《Loving the Alpha》


 O N E

    The whole pack was in chaos. No matter which rank they belonged to, everyone was nervous about being perfect tonight. The small shops of the small town where our small pack was situated were packed with customers and the roads were blocked with traffic. Had it been any other normal day, all of these shops would have been empty and so would have been this road.


    But today was no normal day. It was, without any doubt, going to be marked as the most important day in not only this town''s history, but also for the whole werewolf community across the world.


    Today is the day when the Alpha King is going to be visiting my pack, the Red Spade pack.


    Quite contrary to its cold name, the Red Spade pack was among the most peaceful packs found here and our size was also extremely smaller, especially when compared to the packs which resided nearby. You may ask, ¡®Well, then why is THE Alpha King even visiting a pack like this?¡¯ Honestly speaking, it is a really long and complicated story, but a simplified version of it could be that, since his first mate¡ªour Luna Queen¡ªdied, he has to find another mate for him to help him continue ruling over the largest and strongest pack in the world, King Pack. And yes,


    No one knows the details of how the Luna Queen actually died and hence, rumours regarding her death spread.


    The most famously discussed rumour is about how the Luna Queen was cheating on him and upon finding the truth about her betrayal, our poor King went into a fit of rage and killed her along with her lover.


    Another one tells us about how the Luna Queen found out about the Alpha King cheating on her and she tried to kill him, but since the Alpha King is obviously way stronger than her, he ended up killing her in the fight. Oh and let''s not forget about the one where the Alpha King is simply a mad man and randomly decides to kill her one day, out of the blue.


    I don''t know what had actually happened, but all of these stories have convinced all of the werewolf population that the person responsible for our Luna Queen''s death was without a doubt, the Alpha King.


    And now, he had apparently roamed all of the packs in the world over a span of 2 years in order to find his second chance mate. The Red Spade pack was one of the last ones on the list of the packs that he still had to visit, and since he had failed to find his mate anywhere else, everyone was sure that he would find the next Luna Queen soon.


    Honestly, I could not even understand why he was taking this long to find a second chance mate. Only our first mates were fated. The second chance mates could be literally anyone. The only condition was that both the parties had to accept each other as mates. This was it. That stubborn man could have chosen any strong woman as the Queen, but nope. He just had to travel around the world, waste his (and everyone else¡¯s) two god-damned years and still come up with zero progress.


    All of the packs that had been visited at the start of his journey were the largest and the strongest ones (obviously). These packs had also set a sort of trend of hosting a ¡®Welcoming Party¡¯ upon the arrival of the Alpha King to their packs. The smaller packs soon followed their suit and had started to host their own parties to impress the Alpha King. Some packs, like mine, would host a party with the help of their neighbouring packs because their numbers were way too small to host a decent party.


    Attending the Choosing Ceremony had automatically become an obligatory act for everyone living in that pack that was going to be hosting it, in order for the Alpha King to quickly meet all of the unmated pack members without wasting much of his time.


    I guess that it is now time for me to introduce myself: Emma Jackson, 24 years old, and one of the mateless women who will be attending the party tonight.


    My mother passed away when I was barely three years old, so I do not remember her much and as for my father¡­that man was nothing but trouble. For as long as I can remember, he had been addicted to gambling and drugs. Now, if I had been a romance novel¡¯s character I am pretty sure that the story would have continued with my father being dead and leaving me in a pile of debt and then I will meet a smexy rich man who will be bewitched by my beauty and then we will get married and then he will pay off my debt and we will then face all other problems together to get our happy ever after.


    How-so-ever, this is no mushy romantic tale. My father did not end up OD-ing or dying in any other way to save himself from the tremendous debt that had piled up due to his bad habits. He did end up leaving me though (ran away and left me alone when I was fifteen years old) and I did end up trying to pay back HIS debt, but life ain''t no fairytale darling. It has been almost six years since my shitty life turned shittier, but so far, there is no prince charming that suddenly appeared in my life and made all my problems go away.


    So, for any other person in my position, the Alpha King¡¯s visit to my pack was probably a golden opportunity to turn my life around. However, I was not anticipating his visit. Like, just who in their right minds would want to be mates with a guy like the Alpha King? He was already famous for killing his fated mate, so who in their right minds would want to even try to get his attention? Not to mention the tales of his short temper had been famous even before the death of the Luna Queen.


