Marked and forgotten by the Alpha

CHAPTER ONE

ARIA POV

People said I was born cursed while some said I was chosen. Others said that the moon made a mistake but none of them were there that night when it all happened.

Only the storm, and the screaming, and a moon that bled red across the sky.

I don't remember my birth, obviously. All I know is what people tell me, and what the Moonfang pack didn't forget.

But I remember the story so well, it feels like I lived it.

My mother's voice always softened when she told me the story. Her fingers would always brush my hair like I was some kind of egg that shouldn't be hurt.

"You didn't cry when you were born," she always said to me. "You just opened your eyes and stared at the moon like you had once seen it, but you only saw it that day."

The midwives panicked that day. Babies are supposed to cry but I didn't.

Lightning and thunder were so heavy that night, but I didn't move an inch; I was motionless. No single trace of tears fell from my eyes

"It felt like the world stopped," My mother whispered once more "It feels like you were waiting for something or someone.

My birth began with the storm. Cold Wind was smashing against the pack house, and rain was hitting the windows, and warriors were all pacing outside as if they were expecting an attack.

Inside, my mother was in labor surrounded by panic. She gripped the sheet tightly

"Beta Delilah, push!" one of the midwives had said.

Her screams shook the walls and the entire place. The room was dimly lit, and every shadow was huge and trembling.

Then someone shouted, pointing outside the window, and every head turned to look at the window.

"The moon... look!" The window was glowing red. Thick blood is kind of red. It wasn't a normal red but dark, deep, and deadly.

The kind of red that made even the wolves step back.

The midwives dropped to their knees immediately, clasping both hands together. An elder whispered, shaking with a fearful voice.

''Blood Moon births bring either power... or ruin." He said in fear, staring at the moon.

Lightning hit the ground outside, and this time around it was louder, and the whole building shook.

Beta Damian, my father, who was strong, strict, and calm, took one look at me emerging into the world under the red moon and stopped breathing.

My mom screamed one last time with full force, using her last strength, and then what was heard was silence. The storm froze, the wolves outside all went quiet and the heavy wind stopped moving.

I guess the world was holding its breath.

They placed me in my mother's arms and I didn't cry. It was said that I opened my eyes, looked straight at the blood moon, and for a moment the storm obeyed me.

The lightning stopped midway and the rain suspended in the air. My mother swore that the moon shone brighter that night and then I finally made a sound.

A growl!

Everyone was shocked to the bone that a newborn baby was growling. The sound echoed through the entire pack house, powerful and sharp.

Every wolf shifted instinctively at the sound. My father stumbled backward like he was punched, but my mother didn't, for once, show any sign of shock. She just held me closer, her tears falling onto my tiny face.

My birth was not peaceful, but it was a warning.

*

Eighteen years later...

I walk through the Moonfang pack house, keeping my hood up and my face down. It's morning patrol change, which means this hallway is full of warriors.

I hadn't walked far enough when I started hearing whispers from different directions.

"She's the Blood Moon girl."

"Don't look at her eyes too long else...."

"Her wolf still hasn't come out"

"Do you think she's... broken?"

Their words hit harder than claws but I ignore them.

My mother has always told me that the Moon Goddess chose me for something bigger than I haven't fulfilled my purpose on earth yet.

The pack said the Moon Goddess punished me but it doesn't change the fact that at eighteen, I still haven't shifted. Every full moon, I stand outside the training grounds with heavy chest burn with my bones trembling but nothing happens.

The scene is always embarrassing, humiliating, and painful. Most wolves I know shifted at age thirteen, and even at seventeen, it is considered late, but look at me.

''The Blood Moon girl that can't even shift, amazing, right?'' I chuckled to myself.

I pushed the training hall door open, breathing hard as sweat fell from my face.

And there I saw him.

Lucas Blackthorne! The future Alpha and also my childhood friend.

He was standing in the center of the training mats, shirtless, his muscles tense as he pinned another warrior to the ground effortlessly.

