Chapter One: Monsters Are Real

Do you ever wonder where you took a wrong turn? Where your life became the exact opposite of what you always wanted it to be?

My name is Alessandra Noone, and five years ago…

My parents were killed right in front of me.

That was also the day my life became a living hell.

—

“Alessandra! Alessandra! Get up!”

The desperate shouts came out of nowhere, and I wondered if I could just be having a terrible nightmare.

All of a sudden, my body starts to get shaken and this abruptly wakes me.

I turned around and opened my eyes to see a frantic expression on my mother’s face. I had never seen her look so terrified, like she had just learned about something horrifying.

“Wh— what time is it? What’s going on, mom?” I asked her as I rubbed my eyes open.

“There is no time to explain, my love. I just need you to get up, change into outdoor clothes, and get just one valuable item. We have to leave. Now!” My mother’s grip tightened on my arm when she said that last word.

There was something in her desperation that made the situation even more confusing for me, but at the same time, I knew I had to do exactly what she said.

Besides, before I could ask or say anything else, she was already halfway out of my room.

I frantically got out of bed and ran to my closet, grabbing a sweater, joggers, and my new light pink shoes that they had just given to me for my birthday a few days ago.

We didn’t have a lot, but we had more than I could need. In this Pack, everybody was provided as much as what you could offer.

My parents were known as the travelers, the ones who go out a few times a month to explore other Packs. I don’t know exactly what it is they do but I do know that it is valuable, though maybe not as much as the high ranking jobs.

“Alessandra! Are you ready? We have to go right now!” I heard my mother call out for me from downstairs.

“Just a second, mom! I’m coming!” I replied before turning to my bedside table.

One valuable item, she said.

I wish I could take more. I don’t know when we’ll be back here, or if we ever will be, so just thinking about everything made me sad, but if there was one item I knew I couldn’t leave, it would be Mr. Cinnabun, my stuffed toy bunny I’ve had since I was a baby.

I may be thirteen years old now but there is something comforting about having the one item I’ve had since birth around me, especially when it seemed like we were going somewhere unfamiliar.

“Alessandra Noone, we are leaving right now! Don’t make me or your father have to drag you out of here!”

“I’m going, I’m going! I’m literally stepping down the stairs as we spe—“

I couldn’t finish my sentence because the next thing I knew, when I blinked, there were men gathered around our living room.

I froze, my grip on Mr. Cinnabun’s ears tight I could feel it almost ripping. The many years I’ve owned it were starting to show.

“Wh— what is… happening…” I said quietly as my heart beat loudly, surprised I could even utter a word.

There were five— No, six men all cramped up in our already small house, making it look even smaller.

“Oh, my baby… We’re too late…” My mother cried out as her eyes looked into me with pure sadness, and the man holding onto her shook her vigorously by her neck.

“Don’t hurt her!” My father growled angrily and tried to break free from the two men that were holding him down, but to no avail.

I always thought that my father was quite tall and strong, but seeing the other men around him made him look as small and feeble as a mouse.

I involuntarily let out a squeak and the urge to pee due to fear took over my body.

No! I can’t pee myself! I’m too old for that! I’m already a teenager for goddess’ sake!

All of a sudden, the men in the living room began to move to the side, but still tightly holding onto my parents.

They moved as if they were making way for somebody. I would have never in a million years thought it would be him.

The Alpha of our Pack, Lars Dane.

As soon as he stepped into the room, it was like the air became a thousand times thicker, and my body was frozen to the core.

He had an aura to him that was deadly, like just looking at him made you feel as if you were being scrutinized from head to toe.

Or worse, he was already thinking of ways to hurt you.

“A– Alpha Lars, p– please, you don’t have to do this. We’re not—“

“SILENCE!”

His growl echoed immensely that the ground beneath us shook like there was suddenly an earthquake.

The pee that I had been keeping in so desperately came out of me as if the flood gates have been opened.

My face turned instantly red at the embarrassment, but it became worse when everybody’s heads turned to me and tears began to prick my eyes.

“I’m— I’m sorry… I— I didn’t… mean… to…” I defeatedly whispered as I looked down at the ground, unable to face any of them.

Out of nowhere, for a split second, there was a gust of wind and when I blinked again, I was looking down at the shoes of a man.

They were spotless. Completely black and seemed like expensive leather. Ones I only saw on television worn by prestigious men.

I knew it was the Alpha standing right next to me, but the question was — why?

Why was he here? What did he want from us? Why was this all happening?

Or maybe, more so importantly — what was he going to do to us? To my parents?

“Please, please don’t hurt our baby. She has nothing to do with this. Just take us, please. We promise to cooperate, just don’t hurt our baby girl.” My mother’s desperate pleas filled the room and I could hear my father trying to comfort her as well.

