Bitten by Fate

The wet slap of flesh echoed through the door. My heart pounded in my ears as realization crept over me like ice water. I pressed my palm against the wood, pushing it open a sliver.

Jasper's naked back glistened with sweat. Olivia's legs were locked around his waist as he thrust into her. Their grunts and moans filled the room like a perverted symphony.

A vase clattered behind me. I whipped around at the sound, my elbow clipping the edge of the hall table. Purple shards scattered across the hardwood.

Jasper froze, his eyes finding mine over Olivia's shoulder. Her mouth formed a surprised 'O'. I should have run, but I was paralyzed, a deer mesmerized by oncoming headlights.

"Alexa..." Jasper's gravelly voice broke the spell. Olivia's head lolled to the side, strands of blonde hair stuck to her sweaty brow as she registered my presence.

"Oh god..." she gasped, arms scrambling to cover her breasts.

Fury propelled me backwards as Jasper disentangled himself, grabbing blindly for his jeans. "Baby, wait! Let me explain..."

I pivoted on my heel and fled. Tears burned hot trails down my cheeks as the front door slammed against the wall behind me with a hollow boom. The cold spring air bit at my exposed skin as I ran into the darkness.

My calves screamed from the sprint to my car. The plastic key fob slipped through my shaking fingers twice before I finally managed to remote unlock. I fumbled with the keys, finally wrenching the driver's side open. Jasper's bellow of my name echoed across the driveway as I peeled out, gravel pinging off the undercarriage.

Streetlights strobed past, blurring into smears of amber. I pressed the gas pedal into the floorboards, the town limits sign a green blur in the rearview mirror. My traitor wolf howled inside me, a mournful lament of abandonment.

Where could I go? The Packlands spanned hundreds of miles in every direction. Anyone I knew would eventually have to answer to Jasper. Only one person could understand this anguish.

I steered towards Shirley's place, cutting across the deserted backroads, the pitch black night swallowing everything except the twin beams of my high beams. She lived in the bordering neutral territory between our pack and the White Pines clan. A knot of tension unwound from my shoulders the deeper I drove into their lands.

Shirley stood in her garden, pruning shears glinting under the moonlight. I cut the engine, footsteps crunching over the pea gravel drive.

"Alexa?" She squinted at my approach, one hand shading her eyes against the glare of my headlights. Even in the dim glow, she recognized the devastation etched on my features. The pruners slipped from her grasp as she rushed towards me, engulfing me in a tight hug. "Oh honey...what happened?"

I collapsed into her embrace, sobs wracking my body. Jasper's forest musk and Olivia's vanilla scent still clung to me like a cruel joke. Shirley murmured soothing words, guiding me inside to the cozy familiarity of her living room.

She settled me on the floral sofa, disappearing into the kitchen briefly. When she returned, a mug of steaming chamomile tea was pressed into my hands.

"Careful, it's hot." Her voice was gentle. "Now talk to me, Lex. What's got you so torn up?"

My lips trembled around the words as I described walking in on my mate and best friend. Shirley's expression twisted with revulsion and pity in equal measures as the story tumbled out.

"That low-life, mangy mutt!" She swore vehemently when I finished. "And that two-faced bitch destroying her sister like that!"

I flinched at her cruel words for Olivia. As much as the blonde had betrayed me, she'd been my closest friend since we were pups.

Shirley must have seen my hurt because she gentled her tone. "You don't deserve their deception, babe. You're too good for thataikto."

"I can't stay, Shirl." My voice was a cracked whisper. "I have to leave the pack. I can't see him again, not after..."

The images flashed again behind my eyelids with gruesome clarity. I doubled over, pressing the heels of my hands against my eye sockets to block them out.

Shirley wrapped her arms around me again, pulling me against her side. "Shh...you've got a home here as long as you need, honey."

As the shock faded, nausea crept in to take its place. A cold sweat beaded across my brow and upper lip. The world tilted violently.

"Alexa? You don't look so good..." Shirley's voice was distant, echoing metallically.

My knees buckled and I spiraled down into the darkness.

____

The crunch of dead leaves and snap of twigs filled the eerie silence as I tore through the inky blackness of the forest. Branches whipped against my face, leaving stinging crimson welts. My chest heaved with each ragged breath.

I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder. The sound of pursuit was unmistakable - the inexorable approach of whatever fresh hell was hunting me tonight. Harsh panting seemed to echo from every direction, surrounding me in an ever-tightening noose.

A thick root snagged my boot and sent me sprawling forward. The air fled my lungs in a whooping gasp as I slammed into the loamy earth. I scrambled up onto my hands and knees, fingers clawing at the soft soil for purchase.

From the corner of my eye, movement flickered through the dense trunks. A preternatural awareness prickled the back of my neck. It was close...so close.

