The Demon Alpha: A Paranormal Romance

by Belle Kayce

  Lance’s worries are different than my own. We’re leaving straight out of here if you feel anything.

  I’m fine, don’t worry.

  Through my peripheral vision, I can see Lance turn his head towards me, in case I would have shown any physical signs of heat.

  Then, the entire atmosphere of the room shifts. I see my former Alpha, Trent, and his cousin Steven- the one who took Cole’s pack- in chains as many guards are around them, blocking them for any kind of view and Alpha Charles, his gait purposeful as they make it to the front of the room. Except the entire time, my gaze is on my brother. I see him clench his fists tightly.

  They make it to the front, standing before all these Alphas looking weak and broken. I don’t know what they have been doing, I don’t care. As long as they go far away from civilization so I can see my parents again- so it could be safe again- that’s all that matters.

  “Two Alphas are standing in front of you today for trial of the murder of Vanessa Kang.” Alpha Yerry says. “They have been found guilty for murder. They will spend their dying days at the Death Valley Dungeons.”

  A long silence.

  “Anyone who is opposed please come forward and state your reason why.”

  I think Cole’s mate would say something, but she doesn’t. I catch her looking at Cole.

  “I.” The entire rooms shifts to my brother who’s standing up. I can’t hear what Grayson is telling him, but Sargon is about to shift. “They should be executed!”

  “I agree,” this new voice is from Scarlett. “They should be killed for their crimes. Imprisonment is too good for them.”

  Nothing could have surprised me more than that.

  “What better punishment than for them to live their days knowing they will never taste power again?” Alpha Charles glowers at my brother who’s still on the verge of shifting. Sargon meets my eyes and I shake my head slightly which makes his face fall, and he gives me a nod once before sitting down. I let out a huge breath, not caring who heard me. This is the easy part. Well, mostly. This is just their sentence. No other Alpha is speaking up against them. They agree it’s a fitting punishment. As fitting as they can get.

  My sister was killed because she was going to get in the way of Trent and Steven from gaining new territory, new land from her mate. She was killed for standing up to them. I was lucky that I got away from them because I knew they would have killed me too.

  These two Alphas on their knees in front of the room have never looked so weak. So pathetic.

  “If Alpha Paxon does desire, however, to pay them a visit,” Alpha Charles continues, “I would allow it.”

  The room is so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

  There’s something changing within the Alphas. Of course, some of them would still carry on in their own ways, but I feel as though they genuinely were disgusted. Even Finn.

  “Meeting is adjourned. I thank all of you who could have made it. Trent and Steven’s packs will be handled with, and they will forever regret their actions.” Trent and Steven were still on their knees as all the Alphas got dismissed.

  Julia whispers to me that she has to go to the bathroom, and Cole is already bolting out the door. Sargon and Grayson also are nowhere to be seen. I really need to speak to my brother. Lance only stands up when Alpha Charles comes our way. I quickly do too, lacing my hands with Lance’s.

  “Alpha Lance, of Noctis Luna, I want to formally introduce myself,” Alpha Charles says, extending his hand. “Who must this be?”

  “Alpha Charles, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Lance takes out his free hand to shake it with the ancient Alpha. “This is my mate and my Luna, Ava.”

  “It is nice to meet you, Luna Ava,” he says, also shaking my hands. His attention turns back to Lance. “I saw you as a young pup, you were so young back then in the Alpha War, but there was something I saw that terrified me. What I saw is that you could use your power you have at any time. You could be the most destructive force in the entire werewolf world, but you were crying at the end of the war. If it wasn’t for Damien, I think you could have went on a darker path. I also know your allies are few in the werewolf world, but you have the entire vampire world that would be there for you. Your true father is the vampire King after all.”

  “The quiet ones are usually the ones that have the biggest bite,” Charles gave us a smile. “I see great potential in you, Lance Stryder to make our world better.”

  “Thank you,” Lance’s words are sincere. I can tell how much Lance respects this Alpha. “I’ll try my best.” He squeezes my hand. Alpha Charles nods at us, a goodbye.

