Alpha’s Revenge Luna, chapter three

Emery Before closing the door, I go to the bookshelf and grab the false book off the shelf holding the safe’s key. The safe sits on the wall behind the door. “You don’t need money,” he says.

“It’s not for me; I need to give it to my grandmother,”

I tell him, ing it with the key and putting in the code. The door makes a clicking noise, and I open it when Alpha Dion grips my shoulder, jerking me back. He pulls me back when he notices my father’s gun.

I stare at it, knowing he will probably hurt me if I reach for it. Instead, I motioned for him to grab it. He tosses it on the armchair, and I fill the bag with cash and everything else, like my mother’s jewelry and some documents I figure are important if kept here.

When I am finished, I zip up the bag and stand, kicking the door of the safe shut. Alpha Dion grabs the bag from my hand and motions toward the door. Leaving out, he passes the duffle bag to one of his men before grabbing my arm.

“You’ll do it,” he told me, and I furrow my brows in confusion.

I said I would go with him, what more does he want? He passes me a Zippo lighter, and I stare at the silver metal glinting in the light. “Burn it,” he tells me, and I step back, shaking my head.

“I said burn it. This is no longer your home,” he snarls, grabbing my hand.

He turns my palm up, forcing my hand around the lighter and nudging me toward the porch and open door where one of his men is dousing the stairs in fuel. He strolls out and down the steps casually as if he didn’t just order me to destroy my family home. My eyes prick with tears as I peer up at my home before flicking my thumb over the flint.

The flame sparks, burning high, and I toss it through the door onto the hallway runner that leads up the stairs. It catches alight, and I shut my eyes, not wanting to watch the flames lick up the staircase and the walls, devouring my home. Turning around, I see Alpha Dion is watching me.

I glare at him before stalking past him and ripping the door open. Climbing in the car, I give his driver the address for my grandmother’s house. The car ride is almost silent, the tension thick in the air.

Caleb dozes on my lap while Alpha Dion sits across from us, his eyes never leaving me. The occasional glance I send him is met with a cold, unnerving stare. He holds my future, my life, in his hands, and he knows it.

My maternal grandmother lives just outside of town in an old cottage. She always despised my father but loved us regardless. I know she will raise Caleb with all her heart.

We reach my grandmother’s place quickly, nestled in the forest, with its cozy cottage design and colorful gardens with a white picket fence. The car drives up the long dirt driveway, and as we approach, she steps out of her house, shotgun in hand, aimed directly at the approaching vehicle. She may be old, but the woman is fierce.

Her wiry white hair blows in the breeze as she glares down the end of the barrel, arms strong, her lips pulled into a snarl. “If the old bitch shoots. She dies, Emery. That’s the only warning I’ll give,”

Alpha Dion says, and I swallow. “Tell your men to stand down then because she will,”

I tell him, and he growls, spinning in his seat as the car stops, and I reach for the handle. Before I get out, I cast a quick glance at Alpha Dion, almost as if asking for permission. He merely grunts, his silence haunting, the same as his next words.

“You try anything, and I will make you slit her throat,” he warns me as I grip the handle.

“Emery!” he roars at me, and I nod once, tossing the door open and climbing out.

“I won’t try anything,”

I reply. “Grandma, it’s me!”

I yell out, putting my hands up and stepping past the door. She lowers her weapon. “Emery, is that you, dear?”

She exhales, moving toward the steps when the Alpha opens his door. His shoes crunch on the gravel, and he grabs my arm as I go to move past his door. My grandmother instantly raises her gun, pointing it directly at him.

“Grandma!”

I panic as I feel his grip on my arm tighten. “Emery, who is that?” she says, moving down the steps when the doors to the other cars open.

“Grandma, stay where you are,”

I warn her, and she stops; eyeing the men piling out of the cars and surrounding her. “Where are your parents?” she asks warily, looking around.

Grandma isn’t part of my father’s pack; she refused to submit to him. She never approved of him, so she wouldn’t have felt the downfall of our pack or the silence of the mindlink. “Please, tell them to stand down,”

I whisper to Alpha Dion, praying he doesn’t kill the only family member I have left besides my brother. His eyes glaze over, and the men climb back in the cars, and Alpha Dion turns back toward the car, letting me go as he opens the back door. He grabs my brother, who is still fast asleep, making me wonder if they gave him something.

Usually, he is up by now and running amuck. Tears prick my eyes when realization dawns on her face when Alpha Dion steps out for her to see him. My grandmother knows these men aren’t my guards; she knows there is no way my mother or father would let strangers take my brother or me.

