Alpha Betrayed: A Dark Shifter Romance

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I'm assigned to lead the first wave attack at the front of the school, the one we hope will distract Ham Maxim's fully aware that I have no real-world military experience, but this is more about the psycholo their combat skills in fights way more intense than this one.

forces so completely that they won't notice the boats landing on the beach until it's too late.

ffect seeing me at the head of an army will have on my stepfather than anything else. The men I'll be "leading" already have their orders and have honed

I feel confident in the plan and grateful that Juliet will be part of the third wave, the force that will only see combat if the first two waves encounter enough resistance to need backup. She wasn't happy about being placed on one of the last boats, with Jean-Paul, the Alpha of Montreal,

If Juliet's killed, I have a claim to Zion, but it's not as strong or solid as hers. She's Hammer's oldest bi holdings. In the interest of a smooth transition of power and the good of our people, Juliet should be And knowing she'll be watching the sun rise on Lost Moon from a safe distance across the water makes it I join Hermione at the head of the lines of armed motorcycle riders, artillery vehicles, and two tanks p asks, releasing my palm.

"As I'll ever be."

"Nice sword," she says, observing the blade strapped to my back, the one I borrowed from Jean-Paul's "Thanks," I say. "I have guns for the initial advance, but I thought it would be nice to have something a destroyed the other boys in the yearly war games. Curious to see if he's as proud when I use it to put She hums beneath her breath. "So, it's poetic justice then. Juliet told me you had an artist's heart." My brows lift. "She did?"

s infamously capable bodyguards, but Maxim and Jean-Paul both agreed that as the heir to the throne, caution was wise.

al child. Challenging her right to rule will be harder for other heirs or other West Coast Alphas who might be interested in assimilating the Zion pack into their the last sent to fight.

easier to focus on the job at hand.

d on the hill above the school. The tall, muscled blonde with short-cropped hair greets me with an extended hand that I clasp and squeeze. "Ready?" she

y room while I was picking my weapons last night.

more personal for the hand-to-hand fighting inside the walls. Hammer taught me how to fight with a sword when I was a kid. He was always so proud when I in prison."

ng as the people you're fighting are using guns, would be my advice. Save the poetry for your victory speech."

"She did," Hermione confirms. "She also told me to make sure you didn't try to be a hero. Use the gun My lips curve in a grim smile. "I hear you. But I'm keeping the sword. If I have the chance to separate Hammer from his head with the combat skills he taught me, I don't want to let that opportunity pass me by." "Understood," Hermione says. "But try to lean into that calm steadiness at your center as much as you A lot of men here would tell you that rage fuels a fight, but the steadier and more peaceful you are, the faster you can react to threats that come your way. Battles like this, where you're fighting in an enclosed space, tend to be chaotic. Best if you aren't." "Unless we can't get inside," I remind her. "Then we might end up laying siege to the campus for months. They have enough food and supplies to keep everyone inside fed and armed for a long time." "We'll get in," Hermione says. "You trust your spy, right?"

"I do," I confirm. "As long as he isn't found out, Trevor will open the back gate fifteen minutes into the fight."

"And Maxim will be there with the second wave to meet him," Hermione says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "We should mount up. The sun will be rising soon."

As she heads back to check in with the rest of the senior personnel, I move to the front of the force. The black motorcycle I rode down the mountain from the helicopter landing pad earlier sits beside Hermione's gray chopper. Both are top of the line, outfitted with a monstrous amount of horsepower and bulletproof armor that should offer decent protection from anyone firing on us from above.

There's still a zone of vulnerability, however, weaknesses a sharpshooter with solid aim could exploit to take us out. And as part of the first wave, we're automatically in more danger than the others. For at least the first ten or fifteen minutes, Hammer and his men will be focusing all their defensive efforts on us.

It's going to be the most perilous part of the fight and it makes me want to call Juliet.

I already said goodbye in Montreal, when she boarded one of the ships heading up the river and I jumped onto the massive helicopter carrying the first load of motorcycles and soldiers to the rendezvous spot. But just in case my luck runs out at sunrise, I wish I could tell her I love her one last time.

And tell her that if I die, I approve of her moving on with Chase.

He's a good guy with loads of money and incredible connections, who clearly still adores her. If I can't have Juliet, knowing someone who sees how special she is will take care of her in my place, is the next best thing.

But I can already hear Juliet's response to that. She'd tell me she doesn't need anyone to take care of her, that she can take care of herself and me and anyone else she decides is worthy of being on her "Under my Protection" list. Then she'd encourage me to focus on staying alive and keep my nose out of her business. Damn, I love her.

I love her stubbornness and her courage and the way she absolutely refuses to give up on the people she cares about. She's going to be an incredible Alpha. If I'm lucky enough to rule beside her, she'll keep me on my toes. And probably boss me around every day for the rest of my life.

