Taken by the Alpha

Clarice Mont

“I-I…” Clarice’s voice trailed off, her inner wolf bristling at the memory of her mate’s rejection. The scene played on a loop in her mind, making it hard to focus.

“Can’t find your words, sweetheart?” Nathaniel teased, but his jest was cut short by Kim. She placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head in a silent plea for him to stop.

“Sweetheart, we just want to know what happened,” Kim said softly. Her cheeks were hollow, her eyebrows drawn together in worry.

“Nothing. Nothing happened,” Clarice managed to choke out. Her voice sounded strange, even to her own ears. Her father shook his head, clearly not convinced.

He was about to growl, but Kim’s hand on his shoulder silenced him. “Honey, we can’t help if you don’t tell us what happened. We can see you’re upset.”

Her father’s growl made them both jump. “Did he hurt you? Did they touch you? I’ll kill them!”

Clarice started to tremble. Kim shot her husband a wide-eyed glare. “Calm down, Nate.”

Her father shook his head, his eyes dark with anger. “Clarice, did he hurt you?” he demanded.

Tears welled up in Clarice’s eyes as she shook her head. “No,” she said, pausing to sniffle and clear her throat. “He didn’t.”

She was lying. It hurt to lie to her father, but what could she say? That her mate had rejected her and then shoved her to the ground?

Nathaniel glared at her, shaking his head again. His cheeks were flushed, and he was clearly frustrated. He wanted to know what had happened to make his daughter look so heartbroken.

“Honey, let’s give her some space. She should take a shower and rest. She must be tired,” Kim suggested, placing a hand on her husband’s chest in an attempt to soothe him.

With one last look at his daughter, her eyes glossy with unshed tears, he nodded. He took Kim’s hand and they left the room, leaving Clarice alone.

She swallowed hard. She couldn’t even ask to leave the house to meet Greta. After today’s events, her parents had put them both on house arrest.

She bit her lip to keep it from trembling, then turned and headed for the bathroom. She needed to wash away the grime of the day.

After her shower, Clarice wrapped a towel around her petite frame and wiped the steam from the mirror. She hardly recognized the girl staring back at her. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying, and her cheeks and nose were flushed.

She touched her cheeks, her lips pursed. At least her parents were letting her go to bed instead of coming down for dinner. She wouldn’t have to face them looking like this.

She clenched her fists, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. But she forced herself to focus on one: anger.

She refused to be the helpless child everyone saw her as. She refused to let the King’s rejection hurt her so much.

She took a shaky breath, her nose lifting in defiance as she glared at her reflection. She was determined to act like nothing had happened and move on.

She wouldn’t act like a child. She was sure that was what the King wanted.

She shook her head and left the bathroom. She would sleep, and tomorrow would be a different day. The King would be gone, and she would have moved on.

Hopefully.

Clarice stood tall, listening intently to her Beta’s instructions. He demonstrated how to throw a perfect punch, his fist swinging forward, his short hair blowing back in the breeze. Everyone followed his lead.

The tension was thick around Clarice and Greta, who stood side by side as they always did.

“I’m really sorry for what happened yesterday, Greta,” Clarice said, her voice heavy with regret. She was trying to maintain her posture, keeping her back straight and her knees bent.

Greta’s fists clenched and she punched forward, shaking her head. “It’s okay. What’s important is that we’re safe.”

Clarice nodded, fighting back a relieved smile. She continued her punches, a routine workout that Beta Lance often had them do. She was familiar with it.

“Alright guys, partner up!” Beta Lance called out. Everyone immediately started looking for their partner. But then he added, “This time, girls with boys and boys with girls! We’re going to switch things up today.”

Clarice almost groaned. She preferred training with Greta, her best friend who knew her limits and weaknesses.

Greta gave her a sad smile before a guy tapped her shoulder, asking her to be his partner. Clarice was left standing alone, feeling awkward.

That was until a guy, a few inches taller than her, tapped her shoulder. She turned to face him.

“Want to be my partner?” he asked, his voice gentle. Clarice took a shaky breath and nodded. She didn’t really have a choice.

“Alright, everyone. Get into your fighting stances,” Beta Lance ordered.

Everyone immediately moved into position, waiting for the next command.

Clarice struggled to keep her foot in place. A chuckle from the guy in front of her made her wolf spirit angry enough to force her to stand correctly.

“I’ll go easy on you, don’t worry,” he whispered, a playful tone in his voice. Clarice gave a dry chuckle and nodded. Was he expecting her to thank him?

“Spar!”

Clarice flinched at the sudden command from Beta Lance. But she obeyed, even though her nerves were on edge.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that everyone else was fighting without any problems. The sounds of punches hitting skin echoed across the training ground. She had to resist the urge to recoil.

“Ready, pup?” the guy asked, a smirk on his face and his fists clenched. Clarice furrowed her brows in worry. He wouldn’t actually hurt her, would he?

She nodded just as a strange aura made her skin prickle. Only Clarice could feel his presence. She couldn’t help but turn her head towards him.

She hadn’t known that he had spent the night on her pack’s grounds. But the tension between him, his men, the newly named Alpha Mattel, and her ex-Alpha suggested that there was more trouble on the horizon.

She didn’t have time to think. As she turned her head back to face her partner, a fist connected with her nose. The impact was deafening, sending her flying backward, hands instinctively covering her face.

Her bottom hit the ground hard, and she let out a small cry. Her face was on fire, her nose throbbing. She could feel a cool liquid trickling from her nostrils, and her stomach lurched. She knew the break was bad.

She looked up, her eyes wide and glossy. Her partner was staring at her in shock, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just done.

Greta was at her side in an instant. Clarice realized that all the trainers had stopped to see what had happened. They all looked shocked.

“Claire, are you okay!?” Greta asked, her eyes scanning her best friend’s face. Blood was seeping from beneath Clarice's shaky hand, dribbling down her lips and disappearing beneath her t-shirt.

“Logan! We don’t use force when we mix genders in sparring! Especially during training!” Beta Lance yelled, stomping towards Clarice. She was silently crying in pain, her mind in a whirl.

“I-I…” Logan stuttered, his hands in his hair. “She wasn’t paying attention, I didn’t think she would turn to me!” He tried to explain.

Beta Lance shook his head, offering Clarice a hand.

“What happened here?” A gruff voice made everyone flinch. Clarice, curled up on the ground, flinched especially hard.

Beta Lance looked up. His eyes met the King’s-man’s, who was glaring back with intense fury.

“There was an accident,” Beta Lance said, taking Clarice's hand and helping her to her feet.

The foreign man looked at Clarice's bloodied face and shirt, then let out a growl.

“Who is responsible for this?!”

His anger seemed to shake the ground, making Clarice cry into Beta Lance's shoulder. He picked her up, cradling her in his arms.

“Logan is, but it was accidental,” Greta said. She didn’t know what else to do. Everyone was silent, and she knew this man wanted an answer.

“Who is that?”

Greta raised a shaky hand and pointed at Logan. He looked terrified, his hands tugging at his hair, his eyes wide.

“Let’s have a small chat, Logan.”