She may have thought I was running away from my father’s control, but she knows I would never endanger my brother by running off with him. “She’s gone, isn’t she?”

I barely hear her whisper as she refers to my mother. My lip quivers as I stare up at Alpha Dion, whose face is completely expressionless. I race to the back of the car, grabbing the duffle bag.

I make my way over to her, and she hangs her head. “Always knew your father would one day get her killed; I am just thankful you two survived,” she whispers, cupping my face with her hand.

Tears glisten in her eyes as she motions toward the door, trying to hold in her heartbreak. “Emery,” she gasps, ushering me inside.

“What happened?”

I briefly explain that I am leaving Caleb with her, not daring to glance back at Dion, knowing the danger grows each second I delay. I hand her the duffle bag, explaining that it contains money, jewelry, and important documents. However, she doesn’t seem to understand that I won’t be staying.

“Come, come, I will get you kids settled,” she whispers, not realizing I’m leaving, and these people aren’t merely escorting me to her.

“Emery is not staying, just the boy,”

Alpha Dion says, and she stops on the last step. I grab her arm, my hand sliding down to grab the shotgun in her hand. I swallow, feeling the tremble in her hand.

“Don’t, he will kill you both,”

I whisper to her, and she reluctantly lets it go. “Toss it, Emery,”

Alpha Dion warns behind me, and I see one of his men from my peripheral vision move closer. His hand wraps around mine in a punishing grip, and I grit my teeth, feeling my fingers crush. “Let it go,”

Dion snarls behind me, and I do. Allowing the man to take it. My grandmother peers down at my torn dress, and the filthy state I’m in.

“Please, Grandma, don’t try anything,”

I whisper to her, knowing if she does, he’ll kill her and probably Caleb. I nod at Grandma, indicating for her to step inside her cottage. Lavender and citrus fill the air, a smell in which I always find comfort.

I can smell the freshly baked cookies sitting by the open window in the kitchen to cool. Grandma loves jam drops and chocolate chip cookies; she always had an assortment of treats for us. She spoiled us rotten, however money is tight for her so I know she needs my father’s money from the safe.

It will tide her over until I find a way to get us out of this mess. We step into the living room, which has a large window with drapes on either side. The furniture is antique, the couch and chairs a rich red velvet.

A soft rug with a floral pattern adorns the floor. The curtains match the sofa, a thick royal blue with white flowers. My grandma’s home is always immaculate; it’s hard not to feel safe in her presence.

But tonight, I don’t feel safe anywhere. Alpha Dion walks into the living room and places Caleb on the red plaid, velvet pattern couch, and I set the duffle bag on the hall stand noticing grandma watching Alpha Dion with suspicion. “What are your intentions with my granddaughter?” she asks, staring at me in panic.

I’m surprised by the gentleness in his voice as he speaks to her. “She is to become my Luna,” he tells her.

My grandmother’s face doesn’t change, her eyes don’t widen, she doesn’t gasp, or suddenly back up in fear. She just stares at him, her face blank, her dark hazel eyes widen the slightest at what he is telling her. My grandmother looks at me curiously.

“And you agreed to this?” she asks.

“She doesn’t have a choice,”

Dion answers before I can try to placate her with a lie she’d probably see straight through. “But she isn’t even of age; she won’t even have her wolf for a few more days,” she pleads with him.

Her words fall on deaf ears. He claims I am his mate, and I know with such claims, he will not let me go. If legend is true, finding your mate gives an Alpha insurmountable strength and purer bloodlines.

However, Alpha Dion being Hybrid, I am not quite sure how things will change for him. “Once she shifts, she will provide an heir,” he tells her like it is simple and expected of me.

But becoming a mother is one thing I didn’t want at the ripe age of nineteen. “But… she–”

“She will provide an heir once her wolf comes in, and we can complete the mating ritual,” he tells her, his voice changing to more of a warning.

“Now, come, Emery. I did as you asked, I didn’t kill him. Now we leave,” he tells me, grabbing my arm.

“Wait!” my grandmother shrieks.

He growls in annoyance. However, he does stop. “At least let me say a proper goodbye,” my grandmother pleads.

Alpha Dion snarls but lets me go, shoving me toward her. “You have five minutes,” he snaps at me, and my grandmother leads me to the kitchen while the Alpha follows, watching our every move.

The scent of freshly baked cookies lingers on her skin—her favorite scent, and a memory I’ll hold dear to my heart. She always has cookies cooling to with her visitors. She is the sweetest woman in the world.

