Romancing the Alpha

by Alicia Montgomery

  Their leader laughed. “Oh no, Mr. Anderson. We just want you.” He whistled and nodded to his men. “Cuff him. The other one too.” He turned back to Grant. “We’re gonna go for a little ride.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Frankie paced the living room, looking at the phone in her hand. The contacts list was open, with Grant’s name highlighted. All she had to do was tap the green button to call him.

  Shit.

  Why was it so hard? Call him and tell him they had to talk. That’s it. She wouldn’t tell him about the pregnancy over the phone, of course. They would meet and she would tell him in person.

  The phone suddenly started ringing and she gave a small shriek, dropping the device on the floor. “Cazzo!” she cursed and picked up the phone. It was Matt.

  “Matt?” she answered. “What’s up?”

  “Ms. Muccino,” a strange voice answered.

  “Hello? Who is this?” her brows knitted. “Where’s my brother?”

  “Ms. Muccino, we have your brother. And Mr. Anderson.”

  “Have him?” Frankie raised her voice. “What do you mean have him?”

  “We’ve taken them both.”

  Her blood ran cold. “You have his phone.” A chirp came from the phone and she quickly opened the message. The picture showed Matt and Grant, sitting on the floor of a dirty van, their hands tied behind them.

  “Frankie don’t come—“ Matt’s voice came through the receiver.

  “Shut up!” The sound of bone hitting bone crackled through and Frankie screamed.

  “No! Don’t hurt him! Don’t hurt them!”

  “If you want to see them alive, Ms. Muccino, you’ll come to the address we’re sending to you now,” the voice said. “And if you alert the authorities or the New York clan, we will kill both of them.” The line went dead.

  Frankie stared at the phone in her hand, unable to move. Her heart beat wildly, a knot growing in her stomach. They had Matt and Grant. It was probably the same people who attacked her. The phone chirped again and a message from another unknown number arrived. Checking the message, she saw it was an address in Connecticut. Without another thought, she grabbed her keys and dashed out to her car.

  ***

  Frankie programmed the address into her phone’s GPS app and followed the directions. It was a two-hour drive, according to her app and she drove over the speed limit, crossing her fingers and hoping she wouldn’t get pulled over. The sooner she got there, the better.

  Go, go. Save our mate. Her inner she-wolf was urging her, bubbling near the surface, pumping adrenaline into her system. She had to save Matt and Grant. Get to them as fast as possible. Oh please, don’t let it be too late.

  The GPS led her to an old, abandoned building somewhere between the border of New Jersey and Bristol. She pulled into the parking lot outside the building and carefully made her way to the large doors. The building was run-down, probably an old factory or warehouse. There were a couple of broken windows, and she could see light coming from the inside. The chains that had kept the main doors locked were on the ground, and the metal creaked as she opened it.

  The building was large and cavernous, opening up into one main room in the center. There were three figures standing in the middle and she couldn’t quite make out their faces as the pendulum lights were hung high above them, obscuring their features.

  “Come in, Ms. Muccino,” the man in the middle said. Something glinted in his hand and as she drew closer, realized it was the barrel of a gun, pointed straight at her. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, and the she-wolf was growling and screaming to get out.

  Must…protect…

  Calm down, she urged. She knew she wouldn’t be able to shift fast enough to evade a gunshot, not at this range.

  “Grayson?” she said, her voice incredulous as the man’s face came into view. Beside him was Vanessa Bennet. However, she didn’t recognize the third figure, a tall, large man with long blonde hair. “What’s the meaning of this? And where are my brother and Grant?”

  “Kill her now!” Vanessa spat. “Shoot her, Grayson!”

  “Shut up, Vanessa!” Grayson said. “I told you, the plan has changed!”

  “But it was a good plan!” she shrieked. “We get rid of her, Grant gives me a pup, and we take over New York!”

  “It would have been a good plan if you sealed the deal!” Grayson’s face went red. “But you couldn’t even get him to fuck you!”