All the girls in the room had their eyes on him, and I rolled my eyes with a scoff.

He's so attractive. He was tall, with broad shoulders, intense eyes that looked so innocent. His hair is dark and messy, falling in his face when he moves. He looks powerful and dominant without being told.

He turned around in slow motion and his eyes locked on mine.

My chest tightens as I start breathing hard. I immediately looked away. I hate the fact that he has lots of effects on me.

We grew up together. We used to race to the woods every time barefoot. We used to talk about everything about our lives, the moon, my dreams, and fears, and he does the same too.

And then one day, he became the future Alpha and I became a nobody. Ever since he started his Alpha training, Lucas acts like I'm a ghost he used to know.

"Aria!" someone called out from the mat.

It's Mira, one of the female warriors. She was very bold, loud, and beautiful, and she's very much interested in Lucas. Anyone would know she likes him. It's obvious.

"Here to watch training again?" she chuckled.

I lift my chin. "I'm here to train."

A few people hissed, and she smirked.

"You can't shift. What exactly do you plan to train?"

The words hit me hard in the chest.

Lucas turned sharply toward her, then toward me, and I saw something flash dark in his eyes.

Was it from Possession? Anger?

It can't be.

He's always serious when it comes to pack training but he doesn't say a word. He doesn't defend me, he hasn't for once defended me.

Mira laughed when I walked past her, hitting him with her shoulder, and I stumbled, almost falling, but I held myself. I won't even give her the chance to mock me in front of everyone. It's impossible.

I step on the mat with hands up as my heart pounds harder.

Even If I can't shift, then I'll fight.

Lucas watched us silently as I exchanged a fight with one of the junior warriors. He's very fast and I end up on my back more times than I can count.

I get up every time.

After the last takedown, Lucas stepped forward.

"That's enough." His voice was deep and calm.

"I am not done," I said.

He clenched his jaw "You're shaking."

He's right. My body is exhausted and trembling but I don't want him to know that.

"I can keep going."

His eyes darkened immediately.

"You're pushing yourself too hard, Aria ." He said.

"You stopped caring before, so what changed? I blurted out. The words slip out before I can stop them.

The room went silent immediately.

For a moment, Lucas looked like I slapped him then his voice dropped, low and dangerous.

"Meet me outside. Now!" he commanded as he turned around and started walking outside. My stomach twitched as I hit my forehead with my knuckle.

I follow him out into the cold morning air.

He stops near the training yard fence with fists clenched at his sides.

"What was that?" he asked without turning around.

"You don't get to be angry," I said quietly, and he finally faced me. He then stepped closer.

"You think I don't care?" Lucas asked.

Pain flashed through his eyes, and I could see it, and my heart stumbled.

"No," I whisper. "I think you used to."

Wind blew past us and the memories of it flashed into my head.

He reached up to me and used his fingers to brush a loose strand of hair from my face.

The touch is gentle and soft and warm. I shouldn't be feeling this way because I know how dangerous this person in front of me is.

"Aria..." His voice cracked a little. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I still belong to you."

My heart stopped racing at once, and I opened my mouth to talk, but before I could say a word, a deafening howl came through the training yard.

Every warrior started running. Something is happening at the northern gate and Lucas stepped backward a bit with his eyes flashing with Alpha instinct.

"Stay here." He commanded and turned to leave, and I don't know what came over me, and I grabbed his wrist, and he froze.

"Lucas " I swallowed hard. "Please be careful out there"

He looked at me in surprise, and he opened his mouth to say something, but instead he pulled his wrist freely and continued with his race.

I stood there all alone, my heart pounding faster, knowing fully well that something in the air had shifted.

I could feel it in my bones and in my blood. That same storm from my birth that my mother has told me about us coming back, and this time around, I'm not a helpless newborn baby who knows nothing but the girl the blood moon marked, and my story is finally starting.

