CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA

AMBUSH

ARABELLA'S P.O.V

"Smoke."

I do smell it. The sickening sweet smell of fire in the air. A fire much larger than the one burning before us. Before he can say more, a sharp scream pierces through the air.

"Was that Koda?" We don't waste a moment as we grab both our clothes and charge back to the estate. There is no question where the smell of smoke is coming from: A blazing fire wreaking havoc throughout the pack house.

"No!" Caden lets out a growl.

"We need to look for survivors." I intervene.

"Get everyone to the tree line before--" Caden stop short, his eyes catching sight of something through the flames. That's when I see him too, almost entirely hidden by the shadows of night.

Raphael.

And there, by his side, holding a torch with a victorious grin is the person who set the fire.

James.

Our doctor.

Caden's closest ally.

"How could he?" Caden only stares, the shock and hurt in his face brighter than the roaring flames.

With a smirk, Raphael and James both take off into the woods. After everything that has happened. After everything this pack, my pack has done for me, I can't let them get away. Not like this. I don't hesitate tearing after them.

"Arabella. Wait! Stop!" Caden calls out.

"Caden, I won't let them get away with this!"

"They don't matter now! It's not safe! They are not worth it!"

"I'm sorry Caden. I have to do this." I bolt off alone through the swampy woods at top speed, ignoring the tearing branches and sharp rocks beneath my feet. I can feel the woods around me calling out to me, guiding me, the trees bending to part for me.

"Raphael! Get the hell back here!" I shout out into the forest. My head pounding. The demon that's caused me so much pain is here again, almost within my grasp. "I'll kill you. I'll kill both of you!"

Just then, something shifts in the ground beneath me and gnarled vines shoot up from the ground to tangle around my feet. I fall to the ground with a loud crash, letting out a grunt of pain as the vines constrict in tighter. He emerges then, stock still from the shadows, grinning with too many sharp teeth.

"Well, isn't that cute? The pup's inherited the same powers I have." Raphael remarks. The thorns sprout from the vines then, lacerating my skin with razored thrusts. "Too bad I'm still better."

I break free at the last second, rolling from the mess of bloody thorns, but it's clear Raphael is just toying with me.

"I'm nothing like you." I spit out and he lets out a grim laugh.

"True. There are echoes, but at most, you're a pale imitation of me. Still, even broken reflections have their uses." James walks out of the shadows next, his face illuminated by the torch he used to set fire to the estate.

"James...why?" He just sneers down at me with cold eyes I don't recognize.

"Why would I slum it with a false Alpha like Caden for as long as I have? I've always been loyal to Raphael, Arabella. I would follow him to death."

"And for his service he will be richly rewarded."

"Caden treated you better. Why would you do this to him?" I do nothing to hide the betrayal in my voice.

"That runt can't offer me a fraction of what your father can." James says striding towards me, the flames from his lit torch licking the air. "You know, breed mates should really learn to shut up and do what they're told."