The Alpha's Gamble - Chapter 115: Chapter 115

MADELINE
When I woke up, I felt rested and clear-headed in a way I hadn’t known was possible. My mind felt empty—in the most peaceful way. I could hear my thoughts, feel the space and the freedom that came when it wasn’t being shattered from the inside.
I turned over, grasping at the covers and moaning in pleasure from the comfort I felt, and touched something solid beside me.
Without opening my eyes, I traced my hand along the object, realizing quickly that it was a person, and that I had traced that same path before. A giddy smile pulled at my lips as my eyes fluttered open. He was already awake. Already watching me.
“I was wondering when you’d wake up,” Noah said. He dragged his hand up my leg and rested it on my waist. The touch was delicate at first, like he was reacquainting himself with my body, but then his hold tightened, and he pressed me down on my back.
“How are you feeling?” His voice was hoarse from sleep, his breath warm as he leaned down and brushed his lips over my neck.
“Better than ever,” I said. His muscles tensed under my palms when I ran my hands across his back. His skin, his lips, felt like home.
He looked down at me, his hand slipping up to rest gently on my neck.
“How long was I out for?”
“A good thirty-six hours.”
My jaw dropped. I smacked his chest, and he rolled over laughing as I shot up in bed, panic flaring.
“Thirty-six hours?” Noah chuckled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Yup. But the extraction was a success.”
That must be why I felt so free. Nasha was gone. Good riddance. Hope she’s rotting somewhere in a dark hole. I noticed I was in satin pajamas and saw the robe hanging on the door.
“Did you change my clothes?” I asked. I barely remembered the night Freya was here, but I knew I wasn’t in pajamas.
“Do you think I’d let anyone else do it?”
I dangled my legs off the side of the bed, my toes just brushing the cold floor, before Noah rolled over and hooked an arm around my waist, yanking me back into bed, our bodies pressed together.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’ve been asleep for thirty-six hours. I’m starving,” I said, though another part of me was desperate to feel my real wolf awaken. Hopefully, she’d be like me. Hopefully, she wasn’t a raging psycho-bitch.
“Mmh, I’m sorry, I can’t let you go.” He nuzzled into the crook of my neck and breathed me in.
“Come with me, then.”
“No. Bed good. Everything else, bad.”
I laughed and shifted to kiss him. His lips tasted like salvation and made me forget all about the empty pit in my stomach.
“Let’s stay here forever,” he murmured.
“We’ll starve.”
“I’ll just have to eat something else.” Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I bit my bottom lip. My skin tingled beneath his hands as they explored every curve and crease I’d longed for him to touch.
Just as I was about to ask him to hop in the shower with me, a thought that made a hot pulse throb low in my belly, the door flew open and someone nearly crashed into the bed.
“You are no longer allowed in this bedroom. Starting now and lasting forever. Get out!” Noah barked.
But the sight of Logan’s pale face, his heart pounding in his chest, had Noah upright in an instant.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, sliding off the bed.
Logan shook his head slowly, licked his dry lips, and looked to Noah.
“The Ring,” he said. The mood shattered.
“The Ring?” Noah asked, already standing. He was in gray sweats and a black t-shirt, and despite the tension crackling in the room, my body still betrayed me, craving him.
Logan’s voice was grim. “It’s been moved up. It’s happening in three days.”
What?
We rushed into Jack’s office. He stood behind his desk, his expression tight with desperation. He dropped the papers in his hands the moment we entered.
“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do,” he said. My dad was already there, his eyes obsidian, his wolf riding the edge.
“Never in history since the founding of the Ember Ring has there ever been a schedule change,” Noah growled. “Why the fuck now?”
“Son—”
“Don’t give me any half-assed bullshit. Tell me the truth or so help me—”
“It was Volokov. He made a plea to have the event moved up. The committee agreed. My hands are tied,” Jack said, shoulders sagging with exhaustion.
Suddenly, all four men were shouting over one another—Jack defending himself against Noah, Logan, and my father. Wolves present. Voices clashing. Chaos igniting. The guards slipped away. Maids ran down the hallway. Someone slammed the door shut behind them.
“Enough!” I shouted. The roar in my head was about to split me in half. Words tangled. Sentences turned to gibberish. They weren’t listening.
“I will fight in three days.” Everything stopped. Four men turned to me, each one angrier than the last.
“No,” Noah said flatly.
“Yes. Whether it’s in three days or two weeks, I’ll be just as ready. A few extra days of training won’t change that.”
“It’s not about the training—” I stepped toward him and placed a hand on his chest.
“I know. It’s about me losing. But that risk doesn’t disappear just because we have more time.”
I looked at the others.
“I’ll fight. I’m ready.” The door opened again, and someone new stepped in. Only one person in this entire pack didn’t smell like a werewolf.
“Freya, what’s wrong?” Dad asked.
“I need to talk to Maddie. Alone.”
Of course.
“I don’t think so,” Dad barked.
“You’ve done your job, Freya, and we’re grateful,” Noah said, stepping in front of me. “But you can leave now.”
Why was I always being guarded like some fragile vase?
“Alright, you all seriously need to bring it down like a whole fucking peg. Get out, and let us talk.”
Noah turned to me, stunned. Even Jack froze.
“I said, leave. Now.”
“Maddie—”
“Now.” Reluctantly, they filed out. Noah gave Freya one last warning glance before he shut the door behind him. I exhaled and let the silence calm my nerves. That wouldn’t last long.
“Maddie,” Freya said, urgency in her voice.
“I heard about the Ring being moved up.” I nodded.
“There’s something you need to know.” She paused. “When I removed Nasha from your mind, I tried to feel around for your wolf. To check if she was okay.” My wolf. The idea of her finally being free almost made me smile.
“Yeah?” I said. Freya swallowed and looked down at her hands. She was picking at her nailbeds.
“I couldn’t sense her.”
A beat.
“She wasn’t there.”