Stolen by the Alpha Book 3

I’m back where it all started…Vengeance Castle.

Kace has me chained to a wall inside his personal chambers, along with Lexia. I look to her for comfort, but she’s just as frightened as I am.

This can’t be happening.

This can’t be happening.

This can’t be happening…but it is. It did happen.

We’re trapped.

Kace’s men came up on us as soon as we escaped the mines.

They rounded up the other pack members, but I don’t know where they’ve been taken.

The only consolation is knowing that we brought down the mines.

We accomplished what we set out to do. Whatever Kace was planning has been thwarted— at least for now.

And now we’re here.

I am his prisoner, as is Kaden.

I can feel him near… his pain, his suffering…

I reach out to him with my mind, but I get no response.

Nothing.

We were so close…

I’m startled by the sound of the door opening. There’s only one person it can possibly be… I can smell him.

“Mara,” the false Alpha says, entering the room. “You have no idea how much it means to see you again.” Several guards file in behind him.

He steps in close.

“Logic tells me I should thrash and beat you for what you and your friends have done,” Kace goes on, “but I can’t help respecting you even more. Your boldness and bravery simply confirm what I already knew…that you should be Luna—my Luna. As it was intended from the start.”

I cringe at the thought of it.

“I’m compelled to take you into my arms and feel your body next to mine…and kiss you.” He takes another step forward and leans in close. I can feel his breath on my lips. I thrash my head forward to bash in his skull, but he easily steps aside.

He laughs.

“But I know you all too well. You’re not ready for it—not yet at least—but you will be.”

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’d ever willingly be with you,” I reply.

I don’t care how much power he wields. I refuse to put up with his bullshit.

He pompously paces back and forth.

“I think you’re forgetting the last time we were together. If I remember correctly, you couldn’t keep your hands off me.”

“Is that the only way you can get off? Forcing yourself upon others?” Lexia snidely remarks.

“Shut up, bitch!” Kace roars, backhanding her in the face.

A trickle of blood drips from her mouth, but she doesn’t back down.

She smirks.

“Really? Is that all you’ve got, little man?” she says, waving her pinky finger.

Kace hits her twice more, but Lexia doesn’t give in.

Why is she provoking him?

At least, that’s what I want to tell her, but I know she won’t listen to a word I say. She’s too stubborn, like me.

Lexia starts laughing uncontrollably.

“Do you enjoy beating women?” she says between chuckles. “Does it turn you on? Get you hard? I bet you can’t even get it up by yourself! You need one of these fluffers to do it for you!” she says, referring to the guards.

He balls his fist and pulls back for another strike.

“Kace, stop!” I yell.

But he does it anyway, punching her this time. He continues to hit her until she’s coughing up blood and stumbles to the floor—no longer laughing.

“See? Not so funny now, is it…’Alpha’? You’re an abomination. That’s the joke!”

“She’s more Alpha than you’ll ever be!” I exclaim. “A wild dog would be better suited than you!”

He steps forward and glares into my eyes, but I don’t relent.

“You’re not even half the Alpha that Kaden is, nor could you ever be,” I say coldly.

His eyes widen, and his nostrils flare. His wolf is trying to emerge. He’s desperately trying to control it.

“You mean the beast who once kidnapped you from your home, locked you in a cell, blackmailed you into trying to kill an unborn baby…” he says, stepping in even closer, “Remind me…how many times did his wolf try to kill you?”

“That wasn’t his fault, and you know it! He was made to do those things!”

“Really? Are you sure about that?”

I rush toward him, but my chains hold me back.

“I’d choke you with these if I had the chance!” I say, holding up my chains.

“I bet you would,” he says, looking me up and down lustfully.

He’s beginning to release pheromones. They permeate throughout the room.

“Oh, Mara, the more you resist, the more I want you. I think it’s time you were marked.”

I throw my back against the wall.

“Don’t be afraid of me,” he says, unable to turn away from Kaden’s mark.

It’s driving him wild.

His desire to mate is stronger than I’ve ever seen it. I can see the pathetic excuse between his legs start to grow.

I gasp when his eyes shift from human to wolf—yellow and piercing.

He takes a step toward me.

“Don’t come any closer!”

He stops.

“Maybe you’re right… You come to me,” he says, commanding me with his eyes.

My body feels the pull to do so. I begin moving forward.

I close my eyes and think of Kaden.

But then something happens I didn’t expect. The draw toward him stops, as do my feet. I don’t feel anything at all. It’s as if the control he had over me suddenly vanishes.

I open my eyes and see that Kace’s scarred face is just as confused as mine. The veins in his neck begin to bulge as he struggles to keep me under his will, but it has no effect.

I turn to Lexia, and she looks just as shocked as I am.

“This is impossible,” he shouts, panting heavily from his struggle.

My confidence is growing. I can feel my strength from within begin to grow.

He wants me to come to him against my will, so instead, I step forward all on my own—my choice.

He’s taken aback.

“I am Mara, rightful Luna of the Vengeance Pack,” I say, looking him directly in the eye. “And you have no power over me…not anymore!”

Kace looks around like a crazed animal, not knowing what to do.

He then grabs me by the throat and knocks me against the wall. He pulls down the neckline of my bodice and looks at my bite marks ravenously.

“Let her go!” Lexia yells, but he ignores her.

I push against him, but he’s too strong.

I try to shift but am still unable.

He opens his mouth as his canines begin to grow. I can feel his throbbing hard-on against my leg. His wolf is taking control.

He grabs me by my blonde locks and pulls my head back, exposing my marks even more.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” he whispers into my ear. “And so will you.”

His lips lightly brush down my cheek and neck until he’s right over my marks, but I refuse to go down without a fight.

I twist and squirm, but I can’t break free of his hold. I spit in his face, but that only excites him even more. He yelps in pain from a kick to the groin, so he turns me around and shoves me against the wall. I call to the Goddess when I feel his canines pressing down against my skin. I can’t move.

But then he suddenly stops and pulls back. Something outside the window catches his attention. I strain to listen, and then I hear it too…a low rumbling followed by many voices shouting.

“No…” Kace says under his breath.

I step forward to get a better view, and to my surprise, I see hundreds of wolves rushing toward us with a familiar sand-colored wolf leading the way.

“Evan!” I shout.

“It’s the Freedom and Power Packs!” Lexia exclaims, her eyes looking through the glass too. “They were able to rally their support!”

Kace shakes his head in disbelief as he watches the combined forces of both packs charge toward the castle.

“This can’t be happening. This is impossible,” Kace says, backing away from the window as the army effortlessly scales the walls and begins engaging his masked warriors. He looks to his guards. “Distribute the weapons! Now!”

But before the guards make it to the door, a rush of air blasts into the room as the door bursts open. Standing in the doorway is a wolf.

His pitch-black fur matches his eyes.

His scent—intoxicating.

He lets out a piercing howl, sending chills down everyone’s spine. He’s magnificent.

“Kaden!” I call to him.

He sees me too.

He flexes his ripped muscles and talon-like claws as he stares Kace down, tearing him apart in his mind—taunting him.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance!” Kace cries. “I won’t make that same mistake again!

Kace’s body begins to twitch and spasm as his bones begin to break. Tufts of fur begin ripping through his skin as his nose protrudes and fangs extend.

Kaden lets out one final roar before launching himself in Kace’s direction.

One of these brothers isn’t walking out of here alive.