    I know that I am desperate to be debt free, but it is not to the extent where I am ready to even sell myself off to the worst person out there and make my life even worse. Like, yeah, hunger sucks, but so does being abused till death.


    But apparently, Alice Liao, our Alpha¡¯s daughter, had other plans. The preparations for his arrival had begun the moment he announced his plan to visit us, which was almost three months ago. Ever since then, there had not been a single peaceful day in the Red Spade pack. It was pretty obvious that the Alpha and his family were trying their best to get their daughter selected as the Luna Queen. Politically, this would be really beneficial for our small pack. Personally, this would be no less than a suicide mission. Oh well, all I can do is wish her luck.


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    Currently, I am standing in front of my vanity, applying finishing touches to my makeup. I lived alone in the small, run-down shack that my father had left me after he disappeared without a trace. My house consisted of only a room and a bathroom. Within my room was my old vanity that once belonged to my mother and a mattress for me to sleep on. In one of the corners I had placed a small stove and a cupboard to hold a few utensils and groceries. A small marble sink was installed right next to the stove and the sound of water dripping from the broken tap could be heard all the time.


    I glanced at the broken wall clock that was somehow still working  and gave out a little yelp of surprise as I realised that the event was going to start in less than half an hour. The Alpha King would rarely stay for long at these parties. When he was sure that he had met with every one of the unmated women, he would leave for the next pack and, most of the time, his visit would barely last for a few minutes. Making him wait would be counted as disrespect and that was the last thing a person with no title or power (like me) would want to do.


    I carefully observed my reflection for one last time. My tanned skin contrasted perfectly with the plain royal blue dress that I was wearing. My dark brown hair and eyes stood out more than usual due to the makeup that I was wearing. The only accessories that I was wearing were silver colored floral earrings. In the centre of the earrings was a dark blue gem which matched my dress. This was the only set of expensive jewellery that I had and despite being knee deep in debt, I never had the courage to sell it. It was the last reminder left of my mother. While I do not remember her, I liked to think of her as an affectionate person who cared for me, hence the reluctance to let go of her memoirs.


    After making sure that my one and only window was locked, I quickly left for the party venue. Even though the place was barely a ten minute drive away, since I had no car AND I was wearing heels, I knew that I had to leave early in order to reach the place on time.


    * * *    * * *    * * *


    I was late. By ten minutes.


    This was probably the worst thing that has happened to me in a while. I was practically running at this point and this weird feeling in my chest grew. Something bad was going to happen and I was sure of that. My feelings were confirmed when I received a phone call from my very panicked Luna, Amber.


    ¡°Emma! Where are you?¡± She whispered, panic visible in her barely audible voice.


    ¡°I am *huff* *huff* right *huff* *huff* outside the pack house.¡± I answered while trying to catch my breath.


    She let out an irritated breath. ¡°Well then come quickly! Do not make this more difficult for us than you already have! And make sure you look neat before you enter. I absolutely do NOT want you to embarrass us more than you already have.¡± She then cut off the call, leaving me standing confusedly outside the main entrance door of the pack house.


    ¡®Huh? ''I know I''m a little late, but isn''t her reaction a little too much? Maybe I should not have focused so much on the detailing and left a little earlier.''


    And just what on earth did she even mean by not embarrassing her more? This was probably the first time I had ever done anything wrong.


    Ignoring the anger I felt due to the unfairness of this whole situation, I tried to settle my hair that had gotten messed up due to me running all the way here. My face was all sweaty and flushed red, and I almost cried while looking at my reflection through the phone¡¯s front camera. A long streak of mascara ran down from my left eye up to my chin and my under eyes were dark too, making me look like a raccoon. I patted my face with a tissue but I could not do much about those dark circles that I now had under my eyes.


    ¡®Oh well¡¯, I thought as I opened the door, ¡®here goes nothing¡¯.


    The moment the door was pulled open, a  shiver went down my spine and I tried to suppress the fear that suddenly arose in my wolf due to a strong aura that could be detected from within the room.


    ¡®I see, the Alpha King has already arrived.¡¯


    The room had already been silent before I had arrived, but the moment I stepped in, it was as if people had even stopped breathing.


