Fated To the Alpha by Jessica Hall
Chapter 174
“I thought it was that museum place”
“Dominic moved it” Ezra says and I see Mateo’s eyes dart to mine and feel his nervousness now we are here.
“He is going to challenge me isn’t he?” “Yes, that’s why it is here”
“You said he may, if he had every intention to challenge me all along why didn’t you say something?”
“Because we both knew you would panic, but you will be fine Kat. We won’t put you in a situation we feel is unsafe”
“Unsafe? What part of being challenged is safe?” “Calm down, this is why we didn’t tell you”
“I wouldn’t need to calm down if you told me, I am so sick and tired of the pair of you hiding sh*t from me, I thought we are supposed to be equal in this sh*t. But you never tell me anything until the last minute”
“We don’t want to worry you, that is why” Mateo says, turning in his seat before hopping out of the car to help Marge get the kids out.
“ IT WORRIES ME THAT YOU FEEL THE NEED TO KEEP THINGS FROM ME” I scream at them.
“Not here Kat, we can argue about it when we get home” Ezra says looking out at the other cars pulling up.
“When we get home, not here” Ezra snaps when I go to argue with him.
“I am not a child” I snap back at him.
“Then stop acting like one. You are about to take on the Alpha of Alpha’s and you want to have a tantrum in the car over us not telling you, we told you that the title might be challenged, we didn’t lie to you because the venue wasn’t changed until last night. That’s when we knew for certain Dominic was planning on fighting to keep his title”
“But you still didn’t say anything, you could have f*uc*king told me” I tell him.
“What difference would it have made Kat, it wouldn’t change anything, just cause you unnecessary stress and you wouldn’t have slept” Ezra says before getting out of the car and opening the back door.
“Now Kat! Do not make a scene here” Ezra growls
when Marge leans in on her side to grab the blanket off the floor.
“He is right, Love. Come on, you three need to look united. It doesn’t look good if you go in there arguing” I sigh, getting out knowing she is right.
I am never told anything until the last minute. Even when I was put on meds I was under the a*s*sumption the appointment was for the kids until I heard my name called instead of theirs. I did think it weird though that Ezra insisted on coming to that appointment and even cancelled his meetings for it.
I was done with the secrecy between us, done with them thinking I can’t handle it. Yet they are both happy for me to challenge a title but I am not allowed to know what the f*uc*k is going on, it made no sense to me.
Once both kids are settled in the pram and we are about to head in through the entrance. Andrei pulls up beside us.
Sage smiles as she gets out and is also dressed in a blue fitting dress, looking exactly how a Luna is expected to look. I walk over giving her a hug when she opens the back door and Jonah hops out. He smiles instantly, grabbing her hand and looking around.
“You must be Jonah, I am Kat” I tell him, he shakes my hand with his tiny one when I am
suddenly s*cked into a vision. The air whooshes out of my lungs and I am plunged into new surroundings. The stadium is gone and I find myself at Andrei’s Pack. The sight around me is nothing but a bloodbath.
People dead on the ground everywhere, yet those attacking don’t look like rogues. They are well-trained fighters, Andrei’s pack equally efficient but lacking the numbers. I turn around watching the carnage when I see Mateo, he runs straight through me and I turn to see where he is going when I hear Andrei scream for Sage while chasing after Mateo.
So much going on it was hard to keep track of as I turned to see Andrei screaming and running straight toward me, the coldest feeling creeping over me as he too rushed through me when there was a huge explosion.
I cover my ears not expecting the blast only to be tossed backwards into the dirt. Sitting up, my heart thumps against my chest when I see bod*ies scattered everywhere.
Andrei clutching Sage in his hands as everyone rushes toward the burning destruction of the packhouse, digging through the debris and that’s when I notice Mateo lying dead not far from Andrei. Ezra frantically tries to revive his charred and burnt body.
My stomach twists as I look around praying this isn’t some future I was envisioning, that it was a figment of my imagination or a crazed nightmare from being a Gemini wolf. Then I hear laughing behind me and I turn to see a man.
His figure was imposing as he clapped his hands, finding my brother and my mate’s devastation hilarious. Backed up by an army of shifted wolves behind him when I hear shifting and menacing growls only to see Donnie and Maddox had taken over.
The man doesn’t seem fazed by their K*ller wolves, instead he smiles cruelly and raises his hand in the air. The wolves behind him growling and snapping their jaws and he drops it clasping his hands and rolling them.
The menacing look of red eyes chills me to the bone. Dark mist envelopes his hands spreading out over the wolves behind him, turning them into rabid beasts with blood red eyes.
“K*ll them all” He says and the wolves start charging toward me where I was standing watching all this play out. I scream seeing Donnie and Maddox running into the fray. I clench my eyes shut waiting for the rush of coldness as they run through me, yet all I could think was where the hell was I and who the hell are we at war with?
“Kat! ”
“Kat, love. Open your eyes” I hear before I gasp s*cking in much needed air to see Ezra clutching my face. I jerk my hand out of Jonah’s not realizing I was squeezing it though he didn’t look hurt just staring at me curiously.
“What is it?” Ezra says and my eyes go to his caramel ones.
“Not here, not around the kids” I tell him looking at Jonah and where Marge was standing with ours.
“You good?” He asks. I nod and he helps me stand, my entire body is trembling with adrenaline coursing through me. Ezra and Mateo glancing at me.
They know I had a vision but I could tell they were too scared to press for information, especially while here because let’s face it I am yet to have one that isn’t miserable or end in tragedy.
