LOGINShare
Prologue
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Prologue
Once upon a time, there were three kinds of people: male, descended from the sun; female, descended from the earth; and hermaphrodite, with both male and female parts, descended from the moon.
These early people were completely round, each with four arms and four legs, two faces on opposite sides of a head with four ears.
They were wild and unruly and threatened to scale the heavens. So Zeus, the father of the gods, cut each one of them in half and scattered them, separating the souls who belonged together.
After that fateful day, people searched all over the world for their other half. When they finally found it, they wrapped themselves around it very tightly and did not let go.
This is the Origin of Love. Our desire to be whole again, to be restored to our original nature and share in a common fate.
Plato - The Origin of Love.
Related chapters
Alpha Cain Chapter one - Leila
The sun beats down on us as we lay on the bank beside the river, our clothes drying on our bodies as we watch the wind blow the clouds across the sky. Our heads are close together, our hands intertwined on the grass between us and there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than with the raven haired boy by my side. "Bet you half your mum's chocolate cake I can make it to the top before you do." Coal shifts onto his stomach so he's looking down at me and nods towards the cliffs just ahead of us. His beautiful dark eyes hold a familiar glint, the one that I know will end in at least one of us getting hurt or in trouble, maybe both. I shouldn't agree, I should know better, but his heavy sigh and following words are proof of just how well he knows me.
Alpha Cain Chapter two - Cain
I pace my room, bored and frustrated. My father has confined me to border control since Tegwen's murder since he feels I'm unstable, just because I want to find whoever did it and rip them to shreds. "Cain." His voice seeps around my head like black tar filling my brain. "My office." This isn't going to be good for me, he's only summoned me like this a handful of times since she was killed. The first was to tell me he was withholding the Alphaship from me after I may have gone on a little tiny angry rampage, but that was after seeing a girl wearing Tegwen's favourite boots and finding out he'd ordered her parents to give her stuff to the less fortunate members of our pack. But I think, since I'm her mate, retrieving what was hers so I could decide what to do with it, is perfectly justifiable and if a few houses were destroyed in the process, well that's on him since he should have known I'd never allow anyone to touch her things. Her parents have left her room alone ever since and
Alpha Cain Chapter three - Leila
"I love you." The deep voice fits well with the strong arms around me, hugging me tight to a hard, muscular chest. I'm nervous, his presence calming me somewhat, but still my body is taught with anxiety. "I love you too." My voice whispers into the night. I can't hide the wobble in my voice anymore than I can stop myself fidgeting and fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "I don't know why you're worried, we're meant to be, we've always known that." He chuckles against my ear, pressing a gentle kiss to the skin of my neck and I twist towards him, meeting his lips with mine in desperate kisses. Distracting myself from the deep ache of terror that after tonight, Coal will no longer be mine. After a while, he pulls away, pressing his forehead to mine and smiling.
Alpha Cain Chapter four - Cain
I was summoned to my father's office early this morning to meet with a visiting Alpha from a nearby pack. He's given me the lecture about being polite and respectful, as if I'm five years old again and likely to embarrass him by saying something stupid. A knock comes at the door, and Gene bows to my father before showing in a man around my father's age and a blonde girl who shares his almost translucent blue eyes. "Get out, now." Kade, my wolf growls angrily in my head when the girl smiles shyly at me. I've got a terrible feeling about this and am about to get up when my father's hand clamps down on my arm. "Sit down boy." His voice bellows in my mind, clearly feeling conf
Alpha Cain Chapter five - Leila
I grip my mum's hand as she walks me into the classroom on the first day of school."Don't go Mummy." I whisper as she pulls her hand from mine."I love you sweet pea and I'll be back soon." She kisses my forehead and smiles down at me. My eyes burn with tears when the teacher, who's name I can't remember, puts her hand on my shoulder and guides me towards a group of girls playing with dolls.I don't like dolls, but I don't tell her this. Instead, I sink down on the carpet, hugging the one she gave me to my chest and hoping my mum will come and get me soon.A boy trips over my foot while racing against another one and lands in front of me. His golden brown eyes are filled with such mischief that I knew instantly I wanted him
Alpha Cain Chapter six - Cain
"Flame, move your ass, my dead grandma could be up here faster than you." I turn around from the top of the wooden wall and grin at her.Her beautiful green eyes twinkle as I reach down to help her up.Never one to be beaten, she jumps at a rope just off to one side and swings herself up and over, tapping my head as she sails past me before landing on the other side."Come on, don't want to get beaten by a little girl, do you?" She cackles as she sprints away to the next obstacle and I jump down, landing with a grunt as I push myself to chase after her.At seventeen, I've grown bulky from endless training, whereas Flame is muscular and lean, making her faster than me initially, but my stamina is greater and it doesn't take me
