Playing The Alphas

Chapter 91: The Intruder

SAMANTHA

The darkness swallowed me whole.

I could not see a thing. The curtains were drawn tight and the candles had burned out and the only light came from the faint glow of the moon through the gap in the fabric. I stood in the middle of my living room, my heart pounding so loud that I could hear it in my ears.

"Joanne?" I called out again, my voice trembling. "Are you there?"

No answer.

I took a step forward. Then another. My hand reached out, searching for the wall, for the light switch, for anything that would chase away this suffocating darkness.

Then someone grabbed me from behind.

The grip was tight and unyielding and strong. One arm wrapped around my waist and the other clamped over my mouth before I could scream. I was pulled backward against a hard body and I felt hot breath against my ear.

Every hair on my body stood on end.

"Argh!!" The sound was muffled against the hand that covered my mouth. "Who are you?"

I struggled. I kicked and thrashed and twisted and I tried to break free. My heart was racing. My blood was pounding. Fear flooded through me like ice water.

The intruder was strong. Too strong. I could not break their grip no matter how hard I fought.

I bit down hard on the hand that covered my mouth.

The intruder hissed in pain. The grip loosened just enough for me to spin around and break free. I stumbled backward, my eyes wide, my chest heaving, my hands raised in front of me like I could somehow defend myself.

A figure stood in the darkness. Tall and cloaked. Face hidden beneath a hood. I could not see their features but I could feel their eyes on me, cold and calculating.

"You have something I need," the intruder said.

The voice was distorted, raspy, like they were trying to hide their identity. It sent chills down my spine. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

"What do you want?" I asked. My voice was shaking. I hated how weak I sounded.

The intruder stepped closer and I stepped back. My shoulders hit the wall behind me. There was nowhere else to go.

"Your blood," the intruder said.

My blood ran cold.

I thought of Vera. The needles. The syringes. The dark red liquid that had been drained from my veins while I lay helpless on the library floor. I thought of Korvus and the lizard scouts and the way they had looked at me like I was nothing more than a walking supply of medicine.

"Who sent you?" I demanded. "Was it the lizards? Was it Kayden?"

The intruder laughed. It was a cold, hollow sound. "I work for no one. I work for myself."

"Then why do you want my blood?"

The intruder stepped closer and I pressed myself harder against the wall.

"Because it is valuable," they said. "More valuable than gold. More valuable than land. More valuable than anything in this palace. Do you even know what you carry inside you?"

I did not answer.

"You are a walking fortune," the intruder continued. "And I intend to collect."

They lunged.

I dodged. My body moved before my brain could catch up and I threw myself to the side, rolling across the floor just as the intruder’s hands slammed against the wall where I had been standing.

I scrambled to my feet. My hand grabbed the first thing I could find—a heavy candlestick on the side table. I swung it with all my strength.

It connected with the intruder’s head.

There was a sickening crack. The intruder let out a groan and they collapsed to the floor in a heap of dark fabric.

I stood over them, panting, shaking, the candlestick still raised in my trembling hands. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest.

I waited for them to get up. They did not.

Slowly, cautiously, I lowered the candlestick. I knelt down beside the fallen figure. My hands were shaking so badly that I could barely move them.

I reached out. My fingers found the edge of the hood. I pulled it back.

The face beneath was pale and familiar and it made my blood run cold.

Leslie.

I stared at her. My mouth fell open. No words came out. It was impossible. She had been banished. She had been branded a rogue and cast out of the pack and sent into the wilderness to die.

But here she was. Lying on my floor. Unconscious. Bleeding from the wound on my head.

I could not believe it. I blinked and shook my head and blinked again.

She was still there.

I fell back onto my heels and I pressed my hand against my chest and I tried to remember how to breathe. Leslie was alive. Leslie had come back. Leslie had tried to take my blood.

How? I thought. How is this possible? How did she survive? How did she get back into the palace?

I stared at her for a long moment, my mind racing with questions I could not answer.

Then I moved.

I grabbed the bedsheets from the couch and I tore them into strips. I tied Leslie’s wrists together and I tied her ankles together and I tied her to the leg of the heavy table in the corner of the room.

I worked quickly. My hands were still shaking but I forced them to move.

When I was done, I sat back and I watched her.

She was still unconscious. Blood trickled from the wound on her head. It was not deep. She would wake up soon.

I reached down and I slapped her face.

She did not move.

I slapped her again. Harder.

Her eyes fluttered open.

At first she looked confused. Her gaze moved around the room, unfocused, disoriented. Then her eyes landed on me and recognition flashed across her face.

A slow, cruel smile spread across her lips.

"Hello again, weakling," she said.

I wanted to hit her again. I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to demand answers.

Instead, I forced my voice to stay steady. "How did you survive being a rogue?"

Leslie laughed. It was a bitter, broken sound.

"The lizards found me," she said. "They were watching the palace. They saw me being dragged away. They followed me into the forest."

"The lizards?"

"They offered me a deal. I would return to the palace and steal more of your blood. In exchange, they would give me a new life. A new identity. A new pack."

"And you agreed?"

"I had nothing else. No family. No home. No future. They offered me everything I had lost."

I felt my stomach turn. "You were willing to betray me for that?"

Leslie’s smile faded. "Betray you? You took everything from me. You took the princes’ attention. You took the king’s favor. You took my place in this palace. If anyone has been betrayed, it is me."

"You tried to kill me in the training room. You tried to smash my face with a stool."

Leslie shrugged. "I was angry."

"You are insane."

"I am desperate. There is a difference."

I stood up. I paced the room. My mind was spinning. I had a problem. A big problem. I could not kill Leslie. I could not trust her. And I could not keep her hidden forever.

"What are you going to do with me?" Leslie asked.

I stopped pacing. I looked at her. "I have not decided yet."

Leslie smiled again. It was a cruel smile. "You are not strong enough to kill me. You are not smart enough to keep me. And you are not brave enough to let me go."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

I walked toward her. I stood over her. I looked down at her face.

"I am going to figure out what to do with you," I said. "And when I do, you are going to regret ever coming back."

Leslie laughed. "We will see."

I walked away from her. I walked to the window. I looked out at the moon.

Then I heard it.

A soft knock at the door.

My blood froze. I spun around. I looked at Leslie. Her eyes were wide. She had heard it too.

Another knock. Louder this time.

A voice called out from the other side of the door. It was a voice I recognized. It was a voice that sent chills down my spine.

"Samantha," Jayce said. "I know you are in there. Open the door."

I looked at Leslie. I looked at the door. I looked at the blood on the floor and the torn bedsheets and the bound figure in the corner of my room.

I had seconds to decide.

And I had no idea what to do.