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.

and slowing my words, “will be long, and

need be.”

by baring his teeth at me in a little

faulter. And then I step away, secretly grateful for it, because

are tensed, ready to rip this man’s head

arms crossed as he looks

you are. And what your people want with my

at Roger, a too–wide expression that shows all of his teeth. “No,” he

in his voice now. Roger stares at him blandly for a moment

a member of the reconnaissance team standing behind the priest who whips forward a

it swiftly against the priest’s neck.

flies through the priest’s body, making him shriek and twist in pain, but my man, well

quickly. The priest goes a little slack in

Roger says, kicking the leg of the chair to get the priest’s attention.

want with my nephew.”

as the priest looks up at Roger again and just huffs a short,

“It doesn’t matter,” the priest says, shaking his head and holding

his face. “You are already…too

laugh – really, truly laugh, as a

upstairs –

heart stops as I recognize it, instantly, as Ella.

Ella

was just sitting here, tense, in my rocking chair by Rafe’s basinet, one hand on the edge of it –

is – shushing him quietly as he falls

–

at the glass of his

expecting a little bird – maybe a

I saw a black–masked face calmly

body turning to ice as I froze, as he quietly pointed to the basinet and

coming for him.” (2)

–

to go so fast – the man pulled back his arm, and made

the window –

should have broken his hand – Sinclair paid to have

body, head–first, into the room through the hole he made with his fist, the rest of the

window cracking

–

the moment he hit the floor, only half an instant

child’s rolling basinet behind me

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

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

–

–

working their way up to the window

unnaturally fast

the lead is on his feet now, grinning at me, starting to prowl towards me –