The Tainted Alpha

The raindrops hit my skin angrily. Like it's passing a message of "You ain't supposed to walk under me" but then I can't care less.

My head spins around with thoughts of how sad life has become here.

Everything was once rosy but now, even a shit hole is better.

The cold drops serve as a way to cool my skin and maybe even cool my life and just make me feel at peace for once.

The road is deserted since everyone has taken shelter at the pack house for safety.

Except me.

I'm the only one with such gut to walk under the rain along this road that leads to the woods.

I'm quite aware I'm walking to my death but isn't it better?

To just die and leave all this behind.

I stride along the road with my hands in the pocket of the hoodie I have on.

The road is dark and lonely and who knows what lurking around it.

Maybe rogues or some vengeful wolf.

It doesn't take time before I get in the middle of the woods with tall trees surrounding me. I turn to look around, there's nothing in sight, just pure darkness. No normal wolf would be able to see in such darkness but I can.

I can do a lot more than a normal wolf but being a female, I've gotten a lot more discrimination than I can count.

No one even values me at least for my bloodline.

I walk further and further into the woods, with my feet pressing on leaves and even getting stained with mud.

The rain doesn't stop me. The harshness of its drops doesn't stop me.

I don't have a destination, but I'll keep walking. I plan to die today. No one will know when I die. I can die in peace and not face this hell of a life.

I get to the edge. Like a cliff very high from the ground. If I fall from this point there's not a chance I will survive and that's what I want. I want to die. Yes, I'm a coward for giving up so easily but having no one who believes in me or who serves as a friend or family, I would rather die.

I close my eyes, with memories of my life playing in my head. I take in deep breaths and take my right leg away from the ground to the open space where I would fall. If I move my second leg, I'll be off and dead.

Slowly, I move my second leg. With my eyes still closed, I feel my body falling and crashing harshly on the ground.

****

I struggle slightly with the terrible pain in my waist and my head. It shouldn't hurt after death but it did hurt.

I force my eyes open just to meet with another pair of eyes. Silver ones that belong to an elderly woman. Not so elderly but she's far older than I am."You tried to kill yourself." She smiles and presses a hot cloth on my head.

I try to groan and yell out in pain but nothing comes out of my mouth.

She presses the cloth on my legs as well as my waist.

"Why would you want to kill yourself?" She asks, still pressing the hot cloth on my body. It hurts badly but even a sigh doesn't escape my lips.

"Is she alright?" A tall broad man walks in. For a moment I didn't see his face, just his chest because he's way out of my line of sight but with every step he takes closer his face becomes more and more visible."She's still recovering. She's awake now but she's still In pain." The woman says to him.

He stands not so far away with his grey eyes glued to me like he's studying me or something.

I try to talk, to ask where I am and who they are but nothing comes out.

With each attempt, I feel my body growing weaker. The plan was to die and not get rescued by strangers who did not look familiar at all. They aren't members of my pack but they could be of another pack.

Why are they holding me?

"Make sure she recovers fast." The man says in a commanding tone and leaves.

I stare at the woman who only wears a smile on her face. She dips the cloth in water and presses it softly on my thighs. It isn't as hot as it was. The little time she conversed with whoever that man was, made the water turn warm.

"You really shouldn't take suicide as an option because it isn't." She utters.

I try to speak but nothing comes forth. Like my vocal cords don't exist anymore or like I've lost my ability to even talk.

A lot of questions are running through my mind and with each passing second, I feel more and more anxious.

I look around the room we are in. It's a small room with barely anything, just the bed I lay on a small chair and a table and a curtain blocking the rays of the sun from passing through the small window.

What is this place? Why am I here? How did they find me? All I remember is letting myself fall and hitting the hard ground and I'm sure I passed out right after that. Everything else is a blur. I can't remember a single thing. For some reason, I began to feel tired and sleepy. I let the sleep consume me since I can't fight it.

****

I got up forcefully. My body didn't ache anymore, at least not like before. Just that my elbow feels sore and that's it.

There's no one in the room but me and the only thing that comes to my mind is to escape. Run away.

