LOGINShare
Chapter 16 : Banter
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 17 : He Sacrificed Himself for Her
*Kael*I didn't expect the mystery female from the Niburgh square to be so… irksome. Though she definitely thought the same about me. Especially after what I felt—what I knew she felt too—in the throne room. I could only have described it as a rope—no, it was less abrasive than that. A ribbon, maybe. It wrapped itself around my heart like a snake squeezing its prey, but I could sense its other end just faded into darkness and it wanted to find something in it. Rather, someone.When I saw her standing in front of me against all odds, looking stricken in a skimpy nightgown, the ribbon seemed to rest at her feet, no longer squeezing. I was so rocked that I couldn't help but breathe, "You." When I heard her name, I felt delirious—more than I already was—with relief. Gemma Brooks. She was alive and real and…And we were likely in mortal danger. Well, maybe just me, as she was the one looking pampered while I was beaten to a pulp.I needed to stay alive. For Rian, for Jerah, Ja
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 18 : Time to Rest
*Gemma*It was hard to trust someone to help you escape from a fortress, and harder to trust them when they were feet away from driving us over a cliff.I screamed Kael's name, the sound belting out of my throat. He slammed on the brakes. I heard and felt the ground beneath the heavy car start to crumble. "Back up!" "I know!" Kael yelled, putting the car in reverse and slamming the gas.Raisa and I were hurled forward into the back of the front seats—and then into each other as he wrenched the wheel, careening us to the side. As I righted myself, I glimpsed an army of Epsilon coming toward us headed by Connor and Cillian."Drive!""I know!"Kael slammed on the gas, and in seconds flat we were speeding. It wouldn't be long before other cars were on our tail, but we were lucky that Bryn happened to choose this monster of a tank. It was already eating land; the army would be as small as ants in just a few more seconds.I slouched in the backseat. "I hope you can drive.
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 19 : Avoiding the Subject
*Gemma*I flung the quilt off me and started to hurl myself off the bed, but Kael stopped me by sitting on its edge with an exhausted laugh. "You're alive," I said, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice, even as relief flooded my veins. I could breathe normally again. "Miraculously. I'm glad you don't sound disappointed.""I am," said Raisa behind us as she turned on the gas lamp on the wall, throwing a decent amount of light into the room. "You don't mean that," I protested, twisting around. She'd sat up, and I assumed she was overheating in the desert weather because she was only wearing the "bra" Seri had given her up top—just a few strips of cloth banded around her chest. Reflexively I looked at her exposed stomach. There was a faint bruise where Connor had kicked her. Kael laughed again under his breath. "It's alright. She can be as mad as she wants at me. When we're all better I'll let you have a swing at me.""Oh, you'll let me," Raisa snapped sarc
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 20 : Jealousy
*Gemma*Seri led us out a back door to a narrow alley that Kael barely fit into. We walked sideways crab-style to the corner where she peered down each way. She waved her hand to follow, and we darted across a small street to the next narrow alleyway."I'm really sick of alleys," Kael muttered."I'm sick of doors," I added.We froze when we heard Epsilon shouting and banging on doors. Each knock made me wince, bringing a flash of memory of Hazelstone. Kael was behind me. When he touched my shoulder, I flinched and nearly slammed my head into the wall. "Are you okay?""I'm fine."Then all of a sudden we were back on the outskirts of Dust. Directly ahead, Ferio was waving from our stolen car. I could've wept with joy. I took Raisa's hand, and we sprinted full speed to it, not hesitating to climb into the backseat. Kael got in the passenger side. Seri stayed in the alley and waved goodbye.I didn't want to shout to gain attention, but I mouthed it and waved back empath
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 21 : Talk About Your Lover
*Kael*The sense of relief was overwhelming. Getting back to Niburgh safely thanks to Ferio, finding the hideout on the first try without a snag, and reuniting with the family and the rest of my pack, all alive and unharmed… It was all a humbling sensation.And a gratifying one, knowing I'd helped Gemma and Raisa survive and get to safety and into the care of motherly females.After Jaci ushered them right onto the track of nursing them back to full health, Jerah put me on mine. Refusing to unsling his arm from around my shoulders, he guided me to one of the rooms on the second floor of the abandoned amphitheater. When Niburgh was at its pinnacle, it was a hub of all sorts of shifters from all sorts of places. It boasted food, wares, unique entertainment, and plenty of lodging, including small two-room apartments that now served the purpose of hiding Moonwake fugitives. It was another place that Hazel and Sun overlooked because they didn't think we would risk staying. They
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 22 : She's His Lover
*Gemma*"The audacity," Raisa said with a shake of her head. I waited at the door until Kael's footsteps receded. Then I flopped onto my back on Raisa's bed instead of my own to stare at the ceiling that was in desperate need of care. "I didn't even realize I'd gotten my hopes up," I confessed, feeling somehow more angry at myself than Kael and the information he might've forgotten to confess. "He tried to make a move on me in Dust knowing he had someone waiting for him here?"There were basic supplies in the small bathroom, and Raisa took her chance to utilize them to become herself again. She'd brushed her hair and braided it with a piece of cloth; with the water from a sink, she'd dampened a towel, cooling her flushed and puffy face. Now she was standing in front of the full-length mirror twisting her torso with her shirt lifted to see if she could notice a bump."He's not worth your time, sweet," she said.I sat up. "But…""But what?" she asked not unkindly, sighing
