The Alpha impeded mate

Calla's POV

"Run." The word hissed through the air, quiet and forceful, sending a shudder down my spine. I halted, my palm tightening on the leather-bound journal I'd unearthed in the dusty west wing of Silverwood Manor. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, drowning out the calm of the huge library.

"Did you hear me?" The voice again, low and full of suppressed menace. "Run. Now." I turned, my breath catching. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the flickering light of a single candelabra, stood Lucian Grey. His glittering eyes flashed like molten steel, his body tight, as if barely holding himself back. He was impossibly tall, the sharp angles of his face dark yet shockingly apparent, like an oil painting brought to life.

"I wasn't-" "Don't lie to me, Calla." His voice ripped through my words, as sharp as the wolfish edge in his tone. "I-I just wanted to know what you were hiding." Though it shook, my voice held its ground. "You cannot keep driving me away while hoping I would stay. I have the truth due me."

Lucian came forward, the smell of rain and cedar all around. "The truth?" His laughter was harsh and gloomy. "The truth will wipe you off." "Try me," I said, my frustration driving more confidence. Lucian's eyes softened momentarily, and I saw regret there, suffering? But it vanished as fast as it had first shown.

"You have no idea what you have come upon," His voice now was quieter, tinged with something I couldn't quite identify. "That diary is not only filled with old tales. This is a curse, a death sentence." Though I felt a cold run down my spine, I would not back down.

"Then why let anyone discover it here? Given how perilous it is," "Because it's bait," he said, closing the distance between us in two quick steps. "To attract those unable to resist their interest. People similar to you enjoy this." I pushed back against the cold stone wall of the library, swallowing fiercely. Now he was so close; I could feel the heat radiating off him, the raw strength under his surface placid veneer flickering.

"I didn't ask to be involved in this," I said softly. "I didn't ask for any of this." "You find me to have done it?" His voice cracked, and for a brief instant his burden was exposed. "From me, this curse has claimed everything: my relatives, my freedom. And right now, it is trying to grab you."

My heart hammered, a concoction of terror and something else-something I couldn't name-welling inside me. "Take me how?" The hand of Lucian emerged, his fingers touching my cheek. Though it was feather-light, it burnt through me like wildfire. His voice barely above a whisper, he said, "By making me want you."

At his words, my breath stopped. His confession felt to me like a storm approaching, equal parts terrible and seductive. I could not ignore the magnetic attraction between us, the way his presence occupied every vacant place within me. It wasn't only an attraction, though. It was something darker, more profound connected to the truths he refused to reveal.

I could see the struggle happening in his eyes, his emotions pushed and pulled. Lucian was poised on the brink of something primordial for all his control. And I wasn't sure whether I wanted to let him fall or drag him back. "Lucian..." Though I wasn't sure what, my voice sounded like a plea.

"Don't say my name like that." His voice sounded like a deep growl, and his hand fell away to create a frigid emptiness where his warmth had been. "Like what?" I asked, pushing beyond the lump in my throat and demanded. "Like you are someone worth rescuing?" His laugh lacked comedy and was harsh. "You're not right. I have little worth worth saving. And neither are you if you hang around here."

"That's not your decision to make," I said, thrusting the diary up against his chest. "I am not a damsel you could imprison in a tower to stay safe. Let me fight if this is also my battle." Lucian grabbed the diary quickly; his power served as a sobering reminder of the beast hiding behind his flesh.

"You're asking for something else entirely, Calla." Then let me know about it. My voice resounded in the library off the old stone walls. "Tell me the truth; stop treating me like a child. What are you most terrified of?" His eyes blazed with a mix of wrath and hopelessness, his jaw tightened. At last, his voice came up

"You," he said. "I worry about what I would do to you should I lose control. Of what I already experience close to you." Tension permeated the air between us, a wire too tightly poised for a snap. We neither spoke for a moment.

I said gently, "Not scared of you." "You ought to be." As Lucian leaned in and his lips hung inches from me, the distance between us vanished. A war drum drowning out all else, my heart thundered in my chest. His breath warm against my skin, he murmured, "You should hate me."

"But right now, you are here. Why?" "Because I see you," I said, my voice quivering with the weight of the truth. "Not the beast, not the curse. Just you." For a heartbeat, the world stood still. And then his lips crashed into mine.

