The Alpha's Hunt Chapter 139

I stood outside of Darian’s office about to knock but I kept stopping every few inches from the door and pulled my hand back. My mind was groggy from the lack of sleep, I laid awake all night because whenever I closed my eyes I saw a pair of striking blue eyes, and our conversation played over, and over, and over again.

“Hazel, come in,” he said from inside the office and I looked around to see if there was glass anywhere that he could've seen me through but nope. 

I opened the door and walked inside- he sat behind his desk with a pile of papers and a candle lit that he used to press wax seals onto the envelopes he was writing.

“How’d you know it was me?” 

He put the pen down and leaned back in his chair.

“Your smell is one I could sniff out from across Valeria. What’s on your mind?” He smiled.

Okay, I had everything prepared in my head that I would say but it felt like I lost every word in my vocabulary. Now that I stood here I found myself nervous and shaking.

“The Hunt,” I said without any context.

Darian rose from behind his desk and stalked across the office.

“What about it?” His voice was low and dark.

“You need to end it,” I blabbered out.

At least now there was context. The words fell without a nicely tied bow but he got the jest and with everything we’re building here, I begged that he saw it for it was- that I just didn't want any other girls subjected to a tradition that only benefited the males.

I don’t know why I was so nervous, he’d understand- hell, he had a daughter.

“The Hunt is a century-old tradition,” he stated.

I smiled and raised a brow.

“Yes, so is the prospect of multiple wives,” 

Darkness crossed his face and his eyes narrowed, his sharp jaw clenched and I swear if I had a knife I could sharpen it on his jawbone. Before I could blink he stood in front of me.

“Careful,” he warned but his reasoning, that it was an old tradition, was pushing me over the edge into a place I've come to grow fond of over the past few months.

“And let’s not forget MarryBell, they are just as old if not older, are you saying it’s okay that I become a whore? You could share me with your men like you do the other girls,”

“Watch it.” He grabbed my face and pulled me in, his eyes turned obsidian as they threatened the next words that would come out of my mouth.

“These are also century-old traditions Darian, the big difference is that they are consensual,” I seethed through his rough grip.

His breathing was ragged and heavy- his chest pushed up against me with each deep breath and I reached up to cup his face.

“It’s not in my power to single-handedly abolish the Hunt. It’s not there as just a game, it’s how we continue the leadership in the packs. Some Alphas participate more than others because maybe their chosen mate can't bear them an heir or the leadership skills of the one they chose are not fit for a Luna,”

My blood was rushing through my body like a fucking flood and my breaths grew shallow and quick.

“There you go again, speaking about what it’d be doing to the men but what about the girls? They aren't women, Darian, they are girls,”

“Girls that seem to be perfectly fine speaking for themselves as I've noticed,” his voice dropped an octave and a faint smile grew on his lips while a playful glint glimmered in his eyes. Like this was some damn game.

They rate us, strip us down, and send us off to be claimed.

Some, a small amount, find a fated mate before the Chalice ritual and others that aren't picked by an Alpha get to choose a mate to start their life with but those that are chosen are sentenced to a life under control by their Alpha. 

I raised my head under his grip and narrowed my eyes to slits but what I really wanted to do was kick his Lycan ass.

“If it’s not in your power as you say, then it is because you are making it so,” I spat. 

A growl rumbled from his chest and he pushed us back against the wall and leaned down.

He lowered his hand and rested his fingers on my neck while his lips hovered over mine.

“Mathilda is spared,” he said huskily.

“And so is Kiera, but what about everyone else?” My voice was quiet as it slipped past my drying lips.

We couldn't just think about ourselves. I made a promise to keep Mathilda out of the Hunt, that she would never experience what I did and she would live out her life doing whatever the fuck she wanted and one day choose a man with a kind heart that loved her.

But now that I know she’s safe, I think about every other little girl and their excited parents who ship them off. 

“Have you ever thought that it’s what they want? They are happy, and their families are happy, why fix something that isn't broken?” 

Oh my gods, give me the strength not to sucker punch the mountain in front of me.

“I wasn't happy, Darian. I was miserable watching my father smile as she waved me off and my mother cheer when I was picked as a toy for their sick game. You have to end it,” I flickered my eyes over his lips before I stared him dead in the eyes and let out a breath, “or else I will,”

He searched my face and out of all of the things I thought he’d do- I was not expecting to feel the pressure of his lips as he claimed mine in a burning passion and tightened the hold around my throat.

“How?” He asked and slipped his tongue between my lips as I moaned into his mouth.

“Huh?” I whimpered against him.

“How will you end it?” He paused for a beat, his tongue graced my lips and he brushed kisses to the side of my mouth.

Darian slid his other hand down my back and he roughly grabbed a hold of my ass.

“Tell me, I want to hear,” he whispered huskily against my ear. 

A burning desire washed over me and my skin was burning up, it was like someone turned up the heat in the room and I begged for a window to open and let in a cool breeze.

“I don’t know how but I will,”

My skin heated where he touched and he roughly grabbed my waist and pulled my hips against him- when I felt him growing against me it sent a throbbing need up my core.

“Do you trust me?” He asked.

I was melting under him, our hips moved against each other in a synced, heated motion and I raked my hand through his hair but I was cursing the fabric between us right now. 

This was the first time we’d touched since the Council, Darian had been physically distant ever since, knowing that I needed more before anything happened.

“I’m starting to,” I said breathlessly and Darian claimed my lips- hard enough that I knew it’d leave a bruise. He stopped for a second and teased me with featherlike brushes.

“Then you’ll let this go,”

WHAT?

I stopped and pushed at his chest. His arms bulged when he grabbed my wrists and pinned them over my head. 

“Get off of me!” My hair fell in front of my face and I drew a breath through my seething teeth as my face turned red from the blood rushing up there.

He laughed, why the fuck was he laughing?

If he kept touching me like that my rage would slowly subside and I didn't want it to.

He leaned down, his tongue slid over the mark and he kissed up the side of my neck.

“Fuck, you’re hot when you go off like that,” he pressed a wet kiss under my ear and took my lobe between his teeth. “If you want the Hunt gone, I will tear it down with my hands. If you want the Council burnt to the ground, I will hand deliver you its ashes. If you want the fucking moon I will find a way to get it to you,” he whispered while he guided his hand up my chest and cupped my breast. 

“Whatever you want, it will be yours,” he pressed a kiss to my temple, “I just enjoy playing with your fire,”