CHAPTER 2

LUCAS'S POV

People usually think that strength comes with power, but they are wrong.

Real strength comes from control-mostly when you're holding yourself together when everything in you wants to break.

That is a lesson I learned early in life. I learned that you don't have to be the future Alpha of Moonfang pack by being soft.

Softness is weakness itself. Soft gets people killed and that's why I trained and fought harder.

Aria is the one thing I've never been able to control, not even when we were kids even up till now.

*

The moment the warning growl reached the training ground, my instincts hit me like a punch. I knew this won't end well.

The Warriors were running Helter Skelter, and the villagers were screaming nonstop. Everyone was running for their own survival.

I drew my sword out of my pants and aimed for the training ground, fearlessly.

My wolf claws beneath my skin, wanting to come out.

"Let me out! Let me protect the pack!'' My wolf screamed but I ignored it. I need to bring whoever this was on my own without any help.

"Protect her, Lucas" My instincts screamed at me again but I pushed that instincts to down. "Focus, Lucas. The pack comes first " I said to myself.

But even as I ran, I felt Aria's eyes on my back and I hate myself for wanting to go back to her.

I reached the training ground at once and I saw two of the pack's soldiers on the ground, their heads were bowed to the ground and between them was a stranger. He was tall and muscular and he was wearing a mask, only his silver eyes were visible. He doesn't has the smell of wolf, he was just natural.

"Who are you?" I demanded, raising the sword to his face and he smirked.

"I came to deliver a message, Lucas " He said with a grin, an unsettling smile that smell of danger.

"Start talking before I pull this blade on your neck" I said and before I could blink he disappeared and reappeared at my back.

He pulled out a sword and almost hit me with it but I was fast enough to shield myself with my blade.

"You move like a king" He murmured. "How interesting" He smiled.

"I'm not a king yet but I'll kill you if you dare touch my pack. Know this and know peace " I said, my eyes piercing deep into his eyes.

"That's even a more interesting. You're not a king yet" He chuckled.

Every hair on my body stood as the words hit deep. I'm not a king yet, not ever an Alpha.

"I came for the blood moon girl" He tilted his head as he talked.

My eyes widened at once.

Aria?

He wants Aria? Why? My chest tightened immediately.

"You better don't try anything that you'll regret in the future. Stay away from her" I said, pressing the blade against his throat tighter.

"I cannot. It's already too late. Fate already picked her. She's not your business neither is no one so stop acting like you own her" He said and the blade fell from my hand.

"You can try protecting her, my dear friend but you should know that blood moon children are never born by accident. It's her destiny" He said.

"Shut up " I yelled, every hair in my skin stood.

"Accept the truth that__"

"One more word from you and I'll slice your neck into pieces and feed it to the rogues" I said with sharp eyes.

"No need for violence, Lucas "

"I'm not an Alpha "

"But you're an Alpha of her fate, you know?" He said and I froze.

How come he knows so much about me that I know. He walked closer to reach me and dropped a small object on the ground and I shifted backward.

It was a small black crescent and it was moon marking, carved like a small stone and it's glowing faintly.

Every legend about Blood Moon children flashed in my head.

"What does this mean?" I asked.

"It means she's awakening and you know what does that mean?" He whispered. "It's either you choose her " he added.

The moment he said those words he disappeared like a wind.

The two warriors stood up and the soldiers came to my front and they all looked at me.

"No one leaves the bother till further notice. Understood!" I yelled and they all bowed. Even if I'm not the Alpha yet they all obeys me.

I retreated backward to the spot I left Aria and she was still there standing innocently close to the fence. The small wind moved her hair to one side and the crescent moon on her neck came to view as it shone brighter.

She hasn't seen me yet. Her hands were tucked into her hoodie pocket. It seemed like she sensed my presence already because the moment I made to take another step she turned to look at me.

My heart sank immediately as something hit me. She didn't feel my presence with her mind but her body did and it means only one thing.

