Chapter 13

Song: Hold Me Tight or Don't by Fall Out Boy

[Chapter 13 - The Mute Alpha]

•••

The sound of the door closing echoed loudly throughout the dark room. Chains rattled as the man moved slightly. My arms were crossed over my chest and Theo came and stood next to me, arms crossed as well.

Our eyes were narrowed at the rogue hanging in front of us. Chains clung to his wrists and ankles, effectively keeping him in place. He stared at us with a hateful glare.

"If I wasn't chained up right now, you'd be dead," he threatened with a sadistic smile, "Your heart would be sitting right on the palm of my hand and then I'd give it to your mate as a gift."

"Good luck with that," Theo shot back, "Once we're through with you, you'll wish you were never born." I nodded my head in agreement before I slowly stalked towards the prisoners.

"Now," Theo cracked his knuckles, "What should we do, Alpha?"

'We'll try to get information from him and if he doesn't answer our questions, then we'll have to try something else,' I replied. Theo understood what I meant and started the interrogation.

"What were you doing crossing onto Alpha Jaxton's territory?" Theo asked, his voice stern and as cool as ice.

The rogue stayed silent as he stared at the concrete floor.

"Again," Theo repeated, his voice slightly louder, "What. Were. You. Doing." I stepped closer to the rogue and cracked my knuckles and neck.

His eyes connected with mine ad he continued to have a blank face.

"Speak you good-for-nothing asshole!"

"I don't take orders from Betas," the man finally spoke up.

Theo scowled as I stood in front of the man. His greasy black hair hung in his eyes and it looked as if he hadn't shaved in days. One of my unfortunate men had the privilege of putting a pair of shorts on him. His face was covered in bruises and cuts and he had tattoos and scars on his body. I have my fair share of scars too.

My hand shot out and gripped his neck. He gasped for air and tried to move away, but thanks to the silver chains, he couldn't.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Theo asked.

When he didn't respond, I released his neck and punched him in the stomach. He grunted at the contact. Theo kept asking him the same thing and every time he didn't reply, my punches got harder. He was like my punching bag, but better.

Soon blood was dripping from his cuts and pooled onto the floor under him. My knuckles were also coated in blood. His blood. I felt a sense of satisfaction when I saw him wincing and groaning.

"Maybe we should dismember him," Theo suggested with a smirk. Good idea. That'll get him to talk.

The rogue's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You wouldn't."

He thinks we're bluffing. I could feel my lips tug up into a sinister smile. 'Get me a knife,' I ordered Theo. He left the room and came back a minute later with a small knife.

The rogue's eyes widened at the sharp object in my hand.

"Tell us who sent you!" Theo shouted at the man.

"Okay! Okay," the rogue cried out as he eyed the knife I had pointing at his crotch. The tip of it was just a hair away from him. He breathed heavily and winced. Then he stared at me directly in the eyes. "He wants to meet her," the rogue finally whispered before drifting unconscious.

"Your mate."

•••

My fingers ran through my hair in frustration. My legs carried me back and forth as I paced. Theo looked at me with concern and worry. "Maybe he meant someone else," Theo suggested with hope.

I shook my head, 'It can't be him...' I tried to deny it, but it was no use. A part of me knew who he was.

I buried my head into my hands. 'How the hell am I going to be able to protect Autumn?' I asked Theo, 'I don't know what I'd do if he got her.'

Theo came up to me and gripped my shoulders. "You will find a way," he assured me, "She's your mate and you will find a way to protect her. You're very smart."

'I'm going to go blow off some steam,' I muttered before turning and leaving.

The sky was black and stars painted it, making it not so dark. As I walked through the town, people were still out. They were out talking loudly, laughing, smoking, and drinking. Many of them were going to the club over by the beach.

