Alpha Bait (13 page)

Taking her to bed, Scorch held her tightly as he started to relax after the long run.

Protect her first, then lay claim to her.

Scorch thought about the coming days and knew he would need to bring the rest of his pack up to speed before he went out and risked the whole of his life with what he was about to do.

Chapter Ten

It was the day, and Victoria was panicking. Scorch was outside chopping some firewood, and she knew what she needed to do. Mandy sat on the edge of the bed waiting. Victoria continued to pace up and down the room wishing there was something she could do to bring her whole world into focus.

“Your pacing is starting to hurt my head,” Mandy said.

“I can’t help it. I’m thinking, and I can’t think sitting down. I have to pace.” Pushing some hair out of her eyes, she looked up at the ceiling then down at the floor. Her mind was all over the place, scaring her.

“Scorch is waiting for you. So are David and the rest of the alphas. You need to do this, or you’re never going to be free of him.” Mandy was her voice of reason. Victoria couldn’t believe it took her so long to finally have a friend in her life.

“I know. I know. I know. I know.” This entire day was driving her insane. Last night she’d been in Scorch’s arms as he made love and fucked her. He’d taken her pussy twice and then her ass once. “This is fucking insane. He’s putting his life at risk by doing this.”

“If you don’t do this, Victoria, your parents and everyone you know would have died for nothing.”

“I know that,” she said, yelling the words and wincing. Her heart was racing. Glancing down at the front yard she saw Scorch pause in chopping wood. He looked up and smiled at her. Shaking her head, she looked at Mandy. “I can’t do this.”

“If you don’t do this then you’re risking everyone at your old pack along with all of us here. Chain will come for us, and then you’ll be regretting not taking this chance today.”

Tears fell from Victoria’s eyes as she stared at her friend.

“I could lose David today if this all goes wrong. He’s my life-mate, and I can’t stand the thought of living without him.” Mandy stared at her showing the real fear. “Please, put us all out of our misery and be the queen we all know you can be.”

Biting her lip, Victoria lifted the phone in front of her and typed in the number she remembered for most of her adult life. Placing the cell phone to her ear she listened to it ring. All the time she listened to it ring she couldn’t help the need to hang up, go to Scorch and run.

No, no more running.

“Hello,” Chain said. His voice sent a shiver up her spine. He scared the living daylights out of her.

“It’s me. It’s Victoria,” she said, wincing at the strain she heard in her own voice.

“Ah, Victoria, I’ve missed you. I take it our meeting has finally caught up to you.” Gritting her teeth, she stared at the silver chain on the bed beside Mandy. Picking up the chain she recalled the silver chain wrapped around her throat as Chain threatened her.

Time to stop running.

“I hadn’t forgotten what I was doing. Your marks made Scorch worried. He’s by my side constantly.”

“Where is he now?” Chain asked.

“He’s chopping wood. I’m cold and needed to call you.”

“And why would you do that?”

Closing her eyes, Victoria couldn’t speak while she was looking at Mandy. She was so worried. What if all of the other alphas had made a mistake?
Crap.
She didn’t have the time to think of all of the options. “In two hours I’m leading him out to the woods, close to you on the western side.” She pressed her fingers into her leg, sinking her nails in deep. Victoria wanted to hurt herself before she put Scorch in danger.

“My little wolf is giving me what I want.”

“Yes. His protector will be away as his mate needs him. This is your only chance to get him to yourself.”

She started pacing again feeling her heart pound. Chain chuckled. He paused over the line, and Victoria felt her stomach turn at the ear-piercing scream of a female.

“I can pull myself away from this little slut. I’ll be there, and if you think to double cross me then I will warn you, I’ll kill you and let Scorch watch as I hurt you.”

Victoria didn’t say anything as Chain hung up. Throwing the phone away from her body she felt violated by what she’d done. Collapsing to her knees, she sobbed. Mandy didn’t even try to console her. Seconds later she felt Scorch holding her.

“You did good, baby. We can do this. The alphas are in place. Chain is not going to survive the day.”

“Please don’t promise me anything. I don’t want to deal with any promises right now.” She pressed her hands to her face, wanting everyone to leave her alone to her misery.

“You’ve got to get her settled, Scorch. If she doesn’t then he’s going to know something else is going on. This is for all of us,” Mandy said, moving out of the room.

Once they were completely alone Victoria wrapped her arms and legs around his body. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Nothing will. You’ve got to have some faith and trust in the alphas. They want us to do this, and I believe in them.”

For the next hour she sat holding onto him. When they only had an hour to go, she pasted a smile on her face and followed Scorch out of the door. “We’ve got to do this, and you’ve got to act happy about this.”

“I will. I won’t fail you. I promise.” Holding onto his hand she followed behind him, smiling. She didn’t look around the forest.

“We’re going out,” Scorch said. The pack was watching him. They all knew their part in this new battle. “I don’t want any of you following.”

Mandy was hidden inside the house while David was with the alphas waiting for the right time to strike.

We can do this. We can do this.

They left the comfort of the house as Scorch led her through the thick forest. He pulled her in front of him, pressing her against the tree. His lips was on hers seconds later. Closing her eyes, she basked in his attention knowing she couldn’t wait for all of this to be over so she could mate with him.

“Relax.”

“I’m so relaxed.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body to his. “Come on, baby, make me ache.” He lifted her up in his arms, deepening the kiss. They both moaned, and then he had her on her feet.

“Come on, let’s go.” He took her hand and led her deeper through the forest.