She isn't my mate and the ceremony hasn't begin yet and the moon goddess hasn't revealed that she's my mate.

"Lucas" She called with a short smile as she approached me.

"You're still here? I thought you already left"

"What happened at the northern gate?" She asked.

"You're supposed to be inside"

"There you go again.... You're ignoring my question" She frowned.

"There was someone at the gate" I spoke.

"Who? A hunter?"

"No"

"Then what is it?" She asked with curiosity in her eyes.

"An unknown person. He was putting on a mask. I don't even know him " I said, trying to hide the fears in my

"You're scared "Aria said and I cracked a small laugh.

"Why would I be? Alphas don't get scared" I waved my hand in the air.

"Yes they do but they don't show it" She flaunts her hair backward and the crescent moon came to view again and I swallowed hard.

She isn't aware of her mark yet. I'm sure of that. Her smell of wild jasmine mixed with the night wind cloud my head and the hair my neck stood abruptly.

"Touch her. She's yours" My wolf screamed inside me but I forced my hand to stay put.

"I don't want you to near the border again " I said and she sneered.

"Is that an order?"

"Yes " I replied.

"For the pack or..."

"For your sake. Just listen to me this time around Aria " I cut her off.

"Why are you pushing me away, Lucas?" She asked and I blinked rapidly.

"It's for your own protection" I whispered to myself. "Because staying close to me will only ruin you and anytime I'm with you I am weak"

She tapped my arm and I jerked back to earth.

"Because getting close to me... will destroy you." I only said.

I wanted to tell her the truth that a stranger came to find her and her powers are forming but she's not aware. How would I tell her that? Telling her the truth would worsen things.

"Go home, Aria" I said coldly, returning to my normal self.

She take one step closer to me with fears in her eyes. "You're making me scared, Lucas. Tell me what's wrong" She sniffed.

I can't disclose anything to her. Her heart is still fragile and I can't say anything yet else she might take it wrongly.

It's best I keep it a secret that her wolf is awakening and strange people are coming for her.

Chapter 3

Aria's pov

The moment Lucas walked away from me I felt something deep inside my chest cracked. This was unlike him. He hasn't for once show any affection to me since he started his training as an Alpha.

"Something is definitely wrong somewhere" I muttered. "Go home" his words replayed in my head.

I stood there for a few seconds, watching him disappear into the trees with his warriors, and I swear I can still feel his warmness in the air.

What was I expecting? He's the future Alpha and I'm no one. It's best I keep my distance from him. If he wants distance I'll give him that. I'm tired of begging for his attention.

*

Inside the pack's house, everywhere was silent which was normal because morning training has empty everyone outside.

My footsteps echoed loudly across the empty room. I headed straight to my room when someone walked into my path.

Mira!

She was wearing a smirk on her face with her arms crossed under her breasts.

"You look upset... Did Lucas finally let you out of his way?" She asked with a grin and I didn't say a word instead I continued with my walk.

She blocked me from moving any further by placing her hand on the way.

"Why are you even always with him? You're nothing but a weak wolf. You can't even shift" Those words hit like slap.

"Out of my way" I said sharply.

"No" She lowered her voice as she stepped closer.

"Girls like you don't deserve to go close to Alphas, you work is to serve them not the other way around " She said and I only heaved. "It's best you leave this place. Leave the sight of the Alpha. He doesn't want you, understood?"

"If you don't get the hell out of my way right now you'll regret what's going to happen to you in the next two seconds. It's best you respect yourself and get out of the way" I said with my fist clenched tightly beside me and for the first time in my life I saw fears in Mira's eyes.

The way she looked at me says it all. She was shocked. She didn't say a word instead she scoffed and murmuring some inaudibly words as she walked.

I watched her figure disappearing into thin air till she was out of sight completely and I pressed my shaking hands together, inhaling a deep breath.

I walked into my small space, my room. I collapsed on the bed and palmed my face with my palm and sobbed silently.