And even now, under duress, they’re the first thing she reaches for. “Cookie?” she asks him, but he shakes his head as she pulls the plate from the windowsill; she offers me one, and I take one, biting into it.

She smiles sadly before looking at Alpha Dion. “Am I allowed to give her something?” my grandmother asks, and Alpha Dion glares at her.

“Just a family heirloom, nothing bad. It has been passed down through the women in our family. Her brother won’t have much use for the jewelry box or the necklace it contains,” she says before looking at me.

There’s some unspoken message in her gaze. “Just hurry; I would like to leave,” he tells her, and she rushes off, leaving me with Alpha Dion.

He mutters under his breath, clearly losing his patience. He glances at his watch. “If this takes much longer I will kill them both, Emery. I haven’t got time for this soppy shit,” he snarls.

“Feel free to leave me here, then!”

I retort angrily. He’s ripping me away from my entire life, the only one I’ve known, and he can’t spare me a few minutes to at least try to calm my grandmother. He takes a step toward me, and I flinch when my grandmother suddenly returns with a jewelry box.

She grabs a locket out of a box that belonged to my great-grandmother. Alpha Dion snatches it from her, checking to ensure it is indeed just that. He sighs, handing it back to her.

She taps my shoulder, wanting me to turn around, and I do, allowing her to clasp it around my neck. Alpha Dion shakes his head before snatching the jewelry box. As my grandmother embraces me, he rattles it to ensure it is just that.

“Are you done now?” he asks her.

My grandmother glances at him, but I don’t see the look she gives him. “Hurry up, Emery,” he snarls, stalking down the hallway, and my grandmother glances over her shoulder.

“I filled the bottom of the jewelry box with belladonna; you remember how the locket works,” she whispers so softly I almost don’t catch her words.

She pulls away, staring me in the eye as I try to decipher what she is telling me. My grandmother is an herbalist who dabbles in witchcraft; my mother always said she is a little cooky, and she has gotten worse with age. “Belladonna,” she mouths to me, trying to get me to remember something she believes she told me.

I pinch my brows before clarity washes over me. My eyes widen, and she nods, seeing the recognition on my face. She rubs her thumb over the locket.

“Compressed. One a day; there is a month’s supply. You may need to figure out a way to escape before you run out; I will be ready for when you return,” she whispers, flattening out my hair when Dion growls, stalking up the hallway.

His footsteps draw closer, and my lips tug up as I realize the gift she’s given me. She’s bought me time—time I didn’t think I would have. “That’s my girl,” she whispers.

Belladonna would stop my wolf from coming forward, delaying my shift. He can’t mark me until I’ve shifted; the mark would not hold. He also cannot mate me since Alpha’s have what’s called a knot, which fuses them to us.

It causes swelling at the base of their cock, and without a wolf, if a she-wolf tears without the ability to heal, she can bleed out. “Emery, now,”

Alpha Dion snaps, and I quickly grab the silver jewelry box, giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek. Alpha Dion glares at me, and I rush to his side, clutching the jewelry box tightly. It is my only hope, my only chance to get out of this situation.

Striding down the hall, I stop in the living room. “Go on, hurry; I want to get home before dark,” he snaps, seeing me glance over at my brother, and I quickly race toward my brother.

“Did you drug him?”

I ask him when I find him still asleep. “Only with sleeping tablets. Your brother will be fine. It’s nothing toxic,” he snarls at me.

I raise an eyebrow at him. How could he say that when he held a knife to my brother’s throat and threatened to kill him? He killed my parents, and he’s lost the only life he has ever known, all while he slept.

He will not be okay. He may never be okay. “Please take care of him,”

I plead to my grandmother before kissing Caleb’s forehead. My grandmother nods, tears streaming down her face. I fight back my own, taking one last look at Caleb’s peaceful face and leaning down.

“I’ll come back for you, I promise,”

I whisper in his ear before kissing his cheek. Apparently, I am taking too long because Alpha Dion seizes my arm and hauls me out of the house, making me stumble over my feet. He leads me to the back of the car and opens the door.

I hesitate. “Either get in the back with me, or I’ll put you in the trunk,” he threatens, making my heart race.

Panic makes my skin itch; I can’t go in there. With one last glance at my grandmother, who stands on the porch, I duck my head and slide across the seat to the other side. Alpha Dion climbs in beside me, shutting his door, and the driver starts the car.

