Child Of Calamity

TWENTY YEARS AGO.

Heavy rain pelted against the windows of a dimly lit room, distorting the view of the outside world. The ambiance was filled with a mixture of anticipation and brooding melancholy.

Seated on an ornate armchair was a man of immense stature and commanding aura— the Alpha— his feet tapping the marble floor urgently as he awaited news from his subjects.

He gazed out at the soaked cityscape with a troubled expression, his torment growing larger as long minutes walked by. Tonight, his fate was going to be decided.

Or he decided the fate of the child to be born.

Alpha Greyson awaited the birth of the son that existed as a result of black magic. A son that wasn't his— an aberration different from anything Druid Peak pack had ever experienced.

The gods seemed to have something against him for pinning such misfortune on him.

Dilemma crept under his skin just as it had from the very first day his Luna's pregnancy was discovered, and he hadn't been with her. That day marked the start of his turmoil.

Minutes turned into eternity as his restlessness grew. His Luna's face breezed into his mind again, and Greyson began to wonder if she was in pain because of the abomination she carried. His mind was made up for the next course of actions, but still, he anxiously waited for news to be brought to him.

After a small moment, the door to his chamber creaked open, and a servant, soaked by the relentless downpour, rushed in, breathless and trembling. She bowed immediately at the sight of him, going on her knees.

Alpha Greyson recognized her to be one of the maids that aided the midwives. She was hesitant; her lips quivered as though she was thinking of what to say. Perhaps, how to say it.

"Speak!" He commanded, his voice heavily laced with furiousness and impatience.

"The child lived. He was born a few minutes ago." She relayed calmly, but her voice was filled with so much fear.

He— a bastard male child. Alpha Greyson thought. All these while, his Luna hadn't bore him a son to carry on his lineage, but now she did— when he was not the one responsible for it.

The servant's words etched into his mind. Despite his years of battles, downfalls, and victories, he had never felt a pain so great. His wolf raged, and he angrily bared his teeth, trying to put to rest the rage that brewed inside of him.

The rain drummed a relentless rhythm as he was lost in his reverie, his mind consumed by the thought of how much of a problem this child was going to be to the entire pack.

"Show me," Greyson ordered as he rose to his feet and headed to the chamber where the abomination had been birthed. Now that the child obstinately decided to live, there had to be something else to curb him from ruining the line and peaceful flow of things.

The servant rushed outside. The rain still fell heavily, raging as though it shared the same emotional turmoil as the Alpha. He followed the maid till they arrived at the delivery room.

Sucking in air through his teeth, he stepped foot in the chamber— his eyes darting from wall to wall till he finally spotted his Luna on the wooden bed with a few other servants performing her aftercare.

She tried to sit when she noticed his presence, her face etched with so much disappointment. He didn't spare her a glance. No, he couldn't. More pressing issues awaited.

At that exact moment, the child cried out from the cradle next to her, and Alpha Greyson took hushed steps toward him. The midwives stopped their treatments and pathed the way for him. They all carried worried expressions.

"Gather the council, now," He ordered urgently, and a few maids scurried out to relay the message. His hands were wet, and water dripped from his regal attire.

Still, Greyson reached for the child and took him out of the cradle. He took him in one hand and examined— battling conflicting emotions. A child to his naive Luna, a bastard to him.

Although it wasn't her fault, he was the one foolish enough to let his guard down and let his foe a chance to get through to him using his wife.

"Don't…please…Indrik did nothing wrong." Her voice was hushed.

'A mighty name for a bastard child—' Greyson thought.

A tear streamed down her face as she looked at him. Even though he loved her, Greyson had no intention of letting the child live with his heritage.

"I'm doing this…for us." He left the room with the child in his hand, heading to the front of the Manor where the ritual would take place.

Lightning owned the sky, transforming the night into day for brief moments, and the loudness of the thunder was deafening, like the world was a step away from utter destruction.

Greyson pushed on with the child in his hand in the relentless rain, the harsh cold seeping into both their skins. As expected, the council had gathered in anticipation— the members being his Beta, Gamma, Zeta, and Delta— all the people required to witness the ritual about to take place.

