002: The Alpha Is My Mate?

MAYA

My hand crawled to my neck, to the spot he'd bitten and a small gasp ripped out of my throat. I couldn't even see his face but I felt him.

He'd marked me.

Every part of him! My mate. I'd found my mate!

“Elenore….” he called out in a skeptical tone. “A-are you okay?” His voice was hoarse and held the question while the room fell into a kind of silence that clawed at my chest.

I didn't know what to do with all the intensity I was feeling. Like I'd been lit on fire, I wanted his arms all over me and I hadn't even seen his face yet!

But it couldn't be, right? It couldn't be Alpha Arzhel. There was no way in hell I was the Alpha's mate, not as a powerless, nearly wolfless Omega!

“Elenore…” The shadows of his outstretched arm fanned my face and I startled back, hitting the wall, hard!

“I'm not Elenore!” I cried out loudly, wincing from the pain.

Even the air seemed to hurt my skin. No one spoke of how fragile a person becomes when they meet their mate.

Their destiny.

“I'm not Elenore! Who are you!?”

My throat hurt. My bones were weak and tired!

And his presence only seemed to strangle me more, taking all the air out of my lungs. The desire forced into my veins and I just wanted him close.

“What!?” He blurted out in complete shock as I felt him march to the table where the candle was. He was going to light it up and see my scarred face.

Before I could count my options, the warm glow of the candlelight overtook the darkness and I was outed. A small gasp ripped from my throat when he turned.

Like a fairytale.

Like a god.

Like…Aphrodite.

Like I shouldn't look at him with these sinful pair of eyes. My heart jumped to my throat and I stilled.

Like the moon goddess spent all years of her life perfecting his details. I'd never seen one man look this way, like he sucked out the beauty of a thousand men.

Bright green eyes bored into the hazel of mine, widened in utter shock.

His red lips, luscious and plum were ajar and they quivered like he was struggling to find what to say, just as I struggled to breathe under his intense scrutiny.

He was tall, enough that my neck hurt from looking up at him. It must be him— the young Alpha.

It must be Alpha Arzhel.

I thought it was an exaggeration when his looks were praised, but no! No man should look this good!

And I was in trouble!

Like a switch was flipped, that beautiful face contorted into utter disgust like a child's face would in front of a monster.

“Who the hell are you!?” He roared angrily. His pupils faded into a faded shade of red and the veins in his head popped.

He'd ruin me.

The anger of an Alpha.

I flinched, almost melting myself into the wall and tears soon began to flow from my eyes. Goosebumps scrubbed up my arms and the words in my head just wouldn't make sense.

“I…I uh- I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I just- I just wanted to try on a dress! I swear! I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't mean to! I swear!”

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with nothing but rage and contempt. I could already feel his hate for me! It struck my chest like a scimitar— unforgiving.

It killed me!

“I SAID WHO ARE YOU!?”

His arms, large and firm, grabbed my neck and shoved me against the wall hard.

“Why did you do it!? Why did you have me mark you? Why!”

“Hel—”

“You smell different. You. Who are you? I can't…figure you out! Start talking!”

How exactly would I speak if he wouldn't let go?! Alpha Arzhel tightened his grip around my neck and I coughed, spluttering saliva and slapping his arms as hard as I could. I couldn't breathe or think!

A bitter chuckle ripped from his throat. “I got tricked! Was this what you wanted? Was this your plan all along!?”

It felt like death, like my mind was about to explode. I'd never seen so much hate in a man's eyes.

“I'm.” I coughed. “Please! Pl- please l-l et me go-o,” I groaned, my eyes watering from the cruel asphyxiation. “Please!”

Just in time, the sound of the door swinging open hit both our ears.

“Arzhel?” Elenore called out in a baffled tone. “Maya?! What the hell is going on here!?”

That was the confirmation I needed. It was Alpha Arzhel after all. That realization did nothing to cure the pain in my bones when he released his grip and I slipped to the ground, falling hard on my butt.