I've only been to that club a couple times because Theo made me. He claimed that I needed to get laid. However, it wasn't as much fun since I couldn't hold a conversation with anyone and Theo ditched me to go make out with random girls in a corner. I found out that most of those girls at the club only wanted to hook up with me because I'm the Alpha. I thought it was because of my stunning personality and smooth pickup lines.

Once I got to my house, I noticed that the lights were all off. It was silent, meaning that Autumn was in bed. I closed the front door and walked towards the room where my punching bag was. I slipped off the T-Shirt I was wearing and tossed it off to the side. It was just an empty room: white walls, wood floor, and a single window. The bag hung in the center of the room by a chain.

I put on my gloves before standing directly in front of my glorious bag with clenched fists. I punched the bag like I usually do, the bag swinging with every punch. The chain jingled loudly, which was music to my ears.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. My breaths were uneven and heavy. And my nerves calmed down a bit and I could feel my body relax with each blow.

I imagined the bag as him and it just fueled my anger, causing my punches to get harder and faster in hopes of killing him. Of course it wasn't actually him, angering me even more because he was in fact alive and fully capable of taking Autumn away from me.

Just the idea of him brings back so many memories. I can still remember the terror on my parents' faces. The blood. The screams. The glass shattering.

I gave the bag one last punch, probably the hardest one. I stared at the bag as it swayed. I unclenched and clenched my fists.

"I pity that bag," a soft voice spoke behind me. I turned around and saw my mate leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. How long has she been standing there?

She stood straighter and slowly walked in, looking around the dark room. "What did it ever do to you?" she teased with a small smile. Her eyes wandered over my body, drinking me in. My body fully relaxed at the presence of my mate. Autumn came and stood a couple of feet away from me, looking up at me in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked, "Something is bothering you." I watched as she looked at the punching bag, dragging her finger across the leather. Then her eyes moved to my arm. "You have a tattoo?" I nodded my head and looked down at my left shoulder.

I got my parents' names tattooed on my shoulder when I was 14. I was really young, but I missed them a lot. And at the time, and still now, I believed that if I had there names there, all I had to do was look at them to believe that my parents were still there for me.

The lettering was a fancy cursive that I chose because my mom used to love calligraphy.

"That's really beautiful," Autumn commented as she ran her finger across it, "Are those your parents' names?"

I looked down at my gloved hands, nodding my head.

Autumn leaned forward and warmth was pressed to my shoulder. Smiling, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my body. She buried her head into my chest despite the fact that I was coated in a thin sheet of sweat. Hopefully I don't smell...

I buried my face into her hair, breathing in her sweet scent. I never wanted this moment to end. The feeling of my mate in my arms. Protected.

Silence filled the room as we stood there. Then she stepped back to look at my face. "You look stressed. Whatever it is that is bothering you must be serious." She frowned and reached up to brush her fingers across my cheeks. "Maybe you should rest."

I nodded my head as I took off my gloves and tossed them onto the floor. Then I picked up my shirt and draped it over my shoulder. I could feel Autumn's eyes on me and I smirked, sending her a wink. She rolled her eyes while biting her bottom lip and quickly left the room.

•••

My eyes opened slowly before quickly shutting again as something dripped on my face. Soon that dripping came faster, pelting me. I immediately shot out of bed, or what I thought was my bed.

My eyes darted around and that's when I realized that I wasn't in my room. I was outside. It was dark and I noticed trees surrounding me. I was standing on a road. The rain came pouring down, soaking my clothes. I squinted my eyes to try to see through the rain.

My eyes widened when I noticed the familiarity of the road below me. A sickening feeling appeared in the pit of my stomach.

Shit.

A shadowy figure appeared before me, a bow in his hand with an arrow pointing straight at me. I watched in horror as he released it. The arrow whizzed passed my face and struck something behind me. I stumbled backwards, clutching my heart as it beat rapidly.

A piercing scream filled my ears and I spun around to find the source. My eyes widened when I saw someone pinned to a tree by their shoulder. I rushed over to them as another arrow flew by and struck their other shoulder.

