Avoiding Alpha

Chapter Six

Her back was burning, on fire with pain. She fisted her hands and let her nails dig into the palms of her hands as she took each strike of the belt. The leather marking her soft skin. She tensed waiting for each blow, always there was a next…only this time, she heard it fall and connect with flesh, but she felt no pain.

                She opened her eyes and turned her head to see leaning over her, literally leaning over, was the Alpha, the headteacher and he had no shirt on. He had taken the lash of the belt on his own unshirted back. The way he took the pain for her took her breath from her lungs. She didn’t know why he did it, but his face was a picture of fury. And he looked like a god. The combination was frightening and comforting on some level and… sexy.

                Ropes of muscles covered him. His suit before had done nothing to show off his actual physique; he was huge, with muscles. He had biceps that she was sure both her hands wrapped round would still not link. His chest was huge, defined was not he word. She had no doubt that the lash he had taken on his back would barely show amongst the muscles of his back.    

                His hands splayed wide over her and he turned her, bringing her into a sitting position and then he turned, so his back was to her and he faced her father. She was right, the definition on his back, his huge figure in general, made the red stripe look like a little mark, as though he had leaned on something for too long rather than been hit.

                Glancing around she was further shocked to see that five men - all of the same build as the Alpha but not quite as big - were stood, their arms crossed over their enormous chests, their faces looked like carvings, unmoving, unchanging and angry. She caught the eyes of one and he nodded his head in her direction before looking back at her father. The idiot in his drunken state merely laughed in the face of death.

“Tim,” she breathed, knowing he would be under the bed, she wanted to get to him so she could protect him while she figured out what this all meant.

                The man who had caught her eye suddenly looked up at her as she made to stand up. Three pairs of hands went out to steady her but she flinched from every one of them, standing on her own two feet and swaying in pain and because she was light headedness. Despite her protests arms took hold of her and steadied her  while the Alpha was having words with her father. The one who had caught her eye suddenly looked to the ceiling and back at her. He knew she meant to get her brother and he was out of the room in a second. She felt panic rise as she thought of Tim alone with a werewolf who could hurt him but the Alpha suddenly struck out at her father, punching him straight in the face and sending the drunkard to the floor in one strike.

“That will do for now, when he is awake, I’ll deal with him then.”

                Ray then turned towards Tendra with the intention of taking her from the arms of John and holding her in his. He intended to carry her but right at that moment a scream penetrated their world.

“TENDRA!” His mate was off, pushing at all who went to help her, she dashed from the room and pounded up the stairs, away from him to her brother.

“Hey, little one. It’s ok, we’re helping you. Alpha is with Tendra. Do not fear me.” Ashton hugged the small boy to his chest and tried to calm him down, maybe dragging him from under the bed hadn’t been his best plan.