The Alphas prize novel Chapter 22

Cain’s upper lip twitched. “You are not welcome here, and I had made that clear previously.” His tone was deep and vicious.

Gunnar straightened himself, not showing any signs of being intimidated. “I wanted to see my sister and ensure she was still alive.” He snarled.

Cain narrowed his eyes. “Well, as you can see, she is alive and well.” He gestured towards me. “It is time for you to leave now,” Cain said through gritted teeth.

Gunnar took a threatening step towards Cain. “I am not leaving yet, not until I’ve had the chance to visit with her and ensure she is safe here.” However, my brother was not easily intimidated, and I was thankful for that because I wanted more time with him.

Cain’s canines started to protrude, his nostrils began to flare, and he looked ready to pounce; this was my cue to intervene. I stepped out from behind Gunnar and stood between the two of them. “ENOUGH!” I shouted, “I will not stand here and watch you two try to kill each other. If either of you cares about me, you will stop this bullshit right now.” Cain glared at me, and Gunnar just smirked like the cheeky bastard he is; he loved to cause shit storms. I rolled my eyes at him, then turned my gaze to Cain, who was still raging with anger.

I placed my hand on his chest, trying to calm him and ease his wolf back down. Cain stiffened, and his full attention was on me now. “Cain, he is my brother. Please let him stay for a while; it has been some time since I have seen him, and it would mean a great deal to me. He isn’t a threat to me, you or the pack.” I said, pleading with him to reconsider.

He narrowed his eyes at me and remained silent; his focus then went to Gunnar for a beat before coming back to me. “Fine, but you only have an hour, and two of my enforcers will be following you both.” His final words were directed at Gunnar as he stared him down. I brought my hands up and cupped Cain’s face, staring into his eyes. “Thank you; this means more than you can imagine,” I said softly before kissing him. Cain deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against his chest. Finally, he reared back but didn’t let me go. Cain leaned down. “You're going to pay for this.” He whispered in my ear, and my thighs squeezed together. Cain then let me go and took a step back. He glared at my brother intensely, and his lip twitched slightly, then he walked away, leaving two enforcers behind, while the others followed him back to the house.

I turned around to Gunnar, and he raised a brow at me. “Care to explain what the fuck that was?”

I shrugged. “What?” I asked, acting incredulous to his question.

He gave me a deadpan stare. “Don’t play dumb, Freja, you know what I mean.”

I sighed. “Well, it turns out that Cain is my mate.” I lowered my shirt slightly, revealing Cain’s mark. “And we have mated,” I said, in a low voice, knowing he would scold me.

Gunnar stood there staring at me, shock evident on his features. “You’re joking, right?” He asked in disbelief.

I glanced towards my shoulder. “Does it look like I’m joking?” I understood that this was hard for him to believe, but the proof was there.

His nostrils flared slightly, and his features hardened. “Did he force you?” He asked through gritted teeth.

I shook my head “No, he didn’t, Gunnar.” The Cain I had gotten to know since coming here was different from the one that my brother knew.

His brows drew together as his eyes narrowed on me. “Has he hurt you?”

I shook my head again. “No, Gunnar, do you see any kind of indication that he has hurt me,” I said while spinning around, so he could examine me. Cain had been a little rough initially, but he never actually hurt me.

He groaned as we started to walk around the yard, taking our time and savouring this visit with each other.

“Does he treat you well? Are you alright?” Gunnar continued to fire off question, after question, regarding my wellbeing.

I huffed. “It was a bit rough between us at first, to be honest with you, but things are slowly getting better, and I’m ok, I promise.” I smiled at him, hoping to ease some of his worries.

He stopped and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I hope you are not lying to me, just to protect him or something,” Gunnar questioned.

I snorted, “No, I am not lying to brother; I couldn’t lie to you of all people.” And I had meant that I had never kept anything from him or lied to him; it was something I couldn’t bring myself to do, not with him at least.

Gunnar stared at me for a moment, then gave me a curt nod. I nudged my shoulder into his side playfully, trying to lighten the mood a bit. But, instead, he smiled at me and nudged me back.

I peered up at him. “How are things at home?” I asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Not so good, to be honest. Dad is drinking all of the time, Adela is constantly disappearing, and mom fell into a bad state of depression for a while, but she seems to be getting better, day by day.” Gunnar informed me in a low and distraught tone.

I stared at the ground, wishing I could be there for everyone or at least be able to help them. “How are you doing?” I asked, realizing he didn’t mention himself.

