In the Alpha’s Arms

A Few Stitches for the Road

“This is bullshit!” Lita yelled, gritting her teeth as the doctor, she now knew as Sarah, worked the needle though the meat of her thigh, “Ughhh damnst that hurts. I would soooo bring that wolf back to life to kill him again. Who the hell bites someone’s thigh? Did he realize i would use it every single time I walked?!”

“Sorry,” Sarah winced for the hundredth time, adjusting the needle slightly before skewering the other sale of the wound. Lita had at least gotten a shirt. and some underwear from the bag Ace gave her but the pants would have to wait until the wound was closed. From the feel of it, Sarah had to be at least halfway finished and Lita was able to break the toilet bowl from the stmin.

“Thank you, anyway,” Lita grunted, “For trying to be gentle. For everything, really,” Though it wasn’t expressly said, the undertone was clear, Lita was grateful for the doctor risking her neck to give Rem the medicine. She was grateful Sarah had been willing to help her escape even if it never came to fruition.

“You’re welcome even though I don’t know how much I really helped. Giving you the medicine felt like my medical duty, to be honest. And telling Maxim you’d need two days off to heal didn’t seem to do anything but get you thrown in the pits, Maybe if I hadnt said anything…”

“What the fuck are the pits?” Colle blurted, suddenly standing too close to the women, breathing heavily, “What did he do to you?” Hadn’t Lita already explained she didn’t want to hash out the gritty details until they were home? Men could be such blockheads when they wanted to be. Stubborn to a

fault.

“It’s like a fighting den. Maxim made it when he came back from the tournament, alone, a few months ago. Said the men were wrak Said they needed to prove themselves in order to move up in the ranks, Sarah relayed in a monotone, as if on autopilot. Lita could sense the moment she slipped into those familiar, scared shoes she wore around Maxim. Careful not to say the wrong thing. “Lita could tell you more herself but from what I heard, one of Maxim’s men pushed her in and made her fight.”

Lita couldn’t even respond before Cole had barked a sound so angry she almost didn’t hear the door shatter. She and the doctor both startled, looking over at the raging man who gasped for air as if he couldn’t breathe. The cloth had fallen to the floor and blood flowed from his shoulder freely, as he roared, “I’ll fucking kill him again!”

“Listen, it wasn’t that big of a deal, I got out,” Lita said to Cole, willing him to drop that line of questioning. “And I even killed the bastard that pushed me in so… it’s squared, okay? They already had a lot on their plates now that Maxim was dead, she didn’t want Cole taking out his anger on Maxim’s men too. Unless they deserved it.

“I’m glad things worked out the way they did, honestly,” Sarah resumed speaking as if she couldn’t sense Lita trying to change the conversation, “Your head wound was… I hadn’t seen anyone gain Maxim’s personal attention in a very long time. I was sorry to see it, scared for you even. But is it wrong to be happy for it as well? That because of you–” Sarah burned to Cole, And you, we’re all out from under his thumb?”

“I might have provoked him a little before he hit me,” Lita huffed a laugh, forgetting Cole was standing there, fuming, “But the asshole was under my skin. I might have said 1 would enjoy watching his son rip him to pieces. And that didn’t turn out to be much of a lie after all. And anyway, I feel worse for all of you. I know what it’s like to have your wolf suppressed”

“Thank god yours was only for a few days.”

“No, I’m not talking about this time with Maxim drugging me. I meant when I was younger. My mom suppressed my wolf for most of my life. I only just met Nyx for the first time a few months ago, at that same Tournament.”

sorry to hear it. I was in the process of figuring out how to reverse our suppressions while working with another pack doctor: Dr. Morgan. We’d been keeping track of where and when the suppressants had been used. I’d only heard of one case where the wolf re–emerged. Most of us were only dosed recently, within the last month or two. Prior to that, we were kept in check… in other ways. I’m sure you can imagine which ways those

Morgan,” Lita’s voice trailed off as if she were still working something out in her

with my pack, Cole cut in,

sense because he seemed really interested in her medication

he’s developed a case against your mom?! And Maxim too, not that the latter matters much anymore. He’s tracked a few more wolves who had used the suppressants your mom makes at her pharmaceutical company He was planning to gather evidence on them all. Last I heard, the council

hadn’t realized so many halls were in motion around her. She’d only heard about the council a handful of times since joining Coles pack. They were just a collection of Alphas from packs in the US. that usually operated in name only because most of the time packs worked out their town issues. But this, Lata realized, suppressing wolves

Fem Sutches for the

“When Ace told me he sent a message, I was skeptical. But we verified for ourselves; He separated from your mother and removed her from the pack a couple of weeks ago.

shadow while Lita pondered his words, “So you think the council

done?”

unbelievable. It’s rare for an

sink carefully. He’d managed to pull on some pants while he waited to get his shoulder stitched but they were already bright red from his blood

Sarah announced, moving to

Did he say he thought I was happy? Or that I was in love? Because I told him the truth more than once. He told me growing pains were nomial,” Lita couldn’t help the bitterness that seeped into her voice. She just felt so betrayed by the people she was supposed to be able to trust the most. Being raised by nannies had never stopped her love for her parents. Nor had the private schools and tense family dinners. In

James’s death had shattered that bond completely. What they after… making her agree to marry Brian… it was unforgivable. She didn’t think it was even still possible to bridge that gap in her heart. Even if Rafi hadn’t known about the suppression, he’d known she was unhappy. He’d known it was odd for a prospective Alpha to want a wolf–less wife. He’d known something was

leave you here for a second longer than I had to. I just couldn’t. You can hate me for it, but we posed a better chance of being successful if we worked with him. And 1 didn’t want to have to kill him before I could get you back. At least not without your approval,” he smirked

contact you for? He’s a Beta, not an Alph. He doesn’t control his pack and he has no reason to ever get in contact with you, Lita hissed suddenly, cutting her sentence off as she clamped her hands down in the toilet hard enough to scratch the layer of enamel. She was struggling to pull up her pants without touching the stitches, “Shit, why

bit back her laugh, Adrenaline love. It makes impossible things, possible. But it’s worn off now and the flesh is

needle in, eyes

turn his head. She nodded gently, her eyes softening as she tracked the pained expression on his face. She knew it wasn’t just because of

gritted his teeth, breathing through

Maxim. He’d been stalking you, as we already knew. But he didn’t want his

again, she’d hoped Brian wasn’t really as bad as he appeared to be. She wanted there to be some redeeming quality in him, not for his sake but for hers. What did it say about her that she’d fallen for someone who was terrible in

was always destined to fall into the trap. What would have happened to her life if James had never died? She hated to think of his loss as a positive but the idea of being shackled to Brian forever… was too much