Payment To the Alpha
Chapter 8

We simply smiled and walked together the rest of the way in silence, it was nice because I was getting a little grumpy from not eating.

As we made our way into the dining hall it seemed as though we interrupted a conversation they were having and all eyes turned to us. And there to my right was James in all his glory. He was dressed in a plain, grey t-shirt, displaying his muscles quite well if I may say so myself, and a pair of black jeans, his hair looked as though he had just gotten out of bed and still, he looked so hot that I wanted to take him right here on this table not caring if anyone watches and just... hey, hey, hey, NO...Get it together woman. But he did do things to my body without realizing it himself, just him staring into my eyes it was as though my temperature rose to 100 degrees.

I glanced over everyone sitting at the table and turned my eyes back to James as I said

"Good morning everyone," James replied and pulled out a seat beside him and asked me to join him.

Before I took my seat I quickly remembered the events that took place last night and decided that he was not about to get his way, partially because he had been a douchebag and also because I wanted to tease him the way he had been teasing me. However, my teasing will probably be no fun for him, but that's the point.

"Thank you, but I'd rather sit on the other side so I can speak to everyone without having to lean over the table," I said and went to the opposite side of the table where I saw Alex was sitting. I pulled out a chair next to him, right in front of James, and sat down. As I did so all eyes went directly to James who did not look happy, but I couldn't care less if he thinks he can just toy around with me as he pleases, he's about to think twice before doing it again.

Third-Person POV

The tension was rising as everyone sat in silence. James kept his stare on Alex and Avery. Alex was fiddling with his hands and not able to look at Avery, sensing how mad his alpha was. Alex gave a shocking glare at James the moment she sat down, he may be a pain-in-the-ass but he is and has always been James' most loyal and trustworthy warrior and brother, as well as the strongest.

James couldn't stop staring daggers at the two people sitting in front of him and he could barely contain his wolf, his wolf wanted his mate and the sight of his mate beside another man was causing him to claw and growl inside James' head. Avery however, was giving off a smirk and had a glint in her eyes and that's when James realized.

'Relax Blade, she's playing a game, I can see it in her eyes. She feels all mighty and tough now that she made a move of her own, it's cute. You wanna play princess, let's play.'

James told his wolf as he leaned back and crossed his arms, relaxing completely, well not completely but to his best efforts. His wolf tried to calm down but was still pacing around in James' head.

Avery was shocked when she saw James relax with a smug smile on his face and that just made her even more irritated, which James could see making him even smugger.

Alice had not yet taken her seat.

She went over and placed a hand on James' shoulder.

"May I speak with you in private, my son," Alice said as she headed out the service door on the other side of the room before James answered. He looked over at Avery and Alex and didn't want to leave them alone but had no other choice when Alice called for him and he had to leave.

"What's wrong?" James asked as soon as he got to Alice, not wanting to waste a second being away from Avery, she's decided to get under his skin, and it's already working with the little thing she has done.

"What's wrong? Are you kidding me, child, you growled! That's what's wrong, I had to stall her and she knows it was all fake." James' face dropped at the thought that something was going to ruin the plan. "Did she hear anything?" He asked.

"No, the girl heard nothing, only I did, I'm a wolf too remember? Listen, James, this has to go well, she has to come home with us. She must come to the pack or there will be consequences, but you listen to me, if you hurt that girl in any way, I will be that consequence are we clear? She is sweet and caring and must be treated with respect, I know you don't take kindly to the fact that she's mostly human, but you be nice to her."

Alice said with a firm tone, ever since James' parents passed, Alice had been like a mother to the three siblings, helping them with whatever they needed, listened to them, and comforted them in times of need. So even James took her words to heart, except he was the alpha and was not good at taking orders.

"I am the alpha, she is about to be MY wife and I will do with her as I please. I have no intentions of harming her. However, she is merely a human, she's weak, she will be my wife, but she will never be my mate. She doesn't know the meaning of a mate so she will not be hurt by my decision." James spoke in a serious manner

"She may not know the meaning of that word just yet my child, but one day she will, would you still not accept her?" Alice asked, with a serious look on her face, she only ever wore a serious face when talking to the three people she considers her children.

"No I wouldn't'. It would make me weak if I rejected her, since I am marrying her, she will be with me all of the time, and Blade would not forgive me." James answered.

