Alpha King's Damsel in Distress

Kira' Itzayana's POV

A loud scream set me apart, waking me up from my deep slumber. Judging from the cries, I don't have to guess that it was my aunt, my mother's sister, who has gone crazy from being too depressed, according to my father. I instantly sat upright and ran to her room. Since my room is just beside hers, I could quickly check on her.

I passed by my mother's picture in the hallway, and I paused to look at her beautiful face. Her hazelnut hair matched her chocolate brown eyes and stood out from her fair white skin. Her soft pouty lips and rosy cheeks melted to the sun and the white dress she was wearing had softly flown. But most of all, her gentle smile and her gentle expression calmed me down.

I was only a toddler, and I could only vaguely remember her face as it was etched in the back of my memory, slowly fading as time went by. I went to the kitchen to make breakfast, just a quick sunny side up, sausages, and toast paired with milk, which is for my aunt. I grabbed a glass of water to go to my aunt's room. Her screams and sobs were now getting closer to me.

"Goodmorning Aunt, I made your favorite breakfast!" I greeted her happily once I opened the door, feigning happiness just to make her stop having a tantrum, but she's still not stopping. I sighed, put the freshly cooked food on the side table, and sat on the edge of the bed to hug her. "Hush now, aunt Elsa. You're alright." I comforted her.

As the only child of my mother and dad, I was somehow used to taking care of myself, especially growing up with an absent father who did nothing but work and left me to his new wife to get abused.

Aunt Elsa seemed to calm down as I stayed hugging her for a minute. When she completely stopped, I broke the embrace.

"How was your morning?" I asked gently, as if talking to a little child.

She pouted and muttered, "I dreamt it again. I dreamt about him again, Kira."

"Nightmare?"

She shook her head, "It wasn't a bad dream. I was happy to see him, but I saw it happening again."

I sighed. She has been muttering that for 10 years now. Since I was eight and now I'm 18, I still don't know who she was referring to or what happened to that person in the dream. But it was like a repeating dream to her, haunting her every night.

"Can you tell me who is that?"

"You know, your mother holds a great reputation in our clan, but he chose that man, and we were banished." She suddenly said, just like she usually does. Actually, my aunt is nothing crazy, I could talk to her normally, but times like this and her replies make me doubt her.

"What?"

She looked down, "I saw it with my own eyes, how my loved one..was killed, before my eyes."

Loved one..that was what I was assuming was the cause of her depression. Some of her sudden phrases seemed too real to believe, and all I could do was nod.

Her hand reached out to me and cupped my face, "Trust your mate. He will come for you."

Mate. That talk again, I really can't seem to know what is going on in her mind. I searched on that word mate and all it pops up are werewolves. It's not like we are living in some weird fantasy story, right? This is the real world, and supernatural beings like that don't exist. Especially now that we are in the 21st century.

"Come on, Aunt, let's eat now-"

I was stopped when a pair of red heels clicked on the floorboard, and the door opened to reveal my stepmother's face. "You should shut your aunt up, Kira."

My aunt's calm expression changed into a glare, "You bitch."

I covered my aunt's mouth, not because I don't like to hear her say that, but because I swear, there's no other word that I could describe my stepmom except a bitch. But I value my aunt's and my body too. It's still early in the morning and I still have classes. I don't want to add more bruises to my body.

My stepmom gritted her teeth and tried to slap my aunt, but I was quick to cover her, making the slap hit my cheek. The harsh pain came in contact and all I could do was grit my teeth.

Just a little more savings and I'll get us out of here, Aunt. I whispered to myself.

"Tsk, you always come to your aunt's defense. Let me hit her so she can learn her manners." My stepmom said.

"No." I firmly replied, "If you hit her again, just do it with me and let's move on." My voice was constant but I was shaking, not with fear but with so much anger. God knows how much I fight the urge to hit her back, but no, let me survive this day in peace. I won't choose violence. Maybe in the future, but for now, I can still handle this little pain.

She smirked and grabbed a little piggy bank from her back. "Know this?"

I gasped, my eyes widened, and I ran to grab it from her, but she pushed my head. "You're saving money for what? To get out of here?

This was the only thing that kept me going every day, including my aunt. This was my hope. My stash of savings.

I worked part-time jobs and saved those. I tried hard to hide it in my room. How could she find it? "

"Return that to me," I ordered, staring at her with a determined look.

She chuckled, waving my money at me, "Or what? You're going to tell your father about it?"

I gritted my teeth. She knew that if I happened to tell dad, he would just believe his bitch instead of his own daughter. Damn what a world to live in.

"Go do your chores first and let me see if I'll return this to you." She threatened and walked away.

My aunt snorted, "I could kill that bitch right now."

I shook my head, "No aunt, I'll find a way to get that." She smiled. "You just need to focus on recovering, and once I save enough, I can get you out of this hellhole." She smiled.