Elenore's eyes widened in utter shock when she scanned the room and watched the horror unfold.

I, on the floor in her dress, grabbing the spot that her lover had just bitten me and him standing in front of her, confused and clueless!

“WHAT. IS. GOING. ON. HERE!?” She asked in a trembling voice as she walked closer to Alpha Arzhel. “What happened?”

With the same intensity, the same hate as before, he pointed at me. “She! Who's she!?”

I crawled up the wall and stood, staring in shock with my hand still over the spot of his bite. I watched Elenore's eyes travel there and how the light in her eyes died when she realized what had happened.

“You…marked her!?” She blurted in disbelief. “This…lowly thing, this abomination is your mate!?” She asked again in a voice that shook so daringly. “You marked her, Arzhel!?”

Alpha Arzhel looked like he didn't know what to say. No one would in this situation. He ran his fingers through his honey-brown hair in confusion.

“Talk to me!” Elenore yelled again, facing me with piercing eyes. She started to get closer and I feared for my life.

“I thought she was you! I marked her because I thought she was you! It was dark and—”

“I'm sorry! It was all my fault!” I cried out, my heart splitting in pain with each passing second. It felt like the walls of the room were crashing onto me, pressing my chest! “He didn't know! I wore your dress and I was standing there and—” I paused, my words completely overtaken my sobs. “It's all my fault—”

And she slapped me!

“You, scar-faced, conniving little bitch! Was this your plan all along!? You tricked the Alpha into…marking you!? I guess insanity really does run in the family afterall.”

She slapped me so hard that I forgot all I wanted to say. I backed away and hit the walls once more, sirens going off in my head and ears.

Elenore turned to Alpha Arzhel. “Do you know who she is? Your father will kill you! She's the traitor's daughter, Arzhel! She's not even a full wolf. You can't be mates with the traitor's daughter! The entire pack will take a hit if this gets out! And you marked her!?”

I was still crumbling on the floor, crying so hard it felt like my chest could explode.

Alpha Arzhel kicked the chair angrily, and glanced at it with eyes filled with nothing but disgust.

“Five fucking years in Semtle and the first thing I get into the day I arrived in this Pack is trouble!” He hissed!

Did I hear him right? He was…in the human world, for five years!?

“What are you going to do about this mess!?” Elenore screeched again. “You want a woman with a deformed face sitting next to you when you finally take the throne!?”

“Let me fucking think, Nore!”

“In minutes, the entire pack is waiting for you to pick your Luna! You do not have the luxury of time right now, Arzhel!”

All I could do was sob.

He was going to reject me for sure and any woman who'd been marked could never find a second chance mate, not in this life. I could kiss those fleeting dreams of romance goodbye.

“I know what to do…” Alpha Arzhel declared out of the blue. “I know what to do.”

“What? What…”

“I claim you as my mate,” he declared, looking deeply in her eyes that my chest burned. “You. Not that good for nothing Scarface. I need a strong woman by myself, Nore. And it had only ever been you. That's what we tell the pack. That you…are my mate.”

My heart sank.

Right at the corner of the room, my world went black. Pain shot up my chest and festered in my veins. This was the pain they spoke of.

The kind you feel when your mate professes their love to someone else. The kind of pain that ripped your heart from the inside out. I groaned inwardly, grabbing my chest to feel my thumping heart.

A coy smile crawled up Elenore's face, right before she turned to me. “And her? What will you do about her!”

Alpha Arzhel marched me and crouched. I quickly averted my gaze from his. He leaned in and reached for my hair, pulling it so hard that it almost ripped from my scalp.

“Ahhh!” I cried out, tears spilling from my eyes in torrents.

Here it comes. Here comes the rejection. I shut my eyes.

To my utmost surprise, his voice carried to my ears in a fear-instilling whisper. “I won't you reject you,” He spat harshly, his eyes filled with contempt. “But you're going to spend the rest of your life wishing I did.”