The Alpha's Vessel [The Alpha's #2]

THEA PETROVNA

Once Orpheus was freed from his chains, his body slumped forward but before he could hit the ground, the executioner was quick to catch him and lift him back to his feet, though didn’t dare remove his arms as the Alpha wolf still swayed on his feet.

“What should I do with him, Luna Thea?” The executioner asked even though she wasn’t technically his Luna as he wasn’t part of the Apo to Chaos pack but rather worked for the werewolf council and did odd jobs for them, but she appreciated the respectful gesture nonetheless.

“Take him to the pack hospital. We need to get him checked out.” Beta Clayton took a step toward them, an evident look of concern for his Alpha present on his face.

“I believe Ryan here was talking to me, Beta.” Thea sent him a dark, pointed look, not the least bit afraid of standing her ground to get what she wanted. Just because the Beta wolf had taken a stand for her earlier – much to his dismay and instead, due to the insistence of his Alpha – didn’t mean that Thea automatically liked him, especially since it was painstakingly obvious that he wasn’t a fan of her.

Well, it was a good thing that the feeling was mutual.

“Ryan, if you could take Alpha Orpheus back to our house, I would really appreciate that.” She smiled sweetly at the wolf. “There’s no need to head to the pack hospital.”

“Luna?” Clayton called out to her in question. “The Alpha clearly needs medical attention. He needs to be at the hospital right now.”

“I think I know what’s good for him.” She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “And if he needs to get checked out then I’ll call for the pack doctor but he’s good for now. Nothing to worry about.”

Ryan nodded in respect and with the help of some of the pack warriors, they began carrying the Alpha wolf back to his house. While Orpheus was conscious and very aware of what was going on around him, the silver chains had really drained him of all energy, not to mention the fact that he hadn’t eaten in over a day.

As much as all of that bothered here, Thea forced herself to push away all feelings of guilt as he had been much worse to her.

“When you needed medical attention, the Alpha took you to the hospital.” Clayton continued to argue; a sharp glint in his eyes.

“Yes, and he was also the one to put me there.” Thea stated matter-of-factly with her hands braced on her hips, daring the Beta wolf to defy her further. “Lest you forget, your Alpha raped me, twice and then marked and mated with me against my will. The only reason that he took me to the hospital is because I’m more useful to him alive than dead so if you could go mind your fucking business, I, as well as everyone else would very much appreciate that.”

With fiery, blazing eyes and her heart thumping dangerously fast in her chest, Thea watched as the Beta wolf growled one last time before he turned his back on everyone and began toward the packhouse, most of the pack members following him.

When Thea glanced up, she locked eyes all five of the council members who had all watched the exchange between her and Clayton, immensely surprised with the way that she had chosen to handle the situation; so out of character and unexpected from her.

“Thea, are you okay?” Harriet asked quietly, her lips pulled down into a concerned frown and her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, speaking aloud for the rest of her colleagues.

“I’m great, actually. Thank you for asking, elder Harriet.” She took a moment to beam at them all. “But if you don’t mind, I have a very tired Alpha mate to deal with so I guess I’ll catch you later.” With that, she made a show of turning her back to them and beginning to walk away, though paused after a few steps to glance back at them from over her shoulder. “Feel free to stick around for lunch. I believe it’s pumpkin soup today.”

Very aware that her behaviour was immensely confusing to everyone, she couldn’t help but throw her head back and laugh at the humorous situation, even though it was actually far from humorous and this was an attempt to hold herself back from crying.

If she didn’t laugh now, Thea had no single doubt in her mind that she would break down crying, not that she had to explain herself to anyone.

Thea knew for a fact that she had put everything on the line with this decision, especially since they had been so close to begin burning Orpheus with the silver.

While she had previously accused him of making her look like the girl that cried wolf but now, she had done that to herself. She had ruined her own credibility so she genuinely hoped that what she had planned proved to be fruitful because if it wasn’t, then she had essentially thrown away everything.

“Is he inside?” Thea asked as she jogged up the stairs to the house, smiling softly at Ryan who led the small group of warriors behind him.

“Yes, Luna.”

“Thank you, all.” She threw them all a polite smile before walking into the house and closing the door behind them, needing some privacy for what was about to happen.