I made sure to let my aunt eat first before making breakfast for everyone in the house, doing the laundry, and washing the dishes. I had 10 minutes more left before I was going to be late, so I quickly took a shower and got dressed with a pair of black jeans and a hoodie, to cover the bruises I have. I glanced at the mirror and saw that my stepmother's slap left a mark, and I put on some concealer to hide it.

Glancing at the clock again, I sighed, knowing I going to be late again. I'll be going to detention again. I think I was aiming for clean marks. As I grabbed my red backpack, I heard a yell from outside.

"Itzy!" My stepbrother, Bryce, exclaimed, calling me by my second name, Itzayana, waiting for me by the door, "Let's go!"

I blinked, furrowing my eyebrows at him, "I thought you were already at school? Did you wait for me? You'll be late too?"

He shrugged, grabbing my bag and slinging it on his shoulder before putting his hands on my shoulder, "Hm, nothing new. Cmon."

I uncontrollably flinched when his hands met my cheek and he noticed it. "Another bruise from my mother again?"

I shrugged, "Nothing new," I replied to his earlier responses, and he clicked his tongue disappointedly.

"I apologize, my mother is like that. She is in her menopausal stage, so bear with her," he said genuinely.

I raised my eyebrows at him, "She's been treating me like that for my whole life, so she's having menopause the entire time?"

"As payback, I'll give you this." Bryce handed me hundred-dollar cash, and I gasped. "Where did you get this?"

"From mom, I stole your money back." He said with a mischievous grin, and I chuckled at him, accepting the money and hiding it in my bag.

He opened his car, his mother's gift to him, and started the engine. He opened the door for me, and he drove to the driver's seat and started to drive away. The school was a fifteen-minute drive, and I'm thankful that my dad had covered my tuition for this. I had to beg him as he thought I would just waste his money and be a whore.

As soon as my brother parked his car, we got out and he handed me my bag.

"Thanks," I said and glanced to see the popular girl of the campus, the it-girl of our school, glaring at us. She has been desperately getting my brother's attention, and my brother just didn't want anything to do with her. My brother is the football captain. Like in typical movies, she thinks that a football captain and the all-famous girl should be together.

The mean girl rolled her eyes at me. She hates to see me with her crush so much. Tsk, this just gives me more confidence to irritate her.

"She's glaring at me again," I whispered to Bryce.

"Don't mind her."

I snorted, "Why do you insist on me going with you? I'll just get bullied."

"I'm your brother." That won't happen because I'll protect you." He defended, looking at me with reassurance. Yeah, he always says that, but I always get bullied.

"Cool." I sarcastically said, rolling my eyes, but then felt a rush of air blowing past me, and a hand blocking my view in front. My eyes snapped shut and I peeked to see who was blocking my view. He was 6'4 tall, with dark eyes encircled with golden rings with a hint of gray. I had never seen an eye like that before. His breath hitched and he gasped and looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed. He shook his head and cleared his throat, "Careful there, miss."

I felt electricity.

I have never seen him here. Is he a new student?

He just walked away and my brother just raised his eyebrows at me and said, "Look at where you're walking sis," He ruffled my hair and waved at me, "I'll see you at lunch,"

"Don't bother, I'll eat in the bathroom." I retorted.

"I'll find you there and force you to eat with me. You're not going to say no to me."

I just shook my head and went to my biology class. It's a good thing that I hopped in my brother's car as I just arrived on time. It was boring as usual, as I'm not some genius, I'm just on the average level. The next period was physical education, and I went to the locker room to change.

"Bitch." I rolled my eyes as I heard the familiar high-pitched voice from behind me.

"Oh Stef, what a lovely day to see you." I sarcastically said, and she pushed me to the lockers. I felt the sharp metal graze my skin, and I could feel it was going to bruise later on.

"Stop lurking in my boyfriend's room." She warned, and I laughed.

"You are what? Boyfriend? Bryce? Did not know you were this delusional." I said, "He's just my brother, don't be jealous."

She gritted her teeth, "You promised not to get near Bryce, don't forget that," she said snarkily, and the bell rang, time for the next period.

"Well, promises are meant to be broken," I replied, and she was about to attack me when I pushed her face away, throwing her face into the lockers.

My eyes widened, surprised at how strong I was. It seemed that Stef also didn't expect that I would fight back. She was taken aback.

"Oh, my hand slipped." I sarcastically said, grabbing this opportunity. "So you have any more things to say? I'll be going now."

She breathed hard, glaring at me, "How dare you!"

But I was already walking away and flashed her my middle finger, not bothered now. To hell with it. Report me all you want, I have nothing to lose now. I'm done with everything.

I muttered a curse as I got to my physics class, knowing I'm late. "I'm sorry I'm late Mr..."