Gunnar exhaled sharply. “I miss you, kiddo; it's not the same at home without you.” He confessed the truth etched on his exhausted features.

I nodded my head and gave him a half-smile. “I know what you mean; I miss you too, you big lug.” I chuckled, and Gunnar snorted, “How’s Erik doing?” I knew I shouldn’t be asking about another man that I had previous relations with, but at one point, he was my friend and meant a lot to me.

Gunnar raised a questioning brow. “Honestly, I haven’t seen him since you left. I asked some of the other pack members if they had seen him or knew if he was doing ok, but they hadn’t seen him either or heard from him, not even his parents.”

My shoulders slumped at the realization that my family and good friend were all falling apart, and it was all my fault. It saddened me that I couldn’t be there to comfort them and just be with them again.

Gunnar stopped and turned to me; he lifted my chin with his fingers so that I was looking up at him. “Hey, everything will be fine and don’t you dare think that any of this is your fault. Do you understand me?” He said firmly, but that was so much easier said than done.

I just nodded my head. “Yes, I understand; it just hurts Gunnar, knowing that things are falling apart at home and there is nothing I can do to fix it.” Tears were now brimming my eyes.

He exhaled heavily. “I know.” Gunnar then pulled me into him and hugged me tightly; it was that giant bear hug that I had missed so much.

After giving ourselves a moment, he finally released me and glanced around the yard. “So, do you like it here?” He asked while gesturing around us.

I shrugged my shoulders. “It's not home; I’ll say that much.” I scoffed. “But I’m adjusting.” I peered behind us and noticed the guards were only a few feet from us, I didn’t want them to hear anything, so I closed the distance between Gunnar and me. “I need to ask you something,” I said quietly.

He looked at from the corner of his eye and arched a brow. “What would that be?”

I glanced back at the guards again before saying another word, “Someone is trying to kill Cain and me.” I whispered.

Gunnar stopped dead in his tracks. “What!” He said rather loudly and grabbed the guard’s attention. I waved the guards off and smiled, reassuring them that everything was fine.

I glared at Gunnar. “Shh, be quiet big mouth. I don’t want anyone else to find out right now, not until I have figured a few things out first.”

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before narrowing his dark gaze on me. “Does Cain know about the situation?” Gunnar asked in a clipped tone.

I avoided his gaze like it was the plague and ran my hand through my hair. “No,” I said quietly and quickly.

His nostrils flared, and his eyes widened, anger clear as day on his face. “Are you fucking kidding me? You need to tell him Freja, he has a right to know, and Cain will protect you.”

I huffed. “Yes, I know, and I will tell Cain after I find out who they are working with and what their plan is.” I needed to know these things before proceeding or telling anyone else, as that information may help us.

Gunnar groaned loudly. “Freja, this is your life we are talking about, not something small and insignificant. So why do you always have to do things the hard way? Why do you always have to get yourself into trouble or put your life at risk?” He was whisper yelling at me now, frustration and worry lacing his tone.

But my dumbass just had to stir the pot, and so, I smiled. “Because it's more fun that way. Now, have you heard of anything? Like about Cain’s pack? Or about another pack possibly planning an attack? Also, what course of action would you take in this situation?” Gunnar had always been good at sniffing out the threat, pun intended, and his advice was something I needed for this.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, remaining silent for a beat. “No.” He finally answered me, “I haven’t heard of any rumours or anything of interest. Except, one of the guards in our pack had told me something that I thought was a bit odd.”

My brows pulled together in confusion. “Our pack? What do you mean?”

“Well, apparently, when one of our guards was making his rounds, he had overheard Adela and Erik talking. He said they were talking about you and Cain, that Erik said he would get you back, no matter what.” So he told me, a curious expression on his features.

I pondered this information for a minute; it couldn’t be Erik working with Calyx because it was a female in the woods. I was sure of it, and my sister is too soft to do something so cruel.

Gunnar put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, bringing me out of my thoughts. “I wouldn’t think too much of it, and I would talk with the other members within this pack about the person of interest. Find out their motive, their reasoning for wanting you both dead, where they are going and for how long. But Freja, you can’t do this on your own; what if something happens?” The concern was etched on his face, I didn’t want him to worry him, but I knew he still would. I just hoped he wouldn’t tell Cain, not yet, at least.

I smiled at him. “I’m not alone, and I have someone that I trust helping me, so please don’t worry.”

He narrowed his eyes and cocked a brow. “Who?”

I shook my head. “I can’t tell you that, but listen, I’ll be fine.” I tried to reassure him.