"Well then, I believe she's in good hands, but remember James, she will replace out the truth about everything within the next few days. Her parents will call and tell her, in order for this to work she has to sever all ties with her family like they did with her the moment she was sold. She has never known true love James, don't screw up." Alice said as she was heading for the door, as she reached the doorknob she turned around and faced James again as she said, "Oh and by the way James, Avery is much stronger than you might think," with those final words Alice walked back out into the dining hall.

James stood in his place and didn't move, he had to take everything in and then go out and face Avery. He didn't know exactly how she would react when she found out the truth, but that was a problem for another day.

As James was dragging his hands over his face, he suddenly heard giggling from inside and he could tell whose they were. James burst open the door to replace Alex and Avery close to each other, talking and laughing. James' wolf was raging, he suddenly felt a hand grab his own when he looked over to see who it was. It was his sister. Amber gently rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. She had been doing this since they were children, whenever James would get too angry and he wasn't able to control himself, she grabbed her little brother's hand and rubbed circles on his hand with her thumb, it was the only thing that always managed to calm him.

"Oh hello James, how nice of you to join us," Avery's words came out like golden liquid and went into James's ears like lava, burning the inside of his skull.

'She is pushing it. She is really. Pushing. It.' He told himself as his jaw ticked.

James took his seat at the table, well aware of Avery's gameplay, he would not succumb to his jealousy and anger towards Avery and Alex.

The rest of the morning they were all having breakfast and making small talk, a few laughs here and there were also shared.

"So Avery, are you excited about the trip?" Amber asked as she looked to Avery with subtleness and warmth in her eyes.

"I am, it just feels a little weird going so far away without speaking to my parents, in fact, it feels weird that they haven't tried to make contact with me these last days," Avery said as her eyes fell down, disappointment was written all over her face

"I wouldn't worry too much about that dear, we spoke to them when James brought you here, we made sure they knew you were safe, they were worried considering you're their little girl, however, they also said this trip could serve as a good distraction for you, something about a boy? They wouldn't say but they seemed determined for you to go on this trip," Alice spoke. Her lies visible to everyone there except of course for Avery.

Avery's parents had only called James once to make sure he had Avery.

FLASHBACK

"Hello? James?" Jack asked as he called for James the night Avery had left for the party.

"I'm here," James calmly answered

"She just left with her friend, she will be at the party tonight, that is when you take her. We made this agreement with your parents a long time ago, and we are honoring our side of the deal, I hope we can expect the same from you?" Jack asked, his voice sounded frightened which made James grin, he liked being superior, being feared.

"If I may ask Jack, my parents didn't have time to tell me everything before they died, how come you can give up your girl, with such ease?"

"She was merely a means to an end, we had our boy, he became everything we could dream of. One day madeleine was captured and raped, she was away from me for 3 days and when I found her she was lying naked, bloody, and beaten on the cold floor in some abandoned dungeon. Later we discovered she was pregnant, she was bearing a child that wasn't mine, she wanted to get rid of the child, we were both angry and devastated, it was an abomination and that child would be a disgrace to our family and our pack.

We were already weak as it was, rouges had plundered our village multiple times and we had lost many of our warriors, that's when we reached out to your parents, we offered our unborn child in exchange for their protection, they had a few demands which we met and then we struck a deal. You see James, we gave her up because we never wanted her, and the mere sight of her has had us uneasy from the beginning. Then we had our other daughter and suddenly everything fell into place, we had our family, Avery was only a reminder of a horrible event in our lives, and the sooner we get rid of her the better, that's why I'm telling you this. Take her, and don't let her come back."

At Jacks words I couldn't help but feel all kinds of emotions, most of all anger, how could a life mean so little to them, regardless of the situation, Avery was their daughter, she did not choose to enter this world, they chose for her, she was kept only for me, this fact somehow made me feel good. She was brought to this world for me and only me.

"If she chooses not to come with me?" I asked, of course, she would come with me, one way or another. But I needed to know his intentions.

"Kill her." Was Jack's response, and I felt the rage consuming my body at his words.

I had been watching Avery for the past two years, she had been nothing but sweet and kind to everyone she met, stranger or friend, and yet they would so easily dispose of her?

I will take her, and make her mine, give her a family and the love she deserves.

END OF FLASHBACK