"Alexa..." The voices drifted through the trees in a ghostly chorus, as sweet and sinister as a children's nursery rhyme.

I swallowed hard against the lump of dread clogging my throat. The whispers grew louder, more insistent, chanting my name like a ritual invocation.

"Alexa...Alexa...Alexa..."

My head whipped around, searching for the source. The forest seemed to inhale a collective breath, every leaf and creature holding perfectly still.

Crack!

A branch exploded somewhere behind me. I scrambled backwards on my butt and palms, pulse thundering in my ears. The voices rose in a keening wail, blending into one piercing shriek.

Something massive hurtled through the underbrush, barreling straight towards me. I dug my heels into the spongy earth and backpedaled furiously.

A blur of motion solidified into a towering humanoid shape, all sharp angles and rigid bones. It skidded to a halt mere inches from me, the impact gouging deep furrows into the forest floor.

Bared fangs stretched its mottled gray flesh into a skeletal grin, lips pulled back in a deranged, mocking leer. Blank sockets stared down at me, hollows in its warped skull where eyes should have been.

The creature crouched over me, spindly fingers splayed wide as it caged me against the ground. Rancid, decaying breath gusted over my face in wet, putrid bursts.

"Why did you run, little one?" Each malformed word was drawn out into a phlegmy hiss.

I pressed myself into the damp soil, willing the earth to simply open up and swallow me whole. My limbs were frozen, leaden weights immobilized by stark primal terror.

It cocked its hairless head, and I flinched as its grotesque features seemed to flow and contort. The sunken pits of its eye sockets split into open, oozing geysers. Blood and rank gray matter poured over its cheeks in rivulets as two baleful yellow orbs blinked into existence inside those spurting wounds.

The smile widened into an impossibly broad slash, unhinging its jaw with a sickening pop. It leaned close until its dripping, putrid maw engulfed my vision.

"We've been waiting for you," it gurgled, fetid spittle splattering across my ashen face as I screamed.

***

A cacophony of jarring sounds penetrated the darkness. Distant voices intermingled with the thrumming of my own ragged pulse. My brow furrowed as consciousness slowly trickled back.

Where...?

The viscous ooze of half-remembered nightmares clung to the edges of my mind like cobwebs. Shadowy impressions began to materialize - the relentless pursuit, the demented shrieks, those ruinous, haunting eyes...

My own eyes flew open as the final dregs of sleep dissolved. I gulped down grateful lungfuls of air, grounding myself in the simple act of breathing. In. Out. In. Out.

As the fuzzy mental static cleared, I recognized the cozy confines of Shirley's living room. The floral chintz sofa cradled my prone form, a ridiculously oversized quilt bunched around my legs.

"--lexa? Can you hear me?" Shirley's familiar alto cut through the fog still clouding my senses.

I blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the two blurry figures looming over me. Shirley's concerned visage slowly swam into view, her brow creased with worry. A tall, wiry man hovered at her shoulder, his dark blond hair disarmingly tousled.

"Wh...what happened?" My tongue felt heavy and clumsy in my dry mouth.

"You passed out on me, sweetie." Shirley reached out to smooth the sweat-damp hair back from my forehead. "Really gave us a scare there for a second."

My fuzzy mental recording rewound, flickering images gradually reintegrating into a cohesive timeline. The cheating mates. The shattered vase. The breakdown.

The nausea surged anew, an acrid tide of disgust and humiliation crashing against the inside of my ribs. I squeezed my eyes shut against the painful memories.

"I'm okay...I think." Each shallow exhale felt like shredding my throat with steel wool. "Just a bad dream."

"Well, you're running a bit of a fever," the unfamiliar man interjected in a gentle baritone. "But you should be feeling better soon."

I peeled my heavy lids back open, seeking out the source of the new voice. He offered me a warm, dimpled smile, the tips of his elfin ears peeking through the wavy golden strands.

One of the Fae folk then, not someone from the pack. My brow furrowed as I studied his striking, sculptural features and lithe, rangy build more closely.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" Shirley clucked her tongue in mild chastisement. "Alexa, this is Joshua. He's my...well, we've been seeing each other for a while now."

The obvious affection glowing between the two of them set off a new pang in my chest. I masked it with a weak smile of my own.

"It's nice to meet you, Joshua. Shirl's told me...nothing about you, actually." I arched an accusatory eyebrow at my oldest friend.

She had the good grace to look abashed, tucking an errant russet curl behind her ear. "I was going to tell you! I swear it, babe. Things just got...a little crazy."

A hysterical giggle bubbled up from my raw throat, the manic edge to it setting my nerves jangling. Crazy was putting it mildly. Joshua's hazel eyes flicked between us, silently taking in the unspoken subtext.

