Alana
“Hey monster! Catch!”
I opened my hand in an instinct to try to catch the mongrels and scraps of food thrown by Sophia from the hole in my prison in the basement.
It was a half-bitten stale bread with molds all over it but instead of throwing it back away, my mouth began watering and I devoured the bread like a hungry beast that I am. It’s my first meal for the weak. They only gave me half a glass of water for the whole day and that was only yesterday. Now, I have nothing but a growling stomach and since this morning, I’ve been throwing up acid because I haven’t eaten for days.
“Yuck! She really ate it!” Sophia laughed loud and invited her friends to take a peek at my sorry state below.
Sophia is my step-sister, a daughter from the marriage my father had with a young single mother when my mother died after giving birth to me.
“Didn’t she know it was my dog food? Hey Alana monster! You are just like a mutt! A mutt!”
All of them laughed in chorus but I was too hungry to mind it. I need to eat because I am famished. I need to survive no matter what even though I don’t know what purpose I have to keep on living.
Everybody in the pack resents me. Nobody even wants to look at me every time I am paraded in the streets like a criminal to mark my mother’s death anniversary.
“Hey Alana. Did you know that the alpha prince is coming to the mansion for dinner? He will be attending the ceremony. All of the girls are invited so he could pick a future wife from all of us,” Justine, one of Sophia’s friends and the daughter of our pack’s beta, said. “And you’re the only one who can’t go there.”
I didn’t reply and just continued munching with my food.
I already heard it yesterday when Minerva, my stepmom, boasted to me that the son of the alpha king is coming to ask Sophia’s hand for marriage and that my father prepared a sumptuous festive dinner for them.
“I… It’s okay,” I said, trembling in hunger when the scraps barely fill my stomach.
I don’t want to see whoever that is. I just want to eat real food. It’s been a year since I tasted meat and vegetables. And it came from a guest who took pity on me.
“Of course you cannot be there! I’m sure the alpha prince won’t look at you twice. You are the most horrendous-looking person in the entire world!”
“I know,” I said while getting back into my curled position on the dirty floor. I’m sure he won’t even want to look at me.
I don’t know what bath is and I haven’t changed my clothes since last month. I stink in contrast with the alpha prince whom I imagined to be a handsome fragrant strong alpha.
All I know is that I have to endure more of this just so my father would accept me. He said he will accept me back as his daughter if I behave well according to his standards.
One of Sophia’s friends regurgitated food out of her mouth and threw it at me while the other one was recording the scenes on her phone.
“Here you go mutt! Eat this too!”
The squad laughed again when I took out the wet undigested bread that’s stuck in my hair and smelled it and set it aside. No, I can’t eat it.
“Eat it! Eat it!” they chanted.
“Damn you!” Sophia shouted from above when she saw that I did not obey her friend. “Why did you throw it away! Didn’t you hear what she said? She said you should eat it! So take that again and eat it!”
But I did not move and just stared up at them. Why are they outside while I am rotting here alone? Does it mean their parents do not love them?
“Sophia, I thought she’s not a picky eater. Why won’t she eat my vomit?”
“Wait, I’ll come down and I’ll show her what will happen if she won’t obey me. Give me the key!”
The guard opened the door of my cage and Sophia with her dainty and beautifully-made fingernails dug into my hair as she pushed me into the ground where the vomit was.
“I said eat it!” she screamed while laughing as she held me down towards the ground forcing me to eat the vomit on the dirt. “Don’t embarrass me in front of my friends!”
She kicked my butt and I lost my balance as I fell directly into the vomit crying helplessly and silently.
“You will obey everything I will say you to do because I am the princess of this pack and I am the favorite of my daddy, you understand me?” she asked in a laughing tone clearly enjoying my suffering.
“N-No,” I said, trying to keep my head from not touching the ground anymore.
I moved my head to free my hair from her gripping tight hold causing some of the food bits to fly into her skin which enraged her.
“Ew! What did you do?! Dad! Dad! Help me! Alana hurt me!”
I looked up, shaking all over when she called for dad. No! He will beat me again!
“What happened?!” My stepmom came in the door.
“She spit on me!” Sophia showed her mom the food on her skin.
I shook my head fervently when she looked at me angrily. No, that’s not true, I wanted to say but couldn’t out of fear.
She hitched my arm and slapped me on the face. “You fucking monster! Why did you do that?!”
