Alpha Loren novel Chapter 115

Three hours later, I was still sat on the concrete floor of the cell completely alone. I had taken to throwing Max's stone up in the air and catching it out of sheer boredom. Staying in here for two months is certain to drive me insane.

Fuck you, Luciano.

I guess we should look on the bright side. Max has the amulet and I'm at least going to get home alive.

A few minutes later, I heard footsteps. A man in a balaclava then reached the bars of my cell and unlocked the door.

I watched him intensely as he came in and grabbed my wrist. He was wearing all black- not a bit of skin showing.

There was something different about him from the rest of the guards but right now that doesn't matter. There's only one of him and there's one of me. I can take him.

As he began yanking me to my feet, I struggled against but weirdly, I couldn't seem to escape his grip. He was clearly stronger than any of the other guards.

"Where are you taking me?" I hissed as he dragged me down the hallway with a tight grip on my upper arm.

No response.

I elbowed him in the chest as hard as I could and he retaliated by tightly grabbing both my wrists behind my back in one hand and lifting the balaclava with the other.

"Can you stop fucking struggling?" he hissed as I caught sight of his face. "It's me."

"Max?" I questioned as he pulled the balaclava back down and continued leading me. "What the hell are you doing?! Have you switched sides?"

"Don't be ridiculous, idiot. I am coming to your rescue," he remarked. I could tell he was wearing a sarcastic smirk even through the balaclava.

"I don't need rescuing," I said defensively.

"Oh yeah? Luciano called your Alpha and he'll arrive here in less than a day," Max replied as we turned a sharp corner. "And we need to get out of here before he does. Leonardo Loren is not a force I feel like reckoning with."

"But you don't have to. Your favourite cousin Luciano has given you the amulet and a job."

"I am not going to allow him to hand you over to him like some kind of prize," he said with determination. "The only thing I hate more than Luciano would be to see him earning the Alpha's trust and getting back into the pack."

"And we've gotten this far with just the two of us, it feels like defeat," I added.

"Exactly. You have to get yourself back."

At that point, we turned another corner to come face to face with another guard- well a real guard.

Max straightened up and tightened his grip on my arm.

"Do you need assistance?" he asked. "I hear she's a troublemaker."

"Don't worry, I've got it," Max replied switching back to Italian with his very convincing accent.

"Where are you going?"

"The boss has requested to see her," Max replied and the man raised an eyebrow beneath his balaclava.

"Why?" he asked doubtfully.

"Can you blame him? Look at her."

He shoved me forward so that I was in full view of the guard who looked down at me like I was a piece of meat. His hungry eyes flashed with lust before he simply shrugged his shoulders and walked on.

"I guess not," he added before we both breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close."

A few minutes later we had located an unguarded fire exit. Max released me and checked the hallway one more time before returning and removing his balaclava, hoody and gloves.

He then pushed open the door and the broad daylight poured into the dark building. I could almost taste the freedom.

That was easier than expected.

Almost too easy...

"I trust you have the amulet?" I questioned as we stepped into the fresh air.

"Oh shit," he cursed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I hissed.

"Yes," he said with a laugh as he pulled the necklace from his pocket. "Now let's get to the airport before they realise we are gone."

We hurried through the busy streets of Venice for twenty minutes following a shabby map that we had picked up at the tourist office.

"Why do I feel like we are lost?" I asked as Max turned the map the other way up.

"Probably because this map was printed in the fucking dark ages," he replied desperately trying to read the faded street names

"Canal trip. Only 5 euros a head," a man with a thick Italian accent offered in English as we crossed a footbridge with boats and a canal below.

"Maybe later," I replied feeling a twinge of guilt.

By that I mean, 'sorry but we are currently trying to get to the airport and escape the mafia and I never plan to come back here ever again'.

"There are three men over there that look suspiciously like mafia men. Maybe I'm just being paranoid but-" I began after spotting three particularly tall men in the crowd wearing all black and with angry expressions.

"On seconds thoughts," Max said to the canal man before hauling me off the footbridge and down towards the canal.

He shoved some change into the man's hand before hastily boarding the first boat we came across.

"Did they see us?" I asked as the man slowly rowed us away from the bridge.

"I don't know but I caught their scent so they could have caught ours," he replied. "Is this as fast as this bloody thing goes?" Max rudely asked the man.

"What he means is: we have a plane to catch in a few hours. Could you get us as close to the airport as the canals can take us?" I asked kindly in my best Italian.

The man nodded despite his slightly terrified facial expression.

I slapped Max on the chest for scaring the poor guy before sitting back to try and enjoy the ride.

"Hey, what was that for?!" he protested.

"For being a dick."