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 23 : Moonlit Confessions
*Gemma*Well, if I didn't feel like shit before… I learned my lesson: don't assume.I blinked out of my brief wallowing when Jerah laughed. "You look like you just got kicked between the legs. Kael said you blew him off because you saw him hug Di. Are you Easterners easily prone to jealousy?"I felt my face heat in embarrassment, but I couldn't back down on my strive to be confident. "Not that I'm aware of. I just—"Jerah leaned forward and braced his forearms on his thighs. He was the biggest male I'd ever seen, built tall and wide at the shoulders, muscled, but it was still a different kind of big than Connor was. He wasn't pure muscle, and he seemed more inclined to hug than to bully. I could see him being a loving father that I could trust. Up close, his skin was textured from all the years in the desert sun, and while his pulled-back hair was white, his stubble of a beard was brown. The distrust in his dark eyes—they reminded me of the ocean at midnight, a romantic d
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 24 : Break the Rules
*Gemma*I learned Moonwake enjoyed three main meals daily with every wolf present, no exceptions. Raisa and I were fetched by the pup who called me pretty yesterday. I let him hold my hand to guide us down to the dining hall, where all the tables had been merged together. Arche sat on my left side, and Raisa was on my right. It didn't take me long to catch Kael's gaze at the head, Jerah and Jaci on either side of him with Tara bouncing in her father's lap. We exchanged smiles that we quickly hid when several caught the interaction and focused on our meal.After Kael dismissed everyone, and his packmates all scattered to their own devices, he started to walk toward me with a question in his eyes. I made it only a few steps before Diana jumped in front of me, beaming dazzlingly. "Ready to go?" she asked excitedly. "I…"Raisa laughed delicately beside me, having not missed the disruption. I had told her briefly what happened last night on the balcony. She had been sur
Latest chapter
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 56 : My Mate, My Love
*Kael*If anyone had asked me before the war what I would be doing when I turned twenty-eight years old, I would not have said marrying my mate who came all the way from the Eastern continent. I wouldn't have said that she didn't come all the way so much as was kidnapped, nor that she would single-handedly end a twelve-year war.I wouldn't have been able to comprehend the pride and love and wonder—and occasional irritation at her stubbornness—that swelled in my chest and made it hard to breathe every time I even thought of her.She found me as a bloodied and broken lost heir who couldn't fathom ever returning to his homeland. Now, thanks to her, I was a king of a renewed city wearing all white under the night sky in the Moon Goddess's temple.And she was across from me wearing a blue dress the color of the sea—what I assumed the ocean looked like, having never seen the same one she knew—looking like she could rival the beauty of the Goddess herself.I loved that dress.
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 55 : Two Halves of the Same Soul
*Gemma*I rose to my knees. He lifted his pelvis, his tip brushing my damp entrance. I helped him inside, and together we thrust until he was fully inside me. Tears sprang to my eyes, but it wasn't the pleasurable pain, but the importance of our act of love. Kael sat up, arms scooping under my ass, and I locked my legs around his waist. His face, warm and damp and bristly, buried in the crook of my neck and shoulder. Another shiver went through me at the light scrape of his teeth and tongue over my sensitive skin. My core burned and ached. The ribbon connecting our hearts was the shortest it had ever been, our closeness a beautiful reprieve, making me realize how strained it was over the past few days despite our proximity. But mates were two halves of the same soul, and with our bodies connected, we were joined in more ways than one.It made me want to tell him how much I loved him.And yet, when his teeth started to put pressure on the flesh of my shoulder, I pulled ou
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 54 : Get Inside Me, Mate
*Gemma*I hoped with all my soul that we would all get the chance to eat and rest, giving our skin a break from the sweltering sun. Apparently, that was too much to ask for. The leaders spoke some more, straightening out individual plans as well as a unit. I zoned out for most of it, which I really shouldn't have, selfishly figuring my friends would catch me up when the time came for the information to become of use. I was too busy imagining what the reunion with my family would be like. I couldn't even decide what I was feeling right now, much less how I would truly feel in the moment. Was I angry about their shitty plans and arrangements? Was I still completely and furiously baffled by their decision to let my sixteen-year-old cousin take on the Beast of the West almost completely by herself? Would I lash out at Lynn for duping me so easily and thoroughly? Was I deliriously relieved that I would see them again at all—especially my parents—after thinking I lost them? Or
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 53 : Full Circle
*Kael*I had to remind myself that I barely knew my mate.I had no idea how Gemma would handle grief. And if that's what she wasn't feeling right now, then I didn't know how she handled the aftermath of a death. I just had to reassure her that she didn't actually kill Connor. He did that himself.We were all rocked by his last act. It kept replaying in my mind, but the more it did, the less real it seemed.It was the same response I had to my brother's and father's deaths. The more I relived it, the more distant I became from it—from the pain, the guilt, the helplessness and hopelessness… Eventually, it just sat in the recesses of my mind waiting for me to bring it out and be crushed by it all over again.Twelve years was a long time. I had come to terms with losing my family, even if Elara's two years ago was still a little fresh.I could come to terms with the death of my greatest enemy much quicker and with far less remorse.And I would make sure my pack would see t
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 52 : Who Will Do the Deed?
