The Alpha's Gamble - Chapter 90: Chapter 90
You are reading The Alpha's Gamble, Chapter 90: Chapter 90. Read more chapters of The Alpha's Gamble.
MADELINE
My moans echoed in the room, and the fire in her eyes turned to liquid poison in her words when she spat in disgust.
“When did my daughter become a porn star?”
I shouldn’t, but I did.
“When I realized that the Auburn Academy might not be the trajectory I want to take,” my dry words mustn’t have fallen on amused ears. I watched her hand lift in the air, her fingers spread to cover more ground—and was that… yup, a new ring. Thick with rhinestones.
I looked at her and waited for the sting, the burn, the peeling of my skin as it lodged in her polished jewelry. But the longer I waited, the more I wondered if she was pausing for dramatic effect. Something twisted her lips into a snarl, and her eyes widened a fraction. Her hand was still in the air, turning red from her cut-off blood circulation.
I looked up at her new bracelet, Noah’s fingers wrapped around her wrist like a cuff, and he wasn’t being merciful. He wasn’t just keeping her from moving, he was putting pressure, only barely keeping himself from breaking her bones.
Onyx stepped forth. Noah’s eyes glowed like my mother’s, and she winced as he stepped closer and stared into her soul.
“I will rip your arm off and shove it down your throat if you ever try to touch her again.”
The threat was calm and controlled. His heart wasn’t irregular because he wasn’t nervous; he wasn’t lying, it was a promise from Noah to my mom, and she knew it.
A low baritone growl rumbled behind him, and I was prepared to see my father fuming over the threat, but it was Jack, stretching his back and with his shoulders raised in a bow.
“Step away, son,” he said.
Day stood behind them, seemingly unbothered by the whole situation. If anything, I think he wished he had popcorn right now.
Noah shifted his gaze, bored and impatient, from Jack to my mother. Everyone thought he’d let go. Mom even had that glimmer in her eyes that sparkled whenever she got away with the help of her Alpha. Little did she know that Noah would sooner fight his father than let her think she won.
“Do you understand?” he asked. His fingers tightened, shifting closer together with the tips edging down his knuckles, and Mom gritted her teeth.
I heard the first crack—her bone was breaking.
“Noah!” Jack called.
There was a golden leash around Noah’s throat, a vine tightening every time he looked at my mother and didn’t do what that thing inside him screamed for him to.
He hated her with a passion I hadn’t seen before, but I saw it now. It consumed him, heart and soul, and if he had to, if they were alone, if he had a little more reason to, he would kill her without a second thought.
“Noah,” I said, calm and reluctant.
His gaze shifted in warmth when he looked at me, the hold around my mother’s wrist slowly relaxed, and when it was released enough for her to pull back, she cradled it against her chest while shielding herself behind Jack. The best part was what I saw in the corner of my eyes—my father rolled his eyes and scrunched his nose when he saw the snake slither into its hole to hide from the threat.
“Noah, that’s not acceptable,” Jack said, but there was a shake in his voice. Actually, I hadn’t noticed until just now, the dark rings deep and hollow around his eyes. Hints of red that splayed out in his eyes from exhaustion. It looked like he hadn’t slept for days.
Even though this room had reached its maximum capacity, and the thought of another person in here triggered a claustrophobia I didn’t know I had, Logan stumbled inside and held his phone up in the air, fingers tightly wound around it and eyes wider than should be possible.
“It wasn’t me, I swear on my life, it wasn’t me.”
“Turn off the fucking sound!” Noah barked.
Logan fumbled the phone, and his lips turned round, shaping an O while he fiddled with the screen to spare everyone the sound of my moans.
My dad hung his head, and I wanted to shrink into the floor. Bet he wishes he’d let me jump. I wish he would’ve. Something tells me that my mom and Logan aren’t the only ones who have received a copy of my sex tape.
“It’s, uhm,” Logan scratched the back of his neck, his biceps bulging through the t-shirt he had on, and he dragged his hand down.
“It’s everywhere. It was sent in a chain email… to everyone in the pack.”
Part of me was worried about looking at Noah, thinking he’d be enraged, storm to Landon and slit his throat out, but what I saw was more akin to confusion, eyebrows pinched and eyes fluttered around the floor.