Reaching over I grab Ezra’s hand, needing his comfort. He lifts my hand to his lips before tugging me under his arm. I inhaled his scent, letting it calm me as we walked inside the entrance. It wasn’t what I was expecting though, I expected it to be like any other stadium and it was, except it had been covered over with a roof of white cloth, stretching the length of the stadium and shielding it from the blistering heat of the sun.
One half of the stadium was tables and chairs, the other open field still shielded from the sun and I knew that was for anyone wanting to challenge me. Off to one side was a fenced in area and play equipment set up.
Marge, my father who I didn’t even notice was here and Sage heading in the direction of it with the other parents that brought their kids.
“Ready?” Ezra asks as I look out at the hundreds of eyes watching me curiously. All the Luna’s were over in the kids section sitting together while their mates and Alphas sat in the main area.
I now understood what Ezra meant about them not liking a woman over ranking them by the glaring stares that were all pointed at me. I pull my aura in, shielding its strength from them. Not liking their angry gazes pointed at me.
“What are you doing?” Ezra and Mateo mindlink me at the exact same time.
“Pull your auras in” I tell them knowing the crowd of Alphas were a little too far to feel them yet. They do as I ask which shocked me but it must have been something in my tone of voice. All eyes pointed at me like I was some intruder.
It was clear they knew who Mateo and Ezra were so that only meant I was their Luna and the hatred was obvious. Looking over at my kids in the Luna area, my father was the only male over there looking out of place and it angered me that the women were separated, some nodded and smiled, others glared.
Some ignored me completely. Being here showed me how differently Ezra and my brother ran things, mates are supposed to be equal but not with this bunch of Alphas. Andrei drops his hand on my shoulder behind me.
“Give em hell sis” he whispers and I smile. Ezra squeezes my fingers and I look up at him and nod letting him lead me down the aisle up the middle of everyone. I could hear everyone’s whispers and disapproving words but I refused to show how nervous I truly was.
Instead, using my anger as a shield. Some even spoke of how it is all lies, that Jackson pack couldn’t have been taken down by a small girl. The word girl burned my tongue with the way the Alpha spat it out.
I could feel the eyes of everyone following my every move as I walked toward the table at the front that was empty but it was clear it was for the Alpha of Alphas as it was the head table.
Ezra pulls me off the side sitting at the table we had been placed at. As soon as I sat down the other Alpha’s at the table got up moving away from me like I had the plague, other Alpha’s moving chairs and letting the five that were at our table move to theirs.
I glare at them and Ezra growls in warning of their disrespect. Andrei pulls his chair out, dropping in it and folding his arms across his chest, also pissed “That’s fine Kat, don’t need low breeds at the table anyway” He says loud enough they heard.
Typical Alphas jumping up to defend themselves until Ezra, Mateo and Andrei stood up. They all quickly sat down again when I realised the tables were arranged by the strength of the Alphas.
I felt my eyes glow as I looked around at the crowd sensing their strength through their auras.
Weaklings, I now understood why they sat back down, their auras nowhere near as strong as my mates, though I was a little shocked Andrei was stronger then the other Alpha’s considering my father was a Beta, making me wonder how that was possible yet it was evident. Another question for Seline, I needed to write a list.
People talk amongst themselves for a while when silence falls over everyone and they suddenly stand. I get up when I see Ezra and Mateo get up along with Andrei before seeing a man take his seat at the head table. He helps his son into his seat.
A man and a boy around Jonah’s age sit down. Yet his Luna wasn’t with him, making me wonder if the Alpha of Alpha’s had the same view as the rest of these Alphas. By the fact she wasn’t by his side, it was clear he did.
Once they are seated everyone sits down but I couldn’t tear my eyes from the man sitting at the head table, he looked familiar and the moment he looked up, I knew why. His eyes instantly fell on me and I pressed my lips in a line when I saw it was the man from the vision as blood-red eyes watched me. He smirks before moving his eyes to the crowd and addressing it.
“ Seems some Alpha’s forgot there Luna’s place is with the rest of the Luna’s and not with their superiors” He jokes making everyone laugh except us. Ezra goes to get up but I grab his hand under the table and he remains in place when Dominic turns his glare on me, like he was expecting me to get up and run to the Luna area.
I hold his gaze, refusing to look away first and a clear challenge. He growls and I feel his aura rush out and everyone bares their necks to him, some of the Alphas even whimper. Andrei also bares his neck, unable to fight the compulsion to submit to a higher rank. Mateo and Ezra however just stare at him unaffected.
While I decided to poke the big bad wolf and smile at him.
“ Interesting pet you keep Ezra” Dominic says to him.
“Call her a pet again Dominic and we will have issues” Ezra tells him.
“That’s Alpha to you” Dominic snaps, all niceties gone from his angered tone.
“An Alpha of Alpha’s is someone of higher rank than me, the fact you couldn’t get me or my mates to submit clearly shows you are not my Alpha. Now sit down and show my mate the respect she is owed, you invited her here wanting to challenge her.
She came but that doesn’t mean she will bow to you nor will I ask her to, you want her to submit?” Ezra asks, lifting my hand to his lips. He kisses my fingertips before sitting back and motioning to me with his hand.
“Then make her” He challenges, my heart skips a beat at his words and his complete faith in me to rise to the challenge. Dominic sits down like nothing happened when the caters come over.
“First we eat, then we will see who will win the battle of titles” He announces as servers start coming out, placing dishes on the tables.