Craved by an Alpha (16 page)

A murmur ran through the crowd.

Cavanaugh opened his eyes, pinning them straight on Stellan where he stood at the edge of the five-foot-high dark stone platform a short distance from him, blue sky and mountaintops as his backdrop. The position of the sun told Cavanaugh that it was late morning but didn’t answer his question about how long he had been in the village.

The black-haired male’s green eyes were on someone else.

He tracked Stellan’s gaze and his stomach plummeted when he saw Eloise.

She lay slumped against a thick wooden post just metres from him in the centre of the square, a rope tightly tied around her wrists, pinning them above her head. She shivered constantly, her teeth chattering, her lips almost blue and her skin red raw as she rested in the compressed snow in only her underwear. Blood tracked down her cheek and smeared across her neck, forming a handprint. Someone had throttled her.

“You fucking bastard.” Cavanaugh launched himself at the bars of his cramped six-foot-square cage, slamming his shoulder into the metal rods with such force that the entire cage shifted forward several inches.

His blood boiled as he attacked the thick bars, kicking them, each blow sending sharp stabbing pain up his leg bones. He turned around to grasp two bars in his hands and braced his bare feet against the bottom of the cage as he heaved forwards, trying to break them.

Stellan chuckled.

Cavanaugh turned on him with a roar that shook the mountains, echoing around them for long after he had finished. He breathed hard, his gaze constantly leaping between Stellan and Eloise.

He needed to escape the damned cage and reach her. His kind could withstand extreme cold, but not for long, and definitely not when they were naked and kneeling in the snow.

“Eloise.” He pressed his forehead against the bars closest to her and kneeled, willing her to hear him. “Eloise.”

She moaned and a frown flickered on her brow.

“Come on, Eloise, Baby,” he murmured, his heart pounding against his ribs. “Let me see you’re okay.”

She grimaced and tried to lift her head, the tangled threads of her damp dark hair falling away from her face as she raised it. Her lips parted, reopening the cut that dashed across her lower one. Her eyes opened and he cursed as they met his. They were haunted again, no longer bright and shining as they had been throughout their journey.

“Let her go,” he snapped at Stellan. “She hasn’t done anything. Let her go.”

Stellan didn’t move. His cold green eyes remained impassive.

“Fuck you.” Cavanaugh bared his fangs at the male and then turned on the people gathered around the square, forming a circle.

Doing nothing but stare at her.

“Help her.” He pinned every single one who dared to look at him with a glare. “Do something. She’ll die if you don’t, dammit. She risked her life to bring me back for your sakes and you do nothing when she needs you?”

Everyone looked away, lowering their gazes to the snow, and some even turned around, looking as if they might leave and head back to one of the many two-storey buildings that formed the village around the square.

How many times had he and Eloise walked through this square together, laughing in the sunshine, admiring the beauty of the village and the mountains that protected it from the outside world?

The elaborate buildings, with their pale stone ground floor and their upper floor with its white panels surrounded by dark carved wood, and topped with a low angled roof were no longer beautiful to him. The mountains that rose beyond them were no longer stunning. The whole place felt cold and desolate, one that had lost its charm for him years ago. It had faded more every day that he’d had to remain apart from Eloise, watching her from a distance.

There was no beauty in this world without her at his side.

Without her smile.

Without her laughter.

Without the way she would look at him with a trace of shyness mixed with affection in her honey-coloured eyes.

Cavanaugh roared and attacked the cage again, rattling it and tearing a few gasps from the gathered.

“Do something!” He wedged his right shoulder against the bars of his cage and breathed hard, staring at his kin, silently imploring them to do as he asked because he had never asked them to do anything before now, and now he was asking them to save his Eloise. “Please.”

A few exchanged glances and then quickly looked away from him when Stellan growled. They were scared, he could understand that after everything they had been through, but there were many of them and only a few who stood with Stellan. If he could rally them, give them the courage to rise up against Stellan, they could win without his help.

