Another Half

“An alpha what?” Blade stared at Maverick, incredulous. “Are you out of your damn mind?”

She laughed.

Blade! Don’t laugh, he’s-—

Maverick shortened the distance between them, grabbed Blade by the throat and slammed her against the wall. He tried to raise her so as to choke her while she dangled by his grip, but the effect was lost when she could comfortably set both feet on the floor. Regardless, her eyesight blacked out for a second as her head absorbed the hard hit it took.

“Don’t fucking sass me, bitch.”

“I’m not fucking sassing you, sir,” Blade said, rapidly blinking the stars out of her eyes and focusing on his pale eyes. “My grandfather was an omega. My father and my brother were both omegas. My mother was from a gamma bloodline, but that doesn’t matter because there’s still no fucking way I’m an alpha female. If I’m anything, I’m a bona fide omega female. Sir.”

Blade’s grandfather—her Abuelo—had spoken to her about alpha females, but they were a legend, if not a fantastical myth. Blade actually thought they were a cruel joke on all the daughters of alphas, and she was glad she wasn’t one of them. For one thing, alpha females supposedly descended from a long line of legitimate alpha males, a line made up of only first-born sons. Their strength and speed were said to rival that of alpha males, including their own brothers. In a time of dire need, an alpha female could supplant a legitimate alpha male but the circumstances, according to ancient texts, had to be so extenuating that the entire pack would accept an alpha female as their Alpha. The caveat, of course, was that nobody knew what the ancient texts meant by extenuating circumstances and nobody wanted to find out. This is why Blade consistently argued with her grandfather that the alpha female was only a legend devised to give alphas’ daughters—-the daughters no alpha wanted in the first place—-hope that they had the same self-worth as their older brothers. In Blade’s opinion, they didn’t have the same worth in the eyes of wolf society, and they never would. Alpha females were nothing but a cruel sham of the unreachable.

“I have two sons and a bunch of grandsons, but you will always be of most value to me,” her grandfather would often say to end these conversations with Blade.

She would roll her eyes at him. “That’s not even what we’re discussing, Abuelo!”

And he would laugh and laugh.

Maverick tightened his grip around Blade’s throat, and her eyes began to water.

“Fucking disrespect me again, and I will enjoy watching you slowly bleed to death, bitch.”

Blade thought about the many ways she could disentangle herself from her current predicament. Her hands were free, balled up into fists by her side, and he had left the door to her cell wide open. He wouldn’t even see the knife she would pull from her boot until she thrust it into his throat. Then she could merrily walk—or maybe run since his death would cause an immediate uproar in the pack—out of there, be home with Andy by dawn, and Caroline would be free to have and raise her little girl in peace.

That was the best-case scenario.

Then again, maybe killing an alpha isn’t as easy as killing everyone else. Blade could still use one of her knives to gut Maverick like the pig that he was. By the time he realized what had happened, half his guts would be on the floor and she’d be long gone. Except Blade would have to leave Caroline behind, and she couldn’t forget her pleading blue eyes when she asked for help. Caroline and her little girl already had a death sentence that would be carried out by the disgusting animal currently in front of her. Blade was their only chance of survival. Saving Caroline was also Blade’s opportunity to make amends for Hannah’s death and orphaning her innocent pup.

And then there was Andy.

We’ve never fought an alpha, Talon said. We could try and maybe win, but where would it leave Andy if we lost?

Blade didn’t waver. There were three lives at stake, and all of them depended on her to live.

She sighed. “I deeply apologize for any disrespect, Alpha. I forgot my place. I will do better.”

“That’s fucking better, bitch,” he said, letting go of her neck.

He leaned into the side of her neck and inhaled deeply.

“Oh, there’s no mistaking it,” he said, his voice turning hoarse. “You smell of strength and power. I could get fucking off on your scent alone,” he whispered in her ear, and she shut her eyes, turning her face as far away from his as possible. His hot, humid breath ran down her neck, sending uncomfortable shivers of disgust down the rest of her body. “Whoever said you are an omega lied.” He inhaled her scent again and groaned.

“No,” she whispered. With her eyes still closed, she imagined her grandfather watching her and shaking his head in front of her. “My grandfather would never lie to me.”

Maverick chortled. “Trust me. Men, particularly older men, lie to little girls all the time. We love it. It’s so easy; you all make it so fucking easy.” He laughed as he released her. “Caroline was only sixteen when she believed in our fairytale romance.”

“You deceived her into believing you loved her.”

He lifted a shoulder with indifference. “She had a choice. She just happened to choose me over her Fated Mate and her wolf,” he said, walking toward the door only to stop halfway there and half turn. “I will soon be without a Luna, and I will need one to give me a couple of boys.”

Blade gaped at him.

He knows.

Maverick looked her over. “You’re more than qualified. If anything, you surpass Caroline in the qualifications I’m looking for.”

“But your Luna,” she said, pretending to not know. “She’s about to give birth to your son and I have to find my mate.”

Maverick snorted. “I’ll take care of your mate when he shows up, and I’ve known for months that she’s housing a useless girl in that half-dead womb of hers. And since I’m the second son, there’s no way she’s even a strong female.”

Blade stared at him, dumbfounded, and he laughed.

“It was rather simple, really. My older brother accidentally drowned in the river when I figured out that I would spend my life serving him as the Alpha. I couldn’t even aspire to be his Beta,” he muttered. “And of course, my Fated Mated turned out to be none other than a bona fide omega female, as you so well put it. Same river, same shitshow.” He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. “Caroline is from a beta line, but her blood still carried the diluted strength of a powerful alpha up north. She was the best I could do at the time, but she turned out to be a terrible mistake.” He chuckled. “I guess the joke was on me because the useless bitch can’t even carry a male pup to term. She turned into a huge waste of time once her wolf died.”

Good Moon Goddess above, he’s a monster, Talon whispered. He killed her wolf.

“You killed her wolf?”

“No. I am not that crafty. Caroline did that all by herself,” he said, his eyes focusing on hers. “Her wolf hated me and my wolf so much that Caroline locked her up and the little bitch went up and died. You can imagine that the pack had no regard for her as a Luna afterward. A Luna without a wolf is as useless as a human,” he said shaking his head. “My one small victory is that at least her Fated Mate didn’t get her. I’m sure the sniveling asshole still whimpers over her. But it’s the consolation that helps me sleep at night.” His laugh sounded more like a hard bark. He shook his head and looked up at her. “So as you can see, I’m shopping for a new Luna, and I am confident that the Moon Goddess sent you to me.”

Blade felt like her stomach had turned inside out.

“So although your choice is a little different from Caroline’s, you do still have a choice,” he said. “Accept to be my Luna and live. Choose otherwise and you’ll be dead by dawn. It’s that simple.” He shut and locked the door behind him.

Fuck, Talon said. What do we do now?

Blade pressed both hands against her stomach as she leaned against the wall and slid to the dirty floor, where she slumped.

Her mind raced. She wanted to take apart everything Maverick had told her, analyze it, and compare it to what she knew about her family and lineage. She wanted to figure out the puzzle that was Caroline, but she suspected Maverick’s word-vomit was intended to confuse and frighten her, to paralyze and delay her from taking action.

We’re definitely not waiting around her for dawn to roll around.