“Wait.” She poked her head through the door before they managed to get too far. “If one of you could bring some lunch for the both of us, I would really appreciate that.”

“Yes, Luna.” A few of them nodded their heads and Thea smiled at them all, genuinely thankful that they were being at least civil with her despite everything that they had just witnessed out there in the field.

Closing the door behind her, Thea sighed and pressed her back against the door, needing a few moments of peace to herself before she had to deal with the big bad wolf. While he had appeared somewhat calm and subdued earlier, she knew him well enough that he was a fantastic actor when he wanted to be.

For all she knew, he was only playing tired and right now, was waiting for her to come to him so he could really teach her a lesson for nearly getting him killed. Not willing to waste anymore time loitering around at the front door like the scared girl that she used to be, Thea inhaled deeply and held her head high, exhaling as she stepped further into the house.

One thing she was thankful about was that he was using the downstairs bathroom to shower as ever since he had violated her for a second time, she hadn’t stepped foot back into his bedroom. There were far too many bad memories there that if she tried to address now, would just end up breaking her before she had the chance to prove to herself just how strong she was.

“Thea?” Orpheus called out to her in a quiet voice from under the water spray of the shower, his voice travelling.

“I’m here.” Thea sighed as she rested back against the doorframe.

“We have a lot to talk about.” He murmured quietly as he turned around in the shower cubicle to face her but thankfully, it was steamy enough that she didn’t have to suffer seeing anything she wasn’t interested in seeing.

“Yes, we do.” She pursed her lips but before they could get started on things, knocking sounded from the front door.

“I’ll get it.” She sighed and pushed herself off from the doorframe.

“But we need to talk.”

“Yes, but there’s also someone at the door.” Thea huffed and rolled her eyes, getting frustrated with him already. “Let’s just talk after you finish your shower.”

Orpheus continued to protest but unwilling to put up with him or any of his bullshit, she stepped out of the bathroom and headed back into the hallway to head toward the front door.

“We come baring gifts!” Anastasia announced the moment Thea opened the door, a bright grin on her face in hopes of lightening up the very tense mood.

“Gifts?” Her lip twitched slightly at the corners as she stared back at the mated couple

“One of the warriors mentioned that you wanted lunch?” Anastasia offered her a small smile and stepped into the house with Marcellus hot on her tail.

“Thanks. I appreciate that.” Thea smiled graciously before she accepted the two bowls covered in tinfoil before moving back to place hem down in the kitchen.

“Thea.” Marcellus called out to her as they followed her into the kitchen and taking a seat at the island. “What the fuck just happened out there?”

Thea sighed and shook her head, rubbing her hands down the side of her face in frustration, not exactly sure how to answer the question because Thea herself struggled to understand and recount exactly what had happened out in the field during that makeshift trial.

“I don’t know.” She sighed, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the counter in front of her, turning her head to glance between the both of them.

“It was absolute madness out there.” Marcellus growled, not holding anything back even though Anastasia reached out to place a soothing, comforting hand on his arm in hopes of calming him down. “What were you thinking, going back on your word?”

“Killing him would is like killing all of those children myself. I think you can agree with me on this one, but I just can’t live with that kind of guilt.” Thea stated in a firm voice as she stared back at her friends who were shocked and appalled by her sudden actions, especially since she had given no indication that she was struggling over deciding his fate.

“What? So, you’re trying to play hero?”

“I’m not trying to play hero.” Thea sighed with a deep scowl on her face, not at all appreciative or fond of what he was accusing her of even though a part of her, the sensible part of her knew that he was right and as a concerned friend, had every right to try and speak some sense into her. Especially with the way she appeared to be all over the place right now.

“That’s not what it looks like to me.” The Alpha wolf frowned with a dark look in his eyes. “You had the chance to punish him for everything that he’s done to you, yet you threw it all away?”

“Marcellus!” Anastasia called out to her mate in a harsh tone, not agreeing with the way he was choosing to address the situation even though she understood that he had good intentions. “You’re not approaching the situation properly. We’re not going to be able to solve anything if you raise your voice.”

Even though he looked like he wanted to argue, he glanced at his mate and clenched his jaw and Thea couldn’t help but sit back and watch in awe, slightly envious of their relationship when hers was fucked up beyond repair.