“I’m begging you,” he whispered and looked at Eloise, aching with a need to pull her into his arms and hold her as she stared blankly at him through dull lifeless eyes. “Save her. You don’t need an alpha to lead you… together you’re strong… you can help her.”

He looked back at them. A quiet murmur ran through the crowd, more of them swapping glances now, and he knew the tide was turning. He could inspire them to take up arms and fight for their pride.

“I should have silenced you when I met my men at the edge of the village this morning and they were dragging your worthless unconscious body through the snow, together with your bitch.” Stellan dropped down from the platform and strode towards the cage, the snow crunching beneath his thick leather boots. He was stark black against pure white as he stood before Cavanaugh, his top lip curling to reveal a short fang. “I wanted to make an example of you though. You’ll die today, here, in front of all these people… and when they see their strongest male die like every other male who tried to stand against me… they’ll obey my every command without question, forever.”

Cavanaugh bit back the growl that rumbled up his throat.

He had been wrong. His kin hadn’t gathered out of choice. They had been forced to come and witness his execution.

Stellan stepped back and the blond and brunet males who had fought Cavanaugh leaped off the platform, landing close to him. They strode past their alpha, the blond taking a key from him, and stopped at the door of Cavanaugh’s cage.

They were going to release him.

The blond unlocked the door of the cage and the dark-haired one reached in, grabbed Cavanaugh by his hair and pulled him out, shoving him down onto his knees on the snow in front of Stellan. They stood sentinel over him and he breathed slowly, calming himself. As much as he wanted to throw himself at Stellan and bite the bastard, he had to be patient.

He couldn’t risk being knocked unconscious again. He was stronger now that he had acclimatised but he was still at a disadvantage with his hands bound behind his back. When the moment came, he would launch his attack. He just had to wait and then he would use the ace he had up his sleeve.

Stellan had overlooked something critical and Cavanaugh was more than happy to exploit it in order to put the bastard down.

Out of the corner of his right eye, Cavanaugh spotted August among the people gathered on that side of the square. The black skullcap he wore hid his wild red hair, but Cavanaugh would recognise his silver eyes anywhere. He stood at the back of the group, another male beside him. Instinct told Cavanaugh that his cousin would fight the moment he made his move, joining him in his battle against Stellan.

Cavanaugh could only hope everyone else would follow his lead.

He hoped that what he was about to do would inspire them to rise up against Stellan too.

Stellan drew a short silver blade from a sheath at his waist.

He took a step towards Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh unleashed every drop of the fury he had been storing up throughout the journey, every ounce of the rage he felt as he looked at his mate, seeing her beaten and on the verge of freezing to death. It poured through his muscles and veins like acid, seared his bones and set him on fire.

He roared as he pulled his wrists apart, his shoulders and chest straining as he fought against the metal.

The steel links between the two thick cuffs shattered and he fell forwards with the sudden release of his wrists, pressing his hands into the snow.

Stellan’s green eyes shot wide and he unleashed his own roar as he recovered from the shock of seeing Cavanaugh break solid metal with only his natural strength.

Cavanaugh grinned, revealing his fangs, and kicked off, launching himself at Stellan. Breaking the chain between the shackles had been the easy part, his ace that he had known would catch Stellan off guard, leaving him open to attack. The temperature was well below zero degrees centigrade, the cold significantly weakening the thin metal and making it brittle.

What came next was the hard part.

Stellan swung a wild blow with his sword and Cavanaugh skidded beneath it, sliding across the packed snow. He kicked out with his right leg as he reached the black-haired male, catching him in the back of his left knee and sending him crashing onto the ground. He slid past Stellan, stopping only when his bare feet hit the stone platform. He turned on his front and kicked off, propelling himself forwards, towards Stellan.

The male raised his hand in a command. The three males who had remained on the platform leaped down off it just as Cavanaugh connected hard with Stellan’s back, slamming him face first onto the icy ground. The three males ran at Cavanaugh and he rolled, evading the blow he felt coming. The male barely managed to avoid striking Stellan and skidded on the snow, losing his footing.

Before the other two could attempt to attack him, August and his comrade were there, taking them on.