“What is happening here?” An authoritative powerful voice of a man came in.
“Dad, dad!” Sophia ran into his arms sobbing and pointed at me.
“Alana here just spat on me for no other reason. I tried giving her food but she did this to me instead.”
“N-No… dad nooo.” I found my voice despite trembling.
I didn’t do that, I wanted to say but I know he still won’t believe me. He just won’t. He always refused to believe his own daughter.
“Hon, your daughter is such a brat. How could she do this to Sophia? Our daughter will face the alpha prince later!” my stepmom walked up to him caressing his arm.
My father’s face is grim and with that rate, I know where this is going.
“Don’t worry. I’ll teach her a lesson. Bring me my whip.”
I swallowed the fear in my throat and began shaking more profusely. My feet went cold as sweat trickled out of my body.
I hated being beaten that way. I hated having so many wounds and bruises after. It hurts. It’s so painful.
“N-No… dad… no…” I ran into the wall as if it could save me but the first lash came into my back.
I grunted in pain and fell into the ground.
He beats me like I’m an animal. He’s whipping me like he is not my father and I am not her daughter.
With every lash I received, his words ringing in my head like it’s the gospel truth.
“Do you know why no one loves you? Because you are a disgusting piece of shit that should have not been born in the first place!”
I fell to the floor writhing in pain and crying. Please stop! Make it stop, please!
“Did you know what you did to your sister?! Tell me, you monster!” he released another series of lashes again, not even caring if my eyes are already bleeding.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Don’t tell it to me. Tell it to your sister!”
“I’m sorry Sophia,” I said in a whisper as I coughed out blood crawling towards Sophia’s feet to kiss them just as what my father taught me.
Sophia got down and smiled at me innocently hiding her cruelty behind her smile. “It’s okay, Alana. I forgive you.”
“Be thankful my daughter is so kind, Sophia,” my stepmom said brushing off the hair of her daughter lovingly who’s giggling back at her. The act made me wonder how it feels for someone to do that for me.
Will they touch my hair gently too? Lovingly?
“You can go. I still have to discipline her because it seems like she has forgotten who she is in this family,” dad said and picked up his whip on the floor that was drenched with my blood.
And with every moan of pain I let out and his joyful sound he made every time he struck me, I wanted to ask him if he had forgotten about it. Has he forgotten that this is the day that his beloved wife died?
“D-Dad, today is my birthday. Can you please not beat me more today?” I asked barely a whisper when he stopped for a while.
Dad, can’t you love me just for today because it’s my birthday? It’s my 18th birthday today. I should be in the ceremony today receiving recognition for reaching this age.
“Are you proud of the day that you killed your own mother?! Do you want me to celebrate it with you?! Huh!”
He raised his hand again and beat me like he always does while I am silently crying hoping for this to end.
I did not say anything more and just covered my mouth to not let a suffering growl. My father hates it that much because according to him, it only means that I am not wholeheartedly accepting his way of handling and disciplining me.
The beating stopped after my whole body was bleeding all over and I cannot stand anymore.
“I hope you learned your valuable lesson, Alana,” he said before leaving me in the same room that had been my cage for my whole life.
That night, while curled up on my side in the corner of my dark cell, I hugged myself and wished that someone would save me from my misery.
“Anyone, please. Just take me away from here.”
