Erik

Erik’s PoV

“You will learn what being an Alpha means!” the sound of the slash, followed by the flesh being torn, was I could hear. But no scream came out of my mouth, while I was hanging from that wall, chained to it by my wrists.

Another slash, and one more. Maverick stopped. My father would only stop when he said my back was not to be seen, only my blood. That was how I knew my back was in a fucking bad state.

Without another word to me, he left the cell. I heard his footsteps echoing in the stone floor, getting far, far away.

Last thing I felt was the pain after salt was thrown on my wounds. ‘To heal’, they said. I passed out again, for the world became only darkness.

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“I already said, damn it!” I closed my eyes, annoyed by the discussion taking place in front of me. Everytime I had to participate in any meeting with those two, I would have to gather all my patience not to kill someone. That day, things were even more difficult, so I rose from my seat and left the room.

“Man, you can’t keep doing it.” Aaron said to me. He was the Beta and my best friend.

“Do you prefer me to commit a crime? Because I swear, if I have to listen to those two for a minute more, I won’t answer by myself.”

I was leaning against the wall when he found me. I was feeling exhausted.

“I know they are terrible, but the meeting has to happen.” He tried to persuade me, as always, to behave, be a nice Alpha and listen to these old cranks.

“Then tell them that. We are not discussing anything important. It is just those two debating on fucking tree’s position!” I said, probably raged. “I don't give a damn if it is going to stay in the north or the south of the pack. I just want to go to my room, have a nice drink and a she-wolf to release my worries on. That 's all!”

“Maybe if you had a Luna, she could be here, helping you.” Aaron said, nochantelly. I looked at my dear friend. He knew that, if he didn’t hold that status, both in the pack and in my heart, he would be dead by now.

“I have no intention of having a Luna anytime soon. And you know that.”

“Yeah, bu-”

“And you also know,” I said, interrupting him, “that this topic is not one I am willing to discuss. Again. It makes me really uneasy, my friend.”

Aaron knew when to stop. As much as I had him in high account, more than just a Beta, he was still under my Alpha’s power and rules.

“Fine.” He said and gave me a quick and weak smile.

“I’ll get some air. I’ll be back soon.” I told him and Aaron knew what that meant. Fresh air and finding an Omega for a release were pretty much the same. I didn’t want a Luna, but I never said I wanted to become a monk. Aaron sighed. I heard him.

‘Time to get back to the tree’s issue’, he said by mind-link to me and I laughed.

It didn’t take me to find one pretty little thing, willing to ‘serve’ me. I finished with her, who was cleaning one of the bedrooms right before, and sent her out. Once I was over, I would always send the females away. ‘Just get your clothes and leave.’ My rules. They didn’t complain. If one decided she could have more, I would make her remember who she was and how things did work inside that pack.

I exhaled, my arms behind my head, laying on the bed. I looked at the ceiling. All I wanted was peace. I had my days of hunting down other Alpha’s and destroying packs. I conquered many lands and now, the Night Shade Pack was the biggest in the country. Not only by territory, but by number of wolves and power. No one dared to challenge us, or me, for instance. The ones who tried, served as an example to the others.

I was known for my strength, capability of strategy and, of course, for not keeping slaves. I would give the opportunity for the conquered to join our pack and submit to me, as their Alpha. If not, I would just kill them. No mercy. Why would I have? If they had the opportunity to kill me, they would do it. I would not take chances.

I returned to the room where the meeting was happening just to say it would be south, without even listening to anyone in reality and I just exited.

No one dared to question me. No one. They just accepted it. It was better than having to deal with my sour mood, my uneasiness, as I liked to call it.

During the night, I woke up to the turmoil. The pack was under attack. I got up, dressed and went to the arena, where the warriors were.

I saw a circle of werewolves surrounding something or, most likely, someone. When the wolves heard me approaching, they just lowered their heads and opened space for me to walk. I didn’t have to tell them what to do. They knew me, they respected (some feared) me and so, they acted accordingly to what was expected from them.

There, in the middle of the circle, a small figure was on the floor, shrunken and trembling. I didn't know whether it was from cold or from fear. Probably both.

“What the fuck is going on?” I asked and I heard my loud voice echoing through the air. I hated to be invaded. I hated being interrupted during my sleep. It was so difficult for me to sleep…

One warrior gave one step ahead, before speaking to me, head lowered.

“My Alpha, a group of rogues, attacked us. This one was hiding, but we found her. Since she didn’t fight, we want to know what to do with her. Do we kill her?”

I turned my eyes to the rogue. Her hair was a mess, her clothes, just rags. She was dirty, no doubt. She was covered in mud. The weather was rainy those days, and as that was an open space, the ground would be soaked in water, forming puddles of mud.

“Look at me!” I demanded, getting closer to her. I smelled a subtle scent of roses and vanilla milkshake. How funny, and that took me aback for a few seconds. Those were my favorite smells in the whole world. I shook my head. I didn’t have time for that! I noticed that the creature didn’t listen or just ignored me. Either way, it was unacceptable! I got hold of the dirty hair and yanked it. “I said, look at me!”

Then, a pair of beautiful lilac eyes stared back at me. For the second time that night, I was speechless.

Those moments of unterrable feelings seemed like hours, and not the seconds it really probably asted. All I could think of were those eyes. A different color, even for a werewolf. We could have it brown, green, blue, hazel, amber, red, even. But lilac was rare.

I looked at the rest of the rogue’s body and, indeed, she was a female. A skinny, small one. But yet, a female. I felt something inside of me tingling. I had no idea what that was, though.

“Alpha?” The warrior from before asked, making me come back to reality.

“Throw her in one of the cells. I’ll decide what to do with her by tomorrow.”

It was not typical of me to spare, even for a few hours, a rogue’s life. But nobody dared to ask my reasons. I had to think about those eyes. What that meant, before I decided what to do with the little rat.

“Come on!” The warrior said to the girl on the floor, kicking her ribs, but not hard enough.I saw and heard it, but said nothing. I observed. No one could punish anyone without my consent. But the warrior just did that to make her move. She didn’t. He had to drag her by the arm.

I sighed, turned around and went back to my room. I wanted to sleep, but now, I didn’t think I’d be able to. Those fucking eyes!