“It shouldn’t be,” he said under his breath.
“Why?” I asked.
He looked at me and I remembered the blood on his shirt, the one that wasn’t his.
“I took care of it.”
He went over to Landon’s. That must’ve been where he went when he left the room earlier. That must’ve been where he had come from when he found me on the cliff.
“Took care of it how?” I asked.
Everyone else was silently watching us, but the energy was pressing against the walls, trying to break them down, and I wish they would, it was getting hard to breathe in here.
He shook his head like he was clearing his thoughts and grabbed his phone.
“I deleted it, it shouldn’t exist.”
Oh, I’m sure he did more than delete it.
Logan walked up to us. Noah raked a hand through his hair, and I could tell that a plan was forming behind his eyes.
“What’s the plan?” Logan asked, having seen the same signs I had.
It was crazy how fast Logan could shift, from spilling every truth that wasn’t his to tell, wanting me in the cellar, fair enough, to now stepping into his second-nature role as the god of mischief.
“Yeah,” Noah rubbed the palm of his hand across his chiseled jaw.
He turned to me and put his phone away.
“You should get some rest.”
“As should you,” I teased and felt my lips tug in a grin.
“Mmh, later maybe.”
He pressed a kiss on my forehead, and I melted against him.
One by one, they left. My mother turned the corner, her empty eyes met mine, and a chill swirled down my spine like a hornet’s nest. My dad didn’t turn around, he kept walking down the stairs and away from my eyesight.
I grabbed Noah’s hand when he was about to follow them.
“Promise me you won’t do anything dumb,” I said. It sounded like a tease but I was lethally serious, and I hoped that if he didn’t hear it in my voice, he’d see it in my eyes.
“Never.”
“Bullshit.”
“Careful, you shouldn’t use your mouth for such words.”
“Give me another use for it, then.”
Yeah, okay, that was a tease. His cheeks flushed, and darkness swirled in his depths. Bingo.
“I’ll be back soon.”
Noah turned, flexed his fingers, and licked his lips. The low grunt when he left the room was satisfactory enough for now.
My moans echoed in the room, and the fire in her eyes turned to liquid poison in her words when she spat in disgust.
“When did my daughter become a porn star?”
I shouldn’t, but I did.
“When I realized that the Auburn Academy might not be the trajectory I want to take,” my dry words mustn’t have fallen on amused ears. I watched her hand lift in the air, her fingers spread to cover more ground—and was that… yup, a new ring. Thick with rhinestones.
I looked at her and waited for the sting, the burn, the peeling of my skin as it lodged in her polished jewelry. But the longer I waited, the more I wondered if she was pausing for dramatic effect. Something twisted her lips into a snarl, and her eyes widened a fraction. Her hand was still in the air, turning red from her cut-off blood circulation.
I looked up at her new bracelet, Noah’s fingers wrapped around her wrist like a cuff, and he wasn’t being merciful. He wasn’t just keeping her from moving, he was putting pressure, only barely keeping himself from breaking her bones.
Onyx stepped forth. Noah’s eyes glowed like my mother’s, and she winced as he stepped closer and stared into her soul.
“I will rip your arm off and shove it down your throat if you ever try to touch her again.”
The threat was calm and controlled. His heart wasn’t irregular because he wasn’t nervous; he wasn’t lying, it was a promise from Noah to my mom, and she knew it.
A low baritone growl rumbled behind him, and I was prepared to see my father fuming over the threat, but it was Jack, stretching his back and with his shoulders raised in a bow.
“Step away, son,” he said.
Day stood behind them, seemingly unbothered by the whole situation. If anything, I think he wished he had popcorn right now.
Noah shifted his gaze, bored and impatient, from Jack to my mother. Everyone thought he’d let go. Mom even had that glimmer in her eyes that sparkled whenever she got away with the help of her Alpha. Little did she know that Noah would sooner fight his father than let her think she won.
“Do you understand?” he asked. His fingers tightened, shifting closer together with the tips edging down his knuckles, and Mom gritted her teeth.
I heard the first crack—her bone was breaking.
“Noah!” Jack called.
