Alpha Malik

Aria

I feel a little guilty coming here.

Hugging my jacket closer to myself, I tilt my head away from the onslaught of sleet hitting me sideways. Of course, it had to be this kind of weather for what I am committing to.

At least the piece of paper I brought with me was tucked under the faux fur of my coat. Not that it mattered.

Really, I wasn’t trying to protect it. In fact, it was my lame attempt at trying to hide it from Alexa. Now I’m about to throw Alexa’s idea in the trash.

Pulling the piece of paper out, I assess it through the sleet, which is hitting the side of the garbage bin with a tin slap.

The face of my very own Alpha glares at me, his blue eyes staring deep into my soul.

Maybe if I could see past the blurry pixels from the botched printing, I might have thought he was good looking.

Sure, I’ve seen him on television, but I never took much notice of Malik. Something about him makes me uneasy, which I scold myself for thinking since I don’t know him personally.

At least he protects our pack, and he gives us all we need. Who cares if he’s too beautiful to look at for too long?

Alexa’s words, not mine.

“Sorry, Malik, Alphas aren’t my type,” I mutter, before crumpling the submission slip in my fist, and tossing it straight into the garbage bin.

The moment Alexa had given me the slip I had agreed just to keep her quiet. She doesn’t need to know I didn’t actually sign up, like I promised.

I felt bad for sneaking around and lying to her, but it wasn’t like I was about to be chosen, anyway...

But, clearly I’m kind of afraid of Alexa, since I had to throw it in the trash, rather than in my own garbage can at home.

She might have seen it, and I wasn’t ready for the type of verbal beating that my friend is good at.

It was just the idea of competing for his love that I didn’t like.

Happy that it is a success, I turn around and walk back towards my car. The old thing is probably battered by the bad weather that hasn’t let up all day.

The snow may be something to marvel at, but the moment sleet threatens, everyone’s mood plummets.

My hands shiver as I fiddle with my keys in my pocket. Someone else has pulled up in a small truck, nosing into a parking space a few yards away from mine.

As I slide the key into the lock, I cast them a glance. At first, I think it is someone here to throw away their garbage.

Stopping myself from being too nosy, I look down to where I had finally forced my clammy hands to unlock the car door. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’ve got a key stuck in the damn thing.

“Excuse me, ma’am...”

I flinch, dramatically tossing my keys up, before they land with a metal ding on my car roof. My heart beats sporadically as I turn to see whose voice had interrupted me.

It’s an average-looking man, the hood of a dark jacket pulled over his head.

He looks annoyed by the weather, and quite frankly, I don’t blame him, but he looks friendly enough as he cracks an approachable smile.

And he looks a little foreign, which catches my interest. He's definitely not originally from this pack, that's for sure.

“Sorry,” I mutter, snatching my keys off the roof. “You startled me.”

“I apologize. I was simply wondering if you could help me with unloading a few things from my car. My family’s getting rid of some old furniture.”

It was a strange request, but I could imagine what it would be like to do it on his own, especially in this weather. So, deciding to be a good Samaritan, I nod and followed him toward his car.

“You from here?” he asks, as we near his car. The windows are tinted, so I can't see too much inside.

I nod. “Born and raised.”

He looks thoughtful.

“Why didn't your mate bring your garbage down?” he asks a little more forcefully. Frowning, I stop at the door of his car, as he stares at me expectantly.

“I don't have one...where’s the furniture?”

The way he stares, eyes dark and hooded, makes me slightly uncomfortable. Here I was, thinking I was going to assist someone and do a good deed, but now I'm feeling wary. What's with the questions?

“I suppose you're young...early twenties?” he says, finally unlocking the car door.

Swallowing, I shift from foot to foot. “Yeah.”

Then he swings the door open, but instead of seeing old furniture ready to be thrown into the trash, I'm faced with the inside of a bare car.

“Perfect,” he purrs, and I don’t have the chance to say another word before he grabs the back of my head and shoves me into the car.

As I fall in, my head unceremoniously smacks against the top of the car door, and unconsciousness washes over me. And then I'm gone.

***

Things like this don't happen to girls like me. Things like this don't happen to girls like me.

I have been awake for hours now.

My hands are bound with cable ties, and I'm roped to a chair. There is no light in the room I'm in, but I'm partially grateful, since my head is throbbing.

He hit me pretty hard, and my mind spins like my vision, not letting my mind grasp reality long enough to assess the situation.

