Page 16 of Alpha Bride
Tristen pauses, seeming to consider his words before speaking. “We do,” he replies. “If you could give them to Ryan, he’ll take them out to the border.”
I huff slightly under my breath. He’s still not going to directly mention the attack, and he thinks I’m just going to hand over the runes. “You need a witch to set up the runes.”
“I’m sure we can find one,” he replies tightly.
Now, I really roll my eyes, ignoring the awkward looks the betas are giving each other. “I will go; they’re my runes. I can do the setup faster than anyone.”
A tense silence descends for a moment before Ryan speaks up, “If we go now, we’ll be back by this afternoon, and the border will be secure for the night.”
I don’t miss the daggers Tristen shoots toward Ryan, but eventually, he sighs. “Fine. I’m needed at the port to meet Nolan’s shipment. Keep me informed,” he says. Ryan nods before walking away with the others, leaving us alone.
Tristen turns to me. “If there’s any trouble, just run. Ryan will sort it.”
“Wow, you really do think I’m useless, don’t you?” I snap.
His jaw ticks again before he shakes his head. “Not useless. Just vulnerable and stubborn.”
“Well, I’m neither of those things,” I say, walking away without another word. Once outside, I consider how ironically stubborn I probably appear, but shake it off. I’m going to prove to him that I’m a vital part of all this and can be useful. Working with the runes is the only thing my coven ever gave me credit for, and I’ll be damned if Tristen tries to keep me from it.
I sit in the back of the truck, and the drive is relatively quick, given the steep incline to the forest border. When we arrive, I see the devastation from the attack laid bare; the completely unnecessary destruction of people’s homes is becoming frighteningly common, but it makes me so angry.
We exit the truck, and Ryan hands me the bag of runes from the back. It’s so quiet out here. You could hear a pin drop. “Where is everyone?” I ask as we both glance around.
Ryan seems to scan the air. His shifter eyesight is superior, so he scans the tree line. “I can’t detect anyone,” he mutters. “That’s weird. They should be here. Samuel was going to start clearing the debris, and I offered to help.”
Kris steps around the truck, his eyes scanning the area, too. “The thing is, I can’t scent anything. Like anything at all. Not even you two, and I’m looking right at you.”
Ryan’s eyes go wide, and he opens the truck door. “In. We need to get out of here. It’s a trap.”
“But where are Samuel and the villagers?” I gasp, throwing the bag of runes onto the back seat. As I turn back to look at Ryan and Kris, my heart drops, and I see a group of rogues emerging from the tree line behind the houses. “Oh my goddess.”
Ryan spins around to face the oncoming threat. “It’s okay, Emily. Just hold the runes and stay down.” Turning to Kris, he says, “There are only six of them; we can take them.”
His confident tone reassures me somewhat, and I try to steady my breathing, determined not to appear as useless as everyone thinks I am. While the men take up defensive positions, I open the bag and grab some runes, running around the truck to fortify our position. Ryan looks over and realizes what I’m doing, nodding in encouragement as the rogues approach. They’re laughing, which seems odd; they seem completely unconcerned.
Ryan turns to me. “We’ll take these on. You finish setting up the runes, and then we’ll use that protection to get the hell out of here. I’ll bring a full patrol back to look for Samuel. Okay?”
I nod and watch them advance, fumbling with the runes as my hands begin to shake.They’re used to this; it will be fine,I tell myself as I begin the incantation. I watch as the fightingbegins, almost unable to tear my eyes away from the brutality. Ryan and Kris are obviously exceptional fighters, but there are so many rogues. I know they seemed confident, but the fight appears fierce right from the start. I hear the cracking sound of bones breaking and the sharp intakes of breath as teeth clash.
A wave of nausea hits me, and I gag before realizing that the smell of blood and fear is overwhelming me. I’ve lived in fear for years, and now it’s right in front of me once again. I close my eyes, trying to focus on the runes and what I have to do. When the last of the six rogues finally falls, Ryan shifts back and strides over to where I’m huddled beside the truck and helps me up.
“Come on, Emily,” he says softly, “let’s get you out of here.”
“The runes should protect the t-truck,” I stammer, climbing in.
He nods, wiping the blood from his face with his ripped shirt before pulling it back over his head. “Let’s hope we won’t need them and get back to town.”
It’s a classic case of famous last words, because before we can even get in the truck, we hear a battle cry and turn to see at least twenty more rogues appear through the trees. If that weren’t bad enough, in the middle stands a man who looks so distinctive, so different, that I immediately know it’s Malik.
Ryan pulls out his phone and hands it to me. “Get in the truck and call the patrols. Call Tristen. Now.”
Malik and his rogues walk toward us but stop a short distance away. They appear to be waiting for his signal to attack. I fumbled with the phone, setting the pre-programmed alarm off and firing off a message to Tristen. After I press send, I look down at the message and realize the words make no sense; they are all spelled wrong, as my fingers are shaking so much.
“We should all get in the truck,” I whisper. “The runes might protect us.”
“From him?” Kris mutters, his face set in hard lines, clearly ready for the fight.
I glance over toward Malik, taking in his eerie form. His skin is so pale it almost glows, and his muscular frame and long robe look completely out of place next to his band of rogues. Without a word, he smirks as huge black wings fan out from behind him. I remember Ava telling me that he appears to be able to shift into a dragon and a wolf, which was hard to fathom until I saw it for myself.