Alpha Loren novel Chapter 147

"Urghh."

I opened my eyes to see the straw of the cell and groaned at how much everything ached from sleeping on such a hard floor. The ball had gone on until way beyond midnight and I had spent the majority of those hours dancing with the King. Obviously, it was he that had insisted on it and I that had been forced to begrudgingly go along with it.

"What time is it?" I asked the guard.

"7:30 am," he replied shortly.

"Is there any chance I'll be getting out of here soon or should I just kill myself now before either boredom, discomfort or the cold does?" I remarked causing him to smirk.

"Kill yourself and save the King the bother," he replied.

I rolled my eyes and wished for someone less intolerable to talk to.

It wasn't for another two hours that my wish was granted with the arrival of my Dad.

"Sleep well?" he asked with a mocking undertone.

"Fucking brilliantly," I remarked.

"I'll try to talk to the King again. Negotiate some way. You won't be in here forever."

I then suddenly remembered another reason why I wouldn't be in here forever. Max had been at the ball last night and Leo would now be on his way. 

Leo was on his way.

"Anyway, when did you become such a graceful dancer?" my Dad asked.

"Leo taught me. We have balls and things at home," I explained. "Can't say I enjoyed last night as much as I do those- when I have my mate to dance with rather than that son of a bitch."

"Keep your voice down," my Dad said. "And Connor was worried about how he dragged you up to your cousin. He's never been the sort I'd want my daughter near and I hear he even tried to do away with you seven years ago?"

I nodded and looked to the floor.

"He's got something strongly against our family. What did he talk to you about?"

"Oh just this and that, nothing worth repeating," I mumbled vaguely.

My Dad narrowed his eyes at me but I was spared the ordeal of having to go any further by a set of heavy footsteps marching down the steps into the dungeon. Connor soon came into sight with a serious expression.

"He's two miles away," he stated as he pulled out a key from his pocket. 

"Who?"

"Loren. Alpha fucking Loren," Connor said with spit as he unlocked the cell.

Dad jumped to his feet, his face immediately turning to match Connor's, "What? How does he know?" 

"Nobody knows," Connor answered before unlocking the cell door. "He has 5000 men. They're readying the archers, cavalry and infantry as we speak but we aren't ready for him yet and we don't have enough time to get the defences up properly."

"Fuck," my Dad cursed. "5000?!"

"It isn't just the Stella Pack here. He's got allies."

"How many men do you have?" I asked.

"2000," Connor replied shortly as he opened the door of the cell. "Now come with me. I have to take you somewhere more secure," he added reaching for my hand.

"This is a suicide mission. You can't fight 5000 with 2000 even if Leonardo Loren wasn't their leader! You will certainly lose and he will certainly kill you," I said pulling my hand away. "It is not too late to let me go and surrender."

"I am not giving you back to him without a fight, Ella. Now come," he said in a harsh tone. "I don't have time to fuck about."

He then roughly hauled me out of the cell by yanking my arm.

"Connor," My Dad interjected. "That is your sister. Do not be so aggressive with her."

"A war is about to break out, Dad. I have soldiers I need to be organising, not my little sister," he said pausing but still with a tight grip around my wrist.

"I know and she will come. Just let us say goodbye for now first," he said stepping forward.

Connor let go of me as my Dad embraced me in a comforting hug.

"I love you, Ells," he whispered.

"I love you too," I replied a tear escaping my eye only to be soaked up by his shirt. This could be the last time I ever see him. I thought that time was twelve years ago but that didn't make it any less painful.

"Now go with your brother," he said firmly. "He only wants to get you somewhere safe."

I nodded and he kissed my forehead.

"Come on," Connor said in a much softer tone as his hand gently rested on my back.

We walked out of the dungeon and the bright light of the ground floor blinded me for a moment or two. It was approaching dusk but the castle was nosier than ever. There were people with serious expression marching up and down the hallways and outside the clatter of armour and weapons.

"These people are all going to be lead to their deaths. You are too outnumbered to win this," I said quietly as we turned into a narrower hallway. "It is not just any army you are facing too."

"We will see."

"Connor, you aren't listening," I protested as he grabbed my wrist. "If you don't die in the battle, he will kill you for this. He said he would seven years ago and he's a man of his word."

"I will kill him or die trying," Connor concluded beginning to march faster.

"Connor...what has gotten in you?" I asked stopping in my tracks. "Where has this hatred come from?"