She tried her hardest to ignore the racing of her own heart as Scorch took charge leading her out. When he veered off to the right, she pulled him up short. None of them knew if Chain would be watching so she made herself stop. If he was watching then she needed to lead Scorch astray.

“No, not down there.”

“Come on, Tori. We can have some fun down there. Don’t argue with me.”

“Tell you what, do what I want, and I’ll give you everything you’ve ever dreamed about,” she said, sliding a finger down his chest. All of it was an act, and she saw Scorch give in.

“Lead me where you need me.”

She headed back in the right direction wishing she was stronger than Scorch and could take Chain out of the situation without any harm coming to
Scorch
.

When they were in the right area she stopped and smiled at him. The smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she knew Scorch saw it. “What’s the matter, baby? You want to fuck here.”

Using his incredible alpha strength he shoved her against the nearest tree. Fighting the urge to look around she held onto her man, kissing him.

Chain was close. Victoria knew her old alpha wouldn’t miss an opportunity to get what he wanted.

“God, I could fuck you forever.”

“You won’t be getting that chance,” Chain said, appearing behind Scorch. Victoria’s eyes widened, scared. Before Chain could lash out, Scorch spun around landing a blow to his face, sending him hurtling across the forest.

Victoria watched, looking around hoping to find one of the alphas or David waiting for them. Scorch was able to land a blow to Chain without affecting the change as the wolf knew he was protecting her.

“We’ve got a score to settle, bitch,” Lidia said, appearing on the right out of nowhere. The other woman hadn’t even registered in her mind. Looking at Lidia, she tensed as the other woman slammed her foot against Victoria’s chest.

Grunting, she collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. The heels of the woman’s boots had hurt.

“Are you with Chain?” Victoria asked, confused.

“No, I’m not with Chain. I’m here to take my fucking place at Scorch’s side. I’ve been watching you both, and I’m sick of everything I’ve seen. I watched you leading him out here. When I saw the other male approaching I knew I had a small chance of getting to kill you. Once I’m done with you, I’ll help Scorch, and he’ll be forever grateful. You’re alone, and I’m going to fucking kill you. He’s mine, not yours, and it’s time for him to see the truth.” She charged once again. Tensing up, Victoria held Lidia off, but the other woman was close to turning. She didn’t want to resort to her wolf.
Neither of them were alpha females, and so they could attack each other.
Victoria heard Chain and Scorch in the background. They were not fighting even though she sensed they wanted to. Chain had his usual weapon, lashing out at Scorch. Lidia had used this opportunity to kill her. She couldn’t die. Victoria loved Scorch with all of her heart. She would fight to stay alive.

She didn’t want to hurt Lidia, but how was she going to get the other woman to stop?

****

Scorch stared into the bastard’s eyes, and he knew what Victoria meant. Chain was full of evil. The wolf wanted to do something, but there were always so many boundaries. The length of steel by Chain’s side tormented him. The desire to grab the chain and kill the man was strong. He ignored the pull, waiting for the alphas to step in.

In that moment Scorch detested his wolf and the inability to change into wolf form and kill the man who caused so much harm.

“You think she cares about you? You think Victoria loves you? She knows who her alpha is,” Chain said, tormenting him.

He wouldn’t give the other man the satisfaction. Lidia’s presence was an unwelcome distraction. The lead alphas would deal with her along with Chain. Lidia would be removed from society and learn the errors of her ways.

“Why?” Scorch asked.

“What?”

“Why
are you wanting
to destroy you connection with your wolf?”

Chain laughed. “He gets in the way. I want all the power with no interference from anyone.” He growled when his gaze landed on Victoria behind him. “No woman will reject me again. They’ll know to bow down to me and take what I fucking give them.”

“This is about rape?” His hatred increased tenfold.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to need something? I need to feel all my women screaming underneath me as I take them.”

The sick bastard wanted to rape women and hurt his pack. The wolf inside Scorch growled to protect, to take out the man who’d hurt the life of their packs forever.

Taking several deep breaths, he dodged the lash of the steel as Chain tried to hurt him. Scorch was stronger than the other alpha and faster. Chain was distracted by his need.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw the alphas approaching. Grabbing Chain, he restrained the male against the tree without hurting him. It took every ounce of strength not to hurt the man. The thought of the pain from the forced turning kept him steady.

“Fucking bitch,” Chain said, snarling at Victoria as he saw the other men approaching. David restrained Lidia without hurting her. The alphas cuffed Chain, holding him down by the silver chains that had once been his weapons.

“Lidia will be removed and taken for punishment where she will realize the error of her ways,” Edward said.

“How do you punish when we can’t hurt?” Scorch asked, grabbing Victoria’s hand.

“We have other means
to
 
handle
punishable wolves. Lidia’s desire to be your queen will be handled. She’ll have her focus altered toward her efforts of joining another pack.” Edward nodded toward Chain. “He’s too far gone. The only hope we have is of his pack finding their real leader.”

Scorch kept hold of his woman, his mate, and he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. She had a cut on her cheek, which annoyed him.

“What happens now?” Victoria asked.

“We’re going to your pack.” Scorch kissed her head. “You’ve got to lead the way. When your pack sees you they’ll relax.”

He hoped they were grateful for them capturing Chain. Looking at the other alpha tied and snarling, Scorch felt relief at seeing him restrained. Chain kept his gaze on Victoria.

“I’m going to get free, and I’m going to kill you. I can’t wait to hear you beg for me to let you live.”

“Ignore him, Tori. He can’t hurt anyone. We need you to lead us to where your pack resides.” Scorch cupped her face, offering her strength by sheer will alone.

“You’ll be by my side?” she asked.