Arranged To The Alpha
Chapter 75

Natalia:

My heart raced as we entered the podium where people would be watching our ‘public execution’.

The fact that my father, the man who was supposed to protect me, was in on this too broke me more than anything in the world.

I hated admitting it, but at this point, I doubted if anything would be worth fighting for. That is, unless it was my husband’s life on the line. However, as a person, I had nothing.

The crowd cheered on and flashes of lights could be seen as they snapped the pictures of the contestants. I knew that most would be choosing their favorites soon, and it would be like some pure children’s game until they realized that it was the real deal.

“Nat…” Blake whispered, breaking my train of thoughts. I jumped at his voice and he tightened his grip around my waist, knowing that I was lost in the darkness of my brain.

My heart raced against my ribcage and I looked at him, my eyes broken before he cupped my cheek and kissed my forehead. The crowd cheered as they saw that, some muttered random awes, but I couldn’t help the tears that escaped my eyes at that point.

I felt weak to my knees despite my usual calm demeanor, and this was not the type of weakness that I liked dealing with.

“I know that you’re hurting, baby girl, but right now, I am going to need you to be strong. We are going to end up fighting more than just whatever Drake is playing.” He whispered, gently wiping my tears. He rested his forehead against my own, his low purrs making me somewhat calm down despite the mental battle that I was having before he kissed my forehead again.

“I’m lost, Blake, and at this point, I don’t even know what to do.” I said, choosing to be honest. There was no need to lie anyway. I knew that he would easily be able to read my mind if he wanted to. The fact that he was speaking to me only told me that he wanted me to voice out what I was thinking or how I was feeling.

“I know, princess, but this is the dirty game of life, and we are going to have to deal with it somehow. I know that it is trash, and I know that it is tearing you apart, but I also know that my beauty is stronger than that.” He whispered to me. “Fight for your freedom, our family, and our pack. Believe me, the rest will come by as we go, but we can’t give them the benefit of doubt.”

The podium suddenly roared with screams and cheers and frowning, both Blake and I looked up to find Drake walking out of the hall. His eyes were filled with light and excitement despite his obvious weakness, and I had to fight back shaking my head at his sight. The man was playing a game of fire, and that was something that he couldn’t see; however, at this point, I knew that he was blinded by the witches, and Jaiden who seemed to be playing a dark game. The man was breaking everything that his ancestors worked on by making this deal with the witches, and the thing was, I didn’t know how he was going to end up surpassing this.

“It seems like our love birds have been interrupted, but you know, the games have started.” He said, looking at both Blake and I. I had to admit, I wanted nothing more than to end this contest to simply blow his mind off. The man was like a plague, and we needed to end him, his witches, and whoever else was allying with him before it was too late. Otherwise, we and everyone around us were going to get into a deep mess that neither one of us wanted to afford.

“So, how about we begin with the first level?” He asked, smiling at the crowd who cheered on. The map, similar to the one that Blake and I had, appeared on the screen, revealing the challenges that we were going to face, and both Blake and I stared at it for a few seconds as we saw the darkness of the places that we were going to go to. People, mortals, clapped their hands, and children gasped at the sights before their eyes, some growing excited, others wanting to hide behind their mothers.

“Our contestants are required to reach the helmet and give it back to the worthy Knight of The Night. ONLY one helmet would be able to pass, and whether our contestants choose to work individually or as teams would not make a difference.” He said, looking at us all somewhat paired in groups. Well, most were in groups, when it came to Blake and I, it seemed like everyone was currently avoiding us after the backlashes that we were having from everyone. It seemed to me that they were more scared about having us as partners now that they knew that conflicts were rising between us and those who were hosting this event.

The crowd cheered again before the podium completely shifted. This time, turning into a river that made my heart race as I recalled the map. At the end of the river, three knights appeared, ready for the fight. Behind them, sea creatures, females to be more specific, enchanting those who listened to their voices, more specifically, the males who were around us; they were mermaids…

Blake looked at me for a few seconds before connecting his lips with mine in a k**s that seemed to be more dominant than gentle. It wasn’t something that he tended to do when we were in public, but I knew that he was fighting back the mermaid’s effect.