I take tiny steps to the door and place my ear on it to try and hear anything from the other side. It's one of my abilities to be able to hear from a distance. I hear nothing like not even a soul lingering outside. Slowly, I turn the door knob and open the door. I shut it quietly trying to guess the right path to follow. There's not even a trace of scent in the hallways like the place is deserted. I walk as fast as I can away from the room and eventually out of the building. The building is large but old and a few pieces of it falling off.

I sniff the area for any scent but there's none and it's strange because before I passed out I saw two people. The woman and the man. Now there is not a single trace of anyone's scent. How?

"Trying to run?" A voice stops me dead in my tracks. I turn slowly to meet with the same pair of grey eyes. The same man who walked into the room earlier.

I tried to sniff his scent but I couldn't.

Have I lost my ability to smell?

"Where were you going?" He asks with a fake smile on his face. I don't reply, I just look away with conflicting thoughts in my head.

"Get back inside." He commands. I glare at him, staring at him with so much seriousness.

"Who are you?" I say after a long while of not being able to utter a word.

"Get back inside." He says again but I ignore him and try to run but get caught by some men who at the man's command take me back to my room.

"Let go of me" I yell struggling to break free from the grip of the two men beside me. Who am I kidding?

At this point, these men are far stronger than I am. I've not fully recovered and so, my strength hasn't been fully restored either.

The men dump me on the bed and shut the door. I hear some clicking sounds like they had locked the door before leaving.

Now I'm getting tense. I can't seem to understand why these people won't let me go. Why can't I sniff their scent or even hear them from a distance?

I look around the room for some sort of escape but there is none. Except for the window which has a strong iron burglary.

The doorknob begins to turn in a funny manner, so I return to the bed and sit innocently like I wasn't planning my escape a few seconds ago.

The man with the grey eyes comes in. This time his long gray hair catches my attention. For some reason, I can't remember him having such hair earlier but now, his head is fully adorned with long grey hair.

Another man comes through the door behind him and instantly, all I could feel was.....

... mate.

My eyes lock with his. The whole feeling is thrilling and I can't control it.

It's just like mother told me, like my heart skipped and now the beating of my heart has fastened. From the tense look in his brown eyes I can say he feels it too. Unlike the other man, he has blonde hair packed in a ponytail and obviously as long as the other man's. The room is filled with silence and all I hear is my beating heart. Beating so fast underneath my chest.I break the strong gaze between me and him and look to the ground.I don't seem to understand anything. Some hours ago, I'm not sure how long, I wanted to die. I actually died and now, I'm here with my mate standing before me.

"Why am I here?" I ask not looking at them.

They didn't answer but I could still tell they've not left. They just refused to speak and I slowly turned to look at them. The face of my supposed mate is the most captivating I've seen. His nose, pointed and his full faint orange lips. The two do not utter a word but stare. All they do is stare but I could feel they were talking in their minds.

Mind communication. It's something that occurs within packs. Pack members are able to communicate with one another using their minds if they don't want the person nearby to be aware of whatever it is they are talking about.

From the looks of the things I can say these two are mind communicating.

I fold myself on the bed even with the fuzzy sensation and awkwardness in the room. I actually want to sit up and glance at my mate, just look at him because it's satisfying but their silence and creepiness is making me so uncomfortable.

"What would you like to eat?" I suddenly hear a voice. I look up to them, to be sure who talked and of course it isn't my mate but the gray haired man."I'm not starving... yet. I just need to know who you are and why I am here" not like I'm expecting an answer, so I fold myself back on the bed."You tried to kill yourself." A different voice says this time I sit up knowing fully well it is my mate talking.

"I found you and I brought you here."

"But... but... how... I died in the land of my pack. How is it that you were in our land?" I ask but he doesn't answer. Like he's hiding something. Is he a rogue? He can't be a rogue and belong to a pack.

"You're alive now and that's all that matters." The gray haired man says instead.

"What's your name?" I didn't expect him to ask but I'm glad to answer after all he's my mate and even if he seems to be hiding things, I'm sure time would unravel whatever it is.

"Hazel."

"Alright Hazel. Please don't try to run again. We mean you no harm. I and Justin will get the maids to make you a meal." His voice is smothering to the ears. I could hear him speak all night long. At least I know the name of the gray haired man who just seems to be surprised and I can't tell why.