    Over a hundred or so pairs of eyes followed me as I walked in the room. I ran my fingers through my dishevelled hair for what felt like the thousandth time as I grew conscious of my appearance.


    Did they all have to stare at me so obviously?


    My eyes slowly skimmed through the room until they landed on a sallow looking Alice. She was glaring at me with such anger that it was almost impossible to ignore her. She looked absolutely flawless. Her milky white skin practically glowed in the peachy long silk dress that she was wearing. A white belt-like ribbon was wrapped around her thin waist. Her dark black hair reached below her chest. The anger in her grey eyes scared me. I knew that I had somehow gotten myself in trouble. Was it because I was late? Or was it because the Alpha King had decided to reject everyone in this pack too, which meant that she had been rejected too?


    Well fuck.


    I quickly took my eyes off of hers, not able to bear the anger directed at me any longer. I allowed my eyes to subtly sweep over the rest of the guests. To my surprise, Alpha and Luna were not in the room. Finally, my eyes landed on the person who looked even more intimidating than Alice.


    It was none other than the Alpha King himself. The strong aura of authority and dominance he was emitting made it really easy for me to recognise him. Even if there had not been any strong aura, I still would have ended up recognising him. How could I not?


    Among the hundreds of werewolves who currently were in the room, he was the one who stood out the most. His bright golden eyes were already on me. They held amusement, as if he could believe what he was seeing.I was once again reminded of my horrible appearance and I cringed. Fuck.


    His hair, on the other hand, was bright silver. His strange features automatically separated him from all of us. While us werewolves could have eyes of golden, red and even purple, our hair was the same as that of humans, which consisted of different shades of black, brown, red, or blonde.


    Even though he was wearing a suit, it was perfectly clear that he had a well built body. A chiselled jaw and light stubble just added more to his beauty.


    I am sure that I would have shamelessly continued checking out the Alpha King, had it not been for a blonde-haired man who suddenly stepped forward from behind the Alpha King. He too, had a strong aura coming off of him, but it was less than the Alpha King.


    ¡®That must be his beta,¡¯ I realised, just when he kneeled down on the floor, facing me.


    My eyes opened wide in shock as I stared at him, unsure of what was happening. Alice stomped her feet on the ground, just like what you would expect a child would do when throwing a tantrum. She then left the room, as tears cascaded down her pretty face.


    The royal beta ignored her as more people slowly kneeled on the ground just as he had. I stared at him blankly, not completely sure about what was happening.


    ¡°All hail our new Luna Queen!¡± He exclaimed as he slowly bowed his neck.

 T W O

    Previously:


    He kneeled down on the floor, facing me.


    Slowly, others also turned to kneel in my direction. In unison, the whole room spoke: "We present our greetings to our new Luna Queen!"


    ''Huh?!''


    * * * * * * * * * * * *


    Elizabeth''s POV:


    When I was young, my grandma would often tell me about how much of a big blessing our chosen mates were. I would lay my head on her lap and listen closely to her as she would tell me about her time spent with my grandfather, the previous Alpha of the Red Spade pack. Her eyes would always be overcome with a strange type of emotion whenever she would reminisce about her time with him. I would always wonder how it would feel like to have a mate and had been waiting impatiently for him ever since my eighteenth birthday.


    So, when I had heard of the news that the Alpha King was coming over to our pack to choose his mate, I had prayed with all I had, for that person to be anyone but me.


    ''What the f**k? When did I become the Luna Queen?''


    My dark brown eyes immediately went to seek those identical ones of my mother''s. It was not hard for me to find her. After all, she was among those three people who had not bowed. The others being my father and the Alpha King. I shot a desperate look towards her, begging her to somehow get me out of this mess.


    How did I end up in this situation in the first place? He was handsome and had a high rank, but that did not mean that I wanted to be the one stuck with him. His reputation was pathetic and he was known to have a short temper. Who would want to willingly put up with a man like him? And to mention, those rumors regarding the first Luna Queen''s death, his actual mate chosen by the moon goddess herself, did not settle too well with me.


    Mom had a defeated look in her eyes, as she silently shook her head and then avoided my gaze and went back to staring at the floor again.


    Dad was not even looking at me. The whole time, his eyes were on the floor and he did not even lift his head.