"Well!" He spoke up in an overly bright tone meant to dispel the awkwardness. "Now that you're awake and coherent, we should probably get you hydrated and grab a snack. I'll brew up some peppermint tea."

Joshua stood smoothly and retreated towards the kitchen, gently squeezing Shirley's shoulder in wordless reassurance as he passed. I watched him go, waiting until his footsteps receded before finding my voice again.

"So that's why you smelled like treeflower and sunlight earlier," I murmured, unable to resist the fleeting impish grin tugging at my lips. "My my, Shirl...a Fae companion? Quite the dashing, exotic paramour you've chosen for yourself."

The barest hints of an embarrassed blush stained her cheekbones as she avoided my gaze. "Oh hush, you. Like you're really one to talk after all these years of shacking up with Jasper and going nowhere with it."

The barb struck deeper than she could have intended. I flinched like she'd slapped me across the face. Her eyes flew wide with instant regret as my fleeting spark of playfulness guttered out.

"Alexa...I'm so sorry, honey. That was completely uncalled for." Shirley reached out in a beseeching gesture, but I recoiled from her touch.

Hot pinpricks of unshed tears stung my eyes as the night's emotional toll came crashing back down. My shoulders slumped inward in silent defeat.

"Just...don't," I croaked out in a broken whisper. "Please don't say his name around me. I can't...I won't survive it."

If I allowed myself to process what Jasper had done - to truly let it sink beneath the shock and numbness and scar over - I was terrified I might never recover. Dwelling on our ruined future, the love so utterly betrayed, seemed an exquisite and impossible torment.

Shirley's hand hovered in the air between us for a handful of aching heartbeats. Then, biting her lip against her own pained expression, she pulled it back and simply nodded.

Joshua's cheerful timbre drifted in from the kitchen once more, effectively shattering the thick tension that had descended. "Peppermint or chamomile, ladies?"

I shot Shirley a weak, watery smile of gratitude for the interruption. "Peppermint, please," I called out, swiping the treacherous tears from the corners of my eyes with the backs of my knuckles. "I think I need a bit more of a kick in the ass."

After a moment of silence, I spoke up hesitantly. "Shirl...I can't stay in this pack anymore. Not after what happened."

Shirley's eyebrows knit together with concern. "Where will you go?"

"Here," I replied, barely louder than a whisper. "If you'll have me, that is."

She pondered this for a beat, worrying her lower lip. "You know my alpha wouldn't just let any stray join our ranks, Lex. He values loyalty and discretion above all else."

"I understand. But you've known me almost my whole life. Can't you vouch for me?"

Shirley held up a placating hand. "Of course I can. And I will. Vincent trusts my judgment implicitly." She drew in a steadying breath. "But you have to be certain this is what you want. Leaving your birth pack, your responsibilities and position there - it's not a decision to make lightly."

My jaw clenched as flashes of Jasper's naked, sweat-slicked body rutting atop Olivia's assaulted my mind's eye again. I squeezed them shut, shoving the images away with a violent shake of my head.

"It's the only decision, Shirl. I can't..." The lump in my throat nearly choked me as I fought not to dissolve into tears again. "I won't go back there. Not after he...and she..."

Understanding softened Shirley's features. She reached over to squeeze my hand. "Okay, babe. I'll handle Vincent and the rest of the paperwork. With any luck, you'll be an official member of our pack by the end of the week."

Some of the leaden weight pressing down on my chest eased slightly. "Thank you. Truly."

"Don't mention it." Shirley waved away my gratitude as she stood. "I'm going to grab the forms to fill out your transfer request..."

She trailed off, hazel eyes going momentarily unfocused as she drew in a sharp inhalation. Her nostrils flared infinitesimally and when her gaze snapped back into focus, it locked intensely onto me.

"What?" I asked, perplexed by her suddenly tense scrutiny. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shirley didn't respond right away. Instead, she drifted closer, bending down to my eye level as her frown deepened into a patently quizzical expression.

"Alexa..." she began slowly, as if piecing together a puzzle in her mind. "Have you been experiencing any unusual...symptoms lately?"

I blinked owlishly at her. "Symptoms? What are you talking ab--?"

The words died on my lips as Shirley leaned in to inhale deeply mere inches from my face. She pulled back just as quickly, eyes wide with shock and...wonderment? My heart kicked up a staccato rhythm against my ribcage.

"Oh my god," Shirley breathed out in a reverent whisper. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

The bottom dropped out of my world in a sickening lurch. All the air rushed from my lungs in a harsh, wheezing gasp. I could only gape soundlessly at my friend, my mind utterly blank safe for the thunderous pounding of blood rushing through my ears.

Some deeply buried part of me had suspected - known - but to have it said out loud in such unvarnished terms was still a devastating gut-punch. Shirley reached out to grip my shoulders with an urgency that bordered on frantic.

"Alexa? Alexa, honey, say something!"