But I don't know the name of him, my mate. When I try to ask they walk out of the room instantly.

A part of me seems happy because I've found my mate. I'm glad he didn't let me die, I would have died without experiencing the sweetness of the mate bond. Making me vulnerable and weak around my mate.

Not so long after, young girls just like myself walk into the room with trays of food and wine. They place it nicely before me and don't even seem to be able to look me in the eye.

"Thank you." I say with a smile. They bow in courtesy before leaving me to eat.

****

Night comes by rather too fast and it's just been me in this room. Not Justin or my supposed mate had come to see me.

Loneliness and boredom begins to suck me dry. Not able to take it anymore, I walked out of the room. Just like last time, the hallway is empty, not a single person in sight, like no one resides here. This time I'm not in a rush so I take a glance at my surroundings. The dry walls are already peeling off and the rough tiles underneath my feet. The house from the outside looks old and rough like an abandoned building and the inside doesn't look any better.

I walked slowly, not having any destination in particular but I couldn't stay in that room forever. Since I've fully gotten all my strength back after that meal, I'm curious to know who these people are and even talk to my mate. My eyes glance at the paintings on the wall. They are portraits actually of some people who look important. There's a man in one and then a woman and some men in the other.I walk pass till I arrive at a door not so far from mine.

Quietly I open the door just to see an empty room. It has a bed just like the room I was in but there isn't anyone in it.

"Lurking around..." His voice stops me and his scent fills my nostrils. The only scent I've been able to grasp for a while now.

I turn to look at him. His hand folded behind him with his blonde hair loosed from the ponytail he had on earlier.

He doesn't look friendly. He looks harsh and doesn't even smile. The thin scar under his left eye catches my attention and also another scar right under his chin on his neck."I got bored." I mumble underneath my breath. He's like 5 feet away from me but he feels really close and I can feel every part of my body tense up. The hair on my skin has risen and my heart is beating fast.

"You should stay in and stop lurking around." His tone is harsh, not as friendly and gentle as earlier. I look at him but his facial expression doesn't look any better. Like he's angry or pissed I can't tell.

"Do you feel it?" I blurt out taking tiny steps towards him till there isn't any space left between us.

"Feel what?" He asks with furrowed eyebrows. He drifts backwards as if, trying to avoid me.

I take some time to study him. He doesn't look like he's interested in me or even wants to talk to me and it's strange because a few hours ago, he sounded nice and warm.Now he's acting all cold and hard.His eyes aren't brown anymore but black. Very black in a scary way.

"Get back to your room and get some sleep." He says and walks away leaving me to stand by myself.

I refuse to listen to him. I can't just go lay on that bed and sleep when I'm surrounded by people I don't know.

I don't know where I am and the only person I feel should warm up to me is acting all cold and it's annoying.

Angrily, I stomp further away from the room till I meet with Justin. He's leaning on a rail staring at the dark sky as the big moon shines brightly.

He looks at me "You shouldn't be outside."

"Why am I here?" I ask totally ignoring his statement. I don't care. I want to be outside. I have to be outside.

"He saved you."

"Who's he?" I play dumb.

"Your mate." Justin's words take me by surprise.

"So you know." I say but he returns to staring at the sky.

"Yes I know. When he brought you here there was something in his eyes like some sort of satisfaction but at the same time he was angry and worried. So many emotions."

"Why was he worried?" I ask.

"Because he found you almost dead. He doesn't worry about the death of anyone that much but when I saw how he worried about you and how he commanded people to take care of you and even called on the healer to check on you, I knew for a fact he has found something he can't refuse which is his mate."

Something he can't refuse...

"If he cares so much about me, why is he acting all distant?" He gave me a cold shoulder earlier and that doesn't come from someone that is supposed to be my mate.

"Because you're not what he expected." I look away for a while with my eyes wandering about, thinking deeply about what Justin had just said.

"How?" I turn to ask but Justin isn't in sight anymore. Like he vanished or maybe disappeared but I couldn't see him anymore.

Because you are not what he expected.