  “I hope we will not have to do this in the future again,” he sighs as he walks away, leaving with the two Alphas as we were the last ones in the room.

  “Wow,” I say out loud, shaking my head. That meeting took a lot out of me.

  Then I felt it. The surge of pain.

  Lance’s eyes widen a fraction, and I barely manage out to say my mate’s name before collapsing into his arms because of the excruciating pain.

  My heat is here.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Pain is the only thing that I feel. Getting burned up also is the only thing that I feel. My back and stomach hurts, and I feel like curling up and dying.

  I only hear some voices.

  When I open my eyes, I see bright pink hair putting...ice? With a start, I wake up, the pain shooting through me. “You’re up.”

  “Where...what?” I manage to groan out. How was Meg here? The only thing I feel are horrible cramps that feel like a knife is twisting my insides.

  “You’re back in the pack,” Julia’s voice answers me. She scoops some ice and throws it in a tub.

  I’m in a tub.

  Filled with ice.

  I shiver, and realize what little clothing I’m wearing- a skimpy tank top and shorts. As if noticing my distress Meg explains, “Trust me, you wanted to take it all off, but I don’t think that’ll do Lance any good at controlling what little control he still has.” Something calms me that I’m back in my pack, and the Alpha meeting went without a hitch.

  “How did we get here?” I frown, looking at the ice that has been filled up all the way to my chest. It must have been at least a full day since I’ve gotten in my heat.

  “The first days are the worst in pain,” Meg responds, she glances at Julia who’s still scooping ice in the tub.

  “You fainted within thirty minutes of your heat,” Julia’s voice holds a little making fun. “Lance got you out of there so fast before he could kill all the Alphas in there because there was just a slight mishap after you and I were getting in the car to leave.”

  “Mishap?” I swallow, looking up at Julia.

  “One Alpha decided to seek you out...” Julia trails off. “Lance may have broken a few bones.”

  “A lot of bones,” Meg chuckles. “And many ligaments.”

  “We drove straight to the pack house for the whole 6 hours, only stopping to get you more ice bags that were beside you. Cole and Grayson had to come separately,” Julia went on. “Lance was with you at the backseat the whole time.”

  “Where is he now?” I ask, leaning back, and clutching the sides of the tub.

  “Last time we checked, he shifted off somewhere. Everyone is kicked out of the pack house except us,” Julia replies.

  “Thanks, Jules,” I barely murmur. “Thanks Meg... for doing all this.”

  “It only helps a little,” Meg says, “the real comfort you’ll get is being close to Lance.”

  “I’m going to get more ice,” Julia says, leaving the bathroom.

  “It’s so hot,” I say, barely able to keep my eyes open. I feel like my mind is on a drunken high right now since I don’t feel sober at all. I just want this pain to stop, and there’s only one way to do it which makes me want to pour holy water all over me.

  “I’m sorry,” Meg tells me, “you’ll just have to withstand the pain. You can do it.”

  “How is she.” My m
ate’s voice makes me shift a little. Why did his voice sounds so...delicious?

  Lance walks into the bathroom - his bathroom- and he shamelessly checks me out. I see his nostrils flare slightly, breathing me in, his primal instincts taking over. He swallows thickly, I see him closing his eyes, his body going rigid. Lance is struggling with himself.

  ”She’ll be fine, we got her,” Julia says, coming in the bathroom with an ice bucket.

  “It lasts a couple of days,” Lance murmurs miserably. “I can’t be away from her.”

  “If you can’t control yourself then you really need to get out,” Meg orders him around. Typically this wouldn’t work in a normal pack, but Lance doesn’t run things normally and right now what she’s saying is right.

  Lance stays though, sitting on the edge of the tub, and touches my shoulder in comfort. I lean in on him, the only thing that actually feels good. “You feel so good,” I pant to him, my voice sounding foreign and so much like a sultry vixen. If I weren’t in so much pain, I would have been embarrassed. Right now, my insides seem to be twisting up and I feel like I’m scorching, so I don’t really care if I make a fool of myself. Especially since touching Lance helps the pain.