The lights eventually flicker on, and my eyes eventually adjust, letting me see a complete stranger and a room I've never seen before.

The face of the man in front of me twists and morphs in my vision, which is still blurry from being unconscious.

I can tell he is just staring at me, probably waiting until I can actually look him in the eye.

“Aren't you pretty? Brother chose well.”

That accent was the exact same one as the bastard who got me here in the first place. It dawns on me, with a sinking heart, that I know who they are. Rogues.

The tip-off was their foreign features and accent that didn't suit any pack I knew.

People spit on Rogues. With good reason.

“What do you want with me?” I ask, my voice hoarse from being unused. It’s the only coherent phrase prominent in my mind. Why? I was just me.

The man bends down, crouching so he is more at my height. At least my mind is starting to get a hold of the situation, and I'm not seeing two of him anymore.

Now I have to concentrate on getting out of here.

“You’re going to listen. You will not ask questions until I say so,” he tells me sternly, the ferocity in his voice keeping my mouth obediently closed.

For a second, I contemplate trying to actually escape.

The cable ties around my wrists slip slightly from sweat; the temperature in this small room is almost unbearable, but, if I escape my binds, I doubt the door is unlocked, and, by the looks of it, we are in a basement of some kind.

I've read about these situations. The moment you retaliate, you either get beaten or killed, and right now, I'm not up to either. If I obey, though, maybe I can get out of this alive...

“I am a part of a small rogue organization that has selected you, due to your current mateless status and age,” he tells me. I force my gaze down, cringing slightly.

That man by the garbage bin had asked all those questions to see if I would be eligible for whatever this is.

This is what I get for talking to strangers.

“Not me,” I plead desperately. “I'm useless.”

“You're hardly useless...in fact, you're perfect. I have one job for you, but if you refuse to accept it, then I will have to kill you,” he tells me. “And your entire family.”

My family and I don't have much to do with each other these days. They made me move out and refuse to talk to me to keep me independent, but I would never wish death on them. I still love them...

“Please, not my family…” I say breathlessly.

The man leans forward, brutally grabbing my chin. “I have my hand in a lot of places. Shall I give you an example?”

I couldn’t even talk, with the painful way his fingers are digging relentlessly into my chin. I want to shake my head, but even that is impossible.

Instead, I'm stuck staring into the darkness of his eyes, wondering what makes people do such cruel things like kidnapping an innocent girl.

“Alpha Malik's competition for love is one I would typically ridicule, but, right now, I have the ability to alter the results of the ballot,” he says, a sinister tone in his voice increasing with every word.

But I was more frightened by what he was saying.

“Have you entered yet? I really hope you have,” he continues, a smile slowly growing on his face. My jaw clenches, knowing exactly what he was insinuating.

“Why?” I question, my voice a breathless murmur.

He finally lets me go, and I couldn't be more grateful. He steps backward, the sound of his shoes on the concrete floor echoing across the walls.

This stranger is tall and threatening, but I try my best to stay composed.

“Malik has something I need. His family stole it from mine many years ago, and I want it back,” he informs me.

Is it money? How in the world am I supposed to steal money from the Alpha of Love? He may be an extremely wealthy man, but getting to it would be a mission in itself.

And stealing it is a different story...

I watch as he pulls something out of his back pocket. In the dim light, I can just make out that it's a photo. He brings it closer for me to examine.

It’s a photo of a necklace. It's a simple silver chain, with no jewels on it...nothing.

I stare at it blankly. “This is what they stole from you?”

For some reason, I couldn't imagine a wealthy line of Alphas wanting a necklace this simple and mundane. You could buy this at a cheap store.

“Indeed, and I need you to retrieve it for me. If you do so, you walk free.”

My fear and desperation to escape is masked momentarily by utter confusion. I couldn't fathom the importance of this, and the reason for the extent of this mission.

If I was caught stealing from an Alpha...I would surely be executed for such an offense.

“I can't...” I say quickly. “There's no way I would be able to pull that off.”

He chuckles. “This family heirloom is extremely valuable. Once you are selected for this competition, you will have full access to his home.”

I am about to refuse again, but his next words made me pause.

“If you don't do this, then I won't hesitate to kill you,” he murmurs. “And find someone else more willing to do it.”

It is those words that make my heart sink. And it is those words that make me realize that I have no choice.