Craved by an Alpha (15 page)

The second their father had set foot in the village, he had announced Harbin’s sentence. He had exiled him without even looking at him and had him ejected from the village without even giving him a chance to gather his things.

Cavanaugh had wanted to go after him, but their father had made it clear that if he attempted it, he would be banished too.

He had looked at Eloise then, seeing a woman he was falling in love with, one he couldn’t live without, and had made the hard decision to stay where he was and let Harbin go.

Cavanaugh hadn’t seen him since he had left the pride and all his attempts to track him down in the past five years had ended in nothing.

If Cavanaugh died as the alpha right now, the pride would pass to August.

“August should have done something,” he muttered and ground his teeth. His cousin was younger than he was, but strong, more than able to rally the other males.

“He tried.”

Those two words stopped him dead and he looked back over his shoulder at Eloise.

She closed her eyes, sucked down a sharp breath, and then opened them again. “August fought Stellan, but with his lackeys, Stellan was too strong for him.”

“He should have convinced the other males to fight with him.”

Pity filled her eyes. “The other males won’t fight, Cavanaugh. Anyone who dared to raise his voice against Stellan was dealt with.”

“He killed them?” The thought of his pride losing so many males shook him, but the way Eloise’s golden-brown eyes shone with tears said that what had taken place was infinitely worse than he had imagined.

“He killed their females… and then he threatened to kill their young if they stepped out of line again.”

Cavanaugh’s knees weakened. No. He shook his head, not wanting to believe what she was saying, because in the end he was responsible for everything that had happened. His heart couldn’t take it.

“I’m sorry.” She placed her hand on his arm and squeezed it, lowering her gaze there. “This isn’t your fault, Cavanaugh.”

“It is.” He placed his hand over hers and closed his eyes. “It is my fault. All of it. Everything that happened to you… everything that vile bastard did to the members of our pride… every death is blood on my hands, Eloise.”

She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down against her. He settled his head on her shoulder, slid his arms around her waist, and held her, hating how weak he felt. He wanted to be at the village now, spilling Stellan’s blood as retribution for the things he had done, but it would be suicide. He was in no fit state to fight, not against a male who had bested him before and had come close to killing him.

He had never been so glad that his animal instincts had forced him to survive, to escape with his life from a fight that should have claimed it.

Because he was going to make Stellan suffer for every life he had stolen, every punishment he had ordered and carried out, and every female he had taken against her will.

Cavanaugh was going to tear him to pieces.

“Cavanaugh?” Eloise murmured softly and stroked his hair, smoothing her fingers through it and smoothing out his feelings at the same time, bringing his anger down from a raging boil to a steady simmer in his veins. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and sighed against his skin, the warmth of her breath instantly giving way to the cold.

“I’m good.” He settled his hands on her hips, pulled down a final deep breath to rein in his need to spill blood, and stepped back from her. He lifted his eyes to meet hers, finding them filled with warmth and concern. “I’m sorry about everything.”

“There’s no need to keep saying that.” She brushed the backs of her fingers across his cheek and smiled.

“There is… there’s every need for me to keep saying it… because no matter how many times I say it, it isn’t enough. It won’t be enough until I end this.”

“I know.” She lowered her gaze and her smile fell away.

He cursed her. He hadn’t meant to bring up what would happen when they returned to the village, making her believe that he would take his place as alpha again, leaving her alone once more. What she had said to him about her mother came crashing back down on his shoulders, weighing heavily on his heart, and he sighed as he thought about it.

He should have been there for Eloise. She had been close to her mother, and so had he. He had always felt that she had approved of their match, and he had known she had disapproved when he had taken the position of alpha and had been unable to see Eloise. He had hoped to find her alive and well at the pride, because he had wanted to show her that he was trying to do the right thing.

Cavanaugh looked at Eloise, torn between asking the question burning on the tip of his tongue and remaining silent. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he needed to know.

“Eloise,” he started and then faltered when she looked up at him, right into his eyes. He exhaled hard and released her waist. “Your mother… did Stellan…”

He couldn’t finish that question and the look in her eyes said that he didn’t need to in order for her to understand.

She shook her head and relief beat through him, swift and soothing.

“It was natural causes,” she said and he sent a silent thank you to the gods for granting him that small mercy.

He didn’t know what he would have done if she had said that Stellan had killed her mother, but it would have torn his heart to shreds.

“I should’ve been there.” He looked over his left shoulder, into the distance towards the village.

“She would have liked that.” Eloise’s soft words drew his gaze back to her. There was no anger in them, no hurt, not as there had been when she had told him that her mother had died. She reached out and took his hand, pressing her thumb into his palm, and stared at it. “She still loved you.”

That didn’t make him feel better.

“She went to her grave disappointed with me and believing I had left you alone in the world forever.” He sighed and shook his head, and then twisted her hand in his and toyed with her fingers. Her black thermal gloves blended into his. “I’ve failed so many people.”

“You haven’t failed me.” She placed her free hand against his face, tipped his head up and met his gaze. “You wanted to be free of a role you hated, and you seized the chance the gods gave to you. You didn’t know what would happen. It wasn’t your fault that Stellan turned on his own people.”

“I was thinking only of myself.” He huffed and stepped back, breaking contact between them. “I should have thought of the others. I was their alpha, dammit, and I should have acted like it. Instead I thought only of myself and what I wanted.”

“No.” She grabbed his hand again and held it tightly, her fingers crushing his together, and frowned up at him, her honey-coloured eyes flashing fire. “You didn’t only think of yourself and what you wanted. You thought of me too… you thought of us… you thought of what we wanted.”

Her voice trailed off into a whisper at the end, the strength fading from her eyes at the same time, and she released him and looked down into the valley, turning her profile to him.

Cavanaugh heaved a sigh.