"He ripped you away from me, treated you like shit, tried to kill my father and exiled me. What do you fucking expect!?" he roared seizing my shoulders. "I want him to burn in hell and I don't give a shit what you have to say about it! Now come easily or I will throw you over my shoulder like a child."

I shivered at the cold command of my brother. In seven years, he'd grown up a lot. He had stubble on his chin and cheeks and his boyish features of the past were long gone. Along with his kindness towards me apparently.

"Connor," I sobbed as I placed a hand on his cheek. "This isn't the brother I knew."

"When Leonardo is dead and this fury is released from me I will return to you but for now I have more important things to think about."

"If Leonardo is dead, I won't be the sister you knew either," I replied before he grabbed me around the waist and carried me kicking and screaming up a winding set of stone steps. "Just surrender me! I will end up back with him anyway so why not do it with 2000 fewer deaths?!"

"It's sweet how much faith you have in us, Ells," he remarked. "And surrendering would result in our deaths anyway. Loren isn't exactly known for mercy."

We soon reached the top of the very long twisting staircase to find one singular door. Connor put me down, unlocked it and pushed me in.

"Connor," I whispered tears now streaming. "Please."

He shook his head with a pained expression.

"I'm sorry that this hurts you but I'm not sorry for doing it," he replied breathing heavily probably from carrying me up all those stairs.

"There's nothing I can say or do to stop you, is there?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "I will see you when it's all over."

"Can we at least be civil enough to say goodbye?" I questioned wondering if this would be the last time I'd see him too.

He smiled and hugged me tightly for a short while.

"Love you lots, little sis," he said.

"Love you lotser, big bro," I replied before he closed the door, locked it and I heard his footsteps echo back down the staircase.

"Love you lotsest!" he called and I smiled to myself.

When we were kids, we always used to do that and I had forgotten all about it.

The room Connor had locked me in was small and from the view from the tiny window, I could tell it was very high up. There was no furniture, only a few wooden boxes covered with white sheets.

About twenty minutes later, I could hear violence unfold outside. Roars and shouts and cries. My hands were shaking for my pack's sake and everyone in it I loved that I knew would be fighting. Leo, Luca, Blair, Max, Mateo, Marco, Carlos, Lenny. Even Antonio but most of all Leo. And for my Dad and brother that I had only just be reunited with too.

"Leo, Leo, Leo. Please, please be okay," I muttered to myself.

I moved a box across the room to stand on and look out of the high window. Gazing out to what had now become a battlefield, I Instantly regretted my decision. I was too far away to see individuals but there was blood and death aplenty. After jumping down from the window, I pressed my back on the wall and closed my eyes.

My pack were dying for me and I couldn't just let that happen.

I tried kicking the door down but it was obviously reinforced and I had heard Connor switch multiple bolts. I tried screaming to see if any Stella soldiers that may have slipped into the castle could hear me. But nobody came.

I looked for a hatch door or a secret passageway but nothing. The window was too high and small so I just kicked and kicked at the door for hours. It had to give way eventually, right?

Before I could succeed, I heard a pair of footsteps running up the stairway. The door was soon being unbolted and then opened.

"Quickly," Connor said taking my hand.

"What's going on?" I asked noticing the worried creasing in his forehead and the concern in his eyes.

"Stella is winning and the King wants to resort to plan B," he said leading me hastily down the stairs.

"And what is plan B?" I questioned.

"To kill you," he replied shortly. " 'if all else fails and Loren cannot be killed, we will kill his mate'," he added. "But I can't let that happen to my sister."

My heart began racing faster. 

"Then what are you going to do?" I asked.

There was a short pause as Connor shook his head.

"I'm going to get you to your mate. At least I know he will protect you," he replied in a strained tone. 

"I will get myself there," I replied. "I don't want you near him for fear of what he might do."

"The King will have me executed as a traitor anyway. I have nothing to lose except you." 

We then reached the end of the stairway and Connor brought his finger to my lips.

"Don't make a sound," he whispered before looking out into the hallway.

I nodded and he reassuringly squeezed my hand.

"Okay. It's clear," he replied a minute or so later.

We then slipped out into the hallway and Connor marched so quickly I had a job to keep up. At one point, we heard another few sets of footsteps marching down the hallway.

"Fuck," Connor cursed under his breath, looking around for somewhere to go.

