Alpha

Three days.

Ryder and I have three days until the Full Moon.

I have three days until Damien kidnaps me.

Ryder is next.

'When is he taking Ryder?' I ask the Voice upon returning to the house and seeking sanctuary in my room.

'Now that would be telling, and we can't have that. Just be patient.'

'You can't even give that away? What use are you?' I throw myself on the bed.

'Excuse me, but are you forgetting how helpful I've been thus far. Granted, you may not like me, but I do serve some purpose, which is more than I can say about your yummy little boy toy, and that is why you haven't tried to get rid of me. Not really, at least.'

I shoot up. "I can get rid of you?"

'I don't know, she answers grudgingly. 'I honestly haven't ever been in the head of someone so strong. You don't know how difficult it is sometimes for me to just sit in your head when I'm at my weakest. Who knows if you possess the strength to build barriers that will keep me out for good.'

"But you're saying there might be a possibility?" This changes everything. Maybe I really can have my head back.

'Weren't you listening?' The Voice sounds genuinely annoyed. 'I said that I am uncertain. Who knows if you could ever do such a thing. Maybe it can be done, but I don't know. All I can say is that you don't figure it out, or try to at least, in the foreseeable future. But I can only see a month or two ahead at this point in time. You may figure it out later on down the road.'

I bite my lip, this new information flooding me with hope. I resolve to keep it to myself. This Voice thing already makes Ryder uncomfortable as it is. He might just make me sit down until the end of the world to force me to build up these barriers.

No, I have to keep this to myself. Ryder can't know.
* * * * *
The next day is lived out in extreme fear and anxiety. I don't want Ryder to do anything or go anywhere without me, but I know he has to. I shake off my nerves, and allow Ryder some time alone by going for a walk, trying to calm my nerves a little. I try to prepare myself for anything, knowing that when I get back he might not be there.

And then I smell him.

I don't even care that I need him to take Ryder in order for everything to work out. He's got Ryder, and I have to protect my friends. I have to protect Ryder. I turn around and run.

The house is getting close, I can hear a fight breaking out. I can see the door—it’s been kicked open. Just a little more to go…

I fall.

'What the hell?' I demand in my head because my mouth doesn't seem to want to work.

'You can't intervene. This is how it has to be. You have no idea what you could do if you go into that house right now and stop Damien from taking Ryder!'

'What will happen? I need to help him. Let my up.' It's not that she's controlling me, but she's somehow pinning me down, not allowing me any mobility. I can only move my neck slightly so that I can look up at what’s happening.

'Do you want to save one person or save them all? Let them go!'

I continue struggling—this bitch is strong! Shadows dance in the late day sun as four people emerge from the house. The first out is Damien, looking very pleased with himself. Behind him is a bloodied and beaten Ryder, two guards on either side of him practically holding him up.

I pause in my struggling, not having seen Ryder looking so defeated in years. I gasp, and his ears prick, his eyes immediately finding me. Confusion registers on his face as he wonders why I'm on the floor, seeming bound by an unseen force. His features sharpen as understanding registers, followed by fury. He begins to struggle, and I want to tell him not to, to just let them take him. But that's not the way Ryder does things.

His foot swings up, bending backward at the knee, as he kicks the guard on his left. The guy groans and falls, and his colleague's face becomes acquaintances with Ryder's newly freed fist. Both men immediately leap back up, but not before Ryder's arm is in Damien's clutch with a steel dagger at his neck.

Despite his whispering, I can hear Damien's voice as clearly as Ryder heard my gasp. "One more step out of line and my men's punishment in the house will seem like a schoolyard fight compared to what I will do to you with this knife." He looks at his men with disgust filling his features. "Keep a hold on this boy or I will do the same to you two. Or perhaps you'd like to have a conversation with Andre."

Fear fills the men's faces and they tightly grip Ryder's arms as if afraid that letting go will cost them their lives as it probably will. "Yes, sir," they both mutter in synch before bowing their heads and following their leader out of the forest clearing.

"Little wolf!" Damien calls out, taunting me. "I know that you are there, and I know that this one knows where. Do not think that I have forgotten about your brother's last words to him. But do not worry a bit. I will be back for you tomorrow. We will be reunited then. Until that time comes, pleasant dreams!"

Ryder casts one last wistful glance at me before he's taken away and out of sight.

The Voice reclines in my mind, but I stay on the ground for another half hour before reentering my house to begin reparations.