"Mr. Jones. I'm the substitute teacher." A deep voice said. Seeing his green eyes under his glasses, I remembered he was the man I bumped into earlier...

I dropped my gaze, cursing under my breath. So he's our physics teacher.

"And why are you late, Miss? Care to tell me your name?" He asked, crossing his arms in front of him so that I could see his white long-sleeved shirt hug his muscles intricately. He's also too tall for me, so I have to look up.

I cleared my throat, remembering he was asking me a question. I was just a bit distracted by his body. I'm Kira Ityzayana Fernandez. I apologize, Mr. Jones, I just happened to run into someone outside."

"Alright, Ms.Fernandez. Go to the detention room." He said, handing me a yellow paper. I sighed and went to my seat.

The rest of the class ended up not going well. I somehow got Mr. Jones annoyed as he kept on calling me.

As soon as the bell rang everyone ran outside for lunch. I waited for them to leave before approaching Mr. Jones' table.

"Excuse me but do you have a problem with me, Mr. Jones?" I asked bravely. Better discuss it now as I'm afraid I won't survive the rest of his class like this.

His gaze went up from the paper he was reading and looked at me, "Don't be late next time and we won't have any problems, Miss Fernandez."

I sighed. Why is it a big deal? He could have let this slide now... but I won't let someone just do me like that. "Yeah, and as if that's a big deal."

He must have taken it as a challenge and stood up, towering over me, "Do you want to add some disciplinary hours or clean the entire school, miss?"

I wanted to glare at him but stopped myself. I placed my hand on the table, intentionally glazing my hand over his, and he suddenly stopped, his eyes widening. His gaze matched mine, as if in a trance, and I dared to meet his gaze, not backing down.

He blinked, averting his gaze to the ground. "L-leave. Make sure not to be late next time."

What was that? It felt strange, but I didn't comment further as I just turned around to leave and rolled my eyes.

I wasn't able to eat lunch properly with Stef glaring at me from the popular's table and all the way to my table.

I have never even seen my step-brother who promised to have lunch with me today. He must be busy with his friends as Stef is not with him now. Time flew by, and as the rest of the periods finished, I went to the detention room but ended up meeting with Stef for the millionth time now.

I rolled my eyes, "Why do you always look for me? You're so obsessed."

She then quickly marched to me and harshly threw her hands on my face, hitting me. "That's payback for earlier."

I stood there with a stinging cheek and said, "Wow, cool." I mocked, "Who knew you could throw a slap."

She put her hands on her hips as she looked at me disgustingly, "Why are you surprised at my fighting spirit today?"

"Why are you being extra bitchy today?" I replied back, expecting her hand again on my face, so I quickly stopped her. "And no, I just let you hit me earlier. I don't have time for this stupid thing."

I quickly left her there, her mouth widened, and I made my way to the detention room. I hissed a bit, covering my cheek so no one would notice the red mark on my cheek.

It's a good thing that the place was empty, except for a student I am not familiar with.

"Hi!" he greeted me as soon as he saw me, "I'm Mark. I'm new here."

I nodded and just quietly sat there, not in the mood to talk to anyone now.

It seemed he didn't get my gesture as he continued talking, "I got lost at this school, ended up late so now I'm here...What about you?

"Got late too," I replied curtly.

"That's cool!" His hands were in the air to give me a high five, but I just ignored it. He pouted, looking disappointed, but then Mr. Jones arrived.

He looked at both of us and sat down on the desk. His gaze trailed on me longer, his eyebrows furrowing, "Those kids are hurting you?"

'That's not your business."

I wanted to say that but stopped myself. He seemed to have heard it enough or I was readable enough for him to know what I was thinking.

I expected him to intimidate me, but what he did surprise me. His eyes softened and he looked at me as if he really cared. "I'm your teacher, Miss Fernandez. Tell me who did it, and I'll punish them."

I sighed, "As if the school system has something new to offer. Students will always be bullied, and teachers won't care."

As soon as I was finished, Mark beside me burst into laughter. Mr. Jone gave him a glare and he mouthed an apology, but still kept on laughing.

He threw a thumbs up at me, "That was epic!"

"Quiet there, Mr. Mark. Start to write down your apology letter." Mr. Jones responded, which wiped the smile off his face.

Mr. Jones motioned for me to follow him, "I'll get you to my personal office."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Why did I need to be at his personal office? Despite feeling a bit off, I still followed him.

Now that I noticed it, he seemed to be in his late twenties, somehow ten years older than me. And if he dared to do something weird, my hands had already done some training earlier from slapping so I guess we're good to go.

As soon as we arrived at his office, he closed the door and made me sit on the chair in front of the desk. There was a pizza lying on the desk.

