Chapter 0007

DEX'S P.O.V

This was the last place I ever expected to find one of them.

Yet, she was here. One of them. Ember.

The name didn't seem to suit her. She had seemed like such a weak and submissive little thing at first.

Yet, over the past several minutes, she had surprised me when she let her anger show before masking it again.

I had to reconsider. Perhaps she still had something burning inside her after all, itching with the need to burn down anything she crossed.

I had been shocked to find her with this pack, but her bright red hair was a dead giveaway. She hadn’t even bothered to hide it.

At first, I wanted to attack. I had been seconds away from killing her myself, but there was a faint pull in my chest telling me that there were better ways to handle this. I had a plan forming, but I knew my family and my Beta wouldn’t like it once I told them.

It would be risky. But if it worked out, it would be worth it.

I tilted my head to the side as I looked her over. I couldn't sense any magic coming from her, but that didn't mean she wasn't masking it.

Her hiding her magic was probably the only reason her pack hadn't executed her yet.

But I had meant what I said. Ember was beautiful… I hated myself for thinking it, but she was absolutely stunning.

Shocked by my statement, Ember's cheeks turned a darker red. Her hazel eyes widened further, making her look like a doe. Surely, she had to know she was beautiful, so I attested her reaction to her knowing who I was.

Her bright red hair was pulled up in a bun, but it was messy, and I knew once she let it down, it would be wild and curly. It only added to her attractiveness, making me even more despise her.

I had always had a weakness for curly-haired women. Her hair was the first thing I noticed when we entered the room.

It wasn't the cheap perfume clouding the air or the overdressed pack all crammed into the room, using my visit as an excuse to drink and eat instead of the business meeting it was supposed to be.

It was her. She stood out amongst the others like a beacon of light.

Once again, Alpha Cain had failed to impress me. His son, even less so.

He was a pathetic excuse for an heir. I couldn't believe he had actually hidden behind his servant, and I wouldn't be shocked if he turned out to be the kind of leader who had others fight his battles for him. Like father, like son.

Alpha Cain had hired my pack to deal with a large pack of rogues threatening their land, more than likely knowing his pack was too weak to take them on themselves.

We had done just that, and his refusal to pay me today wasn't a wise choice.

"Get your things. We're leaving." I said, watching her panic as I lifted my hand, gesturing with my finger for a few of my trusted pack members to step forward.

They stopped on either side of her, one placing their hand on her lower back and escorting her out of the building when she refused to move on her own.

"Alpha Emerson, surely we can come to another arrangement…" Alpha Cain pleaded, but I ignored him as I turned and led my pack out of the pack house, ignoring the protests coming from their heir behind me.

"You have one month," I told Alpha Cain.

"This is too fucking good." Jenson, my Beta, said, rubbing his palms together with excitement as he glared at Ember's back. His desire to draw her blood was obvious, and while I normally felt the same way when it came to the Fae, there was an uncomfortable itch beneath my skin at the idea of that blood being Ember's.

I heard my pack close the door behind us, cutting off the New Moon pack from following us and making it clear that we were done here.

Jensen growled when Ember struggled against my men up ahead, as if she were trying to make a run for it.

She failed, but it confirmed that I would have to monitor her closely; if not, restrain her once we got home. "I can't believe one was here this entire time. We need to make sure we make good use of her. Just the sight of her ugly red hair is making my blood boil."

I pressed my lips together, not liking that he thought he had any say in what happened to her. But he was right about us making good use of her.

"What did you find out?" I asked, and he glanced over his shoulder to ensure the doors to the pack house were still closed.

As soon as I spotted her, I had him collect intel. He had slunk away into the crowd of over-dressed, entitled wolves to learn what he could about Ember.

"Nothing unexpected. No one likes her, but we figured that much with what she is. Although they said she was a wolf, so I don't think some of them know what she actually is." His statement made me turn to him in shock.

"She doesn't smell like a wolf." It wasn't a question, and it intrigued me more. So either she had magic, and while masking her magic, she was masking her wolf, or she had lost her wolf.

Losing one's wolf was one of the most painful experiences I had ever heard someone going through. If she had lost her wolf, it was a miracle that she was up and walking around right now. One would have to be incredibly strong to survive that.

For a moment, I felt bad for her. But when a chunk of her bright red hair popped out of the top of her bun like an antenna as my men got control of her again and dragged her forward, I reminded myself there was no need to pity her.

She was one of them. She was and always would be my enemy.

She was a Fae, a corrupt and dangerous being. Her red hair was evidence enough of her lineage. I just didn't understand why she was still living among wolves. She should have been in hiding, if not dead by now.

Every last Fae on this Earth deserved to die, and I would be a happy man if it were by my hands.