  “You should have given me more time! I almost had him! I told you, he loves me!” Vanessa turned to Frankie, her eyes narrowing. “You whore! You spread your legs and he comes panting after you! But don’t worry. Once you’re out of the way, Grant will realize he loves me. And he’ll give me a pup!”

  “Vanessa, I swear, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to make you shut up!” Grayson roared.

  “What do you want, Grayson?” Frankie asked.

  “Why you, my dear.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes. I will deliver you to the mages,” he motioned to the tall, blonde man beside him. “And in exchange, they will give me what I want.”

  “The hell you will!” she shouted. “And why should I come with you?”

  “Because if you don’t, we will kill your brother,” he said. “Bring them in!”

  A door opened somewhere. More figures emerged from the dark, two of them hunched over, while three others were prodding and pushing them forward.

  “Grant! Matt!” she shouted.

  “Frankie!” Matt called. “You shouldn’t have come!”

  “Get out of here,” Grant said. “Please Frankie…go!”

  “Shut up!” Grayson hissed and their captors pushed them onto their knees.

  “Grayson, you asshole!” Grant snarled. “I should have known you were behind this! And you!” He looked at the tall, Viking-like man. “Daric. Of course, Stefan is behind this! He probably planned my kidnapping too. What did he promise you, Grayson?”

  “New York,” Grayson admitted. “If only you had fallen into our initial trap. You were supposed to get away that night, and then realize that the mages were getting stronger and bolder. I was ready, waiting in the wings to offer you an alliance, and marriage to Vanessa would have sealed the deal. Of course, once she had your heir, we wouldn’t need you anymore.” Grayson spat. “You could have lived a couple more months and seen your pup, but as it stands, I’ll have to kill you now.”

  “You think the mages are good allies? They’ll kill you too,” he looked at Daric meaningfully. “They hate our kind. Stefan and the mages are only using you.”

  “Shut up, Grant,” Grayson turned the gun on him. “You will die tonight, and then once you are gone, we will kill your sister, her family, and then your Beta and his wife. With no other heir or second, the High Council will have no choice but to appoint a warden for your territory.”

  “And that would be you, Grayson?” Grant finished.

  “Of course,” Grayson raised his gun. “I always hated you, you know. We should have been the most powerful clan in the world, not New York.”

  “No!” Frankie cried. She leapt towards Grayson, but one of his men grabbed her, dragging her away.

  “Don’t hurt her!” Grant growled. “Don’t you fucking dare!”

  “Oh I won’t hurt her,” Grayson said. “I’ll be handing her over to the mages. Don’t know what they’d want a pathetic little thing like her, though.”

  Grant’s eyes widened, and he looked at Daric. “I will hunt every last one of you down.”

  “Goodbye, Grant.” Grayson cocked his gun.

  “No!” Vanessa’s piercing scream rang throughout the building and she raised her arm, revealing the pistol in her hand. She shot once, but the kickback was so strong, she accidentally fired a second time. The bullet ricocheted off the lights, sending them swinging back and forth.

  “Vanessa, what did you do?” Grayson screamed, his eyes scanning around him.

  “I can’t let you kill him!” V
anessa sobbed. The gun dropped to the ground.

  Grayson looked at where she had pointed it. “No! You bitch! You killed her! Stefan wants her alive!”

  Frankie collapsed to the ground, the front of her shirt blooming with red.

  “Frankie!” Grant shouted. “No!”

  “No! Daric,” Grayson grabbed the warlock by his shirtsleeves. “Please don’t tell Lord Stefan!”

  “I’m sorry, Grayson. There is no more deal.” With that, Daric disappeared into thin air.

  ***

  In Grant’s eyes, everything happened so fast, then it slowed down. One moment, he and Matt were on their knees, their hands bound in plastic cuffs, watching as Grayson threatened Frankie and revealed his plan. Then there was screaming, a gunshot, the lights swaying violently back and forth. Chaos surrounded them, and then time seemed to decelerate. He watched as red began to pour from Frankie’s chest, and her body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

  Grayson screamed in anger, then smacked Vanessa in the face. “You ruined everything, you bitch! We’re dead! Dead because of you!”

