Escape (Dark Alpha #4)
Page 5
“I’m going to break her mating bond. She deserves to be free. But don’t tell her yet. I will. At the right time.”
“I don’t like the sound of this.” Her voice was a little louder now.
“Please, Sarra, I’m begging you.”
She sighed. “All right. How long?”
“An hour. Maybe more. I’ll keep it as short as I can.”
“All right. We’ll be waiting.”
“I love you, Sarrabear.”
“Yeah, shut up with that already. I’ve got a reputation as a badass, and you’re ruining it.”
He smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. “Thanks,” he choked out. Dammit, he couldn’t afford to get emotional right now. There would be time for that later.
“Don’t be stupid.” She hung up.
He clicked the phone off, took a deep breath, and climbed in the car.
The drive into downtown to where the Morgan Media offices were didn’t take the full half-hour, so Jak stopped at a coffee shop nearby. He started and then deleted, unsent, a half dozen text messages for Arianna. She didn’t have her phone, of course, so it would have to go through Sarra, and he just couldn’t bring himself to say the things he wanted to. The things he needed to say, before all of this went down.
He would just have to find the right time to do it later.
With about five minutes left, he strolled out of the coffee shop and into the underground parking garage next door. There wasn’t much parking downtown, but he knew this area fairly well. A large, familiar-looking van was parked next to his car that hadn’t been there before. As he rounded the back of it, his shoes screeched on the concrete flooring of the garage.
Gage. His alpha leaned against Jak’s car, waiting for him.
Jak held very still, wishing now that he’d brought the gun… although he couldn’t imagine pulling it on his alpha. Ex-alpha. Jak reminded himself that his bond had been wiped away with the passing of the full moon.
Gage unfolded his arms and stepped toward Jak with his hands in the air. “I just want to talk, Jak.”
Jak darted his gaze all around the parking garage, realizing now that the dark van looked familiar because it was a pack van. But there didn’t seem to be anyone else nearby. Gage had come alone. Jak’s heart thudded as he realized how: the GPS in Jak’s car.
Gage had tracked him.
Which meant Mace could as well.
Jak turned and strode away. He would have to take a taxi from here on out. He looked at his phone and shoved it in his pocket, making a mental note to ditch that as well and get a burn phone.
“Jak, wait!” Gage was hurrying up behind him.
He wasn’t using a command voice, and Jak wasn’t under any obligation to stop, but years of habit, and the fact that he actually loved Gage like a brother, had him stopping in his tracks anyway.
He turned to face Gage. “No talking can fix this.” He was acutely aware of time ticking past. He had to wrap this up and somehow get to Morgan Media without Gage in tow.
“Jak, what are you doing?” The pain on Gage’s face ripped a hole right through him. “We can fix this. Just bring her back, we’ll make it all right.”
“Bring her back,” Jak repeated, disbelieving. Then he saw something with a sudden clarity: something he should have known all along. Gage let this happen: he knew what kind of alpha his brother was. He knew what happened in that house. And he let it happen.
Every. Damn. Day.
“Mace is out for blood,” Gage continued. “If he finds you, I won’t be able to stop him. You have come back now, right now. Bring the girl in, and I can make it right with him.”
Jak’s rage was building to a frothy peak. “Do you know what I’m doing here, Gage?”
Gage gave him a hard look. He obviously wasn’t used to back-talk from his beta.
“I’m doing what an alpha should. What any decent alpha would.”
Gage’s face turned red, and his fists clenched. Suddenly Jak didn’t fear having to fight him anymore. Because Gage was wrong. Dead wrong.
“You saved my life,” Jak said through his teeth. “All those years ago, you risked your life to stop something that was wrong. What happened to the alpha who pulled me out of the forest?”
Gage’s jaw worked. “You may not want to be my beta anymore, Jak. But that doesn’t mean you can steal my brother’s mate.”
Jak curled a lip in disgust. “You know what he does to her.”
Gage’s cheek twitched, and he had the decency to drop his gaze to the floor.
Jak wasn’t letting him off that easy. “When did you become the kind of alpha who looks the other way?”
Gage kept his focus on the floor. “He’s my brother, Jak.”
“He’s an asshole. And he’ll have to kill me to get her back.”
Gage winced but looked up again. “He will, Jak. He’s coming for you.”
“He can fucking try.” Jak pointed to the garage exit. “I’m walking out of here. Right now. Don’t try to stop me.”
Gage’s brow wrinkled, but he didn’t say anything. Jak turned on his heel and marched out. His heart pounded like a jackhammer in his chest as he broke out into the sunshine. He checked the time on his phone before dumping it in the trash can and walking on. Morgan Media was a good couple blocks away, and he was already late.
He picked up the pace and ran the entire way there.
He was so winded when he arrived, he had to bend over double during the elevator ride up, trying to get his heart to stop pounding out of his chest. Leaving Gage and his pack was going to be hard—Jak knew that going in. But somehow this was worse. This knowledge that Gage had let all this happen. It was his duty as an alpha to stop things like this, where it was within his power. And even sometimes when it wasn’t. There were some things that were worth dying for… and protecting the innocents of the world, people like Arianna, was one of the things.
It was everything that being alpha meant.
The magic of Arianna’s submission bond pulsed through his blood, and his inner wolf howled agreement. How could Mace feel that and ever harm her? How could Gage, powered by the submission bonds of his entire pack, not do everything in his power to right the wrongs happening in his own estate?
Jak braced his hand against the edge of the elevator as it arrived, and the doors opened. The run had flushed his face, but the thing that truly stole his breath was the knowledge that he had to go pleasure a witch to save the woman he loved. There were few things he wanted to do less. But it was just one of the sacrifices he would make to keep her safe. To right the wrongs that had gone on too long. It started with his mother. It would end with Arianna.
If there was anything decent in the world, anything like fates smiling down on him, Arianna would never have to know. If not, he prayed she would understand.
He stormed past the receptionist and through the frosted glass doors of Morgan Media. He knew exactly which office was Circe’s. A wave of witch heads turned to follow him as he strode toward it. He threw open the door, and there she was: leaning against her desk, arms crossed, looking disgruntled at his tardiness.
But her eyes lit up when she saw him. “Little wolf,” she breathed, a smile on her face.
He closed the door behind him.
Jak's plan is a dangerous one... but will he even get the chance to carry it out?
Dark Alpha Release Schedule - 2015
1 - Torment (1.19)
2 - Pleasure (2.2)
3 - Deception (2.16)
4 - Escape (3.2)
5 - Untitled (3.16)
6 - Untitled (3.30)
Box Set (Dark Alpha 1-6) - releases 3.30
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Alisa Woods lives in the Midwest with her husband and family, but her heart will always belong to the beaches and mountains where she grew up. She writes sexy paranormal romances about alpha men and the women who love them. She enjoys exploring the struggles we all have, where we resist—and succumb to—our most tempting vices as well as our greatest desires. She firmly believes that love triumphs over all.
DARK ALPHA is Alisa's second New Adult Paranormal Romance serial. Find all of Alisa's books here.
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Table of Contents
Escape (Dark Alpha 4) Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Get The Next Episode of Dark Alpha
About Alisa Woods