Even so, I could not bring myself to look up and see them.

I don’t know why this was happening to us, but I did know that whatever it was… it was bad… and something tells me that it was only going to get worse.

“Foolish, the both of you.” The Alpha spoke, his deep soprano voice vibrating and somehow reaching deep into me.

It was an unsettling feeling, and the trickling warmth in between my legs from my own pee wasn’t helping. I felt like I was trapped.

Well… I knew that I was.

There was silence. Aside from the breathing of the men and the whimpers of my parents, there was nothing but paralyzing silence.

“Look carefully, my son. Do not blink, for this is how you will show them who is the powerful Alpha when your time comes.”

That was the last thing I heard until another gust of wind appeared, followed by the sound of screaming that lasted for what seemed only like a millisecond, and then… nothing.

I hadn’t even realized my eyes were tightly shut closed until I felt something warm on various parts of my body.

I felt it on my arm first, and then my legs, and eventually, my face.

I didn’t want to open my eyes, terrified to see what it really was.

Deep down, I begged for it not to be real. I begged to wake up and realize that this was all just a really, really, horrifying nightmare.

But the other part of me knew the truth, as much as I didn’t want to accept it.

“What are we going to do with the little scum?” Somebody asked like I wasn’t still there, standing in my own piss and whatever it was that was on my skin.

“Get it out of my sight. I don’t want anything or anyone related to traitors on my land.”

Traitors? My parents? How in the world was that even possible? And where were they going to take me?

After that, I heard footsteps getting closer and closer towards me. The creaking of our wooden floorboards was something I used to determine whether my parents were back home from their travels, but now it was just the sound of torture and agony for me.

My entire body was frozen and glued to the floor. I couldn’t move or I didn’t want to. Maybe it was both.

I sensed the presence of the Alpha’s men getting nearer, but just when I saw a hand coming up to grab me, a stern voice echoed the corners of the room.

It was not as deep as Alpha Lars, but the bravado was still there, and you could tell the seriousness in it.

“No. Leave her.”

“What? But the Alpha, your father, said he didn’t want her around anymore.” One of the men replied, audibly confused.

“Did you not hear what I said? Do you want me to repeat it before I rip you into half with my bare hands?”

Goosebumps immediately erupted all over my skin.

“B– but he– he will have our necks either way if we do not follow his command…” Somebody terrifyingly commented, and I’m sure he was right.

Why was the Alpha’s son going against his own father? What could he possibly gain from it?

“I will take care of my father. Now get the hell out of my sight in ten seconds or else.” The threat in his voice was enough for all of the men to scurry away and in mere seconds, they were gone.

Silence filled the room instantly.

I don’t know how long it was that I had been standing there with my eyes still closed, but eventually my legs began to hurt and disgust filled my every being.

Whether or not I wanted to accept my reality, I had to open my eyes and do something.

Anything.

Tears had already began to flood my face even before I could, and when I saw Mr. Cinnabun had turned almost completely red, I broke down completely.

The bunny that my parents gave to me that was connected to so many good memories of us was now drenched in their blood.

Why? Why did this have to happen? Why me? Why my family?

I cried and I cried and I cried, just sprawled on the floor with piss, blood, and whatever else it was on me. I couldn’t do anything else.

Only did I stop when I suddenly heard another creaking noise and when I looked up, it was yet again another person I least expected to see.

“What… what are you… still… doing… here…”

His expression didn’t change and it was almost like he wasn’t blinking.

He just stared at me emotionlessly. Completely blank, like he was void of anything.

He took another step forward and I grimaced at the sound his shoes made when he stepped on what looked like remains.

Remains of what used to be my mother and father.

I think I’m going to puke, but he still continued to stare at me like it was nothing.

“I wanted to wait,” he finally answered.

I blinked at him confused. “For… what?”

He didn’t say anything.

Instead, an uncanny smile creeped up at the side of his lips and I felt goosebumps all over my body.

“For how you would react when you saw your dead parents.”

I was speechless.

Who could be able to reply to something so horrifying like that? What kind of child could think like that?

He may be older than me by a few years, but he was still not an adult as far as I remember, so how could he have such gruesome thoughts?

I just looked at him, unable to do or say anything.

He then took a deep breath and all of a sudden spoke so nonchalantly, so out of touch of human emotion.

“I’ll see you around… traitor.”

Then he turned and in what seemed like just a split second, disappeared into the night.

I realized then that this entire Pack was evil, and that the Alpha’s son was a monster just like his father.

I don’t know what reason he had for me to stay, but I don’t care either way.

I swore on that night that when the time comes, I will leave this Pack and never ever look back.

That’s what my parents would have wanted for me.