Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

#Chapter 331 – Protecting my Own

Sinclair

I growl down at the man before me, who is younger than I thought he would be, for one with

such power. He has thick black hair and a day’s worth of stubble on his thin cheeks. The man

glares up at me with dark, angry eyes and opens his mouth to speak but before he can, I slap him

– hard with an open palm.

–

The man gasps with surprise and pain, his eyes going wide as he stares down at the floor, and I

smirk. I doubt this man has been slapped anytime recently, if ever. He has the smug look of

someone used to being in charge.

But he’s in my house now.

“You’ll speak when we tell you to speak,” I growl, and then I turn to the head of my

–

reconnaissance team, who is standing against the wall, his hands on his knees, panting a little.

Craig isn’t a small man to see him so undone by the efforts suggests that this diminutive priest

is, indeed, powerful in other ways.

“How did you catch him?” I snap. Craig looks up at me and does his best to straighten up.

“We followed the leads, sir,” he replies, looking me in the eyes, “that we gleaned from the

conversation with the other priest, who wished to remain anonymous. They were…fruitful. We

found this one’s lair, for lack of a better word. It was actually in a sewer -in an abandoned

maintenance room. He was living there doing…” Craig hesitates and then shrugs. “Forgive me, Sir,

for the dramatic language, but ‘arcane magics‘ are the only words coming to my mind now. Lizard

skins…and and snail shells, in jars – he had a cauldron –”

“Thank you,” I say, interrupting and nodding towards the head of my investigative team. “You.

will give your details to Alastair, as soon as you can. For now, though I want everyone here for

the interrogation.” I lean forward towards the priest, who watches me with wary eyes and a

clenched jaw.

continue, lowering my voice and

need

himself a brave man, then, by baring his teeth at me in

which makes him faulter. And then

man’s head

he looks down at the man strapped

are. And what your people

at Roger, a too–wide expression that shows

at him blandly for

team standing behind the priest who whips forward

places it swiftly against the

body, making him shriek and twist in pain, but my

quickly. The priest goes a little slack in his

kicking the leg of the

people want with my nephew.”

at Roger again and just huffs

his

growing on his face. “You are already…too late.”

– really, truly laugh, as a crash

upstairs –

as I

Ella

just sitting here, tense, in my rocking chair by Rafe’s basinet, one

him quietly as he falls asleep

–

at the glass

little bird

terror flooded me when I saw a black–masked face calmly tapping

I froze, as he quietly pointed to

for him.” (2)

–

man pulled back his arm,

window –

he did it – it should have broken his hand

body, head–first, into the room through the hole

the window cracking

–

hit the floor, only half an instant later, my

basinet behind

shove the rocking chair away and back into the corner now, Rafe in his cradle behind me,

man gets to his feet at the foot of the window. As he stands, my heart jumps

–

–

working their way up to the window and through it

fast –

feet now, grinning at me, starting to