Chapter 2William“Alpha Prince, your presence is highly requested in the hall of banquet. The food is ready and so are the girls they lined up for you to see tonight.”Lucas, my personal guard and the son of our pack’s omega said after knocking on the door of the lavish room the alpha of the small knitted pack of the BrookeFields pack provided me. This pack is under my father and the alpha king’s domain that I need to visit as he instructs me to. It’s part of the training, he told me but I know the real reason deep down. I did not respond and just puffed out the smoke of my cigar while looking out at the view from my window. I don’t know but I felt queasy in my stomach the moment I stepped onto the land of this pack. “I told you I do not want any of this shit, Lucas! I can find my own mate! No need for these alphas and betas to offer me their wives and daughters.”This is the real reason my father wants me to visit as many places as possible because he wants me to settle down as ea
Alana“No, please! Leave me alone!” I cried when I woke up in the middle of the night and saw my father’s guards putting chains on my ankles and wrists. “What are you doing?! Please, stop! It hurts! It hurts!” But no matter how hard I begged them to stop, no one was listening to me. It’s always been like this. I am like their toy, not that I have one to play with but Sophia mentioned to me about it and I exactly felt the same. “Shut up, will you!” My stepmother hissed, revealing herself from the dark covering her nose to prevent the shitty smell that I have from reaching her. “You need to be bound to the chains before you run wild and disrupt the banquet for the alpha prince.”My tears fell. How can she even think about that when I am already locked in here? I hate the chains. Their cold temperature gives me rashes and that feeling of more loneliness. I remembered that my father used to put chains around my neck to prevent me from eating and swallowing. “But I am not going anywhere
William“Alpha prince, I am begging you on my knees, you cannot take that thing out of here. I will be damned!” Hephaestus said in a shaking voice. “She is a curse to the mansion and to the great domain of the alpha king!”I faced him, rage written all over my face. “That thing?! You dare to call her that way?! Do you even know who you are talking to?!”The woman in my arms moved and moaned in distress when she heard my voice. “Don’t you dare call her that way!”Hephaestus wept. “But alpha prince, I am telling the truth! She is an abomination! There is a reason Alpha Killian locked her own daughter in this dungeon!”My eyes widened as I looked into the woman who is as cold as ice in my hands. So this is the other daughter of the alpha? I thought she’s dead? All along, she’s been imprisoned here in the cell like a cruel animal? The thought ignites an intense emotion in me that I did not know I am capable of feeling. How dare they do this to my mate?! I will never spare them!“Plea
Sophia“Where is William? Why did he suddenly leave without even having a conversation with me? Why did he have to insult me like that?” I said sulking in the corner. “Didn’t he like me? But everyone in the pack likes me! No one can resist my charm!”“Lady Sophia! Lady Sophia!” Hephaestus called my name and appeared in front of me in panic. “What is with the hastiness Hephaestus? I am busy looking for the alpha prince! He cannot just leave me like that! I still haven’t shown him my talents as his future wife!”I turned my back with the initial plan of going into the room of the prince to stay there so I could surprise him when he entered but Hephaestus stopped me by my hand which I quickly slapped away.How dare him touch me!“What are you doing?!”“Our lady, this is about the alpha prince.”My eyes immediately glowed. “What about him? Where? Where is the alpha prince?”He hesitated and even scratched his head. “I am asking you where is the alpha prince?!” I was deeply annoyed.Why
AlanaI felt all hands around me, massaging me, scrubbing me with warm water.Warm water? How could that be? How could I be given such a luxury when I'm only confined in the basement? I haven't had a bath for months now and even if I get to wash my face, it's just for one small cup. I opened my eyes despite the sting on the cut there to see what's happening and I could only gasp in shock.These are all Sophia's nurse aids? Why are they all here with me washing my hair and body?"W-Wait, excuse me but what are you doing? Why am I here with you getting a..." I looked at where I was and my eyes widened. I'm in a beautiful box full of water that is now so dirty because of me. What a wonderful dream!"Our lady, we are bathing you for a while. Please keep calm," one of the nurse aides said while combing my hair with a shampoo.I sniffed it and it's the most beautiful scent I have ever smelled of in my entire life!"But why? Does my father know about this?"I scrambled to stand up only to
Alana’s POVI pushed him back away and reached for the pillow and hugged it so tightly. I am worried why I am feeling this way towards him. Why does my heart beat so loudly for him? What did he do to me?“Go away! Please, get away from me! If you are going to hit me, abuse me, then please do so quickly. Don’t play with me already when I know where this is all going!”My tears fell and I bit my lips to prevent him from seeing my vulnerable side. He’s a stranger. He’s someone that has probably bought me. Sophia always told me about my father’s plan to sell me to the circus who’s going to visit. She said I will be an attractive addition to their animals. But I am not an animal. I am a werewolf.“No, no Alana.” He tried to move towards me, to touch me again but I went further into the headboard to get away from him. A look of pain crossed his eyes and I wondered why his eyes were sad. Did he already pay for me and is sad about the money he wasted on me?“Please do not take me with you.
