Blood & Notes
This is the sequel to 'The Ruthless Alpha's Rogue' a slight re-write/edit of a book previously published under.
Benjamin
I made sure I was awake before sunrise.
I had an errand to run, and I didn’t need anyone else around. Though they were probably all sleeping in after the party last night, and the first event today was a late brunch, I had to ensure complete discretion.
Though my head felt heavy with lack of sleep and my tongue fuzzy with the reminder of whiskey, it was easy to shake off with my renewed sense of purpose.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to go far. I insisted that it be delivered, but of course, it was never that easy. Not with her. I had to fight her on it, then bribe her, and then argue again, but she finally conceeded to bringing it to me.
I only had a little way to go past the front gates. It made the most sense, but she insisted everything she did was for my gain. I wished she could see the bigger picture past her raging emotions, but I had to admit the challenge of her still thrilled me.
The packhouse was eerily quiet when I left, and when I returned, no one of note was awake. There were only a few scattered Omegas bustling about the place, still cleaning up the traces of last night.
I walked out the back of the packhouse and took a deep breath. The almost-winter air hit me. The mountains were so fucking close, tucked into each other. I felt as if I could scale them in an hour.
I wanted to know what secrets they hid. I was sure there were many mysterious places between their crevices.
An Omega brushed past me, pulling me from my stupor. I yanked my arm away, and she mumbled an apology.
Careless fucker.
I flexed my fingers and tried to call the Alpha power that ran through me to the surface. I needed to portray myself as more confident than I felt.
I had one shot at this.
I neared the hidden entrance to their holding cells and rapped my knuckles against it. channeling some of my agitation into the wooden door.
Moments later, a small window opened, and a warrior peered at me. "What?" he asked, voice flat.
"My daughter is being held here. I was told by the Alpha I could see her today," I bit back, letting a bit of fatherly anger rise.
The small window slammed shut, and I ground my teeth but held my ground.
I heard some muffled voices before the door opened. “You have ten minutes.” I reigned in my sigh of relief. He escorted me down some steps to a dimly lit hallway. I couldn’t tell if there was anyone else down here. It was eerily quiet.
He rapped on the cell door with a few swift knocks. “Wake up, princess, your daddy is here.” He laughed and walked away.
Jennifer came to the cell door. I studied her through the long, thick bars. She was still wearing her Luna dress, and her hair was everywhere. One night in the cell, she looked like she had been here for months.
I couldn’t remember the last time I was in our holding cells, but I knew they weren’t anything like this. Even though this place reminded me of an ancient dungeon, the security seemed recently updated.
“Who the fuck are you?” she hissed; her voice low.
“I’m here to help,” I whispered back. She rolled her eyes and backed away. “You literally have no choice. Who else has come to help you?” I took a step forward. wary of anyone overhearing, even though the guard who escorted me had left.
“Who are you?” she repeated.
“That you don’t need to know,” I replied.
She scoffed, crossing her arms. “Why should I trust you then?”
“We have a mutual enemy, well, enemies, really,” I mused, shrugging. “So that should make us friends.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What do you have against them?” She questioned.
“Let’s just say I have some unfinished business with the new Luna, and the Alpha has stepped on my toes one too many times.”
She nodded, chewing her lip. “I guess I have no choice. But if you screw me over, I will make you suffer; you will lose everything you’ve ever loved.”
I grinned widely. “Same goes for you.”
She smiled back at me. She was attractive despite the smeared makeup and matted hair. Maybe once she got that baby out and her body back, we could have some fun. I needed something fun; everyone was so boring these days. She owed me for helping her anyway; it was the least she could do.
“So… Now what?” Her hazel eyes met mine.
“I don’t have it all planned yet,” I admitted, “I don’t want them to know it’s me… Yet.”
She nodded, chewing on her lip, thinking. “The first thing we can do is invalidate Isla as Luna,” she said.
“So, the baby really is his?” I asked her.
She looked away, deciding whether to trust me. “I need you to get in contact with someone for me immediately.”
“Tell me what to do.” If she had the first step to taking them down for good, I didn’t care what it was.
“Okay, so his name is-”
Loud feet cut her off. “All of her meetings are supposed to be supervised, you idiot,” a guard’s voice bounced off the stone walls. “Just wait until the Gamma hears about this.”
Jennifer looked at me, panic-stricken. Her mouth hung open. I was about to ask her his name, but the guards were close. I slipped her an envelope between the bars before they came into view and winked.
“I’m sorry, I just got to my station this morning. I didn’t know.”
“You’re off guard duty today. Go home.”
A new guard stood before me with a cold stare. “Time’s up, you can come back next week, and all of your meetings from here on out will be supervised.” He looked between us.
A week? Jennifer’s face visibly paled.
“I’ll see you as soon as I can,” I promised her, not knowing exactly when that would be. There must be a way to get a note to her. Not everyone was loyal to their Alpha, I knew that well enough by now.
“Times up.” The man repeated, motioning for me to go first.
He followed me closely back up the stairs. I felt optimistic for the first time in weeks; having an ally, even one in a holding cell at the moment, was better than none. I was confident that we could work something out together.
Jennifer
I prayed I could trust that mystery man; my fate was in his hands until my parents came to see me. I wished I had gotten his name, his pack, anything. I didn’t know how to contact him, not that I could in this current situation. Maybe I could work on one of the guards to let me send a note.
I ran my fingers along the envelope he passed me, debating on if it was safe to open. I wouldn’t put it past Jackson to send someone down to try to get information out of me; it seemed like something Cam would do. I didn’t give any information, though. Did I? I went back over our conversation, satisfied that I didn’t give anything too incriminating away.