    The Alpha King had an arrogant look plastered on that stupidly handsome face of his. He smirked at me, almost as if he was mocking me.


    I knew that I had no chance of saying no to him. He and his pack were way more powerful than us and angering him would just lead us all to an early death. So, instead of recklessly denying him in public, I walked up to him and gave him a small smile.


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    "I am deeply honored to be chosen, but I wonder if it is the right decision?" Mates were regarded as something sacred and special. Perhaps if I brought up the topic of the importance of meeting our fated ones, he could be publicly pressurized to reverse this decision of his?


    He tilted his head to the right as he stared into my eyes and his smirk turned into a mocking smile. "Are you saying that I made a mistake? That I was wrong?"


    I shook my head. "No! I would never dare to say anything like that. It is just that...I yet have to find my mate. Will it not be unfair for me and him if I end up becoming the Luna Queen? As you already know, the pain of losing your mate-"


    He suddenly cut me off. "We can worry about that when your mate finds you. Now, let''s leave this stupid conversation for another day and prepare to leave for my pack immediately!"


    Though his face was neutral, the anger in his eyes gave away his true feelings. ''Did me mentioning his dead mate anger him or was he angry at me trying to make him back out of making me the next queen?''


    Then his words suddenly came back to my mind. I moved closer towards him, until there was almost no space left between us. "What do you mean by preparing to leave immediately?" I hissed into his ear.


    "It is exactly what it sounds like. We are leaving. Immediately."


    Before I could say anything else, he grabbed me and dragged me out of the room. He dragged me! Cameras started flashing the moment he touched my arm and continued to click until we were out of everyone''s sight. All the werewolves who were still kneeling, started to get up slowly and watched us go out with confusion. My face started to feel hot and I could feel my anger rising. How dare he humiliate me? And he did it in front of the whole world! I tried to shrug him off but he would not even budge. Instead, his hold on me tightened even more until he stopped in front of a shiny white Bentley.


    That stupid beta of his was not too far behind us. That Blondie looked at me for a fraction of a second, as if his sea-blue eyes were trying to convey some sort of message to me. I was, however, in no mood to play spy right now, so I turned my head to the other side and ignored him. Noticing that I was not going to listen to whatever he wanted to say, he then immediately opened the car''s door for us and ran towards the driver''s seat. I tried to resist him again but he easily threw me in the backseat and quickly sat down in the front one.


    Fear and panic gripped my heart, as I frantically tried to pry open the door, but it had already been locked. The same was the case with the windows.


    "You know that this counts as abduction, right? What you are doing is 100% illegal and I can take action against it by appealing to the Elder Council?" I knew that fighting against him was going to be fruitless, but that did NOT mean that I was going to just resign to my fate so easily. Somewhere back in my mind, I had already known that mentioning the Elders to try to frighten him was going to be useless, but what I did not expect was a small cough from the Beta.


    ''Is he laughing at me?'' For the nth time tonight, embarrassment took over me and I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks. Instead of coming up with a reply, I slid into the super comfortable seat of the car. Both of them had started to talk in low voices and I could only pick up a few lines from their discussion.


    "Damien, when are you going to tell... ..."


    "When it is time... ..."


    "I have a feeling that Eddie won''t like it... ..."


    ''Huh? Who is Eddie?'' What were they talking about? Damn, I really wanted to know! But it is not like it is going to make any difference.


    ''Maybe I should give up. For the time being.'' I thought dejectedly as I let out a resigned sigh and closed my eyes. The moment I did so, exhaustion took over my body and I started to fall asleep, drowning out the sounds of conversation going on between both of my abductors.


    ''I wonder what the Alpha King''s name is?'' was the last thing I thought of before I passed out.

 T H R E E

    Previously:


    ''I wonder what the Alpha King''s name is?'' was the last thing I thought of before I passed out.


    * * * * * * * * *


    Elizabeth''s POV:


    I was in pain.


    It felt like my whole body was on fire, especially my back.


    My head, just like the rest of my body, was aching. My eyes felt really heavy and I cracked them open slowly, expecting myself to be assaulted by bright lights. Instead, all I was met with was darkness. My surroundings were so dark that when I lifted my hands, I could not even see their outline. I blinked in confusion, a dull pain already forming in the back of my eyes.


