The Alpha’s Chosen Outcast

4. TREY

Chapter 4

TREY

I know her smell as soon as I see her, especially since I’d been with the Cauley’s last night—her parents.

My claws have her pinned to the wall, drawing blood at the base of her throat with my thumb. Violet is screaming at me to let her go, but I know this woman has to die. She broke exile. It’s a hard and fast law.

Something stops me, though. The wolf in me is screaming not to let this happen, like it’s calling out to her, and I can hear her wolf calling back. Is that what this is?

I don’t understand it, but my instinct is clear. My wolf will fight my human side in every way to keep this woman alive, no matter what the law says.

Violet is crying in earnest now. She doesn’t want her wedding ruined, and killing her dress designer will definitely do that.

From what I gather between her sobs, no one else can make the dress she wants. I’m struck once again with the realization that Violet still doesn’t know our father is dying.

Shit. I can’t kill this woman. A disgusting exile is going to be designing my baby sister’s dress. This is a fucking mess. I let the woman go, and she falls instantly, pressing her hand to her bleeding throat.

She scrambles back from me as if she’s trying to press herself into the wall. She’s gasping for air, and I look over at Violet and nod at her.

Violet scurries to the bathroom and hastily returns with some paper towels and a glass of water. She kneels down and starts dabbing at the neck wound.

She tries to get the woman to calm down and drink. The woman scowls at me, still terrified but now sipping the water under Violet’s ministrations.

What am I going to do about this? I can’t let this woman live, and I can’t break Violet’s heart any more than I’m already going to have to do when I tell her about Father.

But what will we tell people? If they find out that an exile is designing this dress, they’ll call for our whole family to join her. I can’t have that.

So, no one can know she’s here. That’s the way to do this. She’ll have to stay here in the shop—no photos, no calls, nothing. I sit down in the chair and make my proposal.

“And that’s how it has to be,” I finish speaking just as the woman takes the last sip of water.

Heather, her name is Heather, right?

“I get it. I’ll stay here. I won’t talk to anyone.” She says it all in one breath.

“Not even your parents.”

Heather’s face falls, but she confirms. “Not even my parents.”

I’ll let her design the dress, and then I’ll kill her—after the wedding, of course. And Violet can’t know that. I’m aware that she’ll become attached to the seamstress in this process, but it’s too bad.

There’s one more thing.

“Violet?” I prompt.

She mumbles her acknowledgment but continues to dab at Heather’s throat.

“Father cannot know about this, either,” I press. “I mean it, absolutely no one can know she’s here. Not even your fiancé.”

“Can I tell people that Jessie is doing the design?”

“No, not even that. Keep it all under wraps, like a big surprise for the wedding. It’ll be mysterious. The press will love it.”

Violet stops and stands up, then throws the bloody paper towel in the trash can. Heather’s wolf healing has done its job, and Violet has cleaned up the wound. She looks down at her hands and picks at her nails.

“Fine,” she throws up her hands. “We can keep it all some big secret as long as you promise not to kill my dress designer.”

“I won’t kill her before your dress is done.”

“Trey!”

I put my hands up in submission. “Okay, okay, I won’t kill her.”

I look over at Heather and realize she’s glancing back and forth between us with wide eyes. She must think we’re psychopaths, just casually discussing the possibility of her murder.

I sit down in one of the chairs and reach toward her. She flinches. I can’t really blame her.

“You heard me, Heather. I’m not going to kill you.” Yet.

“You know my name?”

“Yes. I recognized your scent at first, but as the Alpha’s heir apparent, I also know all the names of the exiles, as well as all other lawbreakers.”

“Oh.” She pulls her knees up and puts her arms around them.

“I promise you, if you stay here and keep out of sight, you’ll be allowed to live. I mean it. Not even a stroll down the street.”

It’s a lie, but if it works to keep Heather and Violet calm, so be it. I do not want to deal with hysterical women again. That is my worst nightmare. This is a close second.

Heather isn’t hysterical, but I can smell the terror coming off her. We need to make this better, or she’s never going to be comfortable designing Violet’s dress.

“Heather, what do I have to do to help you feel safe here?”

She takes a deep breath in, holds it, then lets it out. I stay silent while she gets her bearings.

“Okay, I can stay here and not let anyone else know where I am,” she repeats my rules. “But my boss knows I’m here and the shop owner.”

“I can handle them.”

“What do you mean by that, Trey?” Violet interjects.

“Calm down. It means I’m going to pay them off. Money speaks volumes.”

“Okay,” she sits down too.

Heather speaks again, her voice still small.

“What about the dress reveal? My boss is dead set on putting my name on the design. She wants me to get credit for what I do.”

“That’s fair,” Violet says.

“No,” I turn to Violet. “She can’t be named as the designer. That would show people she was here and that I knew about it the whole time. We can’t take that risk.”

“It’s okay.” Heather murmurs. “I don’t need my name on the design, but someone needs to convince Jessie of that.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” I tell them.

“And after the wedding?” Violet needs more reassurance.

“She can go back to wherever she’s been hiding and become invisible again.”

“Really?” Heather asks.

“Yes. You haven’t been discovered yet, and I’m guessing you know how to disappear again, even if it means starting over. Am I right?”

“You are.” She nodded, dejected.