"Just take a deep breath, Aria. Don't let Mira words get to you. She means nothing" I reassured myself trying not to think deep about what she had said to me earlier.

On the other hand, Mira and everyone is right on this. The Lucas deserve a Strong Luna that they can rule the kingdom together forever and not a weak wolf that was cursed by the blood moon and can't even shift yet.

Before I know it tears started slipping from my eyes to the bed, I couldn't even wipe them off.

"Why does it has to be me? It should have been someone else." I hiccuped as more tears poured out.

All of a sudden a sharp pain hit my chest and before I could think of anything else blood spilled out of my mouth.

"What the hell?" I gasped as my hand went to my lip. I suddenly felt a strange energy around me. It felt like something in me was struggling to come out. I could feel the heat rushing down my body.

It hurts so much. My visions turned blurry. Everywhere turned red and it was as if I was in another world. My legs stayed glued to the ground.

"Argh!!! Make it stop. Someone help!" I shouted the moment I caught my fingers and veins glowing and all red.

The pain was unbearable. I bet that anyone could hear me because I couldn't even hear my own voice.

I heard a voice and my eyes snapped open at once and I looked around.

"Who's there?" I asked in shaking lips.

"Aria " the voice came again but this time around it came from inside me. "Finally" The voice came again and that was all I could remember before passing out on the cold floor.

*

I woke after a few minutes and the first thing I noticed was the sudden change of weight but I ignored it. I was drenched in sweats and for some seconds I thought all that happened was a dream.

I staggered to the small mirror on my dressing table and I picked it up and stared at myself. My heart left my chest the moment I saw my reflection on the mirror.

My eyes were no longer brow but instead they were glowing red like blood and I stumbled backward and flipped my eyes opened again and it was the same thing.

Fear gripped me at once and the mirror slipped out of my hands and shattered to the ground.

I grabbed my jacket and ran out of the room. My face was covered with the hoodie cap and a familiar scent hit my nose but I ignored it.

"Aria " Lucas called and I halted, holding the jacket tight.

He was at a distance leaning against a wall and he was covered in sweats like he just ran a Maranon.

He came closer to me. "Aria. You don't look good, Are you okay?" he tried to pull the hood up but I turned around sharply.

"Don't!" I whispered in fears.

"Don't do what?" He asked.

I turned sharply and pushed him out of the way and made to run again but I missed my steps and fell to the ground and my hood cap fell in the process, revealing my eyes.

"Aria!!" He gasped with wide eyes. "Your eyes... They looked so different!!"

"I know and I don't know what's happening to me" I said with a heavy breath, staring at the ground.

"Just look at me Aria..." He tried touching me but I slapped his hands off.

"I said don't come close, please. I'm a beast and you'll get hurt if you come close" I said but he didn't keep his distance.

"Stay put Aria let us figure this out..." He said with a small smile and I moved backward slowly while shaking my head sideways.

"You made it clear to me in the morning that we're nothing. You shun me off like I was nothing and now you're suddenly saying we will figure this out? Let's stop deceiving ourselves Lucas. I'll handle this myself " I said and he sighed loudly.

The pain I felt earlier came again and this time around it was unbearable. I couldn't even breath. I gasped for air.

I felt a burning sensation from my neck and my finger found it way to my neck but before I could touch the spot, something shone brightly from there.

"Your wolf is waking up, Aria " Lucas muttered.

"What are you spitting? I don't have a wolf!!" I shouted.

"And who the hell doesn't have one, Aria? It's waiting for the perfect time which is now" He said and he did the least I was expecting. He squatted to my level and held my arms. "Let it all out, Aria..."

My eyes glowed brighter and my fingers curled up as my heart was racing faster. Lucas never let me go instead he held my tightly to himself.

"Shift Aria... You can do this, I trust in you " He soothed me caressing my hair.

"Argh!!!" I screamed loudly as the moon turned blood red and I fell to the ground weakly.