Those words keep playing in my head like a song.

How am I not what he expected?

Is it that I'm ugly or not curvy enough?

What Is it?

I feel a growl within me but I conceal it and return back to my room.

*****

"How can I find my mate only to find out she's from that pack." I hear him scream and a sound of glass shattering follows afterwards.

I jump off the bed and walk out of my room following the sound of his screams.

I find myself in a room big and furnished nicely. He stands there with his hair scattered around his head. Justin stands not so far from him and also another man.

"Alpha, she's here." Justin says to him.

Alpha? He's an alpha?

I stand by the frame of the door and stare at them as a faint light from a lantern illuminates the room.

He turns slowly and our gaze meets. His eyes are black like earlier and his canines are out already. Like if I make a wrong move he would snap my neck and kill me.

"Why are you here?" He yells at me.

"Because I heard you screaming. What is it about me? What problem do you have with me and where I come from?" My tone is fierce and bold like the last string of courage I have in me because the sight before me is crazy and anyone ought to be scared but Justin and the other man look rather relaxed. "For someone who wanted to kill herself you sure have some courage." A mocking smirk curves on his face. Obviously it isn't him talking but his wolf. His wolf has taken full control and whatever he feels for me has been heightened by his wolf.

"We are mates and every one here knows that so why are you rejecting me?" I ask, almost breaking down in tears. I was rejected back at my pack and now my own mate is rejecting me. Am I cursed or something because I can't understand.

"Because you come from a pack I dread the most. A pack I want to end. A pack I want to kill one by one till I wipe their entire line out of existence. That's why. " He yells loudly at me.

"You should leave,Hazel." Justin says to me but I refuse. I can't leave. I don't know why but I don't want to. I want to stay and watch him. I want him to tell me everything. I want to understand why he hates my pack so much, not like I like them anyway.

His brown eyes scan my body as if looking for some fault. Justin and the other man whose name is Greg had left minutes ago.

Now it's just I and my mate in a room.

He has a sleeveless shirt on, making his well defined muscles evident. His rosy skin shines even with the darkness. I stare at him short of words.

He had calmed down when I stroked his hair earlier. I didn't know it would work, it was just out of impulse. But it worked and now, he sits calmly before me.

It's night and we probably should be sleeping but I didn't feel sleepy, not even the slightest and I'm not sure he did too.

"Tell me why you hate my pack." I say in a low tone almost like a whisper and for a moment I wasn't sure he heard. Until he says "Your pack killed my pack. My pack was wiped out of existence because of yours." There's a trace of anger in his voice. Anger he tries to conceal but I feel it anyway."How? Please tell me more." I say to him. He stares at me, not answering me. Just stares at me like he's studying me. Why do they always stare like that?"You look lean. Your neck is slim. Why?" He suddenly says.

I move my hand to touch my neck slowly. It's been a long while and I didn't realize how lean I've grown over the past few months or maybe years.

He drifts closer to me and takes my hand in his. He turns my hand slightly as if checking it. I hear a loud growl when his eyes land on a long scar on my elbow.

"Who did this?" He grunts.

The scar isn't old. It's still new and was gotten like a week ago. A week ago. Before I tried to kill myself. Before I found myself here."I was pushed to the ground."

"By who?" He asks angrily.

"My uncle. Our Alpha." He looks at me as if wanting to hear more.

"My father and my mother died five years ago. My brothers were killed by an assassin not long after the death of my parents. So my uncle Marcus took over and ruled our pack. He hates me so much. I feel like he wants to kill me at every chance he gets. He turned me into a servant and a puppet even though I'm from the alpha bloodline. And made my life miserable along with his two children."

He doesn't say a word but just stares at me. I feel his grip on my hand tighten a bit as a sign of his anger. I slowly release my hand from his grip and wait for him to say something, anything.

"Why did you stop?" His voice is low but thick. I decide to continue from where I stop."For the past year, I was locked underground and was barely fed. I got this scar when I tried to escape recently but ended up getting caught by a guard who reported me to Marcus. When he was yelling at me, he angrily pushed me to the ground and my hand scratched the tip of a small rock.