  Lance’s eyes fly open and he growls again. If he can control his powerful wolf maybe he can control his hormonal primal urges?

  “Ava how about you don’t talk?” Meg suggests sweetly, noticing Lance getting bothered. I squeeze my mouth shut, but the cramp pain is killing me and my weak body. “Lance how are you feeling? Do you think you can control yourself if you’re holding her?”

  Lance clenches his jaw, “I will.” He looks over at me. “But if I do lose control, I will never do anything that you don’t want, Ava. Even if you say yes, I’ll take it as a no.”

  I pout at him which makes him clench his jaw tighter.

  “Jump in the tub with her then and hold her. It might calm the pain temporarily, but it’ll start again,” Meg says, and then she leaves us.

  Great I’ll be living in this tub for the next few days. Being in heat sucks. Why does this have to happen.

  Lance takes off his shirt, so we can have skin to skin contact, and jumps in the tub with me. Thankfully it’s a tub that fits his huge frame, and he settles himself behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and running his nose across the back of my neck, kissing the back of my shoulder. It feels too good, and the twisting pain inside of me subsides a little. I feel his hard body on my back, and sigh in content.

  “Mmmm,” I say, Lance is rigid again.

  “Ava,” Lance grits his teeth.

  “Sorry,” I say, not wanting him to lose any control. I just want this pain to stop, and there’s only one way to do it which makes me want to pour holy water all over me.

  ***

  Since Lance has everyone kicked out in the pack house where it’s just me and him. I kind of had to get over the fact that everyone in the entire pack knew I was going through heat, but it’s a natural thing for us. Occasionally, Julia and Meg will come, filling my tub with ice so I could have a pain reliever that way, but I knew I clung to Lance like a parasite on all five days. I would stick over his body like glue, and he would carry me all over the house too because I was too weak. Or because he probably wanted to.

  I also know that while we were in bed together, I almost jumped his bones, and we’d go far, but Lance would have to physically restrain himself from going all the way, and that’s when his emotions went haywire and he almost shifted into Luxe.

  On the sixth day I wake up, alone in the bed, I feel so much better. There is no more pain. A huge grin takes over my face, and I pull the covers off of me.

  I am free of heat!

  I run downstairs, cheering as I made my way into the kitchen, where the usual suspects are. Lance, Cole, Bo, Meg and Julia are sitting at the table, laughing.

  Everyone stops talking when I walk in. My face heats up as I recall how I acted around my mate like, yesterday. We were hard core making out, and I had no shame. Now, I couldn’t even look at him. I can’t even remember what I’ve said to him either.

  “My favorite being!” Bo stands up from his chair, coming over to me to give me a hug.

  “Bo!” I give him a huge hug, “I missed you! How was it when I was gone?”

  Bo sighs loudly as he squeezes my body, “What can I say? I have to do all the work around here since Lance won’t. He’s been slacking.”

  “Is that why there’s a huge stack of papers on your desk?” Meg asks him.

  “I support this family!” Bo replies. “Without me nothing would be possible! I’m the one doing all the finances here while our Alpha goes off into danger without even thinking about it.”

  “Bo.” Lance tilts his head to the side. “We were fine. I texted you every hour like you asked me.” I love how Bo acted like we were gone to war.

  “That’s besides the point,” Bo dismisses it. “I’m glad you’re back and ready to train.” I blanch.

  “I don’t know Bo, I’m feeling really sick,” I grin at him. Bo rolls his eyes.

  “Puh-lease. I know you’ve been slacking too. But I’m glad you’re well,” Bo waggles his eyebrows, and I punch his arm lightly as I seat myself next to Julia.

  “Sargon is back at his pack,” Julia tells me. I glance over at Bo who looks interested in his nails all of a sudden.

