1- The Beginning after the End

Anastasia lost track of time after the second day. The torture, the pain, the light constantly glaring in her eyes-- even her pants were heavy and labored but in the cold and lonely cell, they echoed back to her.

How long has it been since she last laid eyes on him? It felt like eternity but at the same time, it felt like just yesterday when she sat beside him in the conference room ignoring the glare thrown at her and the accusations that came with her positions.

'A female Beta can never amount to anything,' they would whisper behind her back. Even the news carried it. She read them all in the papers- it was fun because he enjoyed suing every single one of them till they were forced to go anonymous.

The woman in the cold dark cell smirked when she remembered that. Those were fun times she had to admit. With her eyes closed and her head leaning against the wall of the cell that smelt like dried blood and rotten bodies.

One of them was still fresh. She could recognize that one. Why? She threw him in there herself. David Flynn- a rogue who had dared to revolt against her Alpha and as his Beta, it was her duty to protect him from every life threatening situation.

It was expected of the Beta to give their life for the Alpha's but in this case, he did the exact opposite.

Now here she sat, rotting in the cell of the same pack to which she served as Beta.

She lost her reputation, her home, her identity and worst of all, her Alpha.

She curled up into a ball, trembling as she crawled her fingers into her hair as her eyes moved back and forth in the cell- observing the bars outside for she had heard a sound.

They were here again to ask her the same question and just like every other time they asked, she would deliver the same damn answer but they wouldn't believe her.

They'd call her a liar. They'd call her despicable. They'd say she made it up and she'd say it was all her fault.

She should've listened. She should've stayed put. She picked the lives of ten children over her Alpha. She should never have done that. Look where she ended up.

"There's nothing more to tell," she rocked herself back and forth, tears leaking from her eyes without effort. "That's all I know. That's what truly happened-" she gasped and started to tremble all over again.

The cell was opened and three large figures had walked in, casting their shadows over her with their menacing look that almost made her piss her pants.

Just a week ago they wouldn't have dared to put their hands on her. They wouldn't have dared to lock her up or even dream of torturing her.

Alas, she had lