say so, and I will never judge you.”
She smiled at me and nodded her head. “If you’re in. Then I’m in. We’ll save Lucy.”
“Brave like her mother.” I cupped her cheeks and rubbed them gently until my eyes fell on her neck. My heart thudded loudly. I might not have been acquainted with many wolves before I was brought to the underworld, but I was sure I knew what I was seeing.
“Are you mated?” I asked, my voice slightly higher, that it made the males gathered near Alpha Stone all turn their heads on us.
“I can explain. But not now. I will explain everything when it’s just the two of us. So please, calm down.” She rubbed her palms against the skin of my arms before she hugged me. “I’m okay, Mama. Don’t worry about it.”
I smoothed my hand over her hair as I hugged her back before my gaze darted to where the males were, and my eyes locked with the huge male with brown eyes.
Blade.
Could he be her mate? She would not jump to protect him against Lucius if he were not important to her. And if he was her mate, I just hope my granddaughter was also important to him.