Alpha Knight’s Cursed Mate

KNIGHT

“You can’t come with us.”

We were back to the vineyards an hour ago, and now we were arguing because Nirvana didn’t want to back down.

“I’m sorry, Luna, but I’m with Alpha on this.” Luka shrugged, shifting his gaze to McKaye.

“Why is that? Because I’m a freaking human?”

Kaleb and the twins didn’t react but held their smiles.

“We all know it by now if you’re just a freaking human, Luna, but we’re with Alpha on this one. Please don’t get mad at us. We’re just protecting you,” said Kaleb.

“How do you suggest to find an infected werewolf?”

“I’m a good scout,” McKaye said. “You can call Kailin to stay with you and print your fingernails and toes while waiting for us to come back.”

She glared further. “I don’t paint my nails, Mac. God, I hate you all right now.” She stomped away, leaving us all stunned.

“Shit. She hates us,” Zander said, scratching his head.

“She’s upset, but she doesn’t hate you.” I breathed deeply as I looked at them. “I’ll be right back.” I hadn’t taken a step when she came back.

“Alpha,” West called me as we watched Nirvana walk toward us.

“Look, Nirvana-”

“It’s fine. I kinda overreacted. You can go, but be careful.” She looked at everyone. “You can’t ever be scratched or bitten. Remember, there’s no cure for this black virus. Wait. How do you try capturing one?”

“We have tranq guns. Once a werewolf is knocked down, we cuffed him if he’s human or double the dose if he’s in wolf form.”

“We have a truck equipped to carry an elephant. Don’t worry, we’ll be careful, Luna,” said Maddox. “And we will protect Alpha.”

“An elephant? Probably a baby elephant.”

I still saw the deep frown between her brows. “It’s a calf.”

“Whatever. Just watch your asses out there, okay? Call me if things go south. God, I hope it won’t come to that.” She cupped my face and kissed me on the lips, making the guys look away with a smile. “I won’t kiss you again if your ass got a scratch, Alpha. I’m sorry.”

“Then I’ll make sure I get back to you with unscathed ass.”

The guys laughed.

“Good luck. See you guys soon.”

We took two vehicles to find infected werewolves; one was an armored van. It was not ideal-it was inhumane and against the council to experiment on our kind or any kind, but this was a challenging situation, leaving us without many options. We were running out of time and had to make drastic adjustments to end this horrific plague.

“Alpha, you haven’t told us how the meeting went?”

“The meeting was a waste of time, Kaleb. Everyone agreed on protecting their packs but not working on stopping this plague, which left Califf and me to do the hard work.”

I never heard from the council again, but during our meetings, alphas had lost some of their pack members, and they never found the bodies. It was unsettling that the mercenaries from the council were taking down sick werewolves, their way to eradicate this plague.

“But they have encountered infected?”

“Yes. And according to Sebastien earlier today, all creatures are vulnerable to the virus. That’s why we had to test Zarah’s theory, which might help us stop this plague. I haven’t told Nirvana that some of Case’s pack members had been infected, and they have no choice but to kill them. Otherwise, everyone would be exposed.”

“What about the other packs?” McKaye asked from the driver’s seat.

“Califf has one infected member. It got worse in just a few hours. They contained him at first, but there was no hope. Zarah’s friend’s apprentice got the virus, too, but her friend managed to slow down the infection until they figured out the cure. It’s highly unlikely that the apprentice will survive. That’s why this test is important for Zarah.”

“Maybe they have a way of finding Cyrius, then we will just march into his location and kill him.”

“That’s suicide, Mac,” Kaleb said, “and how do you plan on killing a powerful ancient warlock? He’s cloaking his location for sure. It might just shock all of us that he’s already flying above us.”

“Can you not say something like that? It gives me creeps.” He rubbed his arm on the steering wheel. “We’re halfway out of the territory.”

I looked over the side mirror. Luka, Maddox, and the twins rode the military-grade armored truck.

“So, I saw the ring on Luna’s finger. When are you planning on telling us?”

I looked over my shoulder with a smile. “When I feel I want to. You know where it’s heading, Kaleb.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, Alpha. I hope this virus will end soon so I can put my suit to good use.”

“Thanks, Kaleb. It means a lot.”

“I like Vana from the start. She’s perfect for you. You are both argumentative and authoritarian,” he said.

“With hearts,” McKaye added. “Protective and fearless. Wait, Kaleb. Did Gage call you back? I’ve sent texts since last night, and he hasn’t replied. That dimwit just went out whenever he wanted without telling us where he was going.”

“What do you mean Gage didn’t come back last night?” I looked at them both, alarmed. “And how I don’t know about this?”

“You have a lot on your plate right now, so we decided to solve it on our own, but we’re planning on telling if he won’t show his arse tonight,” McKaye mimicked Gage’s accent.

I glared at McKaye and Kaleb. “Do you realize this is exactly why I told all of you to be careful out there and report to me if something came up? I don’t give a shit about if my plate is full. You are all my responsibility. You will always be my priority over anything else.”

McKaye swallowed hard. Kaleb looked away.

“Where did he usually stay when outside?”

“Besides the winery, he’s dating a human,” Kaleb replied. “She works at the cafe downtown. He hasn’t picked up his phone. And I’m starting to get worried because no matter how busy he was, he always replied if he stayed with his girlfriend.”

“Fuck.” McKaye stepped on the brake harder, my head almost hitting against the windshield.

“What the fuck, Mac?” I glared at him, but his gaze pinned ahead of us.

“Alpha?” Kaleb gripped my shoulder, staring at the road before us.

I didn’t have to look at what they saw. I had a feeling it could break my heart.

“Fuck. Fuck.” I fisted my hands harder, my jaw clenching. My rage made my wolf roar.

“Shit, man. I’m sorry,” McKaye said, but definitely not to us.

“Inform the guys at the back.” I opened the door.

“Alpha, what are you doing?”

I glared at McKaye before stepping out of the truck. “What do you think? Grab your guns. Don’t shoot until I told you so.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

The moment Gage saw me, he shook to cry. “Alpha, help me. Something’s wrong with me.” At least he was still conscious and knew what was happening to him.

“Calm down. Stay where you are.” I gestured my hand. “Tell me what happened?”

He looked pale, puffy redness circling his eyes. He was dehydrated, for someone just disappeared last night. He had sweat all over his shirt and blood on his left shoulder. He was bitten there, and now he was burning from the inside.

“I was about to go home from my girlfriend’s apartment when someone attacked me from behind and bit me.” He showed off his shoulder. I saw the infected bite of a werewolf on his skin. It was big and bleeding.

“Why didn’t you come home quickly so we could treat you?”

“I’m scared you would kill me.”

“I would never hurt you, Gage. I’m your alpha.” I’d never felt helpless that I couldn’t do something to ease the pain and treat him. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Get in the truck at the back, and we’ll take you home, okay? But I must cuff your wrists as a precaution that you might lose control. Don’t worry. This is a police cuff. It has no silver in it.” I grabbed the cuffs from McKaye and gave it to Gage. “Put them on.”

He nodded and did willingly as I asked. “Thank you, alpha.”

“Guys, open the back door of the armored, then step aside. Get in the truck. I’ll drive the van.”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“I won’t let you do that alone,” McKaye said to our link.

“Fine. Come with me.”

Gage went inside the armored van, and Kaleb locked the door securely.

I grabbed my phone and dialed Zarah before entering the driver’s seat. “I got one for you.”