We follow the succession of cars down the long, winding, dirt driveway. I press my head against the cool glass, peering out the window. “You’ll regret taking me as your mate,”

I whisper to him. “And why is that, Emery?” he asks, pulling his phone from his pocket.

“Because one day I will be your downfall; maybe not today, next month or year, but when you least suspect it,”

Alpha Dion laughs, and I glance back at him. “A man’s gotta sleep,”

I tell him. “You better do it with one eye open,”

I add when his hand reaches over and grabs my hair, yanking my head back. Alpha Dion’s grip tightens in my hair, and I can feel the pain intensifying as he pulls back. I let out a faint gasp, but he doesn’t seem to notice it.

His hands roam over my body, making me shiver in disgust. He leans in closer, his breath hot on my skin. “Little mate, I wouldn’t tempt me,” he snarls, his other hand wrapping around my throat.

His thumb presses against the pulse point on my neck. “But I crave something else. I crave your death, and accidents happen,” he growls.

I grit my teeth, my hair pulling painfully as he tugs on it. My heart rate spikes with fear as I try to pull from his grasp, but it is no use; he is too strong for me A tear escapes from my eye as he moves away from me, returning to his phone call without another word. My thoughts immediately turn to escape this nightmare alive while keeping Caleb safe at the same time.

An idea forms in my mind right then – an idea so crazy and desperate there is no way it can work…but maybe it is worth a shot? Taking a deep calming breath, I speak up once more. “Just as I crave yours, asshole,”

I manage to squeak out through gritted teeth as Alpha Dion glares at me with raised eyebrows and amusement mixed together. “I may accidentally stab you while you sleep,”

I add defiantly before shrinking back into the corner of the car seat again. I stay pressed against the door where I’m just out of arm’s reach. Alpha Dion just snorts at my threat.

“You’re brave; I’ll give you that, little mate,” he says, patting my thigh.

Alpha Dion quietly chuckles darkly at my threat and leans back, his eyes glinting with amusement. “You have a feisty spirit,” he says.

“But don’t think for a moment I won’t put you in your place if you step out of line.”

The drive away from my grandmother’s home is long and silent. I’m sandwiched between two burly men. Hours slip by as we continue to drive when we pull into a dimly lit gas station.

As the car slows, an idea forms in my mind almost instantly; this is my chance to escape. The limo comes to a sudden halt at a gas station. Dion, the bane of my existence, steps out, his cold gaze resting on me for a moment before he instructs one of his men to refuel the car.

My heart thunders in my chest as an idea sparks in my mind—I can run. I move to slide across the seat and open my door when Alpha Dion speaks. “Where do you think you’re going?’ Dion snaps at me. “I need to use the restroom,” I lie, injecting as much innocence as I can muster into my voice. He growls, climbing out of the car, and so do I as I stare at the restroom just inside, the neon light lit up above the door. He looks at me suspiciously for a moment before nodding. “Fine, make it quick.” A hushed conversation with guards and I am allowed to leave under the watchful eyes of Dion’s guards. The air is filled with the buzz of conversation from a group of teenagers loitering outside the store, though I don’t doubt that Dion would hurt them if I tried to ask for help though it is taunting seeing so many people who could. However, it is not worth the risk to their lives. The screech of the car door opening and closing has me glancing around, the sound of the pump nozzle sucking the gas, and the low thrum of the music playing in the store. Stepping through the sliding door, I notice the fluorescent lights give off a sickly green glow. The cashier’s face is grayish under the lights, her lips pulled down in a permanent scowl as she rings up a customer. I make a beeline for the restroom, knowing I won’t have long before they come looking for me. The restroom door swings shut behind me, and I’m alone. Alone with my thoughts. Alone with my fear. I take a few deep breaths, steadying my racing heart when I spot a back window, an escape route. My hands are shaking as I fumble to open the window. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, I manage to pry it open and clamber out into the fresh air. My feet hit the pavement as soon as they leave the window ledge, and I stumble out of range of the gas station, hoping not to be seen. I take off running, not sure where I am going but determined to put as much distance between me and him as possible. Only I don’t get far. Dion’s guards are quick and brutally efficient. My legs pound against the asphalt as shouts erupt behind me just as I hit the tree line. Twigs and branches scratch at my bare legs. Tearing at my dress even more. The dread propelling me forward drowns out the stinging pain in my lungs until suddenly, I’m jerked back. A hand closes around my arm, halting my progress. The next second, a vice-like grip clamps onto my wrist harshly. Glancing up, I find the hand belongs to Alpha Dion as my eyes meet his furious ones.