Silence ate up the air, except for the pitter-patter sound of the rain that he had begun to find annoying.

"Alpha Greyson…" His beta began, but Greyson's glare caused him to eat up his words. They were all aware of the circumstances surrounding the birth of the child, so there was no changing his mind.

"Do you still plan to seal it?" Adolph— his gamma questioned.

Greyson nodded, placing the wailing child on the pedestal in the middle of the space. The only way to go about this was to seal the child's wolf so that he may grow to be ordinary— nothing more.

No bastard was going to carry on his lineage, especially not a child that belonged to his most prominent foe. Greyson inhaled profoundly, and the process began.

A bubble of lightning surrounded him and the child as he fluttered his eyes shut and chanted the spell to activate the curse.

The space was illuminated by bright blue light that permeated from his cursed energy. It swirled around them as his lips moved faster, faintly whispering the curse to seal the child's wolf.

Soon, it was done. In the blink of an eye, the darkness returned, and the rain halted its war. Greyson's brown eyes were still a light shade of red as he returned to his chamber without words.

His subjects took the child back to his mother. Indrik was no son of his— he would live as an ordinary, wolfeless man.

PRESENT DAY.

INDRIK

I had two plans for the day, to lay in bed all day and resume my training— the same one I'd sworn to quit seven hours ago after my fifteenth master gave up on me. For a wolfless person like me, things were more complicated than it was for others. So, nothing else, nothing else mattered.

There had to be someone, right? Perhaps a reason why I was weaker than others. So weak that my step brother was being anticipated to take the head of the pack after the death of our father, but the council hadn't agreed just yet.

I've been cursed to live a tedious life. Reluctantly getting off my bed, my fingers ruffled my dark hair as I groaned tiredly, picking up the book I had spent the night reading from underneath my pillow.

It was another one of the ones I gathered and relentlessly read to find a way to unlock my wolf. No training seemed to be working. In fact, no one seemed to be interested in training me— I'd been stigmatized like that.

The day was gloomy, as it usually is. I had gotten used to the life of doing nothing and being addressed as incompetent. Deep down, I wanted that to change, but there didn't seem to be a way around it.

I'd been determined since an early age to find someone who could train me so I was at the same level as others or even more significant. I felt that there was something locked inside of me. The search continued today.

Lazily, I prepared for my journey and got into a comfortable regal attire. No one would care about my whereabouts. I had realized that since my twenty-five years of being alive.

None of the pack members seemed to be interested in helping me either, especially the members of the council. They kept their distance.

With one pat down my silky black hair, I stood before the mirror, adjusting the collar of my ensemble. I smiled at my breathtaking reflection. I was quite the eye candy, except for the flaw of incompetence that I'd carried my entire life.

"Today, we find a master!" I said to myself, filled to the brim with determination as I made my way out of the chamber.

I decided to go north today— the land in which the humans resided. I was aware that wolves weren't allowed to mingle with humans, but I was no different from them, seeing as I'd never been able to transform or communicate with my wolf.

Hell, I wasn't even sure I had one.

All the days I'd spent going south had borne me no good results. The Alphas and esteemed teachers I'd worked with did nothing to help my condition.

If luck shone on me on the course of this journey, I could begin the life I'd always hoped for. And prove to them that I'm just as competent as they could be. If not more.

Getting out of my chamber, the first person I set eyes on was Leon, my stepbrother, swarmed by ladies as always, with his undying need always to be the center of attention.

I noticed Leon stop in his tracks at the sight of me, but I kept walking to avoid trouble. Leon always had a thing for flair. Right before I crossed the threshold, I was blocked by Leon's tall, bulky frame, compared to my comfortably wiry one. One would almost think Leon was older.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" Leon jeered, his lips curved upwards in a condescending smirk as he stared down at me.

Frustratedly, I responded. "Yes, I do not."

I brushed past my stepbrother hastily. Till now, I couldn't understand why my father had taken in another Luna, but it was impossible to ask directly; my parents were long gone. All of them.

My gaze narrowed as I continued with my journey. On this day, I'd find myself a worthy Master.