  “I can’t let you kill him! So I got rid of his whore instead!” Vanessa shrieked.

  “I’m going to kill you!” Grant roared. He broke away from his guard, and began to heave and growl. The muscles underneath his skin began to move, his limbs growing longer and bigger, the plastic cuffs breaking away. Dark hair sprouted all over his body and soon, he stood in full Lycan form.

  “Shift, you idiots!” Grayson instructed his men. “And bring him down! Kill him!”

  But they were too late. Grant was fully transformed and he leapt onto the man on his right, ripping his throat out, then onto the one who was holding Matt like a shield. The younger man managed to get out of the way in time, and Grant sank his large teeth into the man’s thigh, piercing the femoral artery. Blood gushed into his mouth, and he let it drip and drain, smearing his fur like war paint.

  Once their two captors were down, he whipped around. Red, red everywhere. Frankie. Their child. She lay unmoving on the ground. His wolf eyes zeroed in on Vanessa and growled.

  “No!” Vanessa cried as Grant’s gigantic wolf cornered her. “Please, Grant, don’t!” She closed her eyes, as if trying to bring on a shift. He bowed his legs, getting ready to pounce on her. As he jumped, however, he was hit on the side by a large blur, sending him sprawling to the ground.

  Grant’s wolf rolled a couple of times, but he immediately got back on all fours. When he looked up, he saw five Lycans surrounding him, teeth and fangs bared, tails held horizontally. Grant bowed low, ready for the attack. Nothing mattered anyway. Frankie and his pup were gone. He would fight and defend himself to the death, take down as many of them as he could.

  A howl came from outside, and for a moment, the wolves surrounding him were distracted. Grant recognized the sound, and in that split-second, he pounced on the closest wolf, dragging him to the ground. One by one, the wolves piled on him, their teeth sinking into his body, drawing blood. Pain shot through him as teeth and claws ripped into this body. He fought and tore away with all his might, but there were just too many of them.

  All of a sudden, two large, brown wolves joined in, wresting his attackers away. As the two brown wolves (who he recognized as Alex and Nick) were battling two of the Connecticut wolves, the remaining ones flew off him, as if blown away by a strong wind. Lara stood a few feet away from them, waving her hand as she moved the air currents to send the Lycans crashing against the wall, knocking them out.

  “Grant!” Alynna called as she stormed into the abandoned building. She was wearing tactical gear, a gun in her hand. “They’re here!” she shouted into a headset. “Secure the premises! The Alpha is here! Have Medical on standby.”

  “Goddammit!” Grayson Charles, who had been watching in the corner of the room, screamed. He raised his hand, pointing the gun towards Alynna, who didn’t see the Connecticut Alpha hiding in the shadows.

  Grant howled and sprung into the air, knocking Alynna down. He howled in pain as the bullet dug into his massive body, lodging itself in his chest.

  “Grant!” Alynna screamed from under the gigantic wolf. “No!”

  The two blonde wolves leapt at Grayson, knocking him down to the ground. Nick’s massive jaw locked onto his arm and ripped at the flesh, while Alex’s paws held him in place. The Connecticut Alpha wailed in pain, then passed out as blood flowed out of the torn meat of his arm.

  “Grant,” Alynna sobbed as she pushed the wolf off her. Already, the body was shrinking, returning back into its human form.

  “Frankie…” Grant choked, his eyes rolling back. “I love you…I’ll see you soon, see you both…” Then his eyes closed.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “Oh god, no! Grant! Medical! Get in here now! The Alpha is down!” Alynna looked at the Grant’s chest, blood gushing out. Alynna pressed her hand over the wound, trying to stop it from bleeding.

  “Grant!”

  Alynna looked up at the figure who stood above them. “F-Frankie?”

  The other woman sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around the body on the ground. “No! Grant please, no!” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I never got to tell you…I love you!”

  There was chaos all around them. The Enclave’s Medical team rushed into the scene with oxygen masks, a stretcher, and Dr. Faulkner dashed to Grant’s side.