WilliamI am fuming just looking at the face of Alpha Killian. So this is the father of my mate, the one who has been maltreating and abusing her for I don’t know when. I just know that I have to know all the details, the nitty gritty of it so I could punish him accordingly.I’ll make sure it will be severe, one that he will wish for death but he will not be given that. He deserves nothing but punishment. “Alpha prince,” he bowed at me. “My apologies for ruining your evening banquet with us. I am sorry that you have to see one of our slaves in the dungeon and make a hassle out of your busy schedule in doing your responsibilities. I’ll make sure nothing like this will ever happen again.”“Slave…” my face darkened from looking out of the window. “So she is your slave?”I clenched my jaw and sighed inwardly. I don’t know when I can hold this rage inside me. I postponed my plan of healing Alana for a moment because she is still wary of me at the moment. I don’t want to aggravate her eve
William“What?” I whispered, setting both of my hands to my side. “What did you say?”Killian bowed his head on the ground and explained it to me. “My former luna and wife and the mother of that child cheated on me with another man. I am not the father of her daughter that is why I despised her! No man who has been cheated on by his own wife will be able to raise a child like her!”My hands clenched as my temper goes up. “And no man in his clear conscience will lock up an innocent child like her in that god forsaken place!”I lifted his face roughly using my dirty boots. “What you are claiming is preposterous and Luna Athena cannot defend herself from her graves. The mere fact that you are claiming that she is not your daughter is not a license to do those horrible things to her! Do you know what you did is a crime?!” I passed the leash to the guard who began whipping the alpha. “Alpha prince, you cannot do this to my father! He is telling the truth! You can even ask the investigato
ALANAI am tightly clutching the hem of my white wedding dress in front of the mirror staring at my own reflection.A woman of substance full of happiness and fulfillment stared right back.Lifting a finger, I caressed the reflection and smiled at myself. “You have come a really long way, Alana. Tonight, your dream will happen. William is really going to make true of his promise.Before his proposal, we had traveled the world together seeing things and places that he wanted to let me witness. Every word that he told me he would, he did for me.“Mother, father, I just wish you were here with me to see how happy I am,” I wished and hugged myself. “I wish you were here with me to walk me down the aisle to be married into the most wonderful man in the state.”As if on cue, a gust of wind blew and hugged me right then and there.I closed my eyes and savored the sensation. The wind whispered love and sadness but the love overrode the other.“We are so proud of you, our daughter,” said the co
WILLIAMThe moon is high above the clouds in the night sky bursting into the clearest lights as if it’s also getting married to the sun illuminating the palace down where a great wedding is happening.I kept on wiping off the sweat on my brow and clearing my mouth because it’s as dry as the desert.I was full of nerves and I can’t think straight anymore. I kept on asking the staff if Alana is still in her room just to make sure that she will be really marrying me. I’ve been here in the venue which is the beautiful garden in front of the great statue of the moon goddess three hours earlier just to make sure.“William, what the hell are you doing here this early?” My mother asked in confusion, still in her robe.She just got down here to oversee the whole preparation, to make sure everything is perfect.“The ceremony will start three hours from now. Please go back to your room now, William.”But I firmly shook my head at her. Being in my room only made me more nervous that is why I came
WILLIAMMy nerves are killing me but I am more determined than ever to pop her the question. Wiping the glistening off my brows, I looked at the mirror practicing what I am going to say.This is the most nerve-wracking moment of my lifetime. Not even those battles and wars I have been to could be compared.“Alpha prince, Ms. Alana is already awake. And the cake is ready too.”Swallowing the lump in my throat, I glanced at myself in the mirror before heading out to the kitchen to take the cake that I baked last night and asked the soldiers to guard all night so no one would be able to compromise its safety.“Okay, William. You can do it. You can do it! No!”I tripped on the cable and stone on the ground and before I knew it, the cake flew to the air and ended up on the ground.Smashed. The dirt eating up the white filling and the words on top of them being buried into non-existence.“No!” I growled, my eyes wide in bitterness and sadness.The cake suffered the same fate as the balloons
ALANAWarm arms enveloped me from the back as his scent embraced me.“What are you thinking? Hmm?” William asked, nuzzling his nose against my bare shoulder.I was on the balcony, enjoying the fresh breeze on a full moon night, my mind wandering towards Francine.After William came back to life, the alpha king and the queen luna threw a feast which was still ongoing in the entire palace while William chose to pull me into his room to have his own sweet wicked ways on me.Not that I am complaining though. This is what I want. To be with him and to savor each second of our lives together.I intertwined our fingers on my stomach and tilted my head to my side, leaning into his chest on my back to give his mouth a better access to my neck.Love making is not painful anymore and the remnant of the monster inside me is almost gone, especially when I am in William’s arms. Controlling anger seems to be easier now. The feeling of seeing red in my eyes is also gone now.Everything seemed to be f
