Chapter 2: Dark Alpha

— Leia Steele —

There is a reason that I long stopped to believe that my life here could be better for me. That one of these days something would happen, or I would meet someone that could change my life in this place. 

The reason is that every single time I do have that faint hope, it never goes the way that I thought it would and I always, always get disappointed. 

Once in a while there comes a moment that I am somehow blindsided, and for a second, a very quick and fleeting second, I think that this time it could be different. 

Unfortunately, I should know by now that that is never the case.

I am harshly pulled out of  the absurd fantasy that Beta Calypso felt anything but hatred towards me when his grip on my wrist tightens and I am painfully shoved against the wall, the back of my head hitting against the hardness and I squirm in pain. 

“What the fuck are you staring at, peasant? Get your ass to the Alpha’s room and start cleaning because if I see just one single dust anywhere in that area, you’re going to wish you never took your first breath on this Earth.” Beta Calypso coldly declared before letting out a disgusted scoff and walking away like he could not bear the sight of me any second longer.

I desperately stopped myself from letting a tear fall before lowering my head down to the floor walking to the Alpha’s room while everyone around me laughed and whispered cruel things and I knew instantly the entire Pack would hear about it soon.

You are not going to cry. You are not going to cry. 

Words I had repeated to myself over and over again for the past three months I had been here. 

Three months, but it has felt almost like three centuries. When will it end?

As I walked into the Alpha’s quarters, I felt every single hair in my body rise from panic and dread. I had never been inside here and I had planned to keep it that way, but unfortunately, it is obvious that nothing ever works out for me.

As quickly as I could, I began to wipe every nook and cranny in the vastly large place. I needed to finish as early as possible because if it so happens that the Dark Alpha arrives while I am still here, I know what will happen to me – torn into pieces by his bare hands and shredded by his sharp claws. 

But just when I thought I would have enough time before he came to his quarters as I assumed he would be at the fight box, it turns out I would be deadly wrong. 

Suddenly, his door opened and every bone in my body leapt in fear and I rushed to find a place to hide. 

I ran to one of his cabinets closest to the door so that when he gets in, the door would be blocking where I was, and if I was lucky, once he goes into the other room, I can hurriedly step out like I was not even here in the first place. 

“Please, Dark Alpha! Please, we’re so sorry!” 

The screams of girls made my eyes grow wide and I placed both my hands on my mouth to stop myself from making any noise. 

Oh, goddess. It’s the June girls. He brought them back to his quarters. What the hell happened to the fight box?

There had been many rumors as to what happens to the girls that the Dark Alpha chooses and brings to Goddess knows where, but none of them good. I hoped day and night that I would never be one of them, and now I was going to see exactly why. 

“Sorry?” He repeated, but the tone of his voice was mocking and intrigued at the same time like he was enjoying the way they pleaded. 

He was batshit crazy, but I was not surprised. This is Viktor Morgenstar we were talking about. A man who killed his own parents and mate in cold blood. 

This… this was a living and breathing monster that stood before me.

The three girls, sisters, cried and shook in fear. I felt bad for them, but there was nothing that I could do that wouldn’t cost my own life. 

I had learned many things from having been here and one of them was to never be a hero. The very first friend that I had made, made me learn it when she tried to help another slave who was being berated by Gamma Cane. On that same night, she was pulled out and I never saw her again. I could not imagine what they had done to her nor did I want to.

“Please, Alpha! Oh, p– please! We– we promise to clean y– your room properly n– next time! We won’t ever do it again! Please just– just take us back to the fight box! We– we will fight for our lives there!” The girl with the short auburn hair cried out. 

Her name was Jemma June, and she was the eldest. I have no idea what their real story was, but from what I used to hear, they were sold to this Pack to pay off a debt that their parents accrued over the years.

It seems all the women here were nothing but objects to them, to be sold and used whenever they wanted. 

“Stop fucking talking,” the Dark Alpha hissed and immediately all three quieted, biting their lips so hard it was close to bleeding.

What was he going to do to them? Why would he pull them away from what was supposed to be the Pack’s entertainment? 

A few seconds later, I got the answers to my own questions and wished I hadn’t.

“Take off all of your clothes and get on your knees,” he ordered them. 

No… No… He… He’s not going to…

I accidentally let out a whimpering noise and panic rose in me when his head swiftly turned to my direction. 

Fuck! Did he hear that? Did he hear me make a sound?! Oh, goddess. I’m going to die. He is going to kill me the second he sees me, I just know it!

I need to get out of here. Oh goddess, I need to do something! Anything! Goddess, help me!

The last time I felt half as much fear as this was that day my father sold me and I knew that nothing in my life would ever be the same again. He had sold me to the Devil and now I was inches away from him. 

The closer the Dark Alpha got, the more terror I felt in my body. I knew it was over for me, but for some reason, there was another feeling lingering in me that I could not shake. 

Something… stronger. Something… that I couldn’t particularly grasp. 

With every step the Dark Alpha took, the more dreadful I felt, but at the same time, I could not deny that something about him was magnetizing. 

He is tall with broad shoulders and wearing all black. His tight fit button up sleeve has three or four of the buttons loose, revealing the dark tattoos on his chest that go all the way to his hands. It wasn’t hard to tell that he was corded with muscle just by looking at the sheer size of his biceps. When he lifts his hand up to push his jet black hair back, I can’t help but trace the veins that are snaked around his knuckles.

He felt like he was pulling me closer to him and his steely blue eyes pierced into my soul. 

Did he know I was in the closet? Could he see me? Was he feeling the exact same thing I was feeling?

What exactly is this feeling? What the hell is going on with me?

When he was inches away from me, I closed my eyes and somehow accepted my fate. If this was my last day on Earth, then so be it. I have suffered long enough and at least with this I can be reunited with my mother. 

Hopefully. 

But just when he was just a millimeter away from opening the closet door, a loud banging came from his side and he swiftly looked away. 

“Yo, Alpha! What the hell is taking you so long?! Cane’s already half a damn barrel and he says if you don’t get to the banquet in two minutes he’s taking one of your girls!” The voice on the other side shouted and I knew it was Calypso. 

Alpha Viktor closed his eyes and let out a bothered sigh.

“He’ll lose a finger before he gets even close to one of them,” he threatened in a heartbeat. “Hold your fucking tails, I’ll be right there.” 

If I could have let out an exhale, I would have the second he turned away from the closet and started walking to the other room. 

The June girls were still shaking on his floor, looking at each other confused. 

“Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.”

That was all he needed to say before all three girls scrambled and sprinted out of the room shaking and in tears.

I waited half a minute after he closed the door of the room before I quickly and quietly made my escape. 

I ran as fast as I could and when I knew I was far enough from him or anybody of importance to hear me, I let out the deepest sigh of relief of my life. 

So close. That was so fucking close. 

I knew then that I would never ever want to be anywhere near the Dark Alpha ever again. 

Unfortunately for me…

Nothing in my life worked that way and the next time that I saw him, it turned out…

He also saw me.