Destined Alpha

RYDER

I woke in the middle of the night when the cell door opened.

“Hello there. Glad you’re awake. You had a bit of a scare this evening. How are you feeling?”

I looked up at the tall, round man curiously.

“Who are you?” I grumbled.

“I’m Dr. Adams. And you are?”

I scowled. “You can call me J.”

“I’m going to assume that isn’t your real name,” he replied, looking down at some notes.

“Well, J, it looks like you had a severe reaction to the silver cuffs you were restrained with, causing burns that became infected when they didn’t heal. You are lucky, it says your fever was dangerously high.”

I watched as he walked closer.

“I need to check your wrists. Do you mind?”

I shook my head before offering my hands. He unwrapped them gently before holding them gingerly.

As I watched him examine my hands I caught the faintest smell. It was intoxicating—like an ocean breeze.

“Are you the only one here?” I asked, looking around the cell.

“Yes, just me. Well, and the guard,” he replied as he continued examining my hands. “She was right, these are bad,” he mumbled.

“She?” I looked at him curiously.

“Sorry, the nurse. My niece, Adara. She was the one who came when you passed out. She did a good job cleaning these . . . You’ll heal nicely in a day or two,” he said, before placing my hands down softly.

He wrapped my hands back up and checked my temperature that had gone back to normal.

My wolf started going berserk. I pushed him back, trying to concentrate on my surroundings. The doctor turned to leave and I grabbed him, forcing my arms around his neck in a chokehold.

“Sorry about this, but I’m not going to stay here . . . ” I whispered.

I dropped him after forcing him unconscious and almost made it out of the cell before the guard ran in.

“What are you doing?!” He forced me back, threatening with a silver blade as he pulled the doctor out of the cell and closed the door.

“That’s how you thank the man trying to care for you?” he hollered, checking to see if the doctor was alright.

I growled. “I saw a way out and tried to take it.”

He shook his head in disapproval. “Alpha isn’t going to like this. He’ll probably keep you in there longer, or decide to just kill you.”

I shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Dr. Adams woke up after a few gentle shakes from the guard. He stood up with a chuckle.

“Well, J, it’s not often I get caught off like that. Either myself or Adara will be back to redress your wrists in the evening.”

I scowled as I watched him walk up the stairs, irritated that I hadn’t found my freedom.

We could bust through the wall of this place easily if you would just let me out! my wolf growled.

You know why we can’t do that. The minute they find out we are an Alpha they’ll kill us in fear of us trying to take over. Alphas are always threatened by rogue Alphas, I replied in my head.

He grumbled and I sat on the bed, my stomach growling.

I hadn’t eaten in almost two days. I was starving and it was made worse by the long hours sitting in a cell. Breakfast was spiked—again. It was getting ridiculous.

“When’s lunch?” I hollered.

“In an hour,” the guard replied coldly. I knew he was mad that I had tried to make an escape.

Lunch finally came and I took the tray, ready for a meal. I scrunched my nose when I realized they had dosed this meal as well.

I set the tray back on the ledge of the slot in the door.

“I thought you were hungry?” the guard asked, taking the tray back.

“Not hungry enough to eat that. I’m not going to eat anything laced with that stuff,” I grumbled, leaning against the wall behind the bed.

Right before dinner, I could feel my hunger growing deeper. I was beginning to get irritated.

I knew that was what they wanted, to either have me hungry enough to talk or to give up and eat the bad food and talk anyway.

My mind suddenly became clear as I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Well? Are you ready to talk yet?” the Alpha asked as he approached the cell.

I ignored his question.

“Dr. Adams told me your name is J. Is he correct?” he asked.

I shrugged. “You can call me that.”

He scowled. “Well, J, what do—“

He stopped speaking as we both heard light steps coming down the stairs.

“Hey, Adara,” I heard the guard say, his voice betraying the obvious crush he had on her.

“Hey, Johnny, just here to check on my patient,” the woman replied kindly.

She walked into the room with a scowl. “What is going on in here?” she asked, turning to the Alpha. I chuckled in my head—she was pretty outspoken to the Alpha. Brave little wolf.

The Alpha turned to her, his scowl melting away. “Adara, what are you doing down here?”

“Missy Thomason went into labor, so Uncle Rick asked me to redress his wrists.”

She pushed past him, stopping at the door. She turned to the guard I now knew was named Johnny and placed her hand on her hip. “You going to open this?”

Johnny fumbled with the keys. “Yeah, yeah, of course.” He opened the cell and stood in front of the opening with the Alpha, ready to jump in at any sign of trouble.

I sat on the bed and she knelt on the floor below me, reaching into her bag as the faint scent of the ocean filled my senses again. She unwrapped my wrists and looked at them.

“They seem to be healing well... that’s good. Tomorrow morning we should be able to take off the bandages.”

I watched as she cleaned and redressed my wrists. Her long auburn hair went down her back as she worked on my wrists. Her soft hands brushed against my skin, sending tingles up my arm.

Suddenly my stomach grumbled loudly. She looked up at me, our eyes meeting for the first time. Her bright eyes were the deepest, forest green I had ever seen. They were mesmerizing.

I shook my head and looked down at my hands as she continued working. She quickly looked down too.

“Ummm... have you eaten?”

“Not in two days,” I muttered.

She snapped her head up. “What?!”

“They keep dosing the food so I’ll talk,” I explained.

She scowled before turning around. “Johnny, go get him some dinner. And if I hear you guys laced it with anything but salt, I’ll beat you,” she growled.

The Alpha held up his hand. “No, he eats when he talks.”

“Dad! He hasn’t eaten in days. He is recovering from serious wounds. Feed him!” she said forcefully.

Dad? I thought to myself. ~She’s the Alpha’s daughter? No wonder she could get away with speaking to him like that. ~

I sat still as she stood her ground. The Alpha’s face finally softened after a few minutes and he gave in. “Fine. Johnny, go get him some dinner.”

“Thank you.” She smiled.

She stayed in the cell and watched me eat the entire plate of food. “Do you want more?”

I shook my head. “No, that was enough.”

She smiled warmly. “Good. Have a good night. Either myself or Dr. Adams will see you in the morning.”

Having recovered my strength, I jumped from the bed and held her against me tightly, keeping my hands around her neck. The two men froze as they tried to think of a way to get her free from me.

What are you doing? She is nice! She is helping us! my wolf hollered in my head.

She might be nice, but she is also the Alpha’s daughter and our ticket out of here! I replied in my head.

I lifted my eyes to the Alpha, seeing fear in his face. Perfect.

“Alpha, if you want your daughter to stay breathing, I recommend you step aside and let us go. She will be free once I am clear of your borders. Attempt to come near us and I’ll kill her.”

That was a lie. I wasn’t big on killing people, not since seeing what actions like that do to a family and pack.

The Alpha backed up slowly, his scowl firmly fixed on me as I stepped forward.

“You’ve made a mistake . . .” Adara said quietly.

“I don’t think so,” I replied.

“You seem to think I’m the type to come quietly,” she said softly.

Before I knew what was happening, she gripped my wrists tightly, sending searing pain up my arms. She twisted my arms backward and swiftly kicked me in the center of the chest.

I fell backward, holding my throbbing hands as I stared at her with a mixture of awe and anger.

The Alpha let out a booming laugh as she picked up her bag and walked out of the cell, closing the door behind her.

The Alpha walked up the stairs, still chuckling to himself. Adara stayed behind and turned to me with fury in her eyes.

“I hate you.”

With that, she walked up the stairs leaving me with my injured hands and pride sitting on the floor of my cell.