I was starving. I wondered what time it was; every minute felt like an hour down here. I almost regretted not eating last night, but I didn’t want to give Isla the satisfaction. The innocent Cinderella act was getting pretty old; I didn’t understand how Jackson didn’t see right through it. No one was actually that nice.I didn’t need her pity, and I guaranteed I would not give her any pity when her time came to die at my hand.
I lay back on the bed, bored as hell. The door opened; maybe I would get some food now. I heard the shuffling of feet and hushed voices and crying. Why was someone crying? Was there a new prisoner? I stashed the envelope under my pillow.
“My baby, my sweet baby, reduced to this. I can’t believe it; I never thought you would be so cruel to a member of your own pack, your own ex-girlfriend,” my mom sobbed, and I rolled my eyes.
“You are going to be sorry after this.” My dad shouted, his voice booming off the walls. How many people were down here?
A light flickered on, and the sudden brightness hurt; I recoiled back. Jackson, Lucas, Cam, my parents, the doctor, two people I’d never seen before, and that stupid ‘warrior’ Mitch or Mickey or something idiotic stood in front of my cell.
“What did I do to deserve such a lovely welcome party? I joked icily, coming up to the bars.
“You know what you did,” Cam responded.
“We’re ending this once and for all,” my dad said, glaring at Jackson. “Then you’ll let my daughter out.” Let me out? I wonder what deal he struck with them.
“Hi, Jennifer. My name is Doctor Louis.” One of the strangers walked up to my cell, looking timid.
Was he from some loony bin? I wasn’t going to a mental hospital; is that what my parents wanted for me? Is that the deal they struck? That had to be worse than this. I backed up involuntarily.
“I’m not going with him,” I shouted, shaking my head.
“Going with him? No, dear.” My mom stepped forward, wrapping her hands around the bars. “He’s a doctor we brought to conduct a paternity test.”
No fuck no, not yet. I looked at my mom, my eyes pleading, hoping she could read them. This was too soon. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know they would want to do this today. I thought they would have forgotten about me for at least a week after all the ceremony. No, this couldn’t be happening. I shook my head violently, my mouth felt dry, and head hot.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Darling, it’s okay; he’s going to conduct one for us so that we can prove that the pack’s doctor messed up somehow or is lying.” My dad glared at the doctor now.
“I’m here to take a sample, too; we will compare the results.” Dr. Lockhart stepped forward, looking exasperated. “Again.”
“Back to the drawing board, eh, doctor?” Lucas chimed in, “Get it? The drawing board, like blood drawing?” Cam rolled his eyes, and the doctor fought a smile. “Everyone’s a critic,” he mumbled.
“Let’s get this over with. I still have guests still I’m hosting.” Jackson said, I averted my eyes when he pinned his searing gaze on me.
“Don’t let me hold you, go back to your fucking party. I’ll be here later.” I turned around, indicating this was over.
“Honey, the sooner we get the results, the sooner we can get you out of here,” My mom pleaded.
“I-I don’t want to; I haven’t eaten. I might faint; that can’t be good for the baby.” I clutched my stomach.
“You’re starving my pregnant daughter down here?” My dad roared at the Mick guy.
“I brought her a fresh meal from the kitchen. Luna’s orders. She refused it and threw it at me.” Mick shrugged.
“Let me eat, and then we can do this another time.” I tried to grasp at any excuse. This would seal my fate. Maybe I could pretend to faint; channeling weakness would be hard, but not impossible.
“We’re doing this now. Then you eat.” Jackson said curtly. Mick went to open the door, and I backed up.
“No, I really, I’m feeling sick, nauseous, I don’t think-.”
“We’re doing this right now,” Jackson commanded in his Alpha tone, “Sit down.”
I was forced to submit; anger coursed through me. I wondered if I could shift and catch them off guard when the door opened. But I was powerless under Jackson’s command. The doctors came up and drew blood from different arms while I was immobile. Okay, that was a lot of blood. I wasn’t lying now about feeling lightheaded.
“There we go, all done.”
“Thank you, doctor,” My mom said, “Now please go get this tested, far away from here, and call us with the results.” She glared at Jackson, but he didn’t notice.
“I’ll let you know the results of this test, too,” Dr. Lockhart said, “Again,” he repeated.
“Is that everything then?” Cam asked.
“I have everything I need for an accurate paternity test. I already have Alpha Jackson’s sample,” The new doctor stated.
“Very good. I want you all to sign the official statement as witnesses, and I will need a copy of both of your results.” The other strange man spoke for the first time.
“Yes, Elder John. Let’s go to my office and finish this now. I need to be downstairs to welcome my guests for brunch.” Jackson said, leading them out.
An Elder was presiding over this? That couldn’t be contested; whatever the results were would be rock solid now. I knew what the results would be, though. The baby wasn’t Jackson's.
“Enjoy your brunch,” I spat, “I guess I’ll just starve down here.” My mom let out a wail.
“We will enjoy it.” Lucas flashed me a smile.
“Don’t worry; she will be offered food.” Mick said to my mom, “I can’t guarantee she will eat it, though.”
My mom looked back with one last glance before breaking down into tears. Well fuck. There was no way I could get out of this now. The only way would be to escape. I waited until they left to open the envelope from the strange man, dumping its contents on the bed. A white note fell out.
Open me first.
Another small, folded piece of paper that looked glued closed with a seared mark on it fell next to it. I listened, but I couldn’t hear anyone else.
When the time comes, open the small envelope, and you’ll be saved. You must be out of the dungeon for it to work, somewhere without any magical blocks.
