The Alpha Dating Game(40)

“Oh, Kyle.” Her voice, buried in his shoulder, was fraught with the same relief he felt. “I thought you were never going to come for me.”

He imbibed the scent of her hair. Her body warmth and solidity felt so good in his arms. He never wanted to let her go. To think that he had contemplated dropping this wonderful, vibrant woman who made him feel so alive into that dreaded abyss! Never again would he want that awful responsibility. Never again would he be coerced to do something his entire mind and soul told him was wrong. So he was not cut out to be Alpha. So he couldn’t kill someone he had come to deeply care for.

So be it.

He didn’t want to take his arms away from the comfort her very presence gave him, but he knew he had to.

“Come, we have to go. But quietly. It’s not safe for you,” he said.

“Were they going to kill me?” she said, her voice quavering.

He saw no reason to lie to her. “Yes.”

“I know. Kyle.” She caught hold of his forearm as he turned to go. “I know about you . . . I mean, I know Smith is not your real name. I know your name is Atreides, and – ” She blushed “ – I’ve been checking up on your family, and I know about Emily Watson, and the way she disappeared.”

Oh yes, he remembered Emily Watson too. Somehow, the news that Jessica knew his real name did not surprise him at all. And yet she came along for the ride.

He said, “We have to go. We’ll talk later and I’ll tell you everything, OK?”

“OK.”

It was best he didn’t take her out the way he came. Too many eyes and too many people who would spot her because of her size. Luckily, he knew this house like the back of his palm. Knew it too well, in fact, and that was why he couldn’t bear living here a moment longer.

He said, “I know a secret way. Come with me.”

They dashed down the corridor into another wing. Here, the family bedrooms were clustered. In his father’s bedroom, there was a door to a secret passage. The family had built it just in case the Alpha needed to make a quick exit.

Just as they rounded a bend to enter the corridor leading to the master bedroom, they stopped short. Caleb faced them with a knowing sneer.

“Going somewhere with the Sacrifice, brother?” he said.





SHOWDOWN





Jessica’s blood froze in her veins.

Caleb was standing before them with a knowing smirk on his handsome face.

“Let us pass, Caleb,” Kyle said.

“I know where you’re going and it isn’t for one of your fuck trysts,” Caleb said. “You’re going to the passage in father’s closet.”

“I’ll be going away for a while,” Kyle agreed. “And I’m not going to be Alpha any longer. You’re welcome to the position, brother. I know you’ve always coveted it and you’ve always resented me for being first.”

“First, brother, in age, but not everything else.” Caleb puffed out his chest. “And as future Alpha, my first task will be to stop you and make sure the Sacrifice fulfils her purpose.”

“Over my dead body,” Kyle growled.

“That can be arranged, and with pleasure.”

Caleb sprang at his brother. Kyle was waiting for this and the two brothers fell to the floor, rolling. Jessica could only watch helplessly. Punches were exchanged. Hard flesh contacted with hard flesh.

Kyle got up to his feet and so did Caleb. Caleb picked up a vase from the floor and threw it at his brother. Kyle ducked. The vase sailed over his head and smashed onto the floor. Kyle retaliated by flying at his brother and throwing a vicious kick which caught Caleb in his solar plexus. Caleb’s back thudded onto the wall.

They were both making spectacular noise. Jessica was glad for the music thump downstairs, but there was always the danger of someone being on this floor and coming to check them out. It was a very large house after all.

“Oooof!”

Caleb doubled over, but quickly recovered. He took a swipe at Kyle, which caught him on the jaw. Both brothers were clearly trained in the fighting arts. More hooks and upper cuts were exchanged. More kicks, aimed high and low. Jessica’s heart wrung each time Kyle was hit, though she suspected he was far tougher than she gave him credit for.

Then something happened. Something she wasn’t prepared in her wildest dreams to witness.

Caleb’s clothes started to rip. Jessica watched, aghast, as his shirt split right in the middle across his back, which was rapidly expanding. Fur sprouted out alarmingly as his limbs and entire frame started to elongate. Jessica had grown up on a staple of supernatural TV shows in addition to the usual fare but she was shocked to see it happening right here before her eyes.