chapter 9

Tears formed in my eyes as I thought of what Balthazar would do to me if I was taken back, I’d spend days locked on that godforsaken room, bound with silver until my skin melted away, just like my parents.

Alpha growled, walking towards me with heavy feet as I cowered back. “No, we aren’t going to send you back.”

“You can stay with us.” Said blue eyes in his light voice, something oddly comforting about it. “I’m zane by the way.”

“Zane.” I repeated, giving him a small smile.

I squealed when alpha picked me up, holding onto his bare shoulders as he cradled me in his warm arms. I wanted to relax and savour the warmth he was giving me, but he had a hard lock on his jaw that made me squirm and fear him. Would he hurt me like Balthazar did? I leaned in, taking a long breath and savouring the sweet but masculine smell he was giving off, it was strange, but his smell alone helped me to relax, my head resting lightly on his shoulder.

“Who is your master?” Alpha asked, his black eyes watching me as he walked back towards the tree line.

He was so lovely to look at when you got past the fast that he was intimidating as hell. His muddy brown hair shinning with flecks on ginger against the moonlight. He was built to destroy and yet, when he held me, I felt safe, like I would never be harmed again.

“His name is Balthazar.” I whispered, huddling close to my new protector.

“He will never harm you again.” Alpha growled, and for some reason, I believed him.


"Why are you helping me alpha?" I whispered, unsure what exactly had transpired here. 

"Theirs a legend among our people that a crimson wolf would come as a gift from the moon goddess, our job would be to protect and nurture her, bring her to strength and watch her rule over the wolves as an alpha in her own right." he smiled down at me as he spoke, and I swore that my breath was taken from me as the sight. 

"But you are called alpha, I'm Annalise." I frowned, not understanding what he was saying. 

he laughed, the sound so rich and strong as his body shook. "No, my name is Dean. I am an alpha. A leader of many who live here." 

"alpha means leader?" I frown, trying to understand, though my mind kept going back to his name and how wonderful it sounded. 

He was beautiful, so regal and proud, a true leader and he wanted to help me? I didn't understand what his legend had to do with me. But I was grateful for his help, I had no one in this world, not even a mother or father. They had been taken from me a long time ago, when I still dreamed that we would find a way to escape together and live as a family. 

Another question plagued my mind, one that had always bothered me, but one I was never able to ask Balthazar 

"Surely their are more wolves with my colour?" I asked, my tone hopeful. "I can't be the woman of legend, I'm a nobody. Just a slave."

"No. You are so much more than that." He promised, his tone low and kind. "You will become someone.who you have only ever dreamed of, and my pack and I will help you." 

"Pack?" 

"You've never heard of a wolf pack before?" 

I shook my head. 

"An alpha has a pack, wolves who live under his rule, not as slaves but like a king would rule his subjects." He explained, and suddenly it all began to make sense, the stories my mother used to tell me as a child all coming back. 

she spoke of places where wolves ran free, where they could be with their own kind, where they could change whenever they pleased so long as the alpha permitted it. How could I have forgotten what she had told me? Yes, it was a long time ago, but I always loved those stories. 

"your people like you being the leader?" I whisper, watching him under the moon was breathtaking, and I was finding it hard to concentrate. "They accept you?"

he smiled once more, and I had the sudden urge to sniff him, to see if he smelt different when calm. "Yes, I was born to lead them, and they all knew it, any that dislike my rule are free to leave. They are not prisoners Annalise, they can come and go as they please."

I didn't know if everything that alpha Dean had said was correct or not, I wasn't even sure that I believed their legend that I was to become some sort of great alpha that brought some other packs together or something like that. I wasn't even entirely sure what a pack was apart from what he had told me and what I knew from the stories my mother had read to me when I was a young pup. I was uncertain what my future would hold, or why I might have to do to belong, but I was determined to try, I had to do something with my life. 

I just hoped that it wasn't what he thought, I didn't know the first thing about leading anyone! I had spent my whole life as a slave, used and beaten whenever Balthazar saw fit. The only things I had ever known was loneliness and fear, and I didn't think those would help me in this.

How did a pack work, were the wolves there really free to do as they wished, to come and go whenever they wanted to?

Did that mean I would be able to shift whoever I wanted? Nyx huffed happily within me at the thought, and I looked around at the others who followed Dean and Zane, curious as to why they remained in the form of their wolves rather than shifting into their human skin. Perhaps it was in case I decided to jump from the warm embrace I was entrapped in and make a run for it. Though I had no intentions of doing so, my wolf and I were both exhausted and I didn't think I would be able to shift again without food and sleep.

We had been walking for a long time, the sun now peaking its head over the horizon, and I soon realised that they had come a long way. Why did they venture so far from home? Did they know I had arrived? Did they have an alarm on their territory that told them I had encroached onto their lands? I had so many questions, but I didn't want to bother alpha Dean with it all, he looked tired and I was sure it was already a task to carry me so far. He had me cradled like a child against his chest, his arms around me in a sort of protective way, and I noticed he also placed them in a way that would cover my private areas as I held onto his shoulders, my head rested against his chest. 

I hadn't realised that I had fallen asleep from the way I was being carried until I heard a gentle voice whisper in my ear. "Annalise, we are nearly there." He said.

I peeled my eyes open slowly, slightly annoyed that I had been woken up from the most peaceful sleep I had ever had, no nightmares plaguing my mind whilst I rested. 

"Don't frown like that, I wanted you to see your new home." He chuckled, the action shaking me slightly in his arms. 

I yawned and nodded before turning slightly in his arms, trying to catch a glimpse of what he was talking about; and that's when I saw it. It was a town nestled in a large clearing, roads and people walking around as though they were allowed to move freely and without escort. I noticed a few guards, or what I assumed to be so along the edges and others walking down the streets, but all of them were smiling and waving at people. Or chatting away with someone who had approached them.