There was nowhere. Not even a tapestry on the wall or a vase. Just as I was considering running, Connor suddenly grabbed my wrists and pulled me in front of him with my hands behind my back. Seconds later, three of the King's men appeared around the corner.

"Connor Jones," one said after laying his eyes on us. "What are you doing?" 

"The King has ordered plan B," he replied.

The soldiers looked suspiciously at us.

"The throne room is that way," one said pointing in the direction we had come from. 

"We were on our way there," the final one added. "We can take her."

Connor stood completely still, refusing to let go of me and there was a brief moment of extreme tension before one of the soldiers suddenly launched at Connor.

Connor immediately responded by releasing me and knocking the solider straight to the floor with a groan. He briefly exchanged a look with me before the other two came at us. I fought one off and left him motionless against the wall but Connor struggled with the other larger one. He punched my brother in the ribs and then the face before I caught his next punch, twisted his arm and sent him to the floor where he hit his head and lay unconscious.

"Where did you learn to do that?" 

"We have a lot of catching up to do brother," I said taking his hand again. "But first can we avoid this plan B? I don't like the sound of it."

He smiled and nodded and we continued our way down the castle hallways. It wasn't until we reached a T-junction that we saw more of the King's men. This time six or seven of them talking among themselves.

"The defences are all down," one said. "We've already lost over half the army, Loren is still alive and the King has ordered plan B."

"Plan B is suicidal for all of us," one replied.

"Kidnapping his Luna was suicidal," another said. "The people of the castle knew the risks. Of all people, we know that Loren takes no mercy on those that mess with him and what he holds dear."

"It is too late for us but we can help future generations by taking his Luna. He'll never be as strong again without her," another added. "We knew this would most likely turn out to be a sacrifice. Loren is too powerful to defeat especially with him somehow getting here so soon. The only problem will be Nicolos Jones and his son."

They then looked up from the circle and smelt the air. We'd ducked behind the wall but they'd sensed us all the same.

"The main entrance is that way," Connor whispered to me as he pointed in the opposite direction of the men who were just beginning to spot us. "I'll hold them back for as long as possible whilst you find any Stella men you can, okay?"

I shook my head.

"I can't leave you."

"Ella, go," he ordered as the men began marching towards us. "There's no point us both getting caught and it is you there are trying to kill."

"But you said the king would have you-"

"Go," he said deeply.

I smiled meekly, squeezed his hand one last time and nodded before turning away. I ran in the direction he had pointed and didn't look back- not even when I head a fight break out.

I soon reached another junction. Connor didn't exactly give me precise directions and consequently, I didn't even know where to start deciding which way to go.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath before closing my eyes, spinning and running in the direction I ended up.

I sprinted down the hallway before I heard the smashing of something glass and numerous groans and cries. Skidding to a stop, I stood frozen watching the scene unfold in front of me. 

Leo, the only Stella amongst dozens of King's men, wasn't having any trouble at all. He marched down the hallway with attackers coming at him from every direction only to be flung aside with one effortless flick of an arm. There were windows along the side of the hallway leading outside, one of which was broken suggesting an unfortunate soul had been thrown out of it. Others hit the wall or slid across the floor only to be stepped over by him as he kept marching. On his face, he wore a silent determined, livid expression as he glared straightforward. 

He as ruthless, powerful, unstoppable.  

When his eyes set on me, they didn't flicker away for even a split second. Not even when a knife came flying towards his face. He only caught it and flung it at another attacker who was stopped dead in his tracks by it piercing his skull.

It was terrifying even for me. Never had I seen, not in seven entire years, my mate like this.

Within twenty seconds he had travelled down the long corridor so that he was only about ten metres away. King's men kept coming at him but for a moment I was sure that I was safe. Well, until I felt a cold blade at my throat and an arm wrap tightly around my arms and body so that I couldn't move. Not that I dared to anyway, I wasn't out there to get my throat slit.

"One more step and I'll do it," a voice said to Leo.

Leo looked at my captivator and the corners of his lips twitched up.

"Julian Penedichi, isn't it?" he asked in a deep, twisted tone.

The man with the blade at my throat didn't respond.

"I remember you," Leo continued with a malicious smirk creeping onto his face. "I exiled you four years ago for your inability to follow my laws...but you sister still lives on my territory, doesn't she? Her and her family...three little pups, I believe? And your mate...I'm sure I could find her in this castle somewhere. Matilde was her name, yes?"

