Marked by the Alphas

Chapter 94: Chapter 94

Katie POV

I woke up tired. Sure, I slept, but my dreams were plagued with men. Orion, Kane, Axel, Mason and Braden. If one were not chasing me, the other would be fighting or kissing me.

I check on Stella, but she is sound asleep. My feet drag as I make myself breakfast and get dressed.

I look at my watch. If Kane or Axel does not show up in the next hour, I am going to them. No way am I going to spend my days locked up. I am leaving for Stillwood.

Stella wakes up, and I feed and clean her. I lay her down on her playmat and look at my watch. I am calling it.

Mentally, I make a list of things I must do before I can leave. My biggest issue is finding Braden. He is the key to my past.

And I must arrange transportation. I will start there, I decide, unlocking my door. I am about to open the door when I hear a thud in my room.

What the hell? I frown and walk to my room.

“Braden, Holy shit!” I whisper-scream, pressing a hand to my rapidly beating heart, as I look at him standing by my window. “You scared the bejesus out of me. How the hell did you get in here?”

“The window,” he shrugs. His green eyes glitter with mischief. “Vampires are a little lighter on their feet than wolf shifters.”

“You’re an ass,” I roll my eyes, but I am excited to learn about my past.

“Are you okay?” he frowns, studying my face intensely.

“No, not really,” I admit with a sigh, sitting on my bed. “And please keep your voice down. My baby is sleeping.”

“Baby?” His face pales. “Like your baby?”

“Yes, Braden,” I smile. “My baby.”

“Since when?” he asks, sitting beside me.

“She’s six weeks old,” I answer proudly.

“And the father,” he looks at me cautiously. “Is he the one causing your distress?”

“Are all vampires this nosy?” I avoid his question. “Or just you, because I was under the impression this visit is about me and my past.”

“You’re right,” Branden holds up his hands defensively. “What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with Kane and Axel,” I say. “Did I know them before?”

“You did,” he nods slowly.

“Really?” I gasp. “Because they don’t remember me either. Or they’re pretending not to.”

“That’s weird,” Braden frowns. “Because they were your ...”

My quarters’ door burst open, interrupting Braden, and he jumped to his feet.

“Oh, shit,” I mumble, standing up. I forgot I unlocked the door.

“Katie?” I sigh in relief when I hear Mason’s, and not Orion’s, voice. “I heard what happened, and I came ...”

He abruptly goes quiet when he sees Braden next to me, and his nostrils flare.

“You,” Mason growls. “You undead motherfucker. I knew I smelled a vampire yesterday.”

“Mason, don’t!” I shout when Mason lunges towards Braden.

Without thinking twice, I jump between them and shove Mason against his chest with all my might. Mason flies backwards and into the wall.

Mason glares at me, his eyes flashing with his wolf.

“I’m sorry for pushing you.” I apologise. I did not know I was strong enough to shove a full-grown wolf into a wall. “But he’s here to help me. He knows me from before.”

“Are you sleeping with him, too?” Mason snarls, standing up, and his eyes flashing crimson. “My brothers aren’t enough, and now you have a fucking vampire in your bed?”

Instantly, I am irritated. How fucking little does he think of me?

“Hey, that’s not what this is,” Braden says with a restrained voice. “Let’s be calm.”

“Calm?” Mason barks, his claws and canines shooting out. “I’ll show you calm.”

Mason dives forward and shifts in midair, his clothes ripping to shreds as he lands hard on the floor.

“Mason! No!” I yell as Mason lunges straight at Braden.

Braden dodges him just in time, his fangs shooting out of his mouth. Braden leaps at Mason, tackling him to the ground. The two roll across the floor, slamming into a dresser and sending everything on top of it crashing to the ground.

“For fuck’s sake, stop this!” I shout, reaching for Mason’s fur, but Stella starts crying, and I make a quick decision to go to Stella. If these two assholes want to rip each other apart, let them.

As I turn to leave, Braden falls onto his back, raising his hands in surrender, but Mason is like a man possessed. He bears his canines and sinks them deep into his side.

Kane POV freeweɓnovel.cѳm

“What the fuck?” I look at Axel when I hear a thud, followed by things clashing and probably breaking.

“Katie.” Axel looks at me wide-eyed.

“Oh, shit,” we jump up and run as fast as we can to her quarters.

If something happens to Katie, I will never forgive myself. I should not have postponed checking in on her. But Mother confronted me about Dad last night, and our guards reported a suspicious scent around the perimeter, which we investigated until now. Axel and I immediately suspected a vampire, but we could not find anything.

We burst into Katie’s room and see Mason’s wolf crouching over a bleeding man.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I ask as I survey the scene.

“Stella,” is Katie’s only reply as she leaves the room.

“I’ll get her.” Axel stops Katie and runs to the other room.

Mason shifts back, crouching naked on his knees. He looks at the man bleeding out from his side and scrambles back against the wall.

“I ... I didn’t mean to ...” he says in a dazed voice.

“Braden?” Katie gasps, kneeling beside the man. She lifts his bloody shirt, exposing a nasty-looking bite, and suddenly, I catch a whiff of the guy.

“Axel, don’t bring Stella in here,” I growl. “We have a vampire.”

I frown, looking at Katie. If she did not know they existed, then why does she know his name and act like they were old friends?

“Let me see,” I kneel beside Braden and look at the deep wound. “I thought you could heal yourself.” ƒгeewebnovёl.com

“He can’t,” Mason croaks. “Wolf bites are deadly to vampires. There’s no healing, no cure.”

“So, that’s it?” Katie looks bewildered from Mason to the vampire. “He’s just going to die?”

“Yes,” Braden groans weakly. “Not immediately. Only after a couple of days of intense pain.”

Mason stands up slowly, and like a zombie, walks to the door and plucks a robe off a hook, draping it over himself.

“Mason, what the fuck were you thinking?” I demand, stepping in front of him. “What if more vampires come after us?”

“Kane, we can do the blame game later,” Katie says firmly. “We must fix this. There must be a way.”

“I don’t know if we can, Katie,” I say solemnly.

“He’s right,” Braden whispers, and everyone looks at him. “If I die, other vampires will come looking for you. My death will break the treaty we established after the great wars, and all bets are off.”