As Hermione and I straddle our bikes and she lifts the flare gun that will signal the start of the attack into the air, I pray for that future with everything in me. I just want to wake up next to Juliet every morning, spend my day working hard for my pack, and go skinny- dipping with her before dinner. I want to dance with her at holiday feasts and run with her through the forest during the full moon and fill the Zion history books with stories of the most boring, peaceful, bountiful, joyful rule our people have ever known. But first I have to kill the man who tried to take that future away.

I promised Maxim I'd try to take Hammer alive, if possible, but if he gives me an excuse, I'm taking his head. Juliet won't be truly safe until the man who currently holds the throne is gone, and her safety is my first priority, way above helping Maxim prove that the united packs can effectively administrate due process.

"Ready to take back what's yours?" Hermione asks just as the first rays of sunlight pierce the horizon.

"I'm ready," I say. "Thank you for fighting with us."

"My pleasure, Prince Ford," she says, calling me by my official title.

I haven't felt like a prince in a long time. I was a savage in the pits, a fugitive on the run, a spy under cover, and what felt like the world's oldest college student. But this morning, I'll ride into Lost Moon as who I really am, a future ruler who's been through hell and is back to take down the man who sent me there.

"We don't stop until the day is ours," Hermione shouts, her resonate voice echoing through the quiet air. "Fight for the world you want to leave for your children, warriors. Victory waits at the end of this and every road!" As a chorus of cheers and shouts fills the air, she fires the flare into the sky.

Orange and yellow light flashes across the hill, illuminating the fighters revving their choppers to life, reminding me of Juliet's phoenix fire. And then we're off, rumbling down the hill toward the still sleepy-looking Lost Moon campus.

The torches at the top of the walls are lit and the silhouettes of guards on patrol are visible as we get closer, but they don't seem alarmed by the sound of approximately two hundred motorcycles roaring their way. The floodlights that usually illuminate the front gate remain off and there's no obvious sign of distress from the people inside.

The guards don't run for help, the alarms don't sound, and not a single bullet is fired from the parapets.

Instantly, dread spreads through my core, turning my stomach to lead. Something's wrong.

We should stop. Turn back.

I glance over to Hermione, lifting my arm and giving the signal for "pull back" that she taught me earlier, but she's already slowing. She taps her breaks several times, warning the people behind us that plans have changed.

I skid to stop and flip up the visor on my helmet. "They should be fighting back. Something's wrong."

"Agreed," she says, scowling at the top of the walls. "Every hair on my body is standing on end. I don't know what's off here, but something definitely isn't right. We'll pull back and send the drones in for recon first. I'll call Maxim and tell him about the change of plans on the way back up the hill." She thrusts a hand into the air, her fingers spread wide. "Pull back to your previous positions and await orders."

It's then, as about half of our force turns to head back up the hill and half stays where they are, that I realize the problem isn't behind the walls. The problem is right here, on the ground with us.

The call is coming from inside the house.

"Run!" Hermione shouts, her eyes wide as she pulls her gun from its underarm holster.

But it's too late, the air is already full of bullets. They whine and ding off my chopper's armor as I lay on the gas, zooming toward Lost Moon. The way back up the hill is blocked by traitors. My only chance now is to get around to the beach and swim for it. And maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a warning to Maxim and Juliet that the Montreal pack has turned on us before it's too late.

Half the forces on those ships are Montreal wolves.

More than half on Juliet's boat, but that was no-doubt Jean-Paul's plan all along. Separate Juliet from her allies, get Zion's princess under his control, and then...

I can't know exactly what his plan is from there, but none of the options are good. If he's working with Hammer, Juliet is likely going to end up dead. If he's simply a Maxim hater, out for vengeance for the destruction of the portals to the parallel, she might fare better, but she'll still end the day a prisoner.

Or dead, if she fights back as hard as I expect she will.

Her phoenix form is fierce and powerful, but she can't take out Jean-Paul's fleet of bodyguards on her own. She's going to need help and, hopefully, the element of surprise.

I zoom around the side of the campus, clinging to the shadows beneath the trees as bullets begin to rain down from the walls above. But I'm moving too fast to make getting a shot in easy and the forest floor is still dark. The sunrise hasn't touched the world down here just yet. I won't be truly exposed until I'm on the beach.

Right then, I decide not to stop.

The chopper has grooved tires for off-roading. I'm not sure if that means it will get traction on sand, but I guess I'm about to find out...

I lay on the gas, pushing seventy as I explode from the woods and up and over the sand dunes at the edge of the beach. The tires sputter and spray for a moment as I touch down, but eventually gain purchase and carry me down to the ocean faster than the bullets chasing me to the water's edge.