The kiss was fire and desperation, a release of everything we'd been holding back. His hands held my waist, pressing me toward him as if he could shelter me from the world-or maybe from himself. I clung to him, lost myself in the moment, in the man who was as much a mystery as he was a deliverance.

But then, just as suddenly as it began, he drew away. "No," he answered, his voice thick with grief. "I can't. I won't." Before I could react, a low, guttural growl rippled through the library. The shadows seemed to shift and move, taking on a life of their own.

"Lucian?" I muttered, worry creeping into my voice. He turned toward the sound, his entire body tense and ready for a fight. "Stay behind me," he ordered, his voice the calm before the storm. But the growling grew louder, closer, and I realized with a sinking feeling that whatever was coming wasn't just after him-it was after me.

The door to the library burst open, splinters flying as a massive, dark-furred wolf charged in. Its eyes glowed an unnatural yellow, and its snarl sent chills down my spine. "Darius," Lucian hissed, his voice harsher than I'd ever heard.

The wolf changed, its form twisted till a man replaced it. He was tall and skinny, and his harsh demeanor made my gut turn around. The man said, "Well, well," his yellow eyes fixed on me. "This is the small lamb you have been hiding." Lucian hissed as his body rippled with barely restrained wrath. "Don't touch her."

Darius grinned and never turned away from me. "Oh, I wouldn't... not yet. But soon enough, she'll beg me to." Lucian lunged, but before he could reach him, Darius fled into the darkness, his laughter booming through the room like a promise of destruction.

And I was left trembling, clutching the journal to my chest, as the weight of what I'd just stepped into finally began to sink in.

Calla's POV

"When I had the opportunity, I should have let you go." Lucian's voice sliced over the silence of the dark woodland like ice. Standing before me, his massive shoulders stiff and his silver eyes glittering like twin beacons in the dark. I crossed my arms, defiance pulsing inside me. "But did you not do it? So quit acting like this relates to my safety. You hesitate. Of the things I will learn. About what I mean to you." His eyes clouded, and I could see the muscle in his jaw flexing as he battled to control his feelings.

"Don't press me, Calla."

"Or what?" I asked, challenging, approaching him closely, my voice a whisper daring him to respond. "You will snarl? Snarl. Remind me once more that you are a wolf and I am merely a stupid human not sure what she has gotten herself into?" He said nothing; the strain between us was heavy enough to choke on.

"Say something, Lucian," I said, now with a shaky voice. "Because I'm not leaving. Not now. Not following all I have seen." With his hands strong but not cruel, Lucian bridged the distance between us in an instant. His touch sent a crazy mix of heat and electricity down my spine. His voice low and threatening, he asked, "You think you're ready for this? For me, for the creatures who prowl the shadows, the ones I hardly keep under control?"

"Yes," I whispered, squarely staring him in the eye. "Because for some crazy reason I trust you." His hold relaxed, and for a split second, his defenses broke. I saw the guy under the beast, his curse weighing him and his loneliness following. He said, "You shouldn't," his voice hardly audible.

"Then give me a reason not to," I said, my heart thumping in my chest. "Tell me, Lucian, what is actually happening. Darius, whose name is who? With me, what is he hoping for?" Darius's face grew stiff once more at the mention of him. He let me go and moved aside, running a hand through his dark hair. "Darius is the least of our issues," he added, his voice sour. "He is a pawn in a far more expansive game. And you are the one with the key to bring it to an end."

Frustration bubbling over, "Ending what?" I asked. "The curse, then? This battle? Your perpetual brooding?" His lips opened to a humorless smile. "All of it." "Stop using riddles in your speech!" I grabbed his arm and made him face me. I snapped. "Explain why, if I'm so darn essential! To merit being dragged into your dream, what did I do?" "You were born," he replied, his eyes cutting right through me. "That is not an answer." "This is the only one I own." He sighed, his shoulders drooping as though the entire planet rested on them. "Your line of descent relates to mine. Restricted by a betrayal more ancient than either of us. Calla, the curse was never merely something I had to live with. It belongs to you too." The words stole the air from my lungs like a blow. "You lie." "I wish I were."