ALANA“Alana…” he called my name with his raspy low voice as if trying to figure out if I am real or not.I just stood there, in so much awe at the truth that he is finally back to me. William is alive! William has come back to life. He is back to me! William has come back from the dead for me.With trembling hands, I placed a hand on his cheek relishing the warmth in it. I am trying to convince myself to believe that this heat is going to be there for years while trying to forget that for once, I held his cold body in my arms.“You are back to me, William,” I said in a trance, my mouth breaking up into a smile of relief. “William, you have really come back for me!”In a split of a second, I pulled him ever gently in my arms, careful with his limbs, scared that once I blink, I would just wake up from this dream. “Alana?” he called for my name but I did not respond.Burying my face on his neck, I inhaled his scent. It’s warm and intoxicating just like all the moments that we have been
ALANAI gazed at Francine and felt shiver run down my spine. Why does she look so happy as if she’s been anticipating death all her life? Sure, there is pain but the happiness in her face is remarkable.“Come on, Alana,” she urged me again and put my hand on top of William’s. “Child, you are going to do me so much favor if you are just going to listen to me and do what I will be telling you. Call for William’s name over and over again. He already heard you. You already took his attention and now it’s time for him to go back to you. Do it, Alana. Please, this old maid is begging you.”My mouth downturned because of emotions pouring in as I clenched William’s hand.“But if I am going to do that, then I am going to lose you, Francine,” I said as my voice crackled.She just laughed it off and wiped the tears on my face. “But you are going to gain back, William. He is going to be alive again, Alana. He is going to fulfill his promise to you. You are going to get married and have lost of ki
ALANAI clenched my hands around William’s when I realized what was happening.My tears fell but I did not open my eyes and continued calling for William’s name.“My love… William, it’s me, Alana. Please, come back to me, my love. Please, fulfill your promise to me.”The stench of more fresh blood coming from Francine assaulted my senses but I continued shutting my eyes even when all I wanted to do is to stop it all.“Alana, do not stop calling for his name. William needs you now. Please, I can almost sense him. I can see him now. Please, call for his name again.”I let out a sigh and called his name over and over again. The hand for which I am holding ever so tightly started to have life again.My heart leaped, rejoicing because maybe, he is finally going to be alive again but all of that happiness went away when I heard the grunt of pain in Francine’s voice.It took all of strength in me and mental fortitude to let go of William’s hand and opened my eyes at her.Truly enough, I coul
ALANA“But your William is different. Way way different from all of them, Alana. He is the single person I met who can easily surrender his precious life for someone he loves. Back when he was a child, I doubted if he could ever do something for you because he tended to be selfish but I was wrong. He magically changed for the better when he began yearning for his mate.”She slowly rose up from the floor and offered me her hand with a bright smile on her face. “Alana, that’s the precise reason why I was here in this world. That is my purpose for living. I could live on and on for hundreds of years looking for someone like you and William and now is the perfect time. Child, you both did not disappoint me.”I accepted her hand while staring at her face, disenchanted by the happiness in her voice.She slowly led me to William and held the white cloth to remove it.“Francine!” I stopped her from doing what she intended to do. “What are you doing?”But she just smiled at me and assured me w
ALANA“Ahh!” I let out a growl as my tears and pain drowned me again.“Tell me, Francine,” my voice croaked as I tightly held her hand. “Am I really worth it? Does someone like me, an abandoned person who was hated by everyone I know, deserve someone like the alpha prince who’s loved by everyone? I should have been the one who died! It should be my body lying cold there because my existence in this world is abominable! It should have been me! Why does he have to save me when I am the monster that should have not been born in the first place!”Gentle hands wrapped around my face, wiping my tears slowly. “Alana, you are not a monster. You are asking me if you are worthy enough to be saved by the alpha prince, then it’s a yes, Alana. William did not hesitate to save you because he loved you. Sacrifice is the most noble thing a man can do to his woman.”She smiled at me and cupped my face again. “It’s a life worth living for him because he has met and loved you and you loved him back. He