  “He told me to contact him once you were out of your heat,” Cole tells me, getting up to wash his dishes.

  “How did Paxon take the news?” I ask.

  “Paxon is still trying to do his best not to fall into oblivion. We’ll visit him,” Lance inputs, and for the first time, I look at him, his eyes penetrating right through me. Hot flashes of our naked bodies pressed together flash in my mind, and I gulp, looking away from him. I needed to know what all happened these five day because I’m pretty sure I’ve said and done some really embarrassing things.

  “Basically, everything now is just handy dandy,” Bo says, standing up abruptly. “All is fine in the world.” He walks out of the kitchen, and we all look at each other.

  “I’m going to kill your brother,” Meg tells me, following after him, and Cole does too.

  “Is Grayson still here?” I ask Julia, almost whispering in case he was here.

  Julia’s mouth becomes a thin line. “No. He’s still here too.” Julia leaves the kitchen to get ready for training.

  Which leaves Lance and I alone.

  “Are you feeling better?” Lance asks me, making me turn to him. His eyes are glinting with nothing but mischief. I feel a smile underneath those eyes and something way more intense.

  “Yup, way better.”

  Silence.

  “What?” I ask, questioning his intense gaze.

  “What do you mean what?” Lance raises an eyebrow at me, leaning back.

  “You know what I mean. Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Now, Lance smiles, one sided dimple full in effect. Teasing ensued. “I was just thinking about how much I liked you being all over me and our conversations.”

  I’m blushing. “W-what kind of conversations?”

  “Pups.”

  I let out a squawk like a crow. Oh. My. Gosh. I did not talk pups with him. Heat will come again next month, and this time even more painful. I knew Lance well enough to know it did have a huge affect on him. He acts sly, but I know he wants to know what I thought about this.

  “W-what did I say about them?”

  “It doesn’t matter now that you’re on your right mindset.”

  “No, it does. We’ve never...” I avoid eye contact. “We never talked about them. I mean, I don’t know. Maybe one day.”

  “Really?” Lance asks, and I wonder if he ever wanted to have some.

  “I’d love to,” I answer honestly. Lance’s eyes lit up.

  “Me too. With you.” My throat clogs a little when I think of Lance as a father. I start to get up, trying to get my dishes and pause when Lance continues, “But I have something I�
��d like to ask of you.” He stands up, walking around the table towards me. Stopping in front of me, intense gaze trained down on me, looking completely hot and smoldering with a slight smirk that makes him look dangerous. He takes my hand and kisses it, “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Sometimes I make really really last minute decisions.

  This was kind of one of them. I know Lance isn’t going to like it, but I had to see them. Seeing my parents and how they were safe, I needed to see them.

  So Lance is sitting on my bed because I asked him to come and needed to tell him something. He’s asked me to completely move in with him in his room, but I haven’t fully packed up all my things. I can’t let go just yet. Commitment is scary, but I know I am going to move in with him soon.

  “I’m going to go see my parents for the week,” I say, looking up from packing to watch his facial reaction if it indicated anything. If he tried to stop me, I would spend time with them for a month. A week isn’t too long, but I know Lance isn’t going to feel comfortable not being able to see me. Like, okay, it’s a mate thing. I know he wants to be there too, meet my parents, but with the situation now after the Alpha meeting, Lance needs to be at his own pack. Julia is coming with me anyways.

  Lance nods his head a little. “At least take someone with you so I can have peace of mind of your safety while you’re there.”

  “Already did. Sargon will be there,” I smile at him. “Zeke volunteered too.” Lance gives me a nod of approval, and I knew he would be happy his brother would come with me. He trusts Zeke with his life. “He also said that your father was coming?”

  “Ah, yes...” Lance trails off. Even though Zeke’s biological father, Damien, isn’t Lance’s biological father, Lance considers him to be a father.

  “You haven’t seen your parent in ages either,” I narrow my eyes at him. Zeke told me how their dad wanted to see me, his son’s mate. I am highkey nervous.