As soon as the others saw August fighting, the younger males among them broke out from the crowd and launched an attack on the brunet and blond males who were coming to aid Stellan.

Cavanaugh looked across to check on Eloise and heat swept through him, burning away his fear, as he saw a group of young females leaping in to save her.

Now he could give Stellan his undivided attention.

The black-haired male was back on his feet, his green eyes darkening dangerously as he turned on Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh bared his fangs on a snarl and rushed towards him. Stellan had lost his only advantage. The blade. It lay near the cage in the churned up snow. If Cavanaugh could get his hands on it, he could end this fight before anyone was hurt. Stellan’s lackeys were the sort of men who would quickly surrender if they saw their leader fall.

Stellan met him halfway, throwing a hard left hook. Cavanaugh dodged it but not the swift uppercut that followed. It connected with his jaw, snapping his head upwards, and he grunted as his skull ached from the force of the blow. He dropped his head back down and swung his right fist, following it with a low left blow. As predicted, Stellan shifted to his right to dodge Cavanaugh’s first punch, placing himself directly in the path of his second.

Cavanaugh growled as he slammed his left fist up into Stellan’s kidney, lifting the male inches off the ground with the hard blow. Stellan grunted and Cavanaugh clasped his hands together and swung them upwards in a fast arc as Stellan stumbled backwards. The manacles around Cavanaugh’s wrists smashed into the side of Stellan’s head and the scent of blood filled the air as the male went down hard. The shackle around Cavanaugh’s right wrist fractured and he yanked it off as he backed away from Stellan, gaining some space.

One more shackle and then he could shift. Right now, the tight metal was stopping him. If he shifted, he would injure his front leg, placing himself at a disadvantage.

Stellan launched at him and Cavanaugh grunted as the male barrelled into him, his shoulder punching hard into his stomach and knocking the wind from him. He grappled with the male’s shoulders and brought his knee up, slamming it into Stellan’s chest. The male gasped but didn’t release him. Cavanaugh linked his hands again, raised them above his head as he skidded backwards with Stellan driving him, and brought them down in a swift arc, using every drop of strength available to him.

His fists struck hard in the centre of Stellan’s back, driving the male downwards. Stellan lost his grip and Cavanaugh didn’t hesitate. He brought his knee up again, smashing it into Stellan’s face. The scent of blood grew stronger and Stellan shoved away from him, moving to a distance, his hand covering his face. Blood dripped from his chin and onto the white snow.

Cavanaugh breathed hard. Something flashed in Stellan’s eyes.

Cavanaugh’s own eyes widened as he sensed someone behind him and began to turn. The blond male was too fast, looping his arms under Cavanaugh’s from behind before he could shift away from him and bringing them over his shoulders. The male locked his hands behind Cavanaugh’s head and he snarled as he fought the blond’s hold on him.

Stellan looked towards the blade.

The blond chuckled.

August tossed Cavanaugh a worried look as he fought the dark-haired male.

His cousin didn’t need to worry.

He had this.

Cavanaugh roared as he tipped forwards, hurling the male over his head and sending him crashing into the snow. The second the male released him, he brought his right fist down hard, smashing it into his face. The blond grunted and blood spewed from his nose. Stellan growled and Cavanaugh sensed his approach.

He turned swiftly and brought his leg up, blocking the kick Stellan had launched at him, their shins connecting hard and sending pain blazing up his bones. He growled, drew his leg back and kicked again, sending his foot flying at Stellan’s hip. It struck the dip of his waist and Cavanaugh grunted as he forced himself to follow through, sending Stellan flying across the square.

Stellan struck the cage, knocking it back several feet, and fell onto the snow where it had been.

Right next to the sword.

Not exactly what Cavanaugh had planned.

He kicked off, his gaze locked on the blade and his heart pounding. He had to reach it before Stellan regained his senses and realised how close to victory he was.

Cavanaugh’s bare foot slipped on the icy ground and he slammed face-first into it, grunting as his lungs took the brunt of the impact.