The Alpha's Gamble - Chapter 77: Chapter 77
You are reading The Alpha's Gamble, Chapter 77: Chapter 77. Read more chapters of The Alpha's Gamble.
NOAH
I’m stuck staring at her face, slowly falling into realization when I don’t object to her accusation. Every soft feature turned stiff at first, only to relax into a defeated, despondent shell of what it had been. I watched her chest rise in a deep inhale, the air expanding her lungs until it reached its maximum capacity, and she held it for a moment, her lip quivering and her fingers relaxing as her shoulders sank with the exhale.
“Maddie,” I had to say something. Do something. The look on her face, shattering every ounce of trust she ever had for me… I had to say something, but the words weren’t fucking forming. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say, and for the first time, there was a clock running, the time was ticking, and I was losing. But what was I losing? She wasn’t my mate. Despite the tiny seed of hope and assumption I had that she would be. It was something I held onto, never paid it much attention, but it was there, and I would glance at it every now and then, waiting for the day she got her wolf and we’d find out. This day. Today. It’s reprehensible, all of it, every part I played in the construction and execution of this goddamn plan. It was never supposed to come to light, she was never supposed to know. I was going to fix it, delete the tape, fuck Landon up if he refused, but one thing after another kept showing up and now I’m here, in a nightmare I didn’t know existed.
With a fear I never acknowledged until it became real.
“I need to take a shower.” She walked around me, a barren vessel moving because it has to, controlled by instinct and not will. Our fingers brushed against one another when she passed me, and the cold chill of her skin seared through my hand. There were two people in this room, Maddie and I, four if we count our wolves, and still, I’ve never felt more alone in someone’s presence. Maybe I’ve never thought about it, not until it was hers. The door closed and locked shut, the sound of running water rang in my ears, beating on my eardrums, and I heard her undress. The clothes fell in a pile, and I stared at the door, fixating my eyes on the coiled murky wood, shut down and locked.
I stood in her room when I made her the promise, shook her hand after forcing the truth from her lips, a truth I was very much aware of. Coerced her into accepting our help. Sealed it with my word.
“And with one lie, you ruined it all.” Onyx crept out of hiding, his head bowed and his teeth bared, with his lips peeled back.
“I know.”
“Everyone has abandoned her, cheated her, and lied to her. You were supposed to be the exception.”
“I’m not her mate,”
Onyx growled, dug his claws into the floorbank of my mind, and I gritted my teeth to dust from the screeching sound. Our wolves could make us hurt, they rarely did, but Onyx was a dick.
“Doesn’t that strike you as odd? After everything we’ve felt, she’s not our mate. You’re going to let that be the truth?” I turned in, coiled my fingers, and felt the vein in my neck pop when I faced my wolf.
“Do you feel her? Maddie’s wolf?”
“I don’t.” He growled.
“Exactly, so shut the fuck up. She’s not ours.”
“No, dickhead, I literally don’t sense her wolf.”
I looked ahead, the door to my room covered in a red veil with an obsidian shadow springing from the cracks. Onyx should be able to sense her wolf, I should be able to sense her, I never stopped to think if I did. The first thing she did when she shifted was come after Logan and me, like everyone else, I assumed it was an uncontrollable wolf. That Maddie somehow… not even that she wasn’t strong enough, but that she was just unlucky. It made no sense, and I should’ve known that.
Something was going on, but I had no fucking clue where to begin. So I decided to start where I knew I had something to finish.
The hallway was covered in black fog, and everything around me lay under the veil of red. The anger surged through my fingertips, and everyone jumped out of the way, but all I heard were the thuds of them hitting the wall or scrambling to get up on their feet. Their faces were covered, and I saw nothing but the way out of the mansion and down the paved road. I followed his scent, let it fuel every fiber and memory that was setting me over the edge, and I tipped, with my toes coiled around the string that kept me up, the wind blew under my arms, and I watched the barren land beneath my feet, swinging back and forth. Spreading my arms.
“Noah?” I shot my hand out when my brother came up behind me and grabbed his throat.
“Stay out of my fucking way. If I see you again, I’ll finish what Maddie’s wolf started in the woods.” Logan’s eyes sunk and he staggered back, tripping over the bench, and he let himself fall on his ass and watched when I walked. He’s another nuisance I have to take care of. Later. Now there’s only one. The scent grew stronger, wafting up my nose, and my canines extended. Onyx stepped forth, and I ripped the gate off, tossing it aside. Cobblestone painted in black led the way up the stairs, and I leaned back, lifted my knee, and kicked the door in. Landon’s head whipped around, his body followed but his hands… they were still behind him, holding onto Tilly’s hair, one hand on her ass, bent over the back of the couch.
The terror grew in his eyes, his jaw was on the floor, and when Tilly looked up, she jerked herself back, slamming into Landon and pulling a blanket around her body. Quivering behind him with skin duller than a fucking corpse.