The Fae had cursed my people almost a century ago, turning our men, women, and children into bloodthirsty beasts every full moon.

I wanted her to feel every second of pain she had put my people through…had put me through.

But I couldn't.

I had lost my mate and countless pack members because of the curse, and now I was close to losing my brothers because of it.

Everything I had done to try and break the curse had failed, but with her… with one of them working for me, maybe we would stand a chance. It would be difficult, as I would have to be civil with her, but if I could earn her trust and get her on my side of this war, we might stand a chance.

"My thoughts exactly. I don't like it. She has to be up to no good. She can't be trusted. Word has it that she's a social climber…she drugged and tried to force the heir to mark her instead of his own mate. Vile woman. If I could skin her and hang her on the border for her kind to see, I would."

I began walking after the little fairy. She better have her shit packed by the time I reached her because we would be leaving with or without it.

The small shack on the outskirts of town was beaten down and looked seconds from collapsing. Ember didn't seem to have much and walked out with a trash bag in her hands, flanked by my men.

"Alpha Emerson," She gasped, immediately submitting when she saw me approaching, unlike the first time I saw her today. "Thank you for helping me, but I don't understand!"

"Silence! You do not address the Alpha!" Jensen snapped, stepping forward toward Ember threateningly.

I lifted my hand, the back of it hitting his chest, stopping him.

"What don't you understand?" I said, my voice low.

"Me. Why do you want me?" She looked around, her cheeks turning red before she looked back at me, her eyes on my chest. "I have no value to you. I'm not attractive, and everyone in my pack hates me. They think I'm a freak! You can easily find a better woman."

A strange feeling washed over me, not liking how she talked about herself. I ground my molars together, resisting the urge to lift my hand and rub my chest to fight off the feeling.

I shook it off, reminding myself that she was a Fae. Fae were cunning, snobbish, and tricksters. She could play the victim but wouldn't get pity from me.

"I'll just be a burden to you." She whispered, sounding broken. "I can't offer you anything."

Oh, but she could.

She wanted freedom, but if she wanted that, she had a job to do first.

"You don't know how special you are." I purred, enjoying the way her eyes widened in surprise. Her heart rate increased, and I licked my lips.

I affected her, and that was just what I needed. "You are exactly the one I want."

Her breathing caught, and her lips parted, drawing my eyes to them.

"Your life is miserable here, Little Fairy. You won't survive here, and we both know you won't survive out there alone." I tipped my head toward the trees, and she glanced that way briefly, her shoulders falling. "I don't feel your wolf. The second you cross into no man's land without a wolf to defend yourself, you will be torn to shreds by rogues."

"I…" Ember faltered.

"But," I said, interrupting her. "If you go with me, I will provide you with everything you could ever need. I'll give you the life you only dreamed of having here."

As long as she did her part…

"That's a nice offer, but…" Ember said, and I watched her shoulders fall, knowing she was going to ask me to reconsider.

"Who do you think you are? The Alpha has already been patient with you! You entitled little brat!" Jensen spat, and while I knew he had control of his beast, his temper had been getting out of control. He needed to get control of his wolf, but I refused to let him have control over Ember.

She was mine.

To have a Fae under my control…

It sent a thrill through me, and my beast purred with excitement. My pack needed this win now more than ever.

I refused to let them down.

I would bleed her dry before letting her go. She was the key to us finally getting answers. She was going to help me break this curse one way or another.

And she was going to be mine while she did it.

"She is going to be your Luna!" I growled at Jensen, ignoring the surprise on his face that I had turned on him. "Show some respect!”

Jensen’s eyes turned black, and I knew his beast had come forward.

Ember screamed as my Beta lunged at her, his claws extended and aiming for her throat.

I saw red.

Jensen grunted as I tackled him, slamming him into the ground, my fist connecting with his face repeatedly until his body went limp.

I shook the blood from my hand as I stood, sending specks of blood to the ground as I turned to make sure Ember hadn’t been hurt. I needed her alive… for now.

She looked shaken but hadn’t made any move to run.

“Are you okay?” I asked, knowing my annoyance was seeping through my tone.

Was she really so set on hiding what she was that she wouldn’t even use magic to protect herself?

It was arrogant and ignorant!

Yet, with her hand over her mouth and her hazel eyes locked on a bloody Jensen, she still looked beautiful, which was infuriating.

“I’m fine.” She whispered back, not taking her eyes off my best friend and Beta. He had been out of line, but I found it comforting that after witnessing me attack him, he was the one she was still scared of.

“Good,” I said, taking the trash bag of her belongings from her hands and passing it to the wolf beside her. “Get on. I’m taking you home.”