    In between the haziness present in my mind due to being knocked out for a long period, I could feel panic seeping in as my brain processed the situation I was in.


    Had I been kidnapped?


    But why couldn''t I remember anything?


    I racked my brain, trying to remember anything that might have been related to me ending up in a situation like this, but could come up with nothing. My last memory was of me reaching the choosing ceremony for the Luna Queen... ... ... OH!


    Immense pain flashed through my head as memories started to come back to me.


    The Choosing Ceremony, being selected as the next Luna Queen, and then falling asleep in his car...


    Where did they bring me?


    "Hello?" I shouted. "Is there anyone here?"


    Why had those stupid, self-entitled werewolves abandoned me here?


    Tears sprung in my eyes due to the immense pain in my back as I slowly sat up. I then tried to bring forth my wolf, hoping that it would help me to see clearly and would stop the pain. I suddenly paused and panic slowly started to settle in as I slowly stood up, trying to ignore the pain.


    ''I can not feel my wolf?''


    I straightened my back and blindly flailed my arms (pun intended) while taking a few steps in a random direction. The only sounds around me were of my heavy pants and the echoes of my footsteps. For the next half an hour, I walked, not even knowing which direction I was going. That was until I heard someone cry. I strained my ears, trying to find the source from where I heard this sound. After a few seconds, I heard it again.


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    "Excuse me?" I called out. "Who is there? Please, come forward..."


    No one replied. I started walking in the direction in which I thought the person should be. It was a stupid decision, but something about those sounds tugged at my heart in a weird way. I could not decide if it was because I was afraid of the person who was crying or if I was sad for him. Whatever it was, I was sure that I did NOT want to hear those cries.


    When did my life turn into something you would only expect to see in a horror movie? Should I expect someone to suddenly grab my foot or something?


    The cries gradually got louder, indicating that I was walking in the right direction.


    That person...sounded like they were in pain. My heart did that weird painful thing again and I increased my speed.


    I wanted to hold them. I wanted to console them. I wanted to take away their pain. I wanted them to stop those heart-wrenching sobs.


    After walking for what felt like an eternity, I suddenly saw a small box of white light which seemed like it was some distance away from me. My eyes, which had become really sensitive after being in darkness for so long, squinted and my mind went to the cartoons I would see as a child. A cartoon character would enter a tunnel and would suddenly be trampled by an upcoming train.


    Was this going to happen to me now? Had those two left me in a tunnel and ran away? Why would they even do that?


    I had also not felt anything which resembled railway tracks under my feet while I was walking. Similarly, I had been walking using pure instincts, so if there had been a wall nearby, I was sure that I would have bumped into it.


    After staring at that distant light for a few minutes, I ran.


    I could still not feel my wolf, so my speed was slower than normal. I ran until I came face to face with a huge, foggy white wall. That wall was so bright that I squinted my eyes to the extent that it almost looked as if I had closed them. The white wall was endless. It stretched far, far away and the fog surrounding it added more to its mystical appearance. That person was on the other side of the wall. I was sure of that and I wanted to do nothing more than jump into this place and find them.


    I stretched her right hand to touch the wall, my mouth was wide open in awe and wonder.


    Just what was this?


    I extended my right index finger, trying to touch it.


    If I did, would I find him? But who did I want to find? I started at my right hand in confusion as the fog slowly swirled around it.


    Why was I in a hurry? Who did I want to find so desperately? And how was I so sure that the person in question was a ''he''?


    A sob came from the other side of the wall.


    Oh. Him. I wanted to help him. But who was he? Why did his voice feel so familiar? It was almost as if I knew that person.


    All these questions were making my head ache. I retracted my hand and rubbed my forehead, a frustrated sigh escaping from my mouth. Why was this even happening to me in the first place?


    "El...i...za...beth." My head whipped up when I heard someone call me. It felt as if someone was calling me from an old receiver with the sound of their voice almost being unintelligible.


    "Eliza...beth." The voice was clearer and louder now.


    I looked around, trying to see who was calling out my name, but the only person here was me.


    "Elizabeth!" they shouted. The voice was now many decibels louder and it echoed throughout that space like place I was in.


    "Damn it, come back to your senses you stupid woman! ELIZABETH!"


    I gasped and opened my eyes.