"Eat." His voice said as he loosened his shirt. I gulped, looking at how his biceps were clearly evident under his white shirt with every move.

"Why? Is this still detention?" I dared to ask, wondering why eating pizza had a connection with my "punishment for being late".

"Yes." he simply said, opening his folders and signing some papers. I blinked, finding this oddly strange but still following what he ordered. I could argue with him, but I mean, it's a free snack. Since I hadn't eaten my lunch properly earlier, I guess I could call this a blessing. And blessings should not be ignored.

I munched on the pizza and I caught him stealing some glances while focusing on his paper.

"Put a cold compress on your cheek." He suddenly said, breaking away my thoughts and stopping me from munching the pizza.

"What?"

He pointed at the red mark on my cheek, making me know that he was talking about it, "Does it sting?"

I wiped my hands with the tissue and answered, "Does this bother you that much?"

His soft eyes that seemed to care for me were gone and turned angry at me, "You keep on muttering fiery retorts at me. I'm your teacher, Miss Fernandez."

"Then act like one."

Both of us were surprised by my retort.

Okay, that's it. My heart clenched, instantly regretting what I had just said. I kept on pushing his limit. I'm surprised I'm not being called by the principal now...

He took a deep breath, trying to control his temper as I could see his jaw clenching and unclenching.

He took a deep breath, trying to control his temper as I could see his jaw clenching and unclenching. "There is no cool in acting strong."

I pushed the pizza away and grabbed my bag before standing up, "I'm finished eating. Is this all? Then I need to go."

I started to walk away and I somehow anticipated for him to stop me and throw some lectures at me but he didn't. Instead, he was quiet as I was leaving.

I closed the door behind me, and I caught sight of his emotionless face watching me. I couldn't even read his mind, but that's none of my business now.

The sky was blue and there were a few students left at the school at this time. I don't mind going home at this time, but I could think of the time and couldn't help but imagine all the bad things that my stepmother would do to my aunt. My feet instantly hastened with just the thought.

I go on with my plan again. This will be the last time I go to this school. This will be the last night we'll spend the night there at my stepmother's place. Tonight, I'll pack my aunt's belongings discreetly. With the money that my stepbrother gave us earlier, we'll finally leave that damn place.

I had already spotted some cheap apartments to temporarily stay in and I'll work two jobs to support both of us. We'll somehow survive, I know we will.

As I got closer to the house, I felt someone's presence behind me...as if being followed. I grabbed my bag tightly, not wanting to get robbed as my savings are here. Is it a robber? A kidnapper? An assaulter? Panic filled every step I took and sweat formed on my forehead.

Whoever it was, I had to make sure I could fight for myself. I'm strong. I know I am.

I continued walking normally, trying to act cool, and using my peripheral vision to see who it was, but found no one.

Weird.

I quickened my pace and it felt like whoever was following me also fastened. Gritting my teeth, I tightly clutched my bag and started to dash forward into the streets and empty alleys. Times like this just make me wish that this area was a bit busier and had cars that would sometimes pass by...just to give me comfort that I would have someone to ask if ever I needed help.

I continued running, my breath running out as my heart felt like bursting from the adrenaline rush. I groaned in pain as I felt a sharp pain in my back, feeling like a big hand scratched it. I tried to reach out my hand to my back and was right.

It feels like a claw mark. I hissed in pain as I felt blood coming out. I have to get to my aunt sooner! I sniffed the air and smelled a foul smell, like a street dog.

Was I just...clawed by some wild dog? In the streets?

I turned around to confirm it and saw a figure. I was partially right...but instead..it was not just some dog....It looks like...

Almost like a wolf? But a big wolf. I don't know, I'm not sure as I couldn't see clearly with the sky turning dark and the figure behind me was too quick in a rampaging, biting down the nearby tree and then running around. I was rooted to my spot as I didn't know what to do next. I wanted to drag my feet and run while the attacker was still distracted but a gasp came out of my mouth as he tried to jump on me.

I shrieked and closed my eyes, anticipating the attack but a cold wind brushed past me.

Two men appeared in front of me, their backs facing me. I couldn't clearly see them as my mind was going hazy and I fell to the ground, the pain in the wound on my back now increasing and I felt like being burned. I wanted to throw up and I tried to catch my breath.

"Finally, these bastards finally showed up. That was easy, let's hunt the others, Alpha," I heard one of them say with a cheery and familiar voice. Where did I hear it?

"Catch the others. I'll take care of her." A deep intimidating voice ordered, and the man with a cheery voice replied, "Alright, Alpha."

I wanted to open my eyes but all I could see was the fire. A huge raging fire and a tall man carrying me, his musky and earthy scent lingering on me.

"You're finally safe, my mate." That was all I could hear before blackness took over me. As much as I wanted to fight over the sleepiness, his arms were comfy and offered a warm feeling to me.