I’m stuck staring at her face, slowly falling into realization when I don’t object to her accusation. Every soft feature turned stiff at first, only to relax into a defeated, despondent shell of what it had been. I watched her chest rise in a deep inhale, the air expanding her lungs until it reached its maximum capacity, and she held it for a moment, her lip quivering and her fingers relaxing as her shoulders sank with the exhale.
“Maddie,” I had to say something. Do something. The look on her face, shattering every ounce of trust she ever had for me… I had to say something, but the words weren’t fucking forming. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say, and for the first time, there was a clock running, the time was ticking, and I was losing. But what was I losing? She wasn’t my mate. Despite the tiny seed of hope and assumption I had that she would be. It was something I held onto, never paid it much attention, but it was there, and I would glance at it every now and then, waiting for the day she got her wolf and we’d find out. This day. Today. It’s reprehensible, all of it, every part I played in the construction and execution of this goddamn plan. It was never supposed to come to light, she was never supposed to know. I was going to fix it, delete the tape, fuck Landon up if he refused, but one thing after another kept showing up and now I’m here, in a nightmare I didn’t know existed.
With a fear I never acknowledged until it became real.
“I need to take a shower.” She walked around me, a barren vessel moving because it has to, controlled by instinct and not will. Our fingers brushed against one another when she passed me, and the cold chill of her skin seared through my hand. There were two people in this room, Maddie and I, four if we count our wolves, and still, I’ve never felt more alone in someone’s presence. Maybe I’ve never thought about it, not until it was hers. The door closed and locked shut, the sound of running water rang in my ears, beating on my eardrums, and I heard her undress. The clothes fell in a pile, and I stared at the door, fixating my eyes on the coiled murky wood, shut down and locked.
I stood in her room when I made her the promise, shook her hand after forcing the truth from her lips, a truth I was very much aware of. Coerced her into accepting our help. Sealed it with my word.
“And with one lie, you ruined it all.” Onyx crept out of hiding, his head bowed and his teeth bared, with his lips peeled back.
“I know.”
“Everyone has abandoned her, cheated her, and lied to her. You were supposed to be the exception.”
“I’m not her mate,”
Onyx growled, dug his claws into the floorbank of my mind, and I gritted my teeth to dust from the screeching sound. Our wolves could make us hurt, they rarely did, but Onyx was a dick.
“Doesn’t that strike you as odd? After everything we’ve felt, she’s not our mate. You’re going to let that be the truth?” I turned in, coiled my fingers, and felt the vein in my neck pop when I faced my wolf.
“Do you feel her? Maddie’s wolf?”
“I don’t.” He growled.
“Exactly, so shut the fuck up. She’s not ours.”
“No, dickhead, I literally don’t sense her wolf.”
I looked ahead, the door to my room covered in a red veil with an obsidian shadow springing from the cracks. Onyx should be able to sense her wolf, I should be able to sense her, I never stopped to think if I did. The first thing she did when she shifted was come after Logan and me, like everyone else, I assumed it was an uncontrollable wolf. That Maddie somehow… not even that she wasn’t strong enough, but that she was just unlucky. It made no sense, and I should’ve known that.
Something was going on, but I had no fucking clue where to begin. So I decided to start where I knew I had something to finish.
The hallway was covered in black fog, and everything around me lay under the veil of red. The anger surged through my fingertips, and everyone jumped out of the way, but all I heard were the thuds of them hitting the wall or scrambling to get up on their feet. Their faces were covered, and I saw nothing but the way out of the mansion and down the paved road. I followed his scent, let it fuel every fiber and memory that was setting me over the edge, and I tipped, with my toes coiled around the string that kept me up, the wind blew under my arms, and I watched the barren land beneath my feet, swinging back and forth. Spreading my arms.
“Noah?” I shot my hand out when my brother came up behind me and grabbed his throat.
“Stay out of my fucking way. If I see you again, I’ll finish what Maddie’s wolf started in the woods.” Logan’s eyes sunk and he staggered back, tripping over the bench, and he let himself fall on his ass and watched when I walked. He’s another nuisance I have to take care of. Later. Now there’s only one. The scent grew stronger, wafting up my nose, and my canines extended. Onyx stepped forth, and I ripped the gate off, tossing it aside. Cobblestone painted in black led the way up the stairs, and I leaned back, lifted my knee, and kicked the door in. Landon’s head whipped around, his body followed but his hands… they were still behind him, holding onto Tilly’s hair, one hand on her ass, bent over the back of the couch.
The terror grew in his eyes, his jaw was on the floor, and when Tilly looked up, she jerked herself back, slamming into Landon and pulling a blanket around her body. Quivering behind him with skin duller than a fucking corpse.
End of The Alpha's Gamble Chapter 77. Continue reading Chapter 78 or return to The Alpha's Gamble book page.