I'm going so fast, the motorcycle seems to skip across the water for a few feet, before eventually sinking in the morning waves. I dive off the front of the bike, plunging into the water. I kick off my shoes and pull hard with arms, putting as much distance between me and the people shooting at me on the walls as possible before I break the surface and pull in a deep breath.

I'm back down again almost immediately, tearing at my clothes. As soon as I've disposed of my jeans and jacket, I shift, letting my wolf rip through my base layers as he churns through the water.

Maxim's boat is still a good half mile away, and the third wave of boats even farther, but there's no time to waste. I reach out with my thoughts, shouting, Maxim, it's a trap, the Montreal wolves are on Hammer's side! and hope like hell he hears me. I don't get a response, but when I break the surface again, I hear gunshots coming from the boat at the front of the fleet.

Gunshots on the boat, gunshots on the beach, and probably half of Maxim's best fighters dead on the hill in front of Lost Moon. Which means this isn't about a terrorist group taking over a university campus anymore. This is war-full-fledged, all-out war between the North American packs.

And the woman I love is currently in enemy hands and there's not jack shit I can do about it except swim like hell and hope to get to Maxim's boat in time to fight with him to keep it.

Willing fate to be on my side, just one more time, I pull hard through the water, silently promising Juliet I won't give up on her-on us-until the day they put me in the ground.

***

Juliet

By the time the gunshots sound from the boats in front of us, it's too late. Jean-Paul's men already have me surrounded and Jean-Paul himself is clapping a heavy, shift-prevention collar around my neck.

"Apologies for the indignity of it all, chère," he says in his lightly accented English. "But I can't have you setting fire to the escape plan." He motions over his shoulder, calling to the captain, "Reverse course, Andre, our role in this little drama is done."

Turning back to me he adds with a smile, "If the current is on our side, we'll be back in the city by brunch. I'll treat you to omelets from my favorite little place in the arts district. And champagne, of course, to celebrate our new alliance."

"I'm going to kill you," I say calmly. "That's what I do to people who betray me, and if your stunt has hurt anyone I love, I'll do it slowly. Piece by rancid little piece."

Jean-Paul chuckles, making the mistake so many people have made before him, assuming I'm a petite, harmless little woman he won't have to worry about so long as he keeps me from shifting.

But if he's hurt Ford, he'll regret it every day for the rest of his very short, very painful life, no matter what form I'm in.

"Now, now, is that any way to talk to your future husband?" Jean-Paul asks with a flirtatious wiggle of his brows. "Your father promised me your hand and control of the entire Eastern Seaboard down to Washington, D.C. Isn't that wonderful? Our children will truly be kings and queens such as the shifter world has never seen before."

I want to tell him that I'll rip my uterus out of my body myself before I bear his children-or honor a marriage arranged by my monster of a father-but I bite my tongue. I may decide playing nice is my best bet with the Alpha of Montreal, at least long enough to get him to drop his guard and take this collar off.

Then, I'll roast him alive in his bed as a warning to anyone stupid enough to double-cross me in the name of getting on Hammer's good side.

"You're plotting my demise, aren't you?" Jean-Paul asks, laughing again. "You're diabolically adorable, sweet Juliet, and I, for one, can't wait to take our wedding vows. I think we can whip together a sweet little ceremony by tomorrow evening, don't you?" I clench my jaw, swallowing the wave of acid that rises in my stomach.

"Thankfully, all the best flowers are in season in July," he continues as the captain finishes bringing the ship around and heads back the way we came. "I see a bouquet of peonies for you. Or perhaps calla lilies, the orange ones that look like a sunset in honor of my rare bird." He sighs as he leans against the railing beside me. "And we'll have something en flambé for dessert. I want to embrace the wonder of you, ma choupinette, make it clear to my pack that I'm proud to have a mythical beauty at my side. Wolves are wonderful, but very few men can say they've bedded a fire bird and lived to tell the tale."

"It's cute that you think you'll manage," I say with a cold smile.

"Did you hear this?" Jean-Paul laughs as he glances at his guards, who still surround me, clearly not as convinced that I'm harmless as their boss. He rubs his hands together with a soft growl. "I can't wait for our life to begin. You're going to keep me entertained for years, little one. I couldn't ask for a better match. We'll have to send your father a case of my best port to thank him. He likes port, yes? He seems like a meat and red wine sort of man."

I turn, staring out over the water, willing Ford to still be alive.

Hammer thinks he can play with our lives like we're pieces in a chess game, but he's forgotten I was born to be a queen, not a pawn. And if Ford is gone...

If that's the case, my father will soon learn the only thing more dangerous than a queen in love is a queen with nothing left to lose.