Her Forbidden Alpha novel Chapter 49

　　Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. A threatening growl from Elijah was the first thing Scarlett heard as her mind tried to register what was happening and then a shriek that belonged to Fiona. Her own heart seemed to have stopped working when she realised the bullet didn’t make contact with her. She looked up, her ears ringing when she saw Elijah standing metres in front of her blocking her from Meredith. Aaron had lunged for the gun, taking it from Meredith as her husband pinned her down trying to control her. Jackson growled dangerously at them.

　　The coppery smell of blood filled the air as the droplets of blood that hit the floor at his feet made Scarlett’s chest tighten.

　　“Elijah!” She shouted, coming back to reality. Running towards him at the same time as Fiona, Elijah turned, relieved that she was ok. He could feel the biting pain of the wolfbane-laced silver bullet but it was more than worth it to see the concern in her eyes.

　　“Elijah!” Fiona said from behind him but he didn’t even hear her as he caught Scarlett, whose eyes fell to the bullet lodged in his waist.

　　“I’m fine Red.” He whispered, his heart warm. She placed her hand on his chest shaking her head.

　　“You’re not! Why did you do that?! You know I can heal better than you!” She shouted, her eyes pained. He smirked.

　　“Well, if it means you’ll show me this much concern, I would happily get hurt every day.” He said seductively. She frowned, her heart thudding remembering the words she had spoken when she was in the hospital at the Black Storm Pack. She stared into that handsome face of his. The temptation to kiss him was strong but she looked away now realising he was gripping her hips.

　　“Alpha.” Fiona whispered in concern next to him, her hand on his arm. He growled shrugging her off.

　　“Sit the fuck down, you’ve got two members of your family being trialled right now don’t become a fucking third.” He threatened, making her eyes fill with fresh tears. She looked at Scarlett, her gaze falling to Elijah’s hands that still held her tightly around her waist, his thumb brushing her breast. A flicker of confusion filled her eyes as she looked at Scarlett but she didn’t disobey, returning to her seat.

　　“That will not go forgotten.” Jackson said to his Beta dangerously. The man frowned but knew his wife had stepped out of line, after all, Scarlett was from the Alpha’s family.

　　“Let’s get down to this, I want to know why my son was brutally murdered!” He said coldly. A dangerous growl from Elijah had him looking down in submission.

　　“Let go.” Scarlett said, not wanting to pull away roughly encase his wound got worse.

　　“I don’t want to…” He said quietly. She looked at him, was he openly flirting with her now?

　　“Please… We’ll talk later.” She pleaded and he smirked.

　　“Deal.” He said. Stepping away he lifted his top and extending his claw, shoving it into his wound and making Scarlett flinch as he pried the bullet out and tossed it to the ground without even batting an eyelid.

　　He winked at her before he took her wrist and bought her to the front. Amelia and Jessica had taken their seats next to the Beta family. Amelia had a smile on her face whilst Jessica looked pale after that attack.

　　“So, let’s start with some facts.” Elijah said coldly. “Red… remove that bandage.”

　　Scarlett looked at him before nodding. Apart from the few, including the beta’s, no one else knew about her mark. Everyone now watched her as she removed it to reveal the mark surrounded by black pulsating veins ebbed on her skin.

　　“What is that?” An elder male wolf said, Amelia raised an eyebrow.

　　“What does it look like?” She asked.

　　“It’s a mark.” Elijah said curtly. “Scarlett was forcefully marked by an Alpha when we were out of town on a trip, as you can see her body is rejecting it…”

　　“That’s impossible, there’s no such thing as a body rejecting a mark! Even if the wolf doesn’t agree the mark would not be like that!” The man said.

　　“What if it’s a mark that goes against the fucking laws of nature?” Elijah hissed, glaring venomously at the man for showing disrespect. He visibly flinched and swallowed nervously.

　　“What do you mean against the laws of nature?” Another man said.

　　“She was marked by someone who should never have marked her… for her abilities. But we won’t delve into that. The thing is, the night of Hanks death Scarlett went into heat. That night Fiona was attacked by a rogue at the club, Fiona care to explain everything that happened?” Elijah said without even looking at her.

　　She stood up and scanned the crowd. “Alpha Elijah saved me from that rogue and then he asked H-hank to come and take the rogue for questioning whilst the Alpha comforted me.” She said looking at Elijah with doe eyes. Elijah clenched his jaw, staring ahead feeling Scarlett tense next to him.