The wind whistled among the trees, bearing a far-off wail. The head of Lucian snapped, his body alert right away. "They have found us," he whispered, his voice tight with demand. "We have to migrate. Here now." "Who-" "Run!" he cried, his eyes flickering with a wild light. I didn't have time to argue. The growling became louder, closer, and Lucian grabbed my hand, forcing me into a sprint into the dense woodland. My heart beat as branches scraped at my flesh, the moonlight barely breaking the canopy above. "Keep up," he ordered, his voice a blend of authority and anxiety. "I'm trying!" I snapped, my breath coming in jagged gasps.

We broke through the trees into the open, and Lucian skidded to a halt, his body moving in front of me like a shield. Panic forming in my throat, I asked, "What is it?" "Stay behind me," he commanded, his voice devoid of any space for debate. Two enormous wolves from the shadows emerged with weird golden eyes. My blood turned cold when I realized their eyes reflected the same merciless intelligence as Darius's. One of them hissed, its voice almost human. "Lucian Grey. Still running the great protector, I see." Lucian hissed, his voice harsh, his body shaking with the attempt to keep his wolf under control

The wolves moved menacingly, circling us. The second one replied, "She smells... interesting," with lips drawing back in a twisted smile. "What makes this small human especially unique?" "She's under my protection," Lucian growled, his voice lethal. "You perish if you touch her." The first wolf laughed, a low, terrible sound. "Grey, you are already dead. Simply put, you do not yet know it."

The wolves lunged as the strain broke like a bowstring. Moving faster than I could have imagined, Lucian met them squarely in a collision of jaws and claws. "Run, Calla!" he said, his voice a mixture of desperation and directive force. But I found myself unable to move. Rooted in the ground, I saw Lucian fight with a savagery both horrifying and breathtaking. The wolves were unrelenting, their attacks planned, but Lucian held his ground-his force unparalleled.

Till one of them passed through his barriers. "Luci!" The wolf drew blood from his shoulder, and I shrieked. His body shook as he hurled the wolf off, roaring in agony. Nevertheless, the damage was done. The second wolf turned to me before I could respond. "Calla, rush!" Lucian yelled, but it was late. The wolf leaped, its great weight barreling toward me.

I braced for impact, but just before it came to me, a flash of silver light lit the clearing and stopped the wolf in its tracks. The light gathered into a form-a woman with flowing silver hair and moonlike eyes. She exuded an unfathomable force that hummed the air around her. Her voice resounding like a thunderclap, she exclaimed, "You dare to harm the chosen one?" Their anxiety evident, the wolves whined and withdrew into the darkness.

Lucian staggered to his feet, his eyes wide with shock. "You..." The woman turned to me, her gaze penetrating. "The time has come, Calla. You must realize your destiny." And just like that, the light vanished, leaving me standing in the clearing with Lucian, my heart racing and my world forever changed.

"Don't tell me you trust her," Lucian said as he walked the length of the deserted chapel, his tense, restless motions breaking through the stifling silence. Moonlight poured across his sharp features from the broken stained glass. More for comfort than warmth, I stood close to the altar with my arms tightly around myself.

"She did not only save us. Or were you intending to fight those wolves and whatever else is out there alone?" He stopped suddenly and whirled to face me. "Calla, that woman is not a savior. She serves as a curse, a live reminder of all I have tried to hide." My chest tightened at the raw hurt in his voice, so I moved hesitantly forward.

"Lucian, who is she?" "From us, what is her expectation?"

Calla's POV

Bitterly laughing, he ran a hand through his hair. "She wants you, Calla. You're her last opportunity at fixing the mess she created millennia ago. And if she has to destroy you to fix it, she won't hesitate." "Destroy me?" The words caught my throat, the weight of them settling heavily in my chest.

His silver eyes locked onto mine, fierce and unrelenting. "Yes. And if you think I'm going to let that happen, you're wrong." The intensity in his gaze was almost too much to handle, but I refused to look away. For weeks now, I'd been trapped in the tornado of his world-his secrets, his curses, his struggles.

"Maybe you don't have a choice," I murmured gently, my voice shaking with a mixture of dread and defiance. "There's always a choice," he said, his tone gentler now but no less adamant. "And I've made mine." I gulped hard, my thoughts racing with questions and doubts.