  “His pulse is very weak…we’re going to lose him!” he shouted to his team. “Please, Alynna, make way. We’re going to do the best we can. Dr. Cross! I need you to assist!” he called to the young woman who was sprinting towards them, medical bag in hand.

  Alynna nodded, and pried Frankie off of Grant. “C’mon, he’s not…he’s still here, we can save him.”

  Frankie let the younger woman pulled her to the side, her eyes glassy and wide in shock as she watched the two doctors work on Grant, their hands quick and efficient.

  “We have the best medical team here, Frankie,” Alynna assured her. “And we’ve got you and Matt safe.”

  “Oh my god, Matt!”

  Her brother standing next to Alex and Nick, who had cut his plastic cuffs. She rushed to him and put her arms around him. “Matt…what were you doing here? How did they get you?”

  “I was with Grant when were jumped,” he explained. “We were leaving the bar and these Lycans surrounded us and made us get into this van.”

  “But what were you doing In New York? With Grant?”

  “Well…” he looked at her sheepishly. “I was gonna make him pay, Frankie. I tracked him down and as soon as I saw him, I punched him in the face!”

  “What? Why would you do that?”

  “He knocked you up, Frankie, I couldn’t let him get away with it!”

  Frankie opened her mouth and then closed it. Beside her, Alynna’s eyes widened, while Alex’s jaw dropped. Nick, on the other hand, had a smirk on his face. “I…I…how did you know?”

  “I overheard you in the kitchen with Nonna Gianna,” he explained.

  Frankie shook her head. “Well that explains that…but…” She turned to Alynna. “How did you know where to find us?”

  “Well, Matt isn’t the only one of your brothers who has a habit of eavesdropping,” Alynna said. “Rafe called me. He overheard you talking on the phone with the kidnappers. It was easy enough to hack into your phone and find the address they sent you.”

  “The last time the mages attacked, they caught us by surprise,” Nick began. “But this time, we were prepared. We’ve spent the last few months training and putting a plan into action in case something like this happened. We brought the whole security force and the medivac chopper should be airlifting Grant back to The Enclave as we speak.”

  “Oh god…” Frankie hugged Alynna. “Thank you…so much. All of you.”

  “Well, I had to come and rescue my brother after all,” Alynna’s eyes sparkled. “And his True Mate.”

  “True Mate?”

  “Of cou
rse!” Alynna pointed to her chest. The blood spread all over the front and the bullet hole in the fabric showed where she had been shot. But, there was no wound underneath.

  “Madre de dio, I didn’t notice! I just….there was pain, I fell down and then…I just woke up again! What happened to me?” She looked down, her hands shaking as she touched the hole in her shirt and the clean, unbroken skin underneath.

  “Frankie,” Alynna began. “You’re carrying Grant’s pup, right? If you are True Mates, that means nothing can harm you. The baby is protecting itself, protecting you. I survived a poisoning, Cady recovered from a stab wound, and apparently, not even a bullet can harm someone carrying a True Mate offspring.”

  Frankie’s face was one of pure shock, her hand going to her belly. “I can’t…this is…”

  “This one is still breathing!” Dr. Cross called to the medical team, her voice ringing throughout the building. She was bent over Grayson Charles, who had passed out from loss of blood.

  “Too bad,” Alynna said distastefully. “Ugh, I hate that guy!”

  Frankie looked at Grayson. “I know what you mean. But, the High Council will take care of him.” She glanced around. “Where’s Vanessa?”

  “She’s here?” Alynna asked, frowning. “Shit. She must have gotten away. I’ll have a team try and pick her up. She can’t have gotten too far.”

  Frankie suddenly felt bone tired, the adrenaline leaving her body. “Grant…do you think he’ll be ok?”

  Alynna’s face looked hopeful, but her mouth was drawn in a grim line. “Let’s head back to New York.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “How is he, Dr. Faulkner?” Nick Vrost asked as the older Lycan stepped out into the waiting room. Beside him, Cady held his hand, giving it a squeeze.

  “Alive,” Dr. Faulkner said, but his face was grim. “The bullet was lodged in his chest. He lost a lot of blood. If he wasn’t a Lycan, he would have died in an instant.”