　　“That’s all Fiona.” He said curtly, turning back to the room. “He didn’t show up. When Scarlett went into heat she headed to Grandma Amelia’s cottage. Grandma Amelia went to get ice, on her return I was with her, we saw that Scarlett was gone and there was another scent present… It was subtle but it was there, Hanks… I tried to contact him but he had his mental block up. Scarlett, will you tell us what happened next?” He said, his voice now ten times softer as he looked at her. She took a deep breath nodding. Her heart was thundering but she knew she had to do this.

　　“He entered the cottage and made lewd remarks before he knocked me unconscious and took me to a cave just outside of pack territory. When we got there and I regained consciousness he tried to blackmail me… That if I didn’t comply… He would ruin me.” Scarlett said, although it was Elijah he wanted to ruin, it was close enough to the truth. Elijah frowned; he had a feeling he knew exactly what Hank had tried to blackmail her with.

　　“Then he tried to rape me.” She said loud and clear. Her voice flat, the room tensed, a ripple of unease crossing it.

　　“You didn’t have to kill him! You were in heat, you are the one at fault!” Meredith cried. Scarlett’s eyes flashed as Elijah glared at the woman, his anger rolling off him in waves. Scarlett stopped him from speaking by placing a hand on his arm.

　　“You could have-”

　　“What did you want me to do? Scream and shout for help and let him win? I was in heat, I could barely handle myself, if I tried to just run away it wouldn’t have worked, he was too strong and he was hell-bent on succeeding…. So, I did what any rapist deserves. I castrated that dog and I don’t regret it.” She finished, her eyes flashing with burning rage.

　　“It’s just the heat that got to him, you are the one in the wrong here! You seduced my son! You always have!” His mother shrieked; Elijah glared at her.

　　“There is no excuse for rape!” He snapped as Jackson nodded, glaring at his delta.

　　“Keep her quiet or you can both go to the cells until I'm ready to deal with her.” He growled.

　　“Sorry Alpha…” Hanks father said feeling stunned at the new revelations. “...but there’s no proof the girl isn't lying to save her own skin-“

　　He was shut off when Elijah threw the medical file in his face, making the rest gasp. He caught it clumsily as he flipped it open and scanned it. His stomach sinking.

　　“B-but it could have been consensual!” He tried.

　　Scarlett was about to speak but before she could Elijah had slammed him against the wall making his vision spin.

　　“If it was fucking consensual care to share why the fuck, she castrated him?!” He growled threatening. The man paled realising there was no logical way to try to get out of this.

　　“She was very distraught when we reached her.” Beta Nick said quietly.

　　“But there wasn’t even an injury on her, I know that!” Adam said frustrated.

　　“I will show you why there wasn’t a mark on me, why there never was… and besides it’s not the first time Hanks tried to assault me.” Scarlett said suddenly, all eyes turned to her sharply.

　　“What lies! Why are you saying this now?! Why did you stay silent?” A woman said.

　　“Because I didn’t want to trouble my family… There were others involved at that time… I am willing to give names, under the Alpha command the truth will come out.” Scarlett said quietly. She was done hiding, she would stand up for herself no matter what.

　　“Care to explain Scarlett?” Jackson said, quietly feeling upset that she had gone through so much.

　　Scarlett looked at him. No matter how brave she was acting, she felt weak. As if sensing her emotions, Elijah guided her to a chair knowing this was hard for her.

　　“Back when I first shifted… Seeing the size of my wolf, 6 boys of this pack including Hank wanted to see if maybe I was born a male, mocking me for my size… They pinned me down in wolf form to take a look.” She said with disgust. Elijah’s hands on her shoulders felt comforting although his anger was rolling off him in waves and she continued, not daring to look at her family. Hearing her mother’s small gasp and sensing Jackson's anger, she focused ahead on a blank spot of the wall, ignoring all the people in the room, not wanting to see their pity, surprise or disgust.

　　“After making sure I definitely was not a male, they laughed and joked that they should test out if I really felt like a woman but before they managed anything I fled…”

　　“Names.” Elijah said, his anger pulsing around him dangerously. He never knew this but now knowing that Hank had been one of those bastards… Well he would have fucking gutted him himself.

　　Scarlett took a deep breath ready to say the names of the 5 remaining young men…