Blood dripped from their wounds and coated the fabric of their clothes. Once I got closer to them, I realized it was a girl. And not just any girl.

Autumn...

My legs carried me as I ran over to her. She was panicking and crying. She was screaming in pain. The blood flowing from her wounds looked like black ink, meaning that those arrows had poison on them.

"Autumn!" I shouted. Her eyes connected with mine. They were glowing a bright green and her teeth elongated.

"I don't know how much longer I have," she breathed out and winced, "My whole body is in pain."

"You're going to be okay," I tried to assure her. I don't know if I am trying to convince her or me.

I heard footsteps come closer from behind and I spun around to come face-to-face with the shadowy figure. The hood covering his head created shadows over his face, which made it impossible to see his face. The lack of light didn't help either.

"Leave my mate alone," I growled at the man, cracking my knuckles as I balled them into fists.

Not a single word, not even a sound, escaped him. He just stood there with his bow. He pulled out an arrow and placed it on the bow string in a fast motion. I barely had time to blink as he pulled the bow string back and released it. I didn't have enough time react as it zoomed through the air and impaled me right in the chest.

Instead of getting stuck in my flesh, it went right through me. My heart stopped beating as I spun around. But it was too late.

Autumn's eyes were wide and her lips were parted. She looked down at the arrow that struck her heart. Her scared eyes met mine, tears streaming down her cheeks. Blood dribbled from her parted lips and her head lolled forward, her wet brown hair falling in her face.

"Fuck!" I shouted. My shaking hands cupped her pale face. "No no no no no!" I could feel my eyes water up as tears threatened to fall. I lightly patted her cheek to try to wake her up, but not a muscle in her face moved. Her eyes remained closed and the blood continued oozing out.

"Autumn!" I cried out to her, "Baby, come back to me." I yanked the arrows out of the tree and pulled her unmoving body into me. I blinked back tears when I could no longer hear her breaths and feel her heart beating.

My body already started becoming weak. There was a pain in my chest; I'm not sure if it's because of the arrow or if it was my heart breaking due to the loss of my mate.

A sharp pain started from my head and then consumed my whole body. I collapsed to the ground and darkness filled my vision. The last thing I saw was the shadowy man looming over my body.

•••

My eyes flew open as I quickly sat up in my bed. My hand went over my chest as I tried to catch my breath. Sweat covered my body. My eyes darted around and I sighed in relief when I saw the walls of my bedroom. However, my body remained tense and I had the urge to check on Autumn.

From what I can tell, it was still night, or early morning. I ran my fingers through my messy hair before climbing out of my bed. There's no way in hell I'll be able to fall back asleep.

I left my room and walked down the hallway. My legs stopped moving as I stood in front of a door. Autumn's scent touched my nose and I quietly opened the door. The door slowly creaked as I peered in the room through the crack.

It was dark, but I was able to make out the large bed that Autumn was on. She was laying in the center of the bed on her stomach. Her hair was sprawled out all over the pillow along with her arms. Her butt stuck up in the air as well. I could hear her soft snores, making me smile a little.

Okay, she's alive.

I slowly closed the door and walked back to my room. I entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. Then I took off my clothes and stepped in, allowing the water to pelt my body like the rain in my dream. Or nightmare.

Leaning against the cool wall, I allowed my head to rest against it. My fingers formed fists as the memory of Autumn getting shot with the poisoned arrows, the blood, the terror in her eyes, and her screams and cries played in my head like a movie. It felt so damn real that it scared me.

My eyes involuntarily closed. I can't let anything happen to her. I have to protect her with my life. I don't want a repeat of what happened to my parents. If anything happens to her, I won't be able to live with myself.

•••

Hey guys! It's been a while and I'm sorry. But here is another chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know what you thought about. Right now I'm not spring break, so hopefully I'll be updating again soon.

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~Jordan