Alpha Cain Chapter seven - Leila
The water is freezing and the wind is blowing strong across the sand, which explains why there are only a few dog walkers scattered across the beach and no one else. The cold weather doesn't deter us though. Channelling our inner children, we make sandcastles, bury our feet and paddle in the sea, ankle deep until our feet go numb. It's the most fun I've had in ages and only the mouthwatering scent of the fish and chip shop is enough to drag me away. As we eat, we watch a pair of dogs chasing each other around the beach, the few people around walking along, stopping to chat and then moving on, all of them look as happy and relaxed as I feel. "I might move here after graduation." I laugh, spearing a chip onto my little wooden fork and biting into it. I'm on
Alpha Cain Chapter eight - Cain
Never did I ever even consider that she left of her own free will. Never did I think that she would have started a life somewhere else, without me.This is not the girl I grew up with! The girl that I love would never have left me!"Aaah." I scream, tossing the desk across the room with one hand. It slams into the wall and cracks, falling on the floor in a broken mess of splintered wood.Kade has retreated into the furthest corner of my mind since I left the scene without Flame. Without even speaking to her or checking she was ok, he wanted to bring her here and make up for the time we've missed. He's not considering the fact that not only has she been alive this entire time, but that she's been happily living somewhere else, making new friends and doing whatever with whoever, wh
Latest chapter
Alpha Cain Chapter forty-five - Leila
It's been seven months since we left Ekron and Merida's ceremony. My parents are not only refusing to believe she was working against us, but that she's dead altogether. It's gotten so bad that Amara has had to move out and into the packhouse. My mother is convinced she'll find Merida and has been searching every day for her. We took her to where it all happened, but instead of helping them accept it and move on, it just gave them a place to base their search. Coal is reluctant to separate the packs until Maloney is found, or so he says, there's something else going on in his head that he's not sharing with me and I'm letting it go for the time being, if he's not sharing it means he hasn't worked it out yet, so I won't push him until he's ready. It's at least giving me the opportunity to get to know the potential Alpha's a bit better and hopefully it will help maintain pack relations when the time comes. The would-be Alpha's aren't pushing the situation, I'm guessing they've realised
Alpha Cain Chapter forty-four - Cain
Flame and Ekron's wolves circle one another, Onyx is silent, assessing him as he snarls and snaps at her, waiting for the best moment to make her move.When she does, sinking her teeth into his neck and digging her claws into his side, I notice movement in the crowd and ready myself to intercept anyone trying to intervene, but instead I see a slow trickle of deserters slipping away to become rogues. The remaining individuals glare at them, spitting out words like "traitor" as they pass."Cain, how's it going?" Gene links with me and I can tell by his tone that something is wrong."Flame's fighting Ekron, about a third of the pack have left to become rogues. What's going on with you?" I link back, my eyes following the fight in front of me. Ekron is good, he must have been trained well, but he's got obvious tells, which Onyx is taking full advantage of and by the sounds of the crowd, everyone can tell she's winning."We've found the humans. It's not good Cain, we've got Doctor Fayer th
Alpha Cain Chapter forty-three - Leila
As soon as Coal told me about Ekron and Maloney, I tried to mindlink Amara, telling her so she can go to Merida and hoping to cause a distraction so I can get to speak to Ollie.The angry screams of Merida and rush of footsteps past our room gives me my opportunity, Coal stays in the room to cover for me and I run up the corridor, following the vague scent of him to lead me to the right place.Coal said there was a guard in his room, but fortunately for me, the guard must have been one of the ones to run towards the chaos, become the doors slightly open and Ollie is on his own inside."Leila." He greets me happily, as though we're still at uni and I've just popped over to say hi. He catches himself and bows. "Sorry, Alpha Tegwen.""Ollie, what are you doing here?" I scan the corridor carefully before closing the door."You know why, it's all I want." He tells me, lowing his voice as though if any wolves were around they wouldn't hear him. "Don't worry though, as soon as I've got my wo
Alpha Cain Chapter forty-two - Cain
We're being followed, it's obvious from the moment we get close to our destination. No one is visible but the scent of wolf is too strong to just be a territory thing.Tegwen looks at me, sensing it too and then we look back at Levi who is already loading weapons for Tegwen's friends. He's cracking jokes with the humans, his humour belying the serious warrior underneath, constantly alert and assessing his surroundings. His eyes meet mine for the briefest of seconds and flick towards my window. When I look, it initially seems to be just a dark section of forest, but, deep within the shadows, I can see the dark outline of a wolf running alongside the car."We're surrounded." Levi mindlinks me, while simultaneously handing a shotgun to Gale and showing her how to load the cartridges."Now, don't point this at anyone you want to see again. Even wolves can't recover when they resemble Swiss cheese." He jokes and Gale laughs, nodding her head as she looks over the gun in her hand, oblivious
Alpha Cain Chapter forty-one - Leila
"Ollie, no I can't." I say as gently as I can, while studying the map on Alpha Abaddon's office wall - I can't seem to call it my office yet, at least not in my own head, it doesn't yet feel real."But why not?" He actually stomps his foot like a child having a tantrum and I'm surprised, I've never seen this side of him before."Ok, aside from the fact we are currently in the middle of a war, it's also too dangerous, you could die." I drag my eyes away from the map long enough to look at him."Emery was fine and I'm stronger than her, even when she isn't injured, if she could survive it then I'm bound to." A knock on my door has us both turning to see Anastasia striding inside, an earnest look on her face."Look, Emery was a chance we took because she was dying anyway, we would never have considered it if we had any other choice and have you seen her? She is not 'fine' at all, she's struggling and terrified of the ch…""But that's because it was never something she considered. I want
Alpha Cain Chapter forty - Cain
We were foolish to think it would be over this early, that it would end with the death of Eligor and his followers would fade back to wherever they came from. Samuel is inconsolable and if it weren't for his desire for revenge, I'm not sure he wouldn't have ended his own life by now. As it is, we've had to get Flame's parents to take Amara home because his wolf seems unable to separate twin from twin, projecting his fury at Merida onto her and demanding her death in recompense for the loss of his mate.In the meantime we've sent scouts out to search the area for any signs of Merida or Ekron or any gatherings of any description. Thankfully Flame's parents have also stepped in to help Emery with her wolf, because Flame is torn between her friend and leading the now far too large pack."We found marks up by the Western border but they're odd. Too obvious, like they've been left there on purpose." Darius pulls up a picture of some slices in a tree, swiping through them all and each is sl
Alpha Cain Chapter thirty-nine - Leila
When I wake up, I instantly know something is wrong, I'm alone in a hospital room and though I can feel Coal is close and obviously there should be staff around, the sound proofing means I can't hear anything going on outside of my four walls."Find Coal, something is going on." Onyx confirms the tickle of fear running down my spine, so I carefully remove the tubes from my body and sit up, tentatively feeling the stitches running along my stomach. The wound seems to have healed, but it still feels a little bruised when I move and a jolt of worry has me placing my hand lower, where my baby is."She's fine, luckily your sister went too high." Coal pushes open the door, his eyes raking all over me, dark circles under them show me the stress and exhaustion he's trying to hide."What's going on?" I notice he closes the door fully behind him, closing out the brief snippet of the chaotic noise outside."How are you feeling?" He asks instead and now I know it's bad."I'm fine, now what's goin
Alpha Cain Chapter thirty-eight - Cain
Flame clings tightly to my hand as we join the crowds, all walking slowly through the roads. Darius appears beside me, escorting her human friends who have been allowed to witness tonight's event. I'm a little concerned about how excited Ollie seems to be by everything, he's not changed his mind about wanting to become one of us, but that's a problem for another time and he is at least trying to be respectful by reigning in his excitement to just wide eyed staring. Gene and Levi have gone all out for tonight's funeral celebrations. They just have involved pretty much the entire pack to have gotten all of this done in such a short time. Flowers and lights lead from every road up to the clearing and a stage has been erected to one side of the numerous bonfires. Photographs line the stage, my father amongst them, and even though I was there, it hits harder to see the smiling faces of those we lost. We exchange brief words with those we pass, accepting condolences and offering them back,
Alpha Cain Chapter thirty- seven - Leila
There's so much to do and not enough time to do it, I don't know how Alpha Abaddon ever got to leave his office. It feels like every other minute I've got someone trying to contact me, directly inside my mind too, it's not like when I thought I was human and could pretend I'd left my mobile on charge if I didn't want to answer it, no, this lot have a direct dial straight to my mind and there's no answer phone or text option. My parents have been respectful and I think that's only because Samuel went over there late last night to explain the situation, but they're amongst the cacophony of voices jostling for priority inside my head, not only because they know I remember who I am, but also to talk about Merida. I don't know if they know where she is, I can't even consider the fact that they might have known that she was working for Eligor all along and what about Amara? Her twin sister is a traitor, that's going to take some digesting. Unless she already knew? In which case she could b
