The Alpha's Guardian

My words are harsh. I am aiming to hurt him, though. His words hit me hard and when I get hit, I hit back harder. I was a rogue once. I was innocent and so were my parents. My uncle did something unspeakable in our old pack and instead of facing the consequences, my parents and I were stripped of our Beta title. Our wolves were ripped from us, forever gone with a tincture of wolfsbane and magic. After living as slaves for a year, my mother could no longer handle the beatings, so we ran. The shots rang out in the woods almost as loud as the dull thud of the silver bullets embedding themselves in my parents' bodies. The silver bullets were overkill considering our wolves were gone, but they didn't care. They wanted them dead. Though me, they left to the mercy of the forest.

His chest heaves up and down in anger, but his eyes stay true to their hazel. I can see the hurt there, and I feel a pang of satisfaction mixed with guilt. Though I'm not sure why I'm feeling guilty, I am just dishing out exactly what he dealt me. He steps closer and I refuse to back down. I feel pinned by his stare as my cheeks grow red.

His eyes roam over my face lazily. Working their way down from the top of my black hair and combing down to my eyes, over my cheekbones, my nose, and landing on my lips. A thrill shoots through me and I have to force it away. I have no feelings for this asshole before me. It's entirely his unnaturally handsome face and the image of his flawless abs, even with his scarred chest it was flawless. Shit. this damn bite must be much closer than I thought to the crook of my neck.

His hand slowly reaches up as my heart lurches with every passing second. My brain screams out alerts to my body, commanding it to step back, move, punch, anything that will break me from this trance, this unwelcome and unprecedented desire that's building inside of me. Like any moron in every romance novel, I lick my lips, thinking that somehow, this will help me. And the moment my tongue darts back to the safety of my mouth, his lips are melding to mine. Those pesky needles have turned from mild discomfort to addictive tiny sparks.

I apply pressure back, kissing him gently, trying to wrap my head around the craziness that is unfolding. Our lips move in sync as if someone had programmed us specifically for each other. My hands instinctively wrap up around his neck, pulling him closer to me. I entwine my fingers with his hair at the nape of his neck and he shivers at my touch. A vibration in my back pocket pulls me from the fog I am in and I jolt back, shoving him away from me.

I spin as fast as possible so I don't have to face him. Shit, shit, shit. I have only ever experienced this with one other person, and it was the first time I bonded with anyone I was assigned to. Liam. My heart aches at the thought of him and I whip my phone to my ear on the last ring.

"Samuel," I say, trying to sound normal.

"Ali, I heard you have already run into some problems?" he asks.

“Oh, yes" I clear my throat, taking a second to glance over at Wade, who is watching me intently, his expression unreadable. "I was going to call you when I was sure-"

"You should have called me immediately," he says stern

"Yes, I should have." I adjust, trying to understand his anger. It's just Pansy for Pete's sake. He sent me here on this mission saying I was the most capable of the guardians. Why is he so upset over me not checking in with every single fine detail?

"Get the ceremony done immediately. I do not care if things aren't set up. You can draw out the effect of the poison when you are bonded and because it won't affect you, it's basically healing him."

"Yes, sir," I respond to the now dead phone line.

Alpha Wade saunters over to me. The look in his eyes tells me he intends to pick up where we left off. I put my hand up to stop his advance.

"That will never happen again. Do you understand me?" I say with as much conviction as I can muster.

"Sure." He shrugs, still walking closer to me. I get a distinct impression that he is completely ignoring what I said.

“Alpha. We need to get the ceremony done now. Go get dressed and call the pack to the packhouse." I walk past him and to the door, opening it for him with a stoic face.

"I'll see you there in 30 minutes," he says, watching me carefully as he walks out the door.

The moment he is gone, I huff in relief. What the hell is happening to me? I grab my dress back out of the closet and head to the bathroom to get ready. It's no surprise to me I am ready before the Alpha. I wait in the large community center where the ceremony is taking place as everyone hustles around me, setting up chairs and flowers and all the things unimportant.

Why must everything be some monumental event? it's not a mating ceremony or a luna ceremony. It's a damn guardianship. I tap my heeled black ankle boot in annoyance. It took me all of 10 minutes to be ready. A swipe of eyeliner and mascara, hair up in a large twisted bun, and stepped into my dress.

"Damn," Kane says, approaching me.

"Thanks, I think."

"Alpha Wade says he will be down soon. Do you know if we have everything we need to do this ceremony thing?" He asks, looking around at the spectacle that was being erected around us.

"Honestly, we just need us, the stone dagger which I already provided and my weapons of choice." I tap my upper thigh where my daggers are safely tucked away.

"No sword?" Kane asks, looking disappointed. I smirk at him. My sword is my signature weapon.

"It's with the dagger." I lean over and whisper to him. Francis and his mate Sammy walk in and Kane waves them down. Sammy looks stunning with her bleach blonde hair sleeked down. Her lavender tea dress complements her figure and matches Francis, who is looking mighty dapper in his dress slacks and a paisley button-down with lavender swirls.

"You look lovely, Ali," he compliments me, and Sammy nods in agreement.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

"You have muscles I didn't even know existed," Kane says, poking my bicep and I can't help but laugh at him. All three of them still and just stare at me. I make a funny face at them, confused why they are staring at me in such a manner. "What?"

"You are just really stunning when you laugh," Sammy says sweetly.

"Right, well thank you," I say, clearing my throat. I look great in this dress, I get it. Heck, I've worn it so many times and the compliments have always been the same. Well, almost always the same. This is the first time that I have been complimented in the sense that my laugh makes me pretty and not the fabric embellishing my figure. It's oddly nice.