Chapter 31 The Alpha Games
The Alpha Games
ELI
"What the fuck?” I’m still blissed out but, that ends really fast when I look around the room and see nothing but darkness and then Ava on her side next to me.
I grab her and flip her onto her back.
“Ava. Ava, wake up.”
She moans.
“I’m so tired.”
God, does she have a concussion and why are we in this dark dungeon like cell?
What the hell?
I want to think I’m having a nightmare, but everything feels real, down to the cold, hard cement beneath my body.
“Ava.” I try again.
“Open your eyes.”
When she does, they’re blue again.
“Hi.”
“Hi? That’s all you have? Hi?”
I'm ready to shake her.
My mate does not look well and already I’m looking for ways to escape and ways to keep us safe, to keep future cubs safe.
Cubs?
Where did that word even come from?
"Ava.” I tap her chin again.
“I need your eyes.”
She finally focuses on me, limp in my arms.
“He hit a bit too hard. You should totally fire Gabe.”
I freeze.
“What?”
"Gabe and stupid Xavier.” She sits up.
“They came to the apartment, I got hit, they said it was already done, whatever that means, but what the hell?”
My blood runs cold.
Gabe’s my best friend, my only friend, my brother. He would never harm her, what’s going on?
I look around the room.
Food and drinks are placed on a table in the corner.
Okay.
So it’s either a kindness or poisoned. Great odds.
I grab her and pull her into my lap.
“Just rest while I figure out what’s going on.”
And I have no fucking clue how to do that.
The door suddenly opens making a creaking sound. Someone steps forward in a mask that looks like it was built in hell, with horns curling above the temples and a black mouth with red painted across it that doesn’t move.
Fuck Squid Games, we’re in our own.
"What,” I say in a clear voice.
“Do you want?”
"Alpha,” the deep voice says.
“We need the Alpha to step forward, but until now we’ve been confused on who it truly is.”
"And that's my problem? I’m half-human!”
He shrugs.
“We’ve been stalking everyone who has a chance for the past ten years and you always were high on our list, maybe a half-breed is the way to go, either way, you have to go to the games.”
"Games?” I repeat.
Ava sits up.
“Like the Hunger Games?”
I pull her closer to me.
“He’s not even that strong!”
I'm ready to defend her when I look down.
“I’m sorry, what?”
She smiles.
“You’re corporate, do you really want to get your nails dirty, Alpha?”
I internally rage.
I pull apart the room piece by piece in my mind.
“Are you kidding me right now? Aren’t mates supposed to be more loyal?”
She presses a hand to my chest.
“That’s why I’m saying this, I’m loyal. I just need you to stay alive so I can love you.”
Well, when she puts it that way.
“Okay, but…” I look around us.
“This is weird, even weirder than being a half-werewolf, and that’s saying something. What do you guys want? Money? I can give you money.”
The guy slowly pulls his mask from his face.
“No, we just need leadership. You both left a long time ago, and it’s time to come back. We’ve been working for you, watching, waiting to see what would happen, and now it’s time to test.”
I can’t see his face yet.
He slowly steps into the light.
I nearly roll on the floor laughing.
“Jim?”
Another figure appears.
“Marvin?”
And then to make it even worse.
“M?” My new therapist gives me a wave and winks at my mate. I move in front of her.
“You don’t get to wink at her.”
“He’s possessive.” Gabe steps in.
“I think it worked.”
“The hell is wrong with you!” I roar at Gabe.
“You’re my brother! My best friend, you’re kidnapping us?”
He shrugs.
“Everything I’ve ever done is for the good of the pack, and they need a leader. All of the kids that were sent off and scattered are adults now, and we need a leader, so now, before you go back to the boring board meetings and real life, you’ll go to the forest and fight on our behalf.”
“For what?” I’m truly trying to grasp what’s happening.
“For what!” I roar.
Xavier steps forward.
“Me. You’ll fight me for the right to run the new pack and trust me when I say it will be an honor to kill you and take your mate.”
I lunge toward him, but Ava grabs a hold of me and pulls me back into her arms.
“What the hell!”
Gabe shrugs.
“They need an alpha, and I provided one, my job here is done, the rest is up to you. You can go back to your penthouse and pretend this isn’t a thing, or you can battle, go to war.
A different sort of war. You see, a pack always needs an Alpha, and we have none and while we’re scattered, we’re powerful, and it’s time to stop hiding, to rise up, so yes, you will need to fight. ”
Xavier grins.
“It won't be much of a fight.”
"You?” I point at him.
“You’re a werewolf.”
Gabe laughs.
“He’s your long-lost brother and no, I’m not doing this to torture you, it’s just the hierarchy of the pack, kind of like how I introduced you to your assistant knowing that you’d have zero control.
It worked so well. So give us something, fix what’s been broken, this pack has been broken for years and you might be the answer, or maybe it’s Xavier.
In the end, we need leadership from blood, and we need to reestablish ourselves.
So…what will you do, Eli? Will you walk away, will you run?
Or will you do something real for the first time in your life, will you fight for your mate? ”
I open my mouth only to have Ava shove me aside.
“No. He won’t. But I’ll fight for mine.”
"You?” Xavier laughs.
“Wow, seriously? You think you can beat me? Me? You know, I really liked you at one point, wanted to help you, pull you away from that guy and now you want to fight me? Me?”
She lifts her chin.
“I’ll destroy you.”
“How do you know?” Xavier laughs.
“You’re a woman.”
She grins.
“Exactly.”