“Focus on my voice in your head.” I said in his mind and he smiled before nodding.

The two of us were the first to walk toward the river and that was when the knights’ eyes changed from the normal black color to red. The mermaids’ laughter filled our ears, it was piercing and frightening. But I wasn’t stupid to think that it would be for long. It was only a matter of time before their true colors showed.

“We are going to need to cross the river without stepping on the water.” Blake said, and I nodded. Riya was already floating while holding Ariana while Elijah was speeding past the knights. I had wind raising both Blake and I as we went to cross the knights; however, we were stopped when the knights grew triple their sizes, noticing that we were trying to flee.

I looked at Blake whose canines were already bared, his wolf acting on instinct. And the same thing seemed to happen to Riya and Ariana who were standing by our sides. Elijah was knocked down by one of the knights, and it wasn’t long until one of the mermaids emerged from the water, cooing a gentle lullaby that had his eyes glowing blue as he fell into her chant.

Fire formed on my palms, catching the knights’ attention before Riya and Ariana laughed at the momentary distraction and went to escape. They didn’t even bother looking at Elijah who was getting dragged by one of the mermaids toward the water. The vampire was going to be dead if they managed to get him inside, but that didn’t seem to phase any of them.

I threw the ball of fire on the knight only to be surprised that it didn’t hit him and instead, it retracted toward me, making my eyes widen before I blocked it from hitting both my mate and I.

“We are going to need to find a way to cross the river without them being around.” Blake said, speaking out loud, and I nodded. My heart raced against my chest as I heard the splash of water before someone struggled to get out. Loud shrieks filled my ears, making my heart race and if that wasn’t enough, a clock suddenly appeared.

The sounds of its ticking made me more nervous than I already was; however, forcing myself to control how I was feeling, I looked at my husband who was already ready to attack one of the knights as he went to fling his sword at us.

Blake wrapped his arm around my waist, forcing me to use my own power as we stood on top of the blade. The people watching us screamed and cheered, and as if on instinct, ice formed under my feet as we glided on the blade. The knight seemed to freeze and Blake raised an eyebrow at that before he nodded.

“Freeze the river.” He said, and I looked down at where Elijah was to find that he was an inch away from getting into the water. Three others were already inside, fighting to get out, but the mermaids seemed to be dragging them.

“Blake, we are going to end up killing them…”

“At this point, we both know that they are dead. Might as well save him while we can,” he said in my head, nodding at Elijah. I knew that he also meant us, but that was a whole different story. We needed allies and at this point, it seemed to me that we were completely alone as most simply wanted to get away with their own lives.

I nodded and forced myself to focus on the ice, freezing the two giant knights before the river and the smaller one which had one of the girls in his grip. His sword was already in his abdomen, making my heart drop as her body seemed to freeze with him. Blake and I slid down the knight’s body, and he grabbed Elijah, pulling him away from the mermaid before she touched his face, pulling him back, snapping him out of the momentary daze that he was in.

The man’s eyes widened in surprise as he regained his consciousness, but that didn’t last for long before he ran, trying to escape the falling knight. I took my husband’s hand and the two of us flew away from the knight, heading toward the next door, leaving those who couldn’t cross behind as screams and wails of fear and pain filled the air.

Blake looked at me and I took a deep breath as I looked at the man we just saved. He didn’t even bother thinking twice before running, and that was something that I couldn’t get out of my mind.

“The man would have given us up for his own life, even after we saved him.” I said, and Blake nodded, his eyes hardening as he glared at the vampire.

“It truly does seem like it is the two of us against the world now,” Blake said, looking me in the eye as the crowd cheered for those who passed the first round of the first level. “For now, let’s focus on the tasks that we have in hand. As it is time for round two…”