The Gift chronicles novel Chapter 2

Book 2 Chapter 3

The Alpha was leaning against a tree, his arms folded across his chest. His eyes lazily raked over my body, making me feel acutely aware of the fact that I was only wearing shorts and a strapless shirt.

His eyebrows raised in amusement. "Do you talk?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yes, I talk," I spat back at him. "I'm not an imbecile."

His mouth widened into a grin at my words. "Cute attitude, little one. But I'm afraid it's time for you to come back with me."

"No," I immediately responded and took a step back.

"No?" He questioned in amusement, his crooked grin only getting bigger.

"I'm not going with you," I firmly told him. We were both adults here, I was sure we could reasonably discuss this.

The Alpha laughed. "As entertaining as this as been, and trust me when I say it has been very entertaining, I'm bringing you back with me to my

pack."

I took another step back, but this time, he unpropped himself off of the tree and took a step closer. "I wasn't asking, little one."

"And I wasn't asking for permission, big one," I mockingly threw back in his face. His eyes flashed dangerously, making my heart stop in my chest.

"No, you weren't," he mused, watching me like a lion focusing on its prey. "But regardless, you're coming with me. We can work out the details later, but this part is nonnegotiable."

"You don't want to do this," I warned him as he took another step towards me. "I don't want to hurt you." I could hear the pleading in my own voice.

Surprisingly, the Alpha laughed. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried, love."

I narrowed my eyes at him. What an arrogant man. I would show him exactly just how much I can and will hurt him.

I extracted energy from a nearby tree, leaving it decomposing. I rolled it into a black energy blast, and launched it at him. To my surprise, instead of hitting him squarely in the stomach, he merely waved his hand and a white veil of some kind blocked the energy, merely making it disperse upon contact.

"What the hell?" I demanded, and withdrew more energy from surrounding plants.

The Alpha grinned, amused by the situation. "Your Gift is cute, little one. Powerful, even. Unfortunately, you haven't been alive long enough nor practiced enough for it to outmatch mine."

My eyes widened. What the hell was his Gift?

I rolled the energy into another ball. To my surprise, he mimicked my actions, but his movements created a whitish ball. Apart from the colors, the other difference was that I had to generate energy by withdrawing it from other life sources, whereas he could just create it.

"I told you, little one. You're not well—practiced enough. Don't fret. I can help train you," He grinned victoriously as he sent the ball at me, and I flinched, expecting it to knock me out.

Shockingly, the ball dispersed as it was about to hit me, and the fog wrapped around me like a blanket. I tried moving, but it restrained me.

"Tsk tsk tsk," The Alpha smirked at me as he approached me. My efforts to escape were futile. I couldn't even move my arms enough to withdrawal energy from something. "I told you I wasn't asking, love."

My eyes widened as the fog suddenly moved so that it was concentrated around my wrists, like handcuffs. Thankfully, I could now move my legs and least. When I tried stepping back, the Alpha was next to me in lightning speed. How was it possible to move that fast?

"If you stop squirming I can release the restraints," The Alpha promised, but the glint in his eyes was so wicked, I could see that he liked my wrists being bound.

I nodded, knowing I was too scared of him to try running again. His mouth curled into a bemused smile, but the foggy restraints dissipated as promised.

"Thank you," I muttered, looking down, careful to avoid his piercing eyes.

Suddenly, he was bellowing with laughter. I stared at him in confusion. What was wrong with this man? "I restrain you, and you're thanking me?"

I shrugged. "You were the one who took them off."

His lips quirked up in an amused grin as he suddenly reached over and picked me up, cradling me in his arms. "You're so placable and timid, little one."

I scoffed. "I am no such thing." I really was though. It wasn't in me to be aggressive or domineering. I assume it has to do with the guilt I live with every day.

The Alpha shrugged. "No need to be defensive,