“So that’s what you do. Go back after the wedding and fade into the background. If no one notices you, I won’t kill you, and I won’t send anyone after you.”

I see her relax a bit, and I can tell that the tension in the room is calmer. Violet, ever the fixer, thinks she can repair this too. She immediately falls into hostess mode.

“How about some tea?”

Heather’s eyes go wide again.

“Vi, I know you mean well, but I think Heather here was hoping to be left alone after all this. I’m sure she wants some time to process everything.”

Heather stands up and pulls a phone out of her pocket.

“I have to call Jessie and let her know that the initial meeting went okay.”

“So you’re not telling her about the part where my brother almost killed you?” Violet asks hopefully.

“No, I was planning to leave that out.”

Violet laughs a bit, but Heather hangs her head. She is definitely itching for us to leave, and I’m pretty adamant about getting out of here, too.

This whole thing is severely fucked up. Heather should be dead right now. Simply leaving her alive is dangerous for us.

We head out, and I lock the door behind us. Marly had given us keys so that Violet could come and go as she wanted. They had agreed not to take any more clients while Heather was designing this dress. Marly doesn’t know the real reason why, though, of course. She’s human.

In the city, wolves are much more “out” than in other places, but we still keep things under wraps as the law dictates. I remember when Heather was exiled.

She was barely out of high school and working for a local paper. She didn’t agree with the laws that had been established regarding keeping our rituals secret.

A few people believe that opening up all of our secrets will show people that we’re not to be feared. And then others want us to be feared.

They’re the Alphas, and their influence wins out. I’m still on the fence, but I think the punishment of exile is harsh, especially for someone as young as Heather was when she broke the law.

It was her first offense, too. She wrote an article about the coming-of-age ceremony she’d experienced when she turned eighteen. She thought it was beautiful and that other people should know about it. Granted, she’s not wrong.

The women do this whole thing where they’re reborn in the water. There are flowers and gowns and all kinds of pretty things.

The male version differs greatly, but she didn’t discuss that. She only wrote about her own specific experience, and she didn’t name anyone. People knew who she was, though. They knew who her friends were and who her parents were.

The Alphas of six nearby packs came together to talk about her punishment. They decided that she should be exiled. It was how they’d written the law, but a few of them didn’t agree. In the end, after days of deliberation, the punishment was meted out.

She was supposed to leave in a shunning ceremony and inform her Alpha where she was going. Part of the punishment was the looming threat that the Alpha could find her at any time and kill her if they chose. She didn’t do that, though. And likely driven by fear over the public shaming, she ran.

The morning of her ceremony, Heather was reported missing by her parents. They said that they went to say their goodbyes and she wasn’t in her room.

They questioned all of her friends, her boss, everyone she knew back then. No one had seen her. She’d just disappeared, seemingly into thin air.

The Cauleys’ missing persons case stayed open after that. They didn’t have any other choice but to keep searching or give up. I know they’ll never giving up, but I still can’t tell them I’ve found her. She has to stay missing.

The consequences for everyone will be detrimental if she’s discovered.

Right now, people are guessing something is going on with my father, but they don’t know that it’s serious and they look to me as his heir apparent. They will let me move into the Alpha role seamlessly when he’s gone, because he already approved it. But if they knew that I let an exile live?

If it gets out, people will question every decision I make going forward. They’ll question every decision my father has already made.

Fuck the wedding coming up—we’ll be spending all of our time and money on protection. Right now, we can still quietly seek out any detractors—find any enemies and strategically eliminate them.

If people start to question our authority, those eliminations will have to be much quicker and more violent. The humans will notice. They’ll see us as some kind of thugs. A violent gang.

We’ve worked hard to be seen as “normal people.” Sure, we know that’s not who we are, but if we’re perceived that way, we can go about our business without interference from human laws.

I start walking a little faster, eager to return to our estate and check on Father. I know these issues aren’t a reality in our current circumstances, but I’m overprotective of him nonetheless.

While I’m capable of taking power if he goes, I don’t want to do that yet. I want more time to be myself because when I become Alpha, everything changes.

I’ll also be pushed to get married or find a mate, and I’m not ready for that either. I’m 32, and that leaves plenty of time for me to continue the family line.

Violet is getting married, which will continue her new husband’s family line. It’s my responsibility to continue ours and bring the next heir apparent to keep the Alpha power in the Hanover family.

I’m not even sure why this comes to mind while I’m walking home from a situation where I almost had to kill someone. There was nothing in that scenario that would lead to marriage or mating. I felt something when I scented Heather, a sort of “snap” sensation like a rubber band hitting my skin.

I can only see it as a warning. Something in this universe needs me to recognize that this woman is dangerous to myself and my family. I don’t like letting her stay in such close proximity to Violet, but apparently, there’s no one else to design this dress.

After being lost in my mind for the entire walk home, I open the gate and head down the driveway. The security guards move aside as I approach, and Violet is nowhere to be seen. I go straight to Father’s room and find him sound asleep. Machines beep steadily to show that his vitals are all good.

With a sigh of relief, I sit in the recliner at his bedside. Something had me so keyed up that I worried if he was okay. Now that I see him with my own eyes, I can relax. I sit back and let the events of the night play again in my mind.

And for some reason, the most prominent image in all of it is Heather.