“It’s honestly fine, Ana.” Thea sighed and lifted her hand to run through her hair before turning her attention back to Marcellus. “I understand why you’re concerned, Mars, but you really have nothing to worry about. I have everything under control.”

“But I don’t think you do.” He shook his head frantically. “I think you’re in way over your head and have no idea what you’ve just done.”

“Trust me, I know exactly what I’ve done.” She replied dryly with pursed lips. “I just lied to save my mate who also just happens to have raped me twice now.”

“How could you do that?” Anastasia asked quietly with the concern dripping from her voice. “Were you not thinking straight or something?”

“I already told you this.” Thea groaned in frustration, not so much at her friends but the overall situation they were faced with. “If Orpheus goes down, then all of those children that they’ve trafficked and are going to continue trafficking will go down with him-”

Before they could continue or Thea could finish what she was saying, an unwanted visitor decided to join them despite the evident hostility in the room which threatened to burn him upon entrance.

Orpheus cleared his throat to announce his return from the shower, a murderous look on his face after having overheard the entire conversation with his werewolf hearing.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Orpheus roared loudly as he stepped into the kitchen. “How dare you come into my house and speak to my mate that way!”

Not even sparing the crazed wolf a glance over his shoulder, Marcellus snorted and chuckled at his response.

“I wouldn’t talk if I were you.”

“And why is that?” Orpheus questioned as he came to stand next to Thea – purposely leaving some distance between them as things were already so rocky between them – staring Marcellus straight in the eye.

“Because you’re a fucking rapist!”

Even though Marcellus couldn’t be closer to the truth if he tried and Orpheus couldn’t deny the claim, it had clearly rubbed him up the wrong way.

“Come say that to my face!”

“I just said!” Marcellus growled at the blatant disrespect, standing up suddenly and knocking his chair back in all his haste.

As both wolves stared back at each other, continuing to fire insults and jabs at each other, Thea and Anastasia locked eyes, not really sure what to make of the situation. With what was supposed to be a very serious situation had turned into a dick fest between two Alpha wolves who held absolutely no love or respect for each other.

Almost as if timed perfectly on purpose, Orpheus lunged at Marcellus the moment the both of their mates look away. As the two wolves fell to the floor, growling, roaring and essentially tearing into each other, the women needed to do something before there was a need for yet another trial.

“Stop it! The both of you! Thea screamed at the top of her lungs, working with Anastasia to pull the both of them away from each other before things got even more out of hand.

Despite touching her rapist being at the top of the list of things she would rather die than do, this was one of those moments where she didn’t have a choice. Stepping in front of him and between Marcellus, she pushed back on his chest. While she couldn’t be confident that Orpheus wouldn’t try swinging at her in his attempt of getting to Marcellus again, she knew her friend wouldn’t dare raise a hand on her under any circumstances.

Thea was so confident upon that matter that she wasn’t even surprised when Marcellus growled loudly but allowed Anastasia to pull him back.

“I’m so sorry, Mars, Ana, but the both of you need to leave before things get worse here.” Thea groaned aloud as she remained standing between both of the Alpha wolves,

“Are you sure you want us to leave, Thea?” Anastasia asked in a quiet voice as she continued holding on to her mate, making sure to keep an arm around Marcellus to prevent him from losing his temper any more than he had done already, though couldn’t help but think that his anger was justified and not misplaced.

Marcellus snorted in agreeance. “You sure you want to be left alone with this ticking time bomb?”

Thea sighed and nodded her head, sending Orpheus a pointed look to keep him at bay, warning him to not partake in the conversation as he had already done more harm than good.

“I’ll make sure he’s on his best behaviour. You guys don’t have anything to worry about.” Thea assured them as she led them to the door, feeling a mixture of emotions at having to get them to leave as Orpheus and Marcellus couldn’t seem to be under the same rood right now.

“I’ll come find you later.” Thea sighed and pulled Anastasia in a hug before they had to leave.

As she watched her friends walk away until they disappeared into the packhouse, she closed the door and sighed, leaning forward to press her forehead against the wood of it.

Finally, Thea was left alone with her mate.

-

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Layla Knight

17.12.2020