The man nervously adjusted his grip on me as my eyes widened at the realisation of who he was. The maid that had helped me before the ball's mate.

"It would be terrible if something were to happen to them," he added.

"You are not in a position to threaten me, Alpha," he replied in a shaky tone as he pressed the knife against my skin.  

Leo then stepped one daring step forward but Julian did nothing. Leo's face curled into an amused smile and he let out a short laugh.

"At least you can rely on me to follow through with my threats," he replied. "But you have some balls to cross me like this, Julian. I'll give you that. Unfortunately, they are ill-placed," he added before his face suddenly transformed into a piercing, spine-chilling glare. "Hurt my Luna and I will force you to watch me kill your family before I kill you too. And it won't be quick."

I could feel Julian's hold on me begin to shake as Leo's growl emanated through the hallway. I took his momentary distraction as an opportunity to seize his wrist and drive the blade left and away from my throat and into his own shoulder. I then ducked under his arm and watched as he sunk to his knees in pain.

Leo quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me into a tight hug.

"That was awesome," he whispered in my ear before kissing my forehead. 

He then stepped forward, pulled the blade from Julian's shoulder and began driving it towards his heart. 

"Leo, no," I said grabbing his hand. He stopped and looked at me with a puzzled expression. "I know his mate."

"And? He tried to kill you?"

"No, he didn't. He could easily have done it but he didn't which means he can't be a bad man. Please, just spare him, Leo," I begged. "With an injury like that, he's not a threat anyway."

Leo rolled his eyes before throwing the knife into the heart of an approaching king's men instead. I looked away as soon as I realised what he had done but I still heard the groan and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"You have too much compassion, my dear," he said before seizing Julian by the shoulders and dragging him to his feet and looking him dead in the eye. 

Julian's height and strength was nothing in compared to Leo's explaining why he shuddered from the intimidation of being so close to him.

"Find your mate and get the fuck out of here before I change my mind. My mate's right. You aren't a bad man so just this once I will show mercy but if I catch you choosing not to follow my orders, I will do much worse than exile you this time," Leo growled. 

He sheepishly nodded and scattered off into the castle.

"Come on," Leo said firmly taking by hand and beginning to march back the way we came holding my head so that I couldn't set my eyes on the now dead guard on the floor behind us.

"Wait. My brother," I said.

"What about him?" Leo grumbled as he dragged me behind him.

"He needs help."

He then stopped, turned around to face me and raised an eyebrow. I could see the anger building again in his eyes

"Are you aware that the so-called 'King' has ordered his men to kill you?" he responded. "Your fucking brother has put you in enough danger already. You already made me spare one of my enemies life so if you think for a second that I'm going to allow you to risk your life for him-"

"I can make my own decisions, Leo," I replied pulling my hand away from his. "And I am choosing to save my brother."

"He abducted you. He handed you over to a castle of wolves that want you dead.  He planned to kill your mate and take down your pack...again," he replied grabbing my wrist. 

"I don't care. He's my brother and that won't change no matter what he does," I replied.

Leo sighed and looked out the window at the battle still unfolding. He then turned back to me and took my hands in his.

"You know that I like to let you have your independence but I also have a duty to protect you. I'm sorry Ella but I am saying no. You are coming with me so that I can get you to safety. Please do not resist."

He had a genuine apologetic look on his face. The longer we'd been together, the more freedom he'd let me have and these days, he'd always let me do whatever I want- except for now of course.

I stared into his eyes for a few moments before twisting my wrists, freeing my hands and forcing my knee towards his chest. I felt immensely guilty as I knew his decision was driven by his love for me but at the same time, if I went along with it, I'd be leaving my brother- something I could never forgive myself for.

Unfortunately, Leo was going to take away that option. He caught my knee before it reached him grabbed me by the waist and threw me onto his shoulder and began to stride down the hallway fighting off King's men with his free hand as he went.

I saw no sign of Connor despite us going a long, complicated route out of the castle.

"Where are we going?" I asked Leo when we reached a narrow hallway having not seen any soldiers for a while.

"I'm not taking you out onto the battlefield. This is the back route that takes us into the woods where Max is waiting to get you away from here," he explained.

"So I'm supposed to just go and leave the rest of the pack to deal with this problem?" I asked.

"Yes. Precisely."