Lucian's world was dark and perilous, a maze of half-truths and buried betrayals. But it was also the only location where I'd ever felt completely alive. "Then tell me," I urged, coming closer to him. "Who is she? What does she have to do with us?"

Lucian's countenance stiffened, and for a second, I thought he wouldn't answer. But then he sighed, the weight of his load engraved into every line of his face. "Her name is Selene," he continued, his voice low. "Calla, she is not some haphazard rescuer. It was she who first cursed my bloodline."

"Selene?" I repeated, incredulous. "The lady who pulled us from underdevelopment? She is the one who-" "Indeed," he said, cutting sharply. "I am like this because of her. The cause my family vanished. I have spent decades battling to defend those who do not even know what is seeking them."

"Centuries?" My voice broke on the word, the weight of it striking me like a goods train. "Lucian, what are you saying?" He moved aside, his shoulders stiff. "Calla, I have lived more incarnations than I would want to count. The curse ties me to this planet and makes me a pawn in a battle I never asked to fight."

My thoughts whirled as I worked through his remarks. And me too? Where amongst all of this do I fit? Lucian turned back to face me, his countenance insensible. "Only you can call it off. All of it, the curse, the conflict. You would have to give everything up, though, to do that."

His comments sat there, weighty and oppressive. My heart thumping in my chest, I staggered toward him. "Why did you not tell me this before?" His voice raw, he said, "Because I wanted you to not have to make that decision." "I considered myself able to keep you out of it and safe. But now, though."

I said, "Now it's too late," just above a whisper. He nodded and tightened his jaw. "Indeed." Neither of us talked for a minute. Unspoken sentiments and emotions we both were too terrified to express filled the quiet.

Finally reaching out to touch his arm, I murmured, "You don't have to do this alone." Lucian hesitated at the touch but did not withdraw. "Calla, you have no idea what you are presenting. You will start to be targeted if you stand by me. They will come for you; they will not stop until they have wrecked you."

"Then let them come," I murmured, my voice firm despite the terror running through me. "Lucian, I am not terrified. Not if it means being at your side." His eyes softened, and I spotted hope flickering for the first time.

"You should be scared," he said, his hand rising to cup my cheek. "Since I am." His gentle touch made me shiver down my spine, and I started slinking toward him, yearning for his warmth and comfort.

The sound of breaking glass filled the chapel before any of us could say another word. Lucian pressed me behind him, his body acting as a shield and moved quickly. His voice a low growl, he said, "Stay close." The air grew heavy, infused with a dark energy that caused my back of the neck's hair to stand on edge.

From the shadows came a black figure whose face was hidden but whose presence was unquestionably frightening. "Lucian Grey," the man stated with a venomous voice. "Still playing the hero, I note."

"What do you wish for?" Lucian demanded, his body poised for attack. The apparition laughed-a hollow, icy sound that chilled my spine. "Obviously, the female. Turn her over; I might let you survive." Lucian hissed, his eyes ablaze with a wild light over his dead body.

"That can be set up," the man said, approaching. Lucian lunged for the creature, his motions a blur; the air around us buzzed with vitality. Their force of impact rocked the ground under us in a conflict of power. Heart pounding, I staggered back as the fight continued.

Then I sensed it-a stinging, searing anguish in my chest. Downward, I saw a brilliant mark-complex and ancient-like a brand seared into my soul spreading across my skin. "Calla," Lucian spoke with a far-off, terrified quality.

The person turned to look at me, triumph shining in their eyes. "It's begun," they said, their voice nearly respectful. "She is waking." "Why didn't you tell me this could kill me?" I stumbled into the clearing, gripping my chest where the luminous symbol still pulsed weakly under my skin.

The jungle was eerily still, save for the sound of my strained breathing. Lucian was close behind me, his voice sharp and strained. "Because I didn't know it would happen this soon." "That's not good enough!" I whirled on him, my rage spilling out.

"I deserve the truth, Lucian. You keep telling me to trust you, but you've done nothing but keep me in the dark!" He paused in his tracks, his hands clenched at his sides. "You think I like this? Watching you suffer because of something I couldn't stop? I've spent centuries attempting to break this curse, Calla. Centuries! And now you're tangled in it because of me."

"Then twist me!" I broke off in a snapping voice. "Change it, Lucian." I object to being involved in this!