Ayla: Always an Alpha

Chapter 2 - Frozen Speechless

~Ayla~

I leaned over the document, something the warrior alpha had faxed over, and felt my anger rise with each word. The man had the audacity to critique my training programs for my people because I refused for the two little warrior cronies he had stationed in my pack to train the men.

I think it would be more appropriate for you to train just the women, the paper had said, like it was such a HUGE issue to train both men and women in the same sessions. I'm sure if a man had decided to do the same thing, it wouldn't have been this big of an ordeal.

I was not an idiot; I knew that men's bodies and women's bodies had different strengths and weaknesses, but it was highly unnecessary to address that through different training sessions. In fact, I had found that having the men fight the women (as well as each other, of course) had improved their general skills because they were able to learn from those strengths and weaknesses.

I needed to draft a firm response to the letter, but I also knew I probably shouldn't do it while I was still this angry. I had to be careful in my correspondence at all times. Otherwise, the token misogynistic alphas of the region would have paper evidence that I was "just another crazy, raging female."

I rolled my eyes and inhaled to calm myself. Less distracted, I noticed the scent lingering in the air. The only way to describe it was off-kilter, so when I heard the footsteps, my spine instantly stiffened.

My hand preparing to reach for the knife I kept concealed under my top, I quickly spun my head towards the sound. Immediately, my eyes connected with the ones before me, and I felt my stomach drop.

I shouldn't have trusted the man, dressed head to toe in black and wielding a wicked looking knife, but for some reason, my hand no longer reached for my blade. Few times in my life existed where I had been frozen speechless, but this was one of them.

The assassin appeared to be in the same state.

Neither of us looked away, and I felt my eyebrow raise, questioning him in a "well, now what do you intend to do" sort of way.

Amusement manifested in his eyes, two brown orbs similar in color to dark roasted coffee beans, and finally dropping the eye contact, I rolled my eyes in response.

The charge in the air shifted to something more calming, and my posture relaxed just as the sound of people running up the stairs echoed down the hall.

Alpha, the man leading patrols tonight mind-linked me, a rogue has entered the territory. The scent appears to lead into the pack house. People are following it up the stairs as we speak.

Turning my head towards the sound of the commotion, my mind quickly sorted through the options on how best to proceed. Just as I went to grab the man's arm in order to push him into a chair and act like he was a peaceful visitor, he lunged forward, wrapping an arm around me to pin my arms to my body and my back to his chest. I felt the cool metal of his blade press into my throat, but instead of fighting my way out of the hold, I waited to see what he would do next. I wanted to see if he really intended to kill me.

A few members of my pack rushed into the room only to promptly halt.

"One step closer, and I'll slit her throat," the man behind me spoke for the first time.

His voice was deep but rich and warm in timbre; it held no sign of panic or hesitation. I should have been afraid, but still, the rumble it caused in his chest sent pleasing vibrations through my back.

He began to pull me backwards with him, and I could only assume he was heading for the window.

Tori, a fiery redhead and my best female fighter, stepped forward, and he paused and pressed the tip of the knife into my throat just enough that it drew blood. I felt the warmth of it as it dripped down my throat and collected on my good cashmere sweater.

"Careful," he warned. "It's silver."

That explained why I couldn't feel the cut starting to heal. Annoyed, I decided to put an end to his display.

I mind-linked the people across from me. I can disable him. Tori, you get the knife away from him, and the rest of you help immobilize him.

Although my upper arm movement was restricted, I had a little bit of a range with my lower arms. Carefully, I reached under my sweater and grasped my knife from the holster.

"Stop moving," he grunted, tightening his arm around me but keeping his gaze on Tori and the others.

Quickly, I brought my arm down, and the knife sunk into the outside of his thigh, away from any major veins but painful nonetheless. His own blade pierced my neck the slightest bit more as he flinched. Unexpectedly, however, he didn't loosen his hold around me. Instead, he immediately took his knife off my neck to hover it further away from my body.

"Are you crazy, woman?" he growled into my ear. I could feel his gaze switch to where the blood trailed down my neck.

While the plan was to get him to release me, my actions had, at least, distracted him. Tori had rushed forward, and before he realized it, she had disarmed him. I pushed my knife further into his leg, and finally, he groaned in pain and loosened his hold on me. I stepped out of his grasp just as one of my men. Greyson, kicked the assassin's knees in from behind and grabbed him by the neck.

"Should I kill him, alpha?" Greyson asked me.

"Not yet," I responded. "All of you will take him to the cells. I'll question him once I find a bandage for this."

~~~

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Please note that I do not condone violence towards women. This is not a mate story where the male shows extreme violence/abuse towards the female, and somehow she still falls in love with him. That stuff sickens me, and personally, I don't think it should be put out there for the younger readers on here to read and unintentionally pass on to their own relationships. After the opening scenes, Killian will never harm or threaten Ayla ever again.

Question of the week: You have now received a chapter from both main characters' points of view; first, there was Killian, and now there's Ayla. What are your initial impressions of each?