Captivated, Cursed: Alpha Linc | 18+

Episode 4

Waking in a large, soft bed, in a clean but beautifully decorated room is not what I expected. Large bay windows are open, letting in breeze and sunlight. I carefully pull myself out of bed, letting my feet sink into the plush carpet. I'm not restrained but there are bandages on the wounds on my wrist as well as a new nightgown, it's a soft cotton material not like the disposable paper gown from before.

I move cautiously toward the window. Several stories below me there is a large courtyard with a few luxury vehicles parked there.

My wolf is back, but I'm not sure I can shift. I feel her but it feels like pins and needles like she's not fully conscious within my mind. My senses feel heightened but not to their normal degree.

I listen, straining to hear voices coming from somewhere in the building. I creep to the door and test the handle, it turns with ease and opens. Leaving the room, I slip down the long hallway toward the voices.

After wandering around, never encountering anyone, I come to a set of large double doors. The voices are louder, coming from behind them. There must be at least twelve people here. I can hear them all talking at normal volume, except for one. One person is yelling angrily.

"This is fucking ridiculous you can't ask this of me," an angry man shouts, "I'm not a babysitter!"

"We aren't asking," a woman's voice cuts in, "we're telling you, the poor girl needs a place to stay and we're telling you that she is staying with you."

My cheeks heat, I really hope they are talking about another "poor girl."

"You need to watch the way you speak to me," he growls.

"Linc, the reason we even made this counsel is to help you make decisions and keep you from fucking up. She needs a place to stay, you have the space to offer her comfortable accommodations." Whoever this woman is, she isn't intimidated by him at all.

"I don't want her in my house!"

"You live in a fucking castle! Put her in the east wing!"

"I live in the east wing!" He snaps angrily.

"Then put her in the west wing..." the woman counters with equal anger.

"Linc," another man calmly interjects, "she's been through a lot... they were tied down in the dark for who knows how long. She needs somewhere safe and comfortable to heal while we try to figure out what the fuck is going on the Northern border."

"Let her stay with her family while we investigate," he snarls and I grimace.

"She has no family," the woman speaks again, her growing frustration clear in both the tone and volume of her voice.

"Damn it, stop being such an asshole. She needs somewhere safe!" I recognize that voice, it's Victor.

He grumbles something under his breath before a door slams so loudly that the walls shake.

I don't want to get caught eavesdropping so I scurry back to the room I woke up in. My cheeks burn with embarrassment as I think over the conversation that I just heard. I don't want to be a burden to anyone. I've never been one to take a handout or to rely on others.

The anger in his voice replays in my mind. They called him "Linc" and said he lived in a castle. They can't possibly have been speaking to the Alpha King. There is no way they would have spoken to him so harshly.

There must be another Lincoln that lives in a castle.

I won't be carted off to stay with someone who clearly doesn't want me around. I've managed to take care of myself, save one minor kidnapping incident, I will be fine.

After searching around the room I find clothes in the closet. Maybe I can slip out of here unnoticed. It doesn't seem like I'm a prisoner, I'll go before anyone is the wiser.

A gentle tap on my door brings my movements to a halt. If I act like I'm still asleep, maybe they will just go away.

Another knock, louder this time, dashes that idea.

I open the door cautiously, to a woman standing in the hallway.

"Hi, Josephine. I'm Maggie. I am here to pick you up," her smile is warm and genuine.

"Um, listen..." I shift uncomfortably on my feet, "I heard a bit of arguing earlier. I know that whoever I'm supposed to stay with is really unhappy with the whole idea. I would much rather just go home."

"Oh," her face falls, "Lincoln is just... he's just rough around the edges. You'll like the castle I promise." Her face twists nervously, "you also don't have an apartment anymore. About a week after your boss reported you missing your landlord moved your things... out."

"Out? Out where?"

"I'm not sure, it's what I was told when I arrived here to get you."

I tap my foot anxiously against the floor and bite into my lip. All of my things are gone? It's not that I ever owned anything particularly special or important but to know that I have no worldly possessions is upsetting.

"It's alright, I'll talk to Linc about getting you new things," she smiles warmly, "please, come stay with us."

"Us?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm Lincoln's gamma, I am sort of the...manager of his estate."

"When you say "Lincoln" you don't mean..."

"Alpha King Lincoln Anders," she nods her head.

"I...I can't stay with the King!"

His reputation precedes him. He is known for being exceedingly angry and hostile. Maggie used the phrase "rough around the edges." I guess that would be one way to describe it. I'm not sure of the whole story because I was very young and uninterested at the time, but I know he did something really bad, early in his reign, something that gave him a reputation for being uncaring and cruel.

She must sense my unease because she reaches out and lightly grabs my hand in hers, "I promise, the rumors are exaggerated. He really isn't a bad man, he's just..."

I purse my lips at her inability to think of an adjective to counter bad.

"I don't want to be where I'm not wanted," I sigh.

"I want you there!" she smiles brightly, "And, Cam, the Beta, he wants you there!"

I stare down at my feet, I know I don't have anywhere else to go or any other options but I feel nervous about this.

"Please?" she squeezes my fingers.

"I guess I don't really have much of a choice do I?"

Her smile grows even larger, "that's the spirit!"

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