There was a golden leash around Noah’s throat, a vine tightening every time he looked at my mother and didn’t do what that thing inside him screamed for him to.
He hated her with a passion I hadn’t seen before, but I saw it now. It consumed him, heart and soul, and if he had to, if they were alone, if he had a little more reason to, he would kill her without a second thought.
“Noah,” I said, calm and reluctant.
His gaze shifted in warmth when he looked at me, the hold around my mother’s wrist slowly relaxed, and when it was released enough for her to pull back, she cradled it against her chest while shielding herself behind Jack. The best part was what I saw in the corner of my eyes—my father rolled his eyes and scrunched his nose when he saw the snake slither into its hole to hide from the threat.
“Noah, that’s not acceptable,” Jack said, but there was a shake in his voice. Actually, I hadn’t noticed until just now, the dark rings deep and hollow around his eyes. Hints of red that splayed out in his eyes from exhaustion. It looked like he hadn’t slept for days.
Even though this room had reached its maximum capacity, and the thought of another person in here triggered a claustrophobia I didn’t know I had, Logan stumbled inside and held his phone up in the air, fingers tightly wound around it and eyes wider than should be possible.
“It wasn’t me, I swear on my life, it wasn’t me.”
“Turn off the fucking sound!” Noah barked.
Logan fumbled the phone, and his lips turned round, shaping an O while he fiddled with the screen to spare everyone the sound of my moans.
My dad hung his head, and I wanted to shrink into the floor. Bet he wishes he’d let me jump. I wish he would’ve. Something tells me that my mom and Logan aren’t the only ones who have received a copy of my sex tape.
“It’s, uhm,” Logan scratched the back of his neck, his biceps bulging through the t-shirt he had on, and he dragged his hand down.
“It’s everywhere. It was sent in a chain email… to everyone in the pack.”
Part of me was worried about looking at Noah, thinking he’d be enraged, storm to Landon and slit his throat out, but what I saw was more akin to confusion, eyebrows pinched and eyes fluttered around the floor.
“It shouldn’t be,” he said under his breath.
“Why?” I asked.
He looked at me and I remembered the blood on his shirt, the one that wasn’t his.
“I took care of it.”
He went over to Landon’s. That must’ve been where he went when he left the room earlier. That must’ve been where he had come from when he found me on the cliff.
“Took care of it how?” I asked.
Everyone else was silently watching us, but the energy was pressing against the walls, trying to break them down, and I wish they would, it was getting hard to breathe in here.
He shook his head like he was clearing his thoughts and grabbed his phone.
“I deleted it, it shouldn’t exist.”
Oh, I’m sure he did more than delete it.
Logan walked up to us. Noah raked a hand through his hair, and I could tell that a plan was forming behind his eyes.
“What’s the plan?” Logan asked, having seen the same signs I had.
It was crazy how fast Logan could shift, from spilling every truth that wasn’t his to tell, wanting me in the cellar, fair enough, to now stepping into his second-nature role as the god of mischief.
“Yeah,” Noah rubbed the palm of his hand across his chiseled jaw.
He turned to me and put his phone away.
“You should get some rest.”
“As should you,” I teased and felt my lips tug in a grin.
“Mmh, later maybe.”
He pressed a kiss on my forehead, and I melted against him.
One by one, they left. My mother turned the corner, her empty eyes met mine, and a chill swirled down my spine like a hornet’s nest. My dad didn’t turn around, he kept walking down the stairs and away from my eyesight.
I grabbed Noah’s hand when he was about to follow them.
“Promise me you won’t do anything dumb,” I said. It sounded like a tease but I was lethally serious, and I hoped that if he didn’t hear it in my voice, he’d see it in my eyes.
“Never.”
“Bullshit.”
“Careful, you shouldn’t use your mouth for such words.”
“Give me another use for it, then.”
Yeah, okay, that was a tease. His cheeks flushed, and darkness swirled in his depths. Bingo.
“I’ll be back soon.”
Noah turned, flexed his fingers, and licked his lips. The low grunt when he left the room was satisfactory enough for now.
End of The Alpha's Gamble Chapter 90. Continue reading Chapter 91 or return to The Alpha's Gamble book page.