But I couldn't form words around the numb shock coursing through me. Tears burned hot trails down my frozen face. Shirley pulled me against her chest, wrapping me in a fierce embrace as my overwrought mind fractured apart into a maelstrom of emotions.

Pregnant. With a baby...Jasper's baby.

***

Jasper's POV

I never expected this to happen, especially not now. Just as I was about to sit down, my doctor, John, walked in-my bestie.

"Good morning, Jasper. How are you?" he asked, looking at me with concern. I couldn't find the words to respond.

"It's about Alexa, isn't it?" he said, reading my expression. Of course, he could tell. My frustration over Alexa's disappearance was written all over my face.

With her absence, there's a strange sense of emptiness, but it also gives me space to breathe. Yet, the wolf inside me is restless, craving to tear apart whoever is responsible for her disappearance.

"Tell me, John, how did this happen? How did I end up mating with someone other than my true mate?" I asked, my voice laced with frustration and confusion.

John approached me, guiding me to sit down as he began examining me-starting with my eyes, nose, and mouth. His frown deepened, and I gave him a questioning look.

"Someone used hypnotism on you, buddy. As a witch, I can confirm it. Can you recall how it happened?" he inquired.

"That night, after the last hunting season, I was at home. I heard noises and thought it was Alexa coming to visit, but it was Olivia, her best friend," I paused, taking a deep breath.

"I was caught in the act of it, John. I still remember... this look in her eyes when she saw me... she looked so disappointed John. I've fucked up everything haven't I?" I said loudly and John sighed to himself.

"It's a horrible thing to get caught in the act, I don't think this is something anyone can easily move on from."

"I just need to find her first. Then I can explain everything. I wouldn't cheat on her if I was in the right state of mind. Obviously, I wasn't so this happened."

"Toughen up like a man, Jasper. Apart from finding Alexa, you need to find out why you were with Olivia." John said with a hand upon his nose thoughtfully.

"Okay, but didn't you just say it was hypnotism?"

"Why did it happen? Who did it? All these are the big questions." John said while folding his arms.

"You're right," I said.

"But at the same time, all I want to do is to find Alexa."

"You're repeating the same thing that you've said, Jasper." John said in one breath.

"That's because that's all I want. I want her right next to me. If only I can see her just once and talk to her, she'll understand -Even if she doesn't, at least I'll know I've tried."

"Give me an object that represents her or an item she uses most. I can try my powers on it and sees if I can try my location spell."

"You can do that?"

John gave me a smirk and got up to his feet. I stood up to my feet as well and held his by the shoulders. "You really can do that?"

"What do you think?" John asked with a stretched up eyebrow.

I decided to believe what John was saying.

"I trust you. I will go to my room and bring one of Alexa's shirt which I forgot to give back to her."

"Alright - of course." John said and waited in my office while I left to my room and brought the fabric. I handed it over to John and he looked at my table that were filled with papers- all very important files.

"I'm going to need the table," he said and I nodded, packing the files and placing them in the cupboard.

"This is good," I told John who was glad at the now empty table. He pulled his hand into a fist and slowly walked to the table, filling it with sand. I had no idea where the sand came from but it filled up the table completely.

John then took the cloth from my hand and placed it on top the table that was filled with sand. Then he moved his fingers in some sort of assortic way and I saw the sand moving over and on top the shirt.

"This is beautiful," said John as he did weird things with his hands. Finally, he let go of it and looked at me squarely in the face.

"What did you find out?" I said

"Nothing, her scent is long gone from the cloth. I'm sorry."

"That's okay John, I'll send people to look for her."

"You're not certain that they will find her,"

"Tell me if you find another cloth with Alexa's scent, I'm sure I can get it-"

"-You've done enough, John. As it is, I have nothing else to bring in front of you as evidence of Alexa's scent. I've got nothing else." I said with a rising frustration within me.

John used his magic to take away the sand he placed on my office table. Within seconds, the table was as clear as it was a few minutes ago.

"You look busy," John said as he looked at me, with his hands in his pockets.

"Actually, I'll need to get busy now," I said as I started to pick the files in the cupboard and lay the stacked up ones on the table first.

"Then I'll check on you another time, Alpha." With that, John left my office. I picked up the cloth Alexa had left behind and brought it to my nose to sniff.

"Clearly, her scent is still on the cloth so why can't he find her location on it. That fraud." I muttered under my breath.

I got myself busy with work but I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing. Eventually, I decided to do something about what was bothering my heart.

I rose up from my office table and stepped out of the office.

"Someone," I called out and watched as a few guards turn to me in attention.

"Alpha," two of them came to me.

"I need only one of you," I said truthfully, and one of them bowed and turned away.

"How can I help you, Alpha." The guard said calmly.

"Bring me Olivia."