Chapter 8

ALPHA PARTHE.

The searing pain hit me like a storm, an electric shock that coursed through every muscle, every bone, twisting them, breaking them, reforming them.

The moon's silver light felt like daggers on my skin, sharp and unforgiving. I could hear the curse whispering, slithering through my mind like a venomous snake, taking control piece by piece.

Shita was beside me, chanting her incantations in a desperate attempt to subdue the beast rising inside me.

The herbs she had laid around me, their sharp scent of crushed sage and rosemary, did nothing to quell the fire that roared beneath my skin.

"It's not working," I growled, my voice distorted, barely recognizable, as though it came from a place deeper than my own chest. The beast was taking over.

Shita didn't flinch. She moved quickly, laying her hands on my chest, speaking words I couldn't understand, her magic weaving around us like a shield.

Sweat poured down her face, but her brow still furrowed in concentration. She had stopped this so many times before. She had always been able to keep me from falling completely. I trust her. Even though I felt her panic. The new recipe wasn't what she had expected.

"Hold on," she murmured, her voice strained, sweat pouring down her face as she focused on the incantations. "Just a little longer, Alpha, I can—"

Her words were drowned by the roar that tore from my throat, a scream that didn't belong to me but to the monster inside, shaking the very walls of the fortress.

My claws extended, sharp and deadly, scraping against the stone floor.

I saw the panic in Shita's eyes. She was losing control. Her incantations were faltering, her magic slipping through her fingers like water. Her confidence was cracking, and the beast inside me knew it. I could feel its hunger, its rage, clawing at the edges of my sanity.

In all these, my mind drifted to Luxuria. I hoped against Mother Earth that Leisha had carried out my instructions and that Luxuria was safe in her chamber by now.

She must have heard my roars by now, and she'd wonder what was going on.

I had intentionally instructed that she be taken to the room at the far end of the fortress, away from me.

I needed her alive in order to teach her a lesson. I was still pissed at her for everything she had done to disrespect me.

With a roar, I lashed out, my arm moving before I could stop it. The force of my blow sent Shita flying across the room, her body colliding with the wall with a sickening thud. Her cries of pain echoed in my ears, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't control it anymore.

Everything blurred. The beast had taken full control.

I wasn't Alpha Parthe anymore. I was the curse made flesh, wild and untamable. The need to destroy was overwhelming, and I needed to hunt.

***

Morning came, and I was curled up in my bed, sleeping like nothing had happened last night. I always knew my way back to the fortress after every hunt.

Thankfully, I was able to see a rogue to take out. No one would be pleased to know what happens whenever there are no rogues to kill.

It was something even I am not proud of.

As I stirred tiredly on the bed, my thoughts raced, trying to piece together all I had done the previous night before the monster took over.

Suddenly, realization dawned on me. Shikta.

I scrambled to my feet, picking up a robe to cover my naked self as I made my way toward her chamber.

Without knocking, I pushed the door open, and there she was, laying weakly on the bed with two physicians attending to her.

Fuck.

Although it seems she had sustained internal injuries due to the force of the fall, It looked bad.

The maids bowed and scurried away, leaving just both of us.

"Shita..." I called. Even though my voice didn't betray any emotions, I knew I felt bad for her deep down.

"Alpha. You don't have to be sorry." She said with a weak smile.

Not that I was one ever to be sorry, but I understood what she meant. She didn't like it when I blamed myself for anything at all. How sweet.

"I didn't mean for things to go out of control... It is all my fault. I should have left..." I was trying to say but she stopped me.

"It's okay. I'll be fine," she said.

She was the only one who understood that my lack of showing emotions didn't mean that I was a total monster.

We sat in silence for a moment before she spoke again.

"What do you intend to do with her?" She asked, and I realized I had returned home with my mate last night.

I hadn't even checked up on her yet. I hoped she was safe.

"That shouldn't concern you. Get better." I said dismissively.

"But..." She tried to protest, but I gave her a stern look.

"Do not stick your nose where it doesn't belong, Shita. I'll let you know when you should concern yourself," I said in finality, and she knew better than to persist.

A small smile graced her lips.

Just as I was about to leave, I was mind-linked by my Gamma, Urik.

"Alpha, you have to see this." He sounded very urgent and restless.

I didn't panic. I had seen what others might consider the worst. Nothing surprises me.

"What is it?" I asked through the link.

"Seven cattle were found dead this morning. Someone slaughtered them." Urik said, and in all honesty, it moved a nerve in me.

Who would have slaughtered our cattle? I knew my pack was always safe from me whenever the curse took over.

This surely wasn't my doing.