*Gemma* I couldn't do it. I couldn't stomach this monster. He was sickening and cruel, and the last thing he ever deserved was kindness or forgiveness.Waiting twelve years—and willing to wait longer—for the perfect, precise revenge was just… unbearable to think about. My mind couldn't wrap itself around why Connor's mind would think any of that was okay or justifiable.All the while he was laughing, basking in his own enjoyment, getting a kick out of our shock and disgust. I clutched Raisa's knife; Kael held Connor over the well wall; Cari stood trembling with anger. "Just do it!" she barked furiously at Kael. "Throw him down that damn well! If you don't, I will!"Kael was hesitating. I didn't know why. He hated Connor more than anything, and abhorrently, Connor was right: we would never get this chance again. We had thought it was impossible, and now it was happening, so why weren't we utilizing this chance?No, I did know why.The Alpha of Moonwake did not want to
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 51 : The Tyrant's Fall from Grace
*Kael*I never imagined I would feel pity for the tyrant who killed my family and destroyed my city.I viewed the Beast of the West on a bloody, cracked pedestal surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of innocents, laughing as he basked in his own strength. He was always perfect: tanned muscle, neat hair, intelligent but cruel eyes—just a calculating monster who never misstepped in his conquering.But now, the pedestal had cracked in half, and Connor Herrick was falling from grace. I had been terrified of having my throat slit after he somehow managed to ambush me in that small dwelling. I was so shamefully stunned that I did what he'd asked: call Gemma. Lure her straight to him. If I was terrified for my own life, it was nothing compared to what I felt for Gemma. I'd lost and found her already. I couldn't lose her again.I'd done what he asked me to do not for him but for my own selfish reasons. I'd wanted to see her one more time before he killed me.Now, I felt no fear
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 50 : Stopping the Enemy's Heart
*Gemma*Bly's report on Connor's state was an understatement. He wasn't just a wreck. He was deranged and unhinged.It was evident the second I saw him with Kael pinned to the floor on his stomach, Connor's booted foot digging between his shoulder blades, a similar scene to the throne room situation, holding a fistful of my mate's hair in one hand while the other held the blade to his throat. Harsh rays of sunlight through another window glinted off the metal.Connor wheezed a laugh. "Do you recognize this knife, Gemma?"Like the rest of us, he was a mess of sand and blood. Unlike us, his eyes were bright and bloodshot with madness. His breath was rattling in his lungs, and he was hunched over as if he couldn't fully straighten his spine. "I remember," I said slowly, knowing that a single word could make him go off. And with my mate's life suddenly on the line, I had to choose them very carefully. I met Kael's eyes. They were wide with fear—but not for him. For me.
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 49 : The Breeder Returns
*Gemma*I never imagined my uncles could be so conniving.But that didn't matter. If we could make them happy by eliminating a threat to them and the rest of Oceantide, even the entire East—hell, the rest of the West—then fine. Kael and everyone else who was about to fight alongside us; none of us were doing it to satisfy anyone. We were going to war with the intent to free the country from slavery. We were going to save villages and cities, protect daughters and sisters, and prove there could be futures for all without the threat of fear."You just might start a revolution, Gemma Brooks."Maybe so. Maybe I really was the reason an army was standing behind me as I stood beside one of the most important Alphas of this lifetime. Would any of this happen if I hadn't plunged that knife into Connor Herrick's spine?Maybe, maybe not.All that mattered was that it was happening, and there was no going back. Conviction was everything. This was not the time or place for hesita
Stolen by the Rival Alpha Chapter 48 : To Victory!
*Kael*"I don't see anyone," Gemma said, leaning forward and squinting past the sun's glare and swirling sand. She was right. The cars weren't running and there was no sign of life. Izar stopped and parked, waving out the window in what had to be a signal to the rest of the caravan. We sat in uncertain silence. "It was not part of the plan," Izar said bitterly, and I now noticed the family resemblance: my mother liked things orderly and according to plan or expectation. "But sometimes you have to just wing it. Alpha Kael, do you have a suggestion for our next move?"Everyone turned to me, and I forgot that Alphas needed to make those kinds of calls. I was the one shifters would be waiting orders from, asking tough questions, hoping—and expecting—encouraging speeches to lift morale and give reason to follow me into battle.I'd barely gotten the chance to practice. Now, I was thrown straight into the thick of it.I looked at my mate, her eyes burning with determinatio