Maybe he had been thinking of both of them, but they were only two out of many, and he still should have placed his pride before his own desires. He had been too quick to seize his chance to escape a life he hated and return to the one he loved.

The one where they were together.

The one he would have with her.

He needed to tell her that she was his mate and that he had no intention of reprising his role as alpha. He needed to tell her everything now, before they were back in the village.

“Eloise—”

A roar cut him off and he spun on his heel, looking along the path behind him, the one that led to the village. Nothing. Snow tumbled over the track. His gaze shot left and his heart froze in his chest before exploding into action.

A large male dressed in white winter gear skidded down the sloping side of the mountain towards him, disturbing the snow and sending it rolling down ahead of him. Two more men followed close behind him. A patrol team from the village.

“Eloise, run.” He pushed her just as the first male reached them, sending her stumbling backwards along the track, towards the edge of the plateau. “Get down the mountain.”

She shook her head and he cut her off with a snarl, flashing his fangs at her, commanding her to obey him. She shot him a wounded look and then turned and ran, her dark pack bouncing with each step.

The brunet male slammed into him, knocking him backwards and sending them both tumbling down the slope towards the valley below. Cavanaugh grappled with the male as they fell, struggling to land his blows and evade the ones the male threw at him as they rolled, bouncing off boulders beneath the snow. He struck one hard and grunted as the air whooshed out of his lungs and his head turned.

He was in no condition to fight, not against three males who were accustomed to the thinner air, but he needed to stop them, at least for a little while.

His gaze sought Eloise as the world twisted and spun around him, and he caught sight of her close to the end of the track where it dropped down onto the plateau. One of the males was going after her. The other was skidding down the slope, following Cavanaugh and his friend.

Cavanaugh hit the valley bottom hard. The male landed on top of him and Cavanaugh grunted as his weight pressed down on his stomach and lungs. He growled and shoved his palm up into the dark-haired male’s face, snapping his head backwards. Before the male could recover, he landed a second blow, smashing his fist into his cheek and sending him falling sideways into the deep snow.

Cavanaugh scrambled onto his feet just as the second male barrelled into him, taking him down again. His pack pressed into his back, bending him at a painful angle beneath the male. He grabbed the blond’s arm and pushed it upwards as he rolled, gaining the upper hand and pinning the male beneath him.

He grinned and punched the blond hard, one after the other, snapping his head right and then left. The scent of blood joined the metallic odour of snow as he slammed his fist into the male’s nose.

Maybe he stood a chance after all.

The brunet grabbed Cavanaugh’s hair as he swung another punch at the male beneath him and hauled him backwards, making him miss his target. He growled and reached over behind him, snagging the male’s wrist, and went to throw him over his head.

Eloise shrieked.

Cavanaugh’s head snapped towards her in time to see her crumple onto the snow.

He roared at the male who loomed behind her, his arm still outstretched from the blow he had delivered, and threw the one who stood behind him over his head, sending him crashing down on top of his companion.

Cavanaugh launched to his feet and ran as fast as he could through the snow, determined to reach Eloise. She wasn’t moving. He growled through his emerging fangs and ran harder, his head spinning as his lungs burned and his heart laboured.

His left foot landed hard on the ground beneath him and his knee buckled, sending him face first into the snow. He snarled and struggled back onto his feet, forcing himself to keep going. He lumbered forwards, the world twirling around him.

“Eloise,” he whispered and reached for her. He was close.

The male standing over her turned to face him. A thick rope dangled from his right fist.

Cavanaugh roared at the sight of it.

He wouldn’t let the male lay his filthy hands on his female.

His Eloise.

He staggered forwards and swung a wild blow at the male, who easily dodged his clumsy attempt, and collapsed into the snow beside her. He breathed hard, staring at her pale face and the blood trickling down her left cheek from beneath her hat.

He reached for her.

Pain exploded across the back of his skull.

The world went black.

Pain burned through Cavanaugh’s body, fiercest in his head and in his arms. He tried to move them in front of him but they didn’t budge. Awareness slowly dawned, understanding that his wrists were shackled behind him. The cold metal bit into his bare skin.

Icy wet froze his left side, from his shoulder down to his feet. They were bare too. The only item of clothing left on him was his trousers and the wetness of them said someone had removed the weatherproof layer, leaving him in only his light grey trousers. His enemy meant to keep him cold, draining the strength from him and making it hard for him to move, his muscles quick to tense and grow fatigued.

He breathed slowly, settling his heart and checking his condition. Based on the fact he could breathe easier and no longer felt weak from the thinner air, he had been out cold for a while, long enough for him to acclimatise to the altitude. Several hours, if not more. How long had he been at the village? He needed to know. The three men couldn’t have carried both him and Eloise to the village before nightfall. It wasn’t possible.

He focused his senses, bringing them slowly back online, using them to check out his surroundings without opening his eyes. A number of people surrounded him, some of their scents familiar. Eloise was there. He wanted to open his eyes and see her, but forced himself to wait. His captors weren’t aware that he was conscious and he had to use that to his advantage.

He could smell the three who had attacked him and Eloise.

And he could smell Stellan.

He couldn’t catch August’s scent. Had Stellan done something to him to keep him away?

Cavanaugh suspected he was in the square in the middle of the village. If the metal ribs pressing into his side were anything to go by, he was caged as well as shackled. Not good.

He placed the three who had attacked him directly ahead of him with Stellan. Two more were there with them. The five lackeys that Eloise had told him about. The two he had fought were strong, but nothing compared with Stellan. Cavanaugh could easily deal with them now that he had acclimatised, even with the cold draining his strength and slowing him down.

He slowly manoeuvred onto his knees, grimacing as the metal shackles holding his wrists behind him settled on his lower back, chilling and burning his bare skin at the same time.