He made me get whipped that day by some guards. It has been hell for me for ages. I couldn't take it anymore, so I made out a plan and snuck out and I tried to kill myself because I'm not sure how long I could hide. I felt it was better if they found my dead body than alive." My voice is cracking slowly as I try to control myself so I won't cry. The memories still fill my head. All the torture and the pain.

He doesn't say anything. All he does is get up, move to where the lantern is and hit it to the ground. Causing it to smash into pieces.

I shriek at the sound of the shattering lantern. He hits his fist against the wall angrily with growls escaping his lips. I watch his bones break and reform in different ways with furs popping out for his skin till it completely covers his skin and he has become a full wolf.

His wolf is very big. The biggest I've seen is grayish. He glares at me for a second with his blood shot eyes before jumping out of the window.

****

"You've been wearing that for a while now. I got you clean clothes." Familiar voice rings in my eyes causing my eyelids to open.

My eyes meet with a pair of silver ones. Soon I recognized the owner. The woman who pressed hot cloth on my body.

"It's morning. You should have a bath and dress up in this." She says with a smile. "Your meal would be served as soon as you're done bathing, Hazel."

I sit erect on the bed with soft yawns escaping my lips. I've not slept this well in a long time. In that cellar there were mosquitoes and insects and so many things that never let me have a good night's rest.

"Who are you?" I ask collecting the clothes.

"My name is Irene. I'm a healer. I'm glad to see you're fine. If you've got any issue please let me know."

"Where will I shower?" I ask. She points to a door in the room that I didn't notice. The door is adjacent from where I sit and isn't visible.

"There's a towel amongst the clothes. Call out to me when you're done bathing so your food can be served." She says and leaves.

I get up and pull off my clothes. I tie the brown towel around my chest and walk into the bathroom.

****

I stroll out of the bathroom and glance at my reflection on the mirror that suddenly hangs on the wall.

How didn't I notice all these things?

Was I too busy or overwhelmed to notice?

A soft breeze brushes my skin sending some chills to my body.

"Why are you staring at me?" I ask while tying my wet hair up.

I did expect a reply but I didn't get any.

I turn to look at him. His face is pale and his eyes carry disturbed emotions. He leans his back against the door with his hands folded on his chest.

"You left yesterday..." unsure of what to say next.

I stare at his face from his eyes. I can tell he's fighting something. His wolf most likely. I can tell he's trying to stop himself.

"Was your father Westley?" He suddenly asks and I nod.

"How do you know about my father?" I ask in return but he doesn't answer.

I know my father was known across the werewolf clan but from the way he asked, there seems to be more to it.

"I answered your question. You should at least answer mine." I can feel myself heating up in anger. He never answers my questions. He never gives a response and I give him all the responses I can but he doesn't say a word to me.

"Put some clothes on. " He says and then I glance at my wet body with my brunette hair dripping wet from the top of my head.

"No!" I refuse angrily.

What's up with him? He acts weird. Like I can't even explain.

"You should." His eyes darken as he talks. "Please." He adds. It's obvious it's a struggle for him. Seeing his mate wet and only covered by a single cloth. I can tell he's fighting a lot right now.

So I decided to use it to my advantage.

"Only if you tell me your name."

"Kyle. My name is Kyle. Now get the fucking clothes on."

"You should turn around." I say in a very relaxed tone. I should be scared by his fury attitude but I'm not.

He listens to me and turns around. I stride to the bed and put on the clothes Irene left for me."Well Kyle, you need to tell me something. About you. About this place. You're an Alpha and this doesn't look like an actual pack. And what was it you said about your pack getting wiped out of existence. Explain all of it to me." I mutter with so much interest as I put the thick brown shirt on. It has a different scent lingering on it but I put it on anyway.

The color of the shirt is just a bit darker than my actual complexion.

"No need to rush."

"Well, if you're gonna keep me here you might as well tell me things. There seems to be a lot of things. And you know my father." I turn around to look at him, fully dressed.

"You can turn around now." I say to him and he turns around.

"Tell me." I groan.

"I'm not here to tell you anything."

"If you are not telling me anything, why are you here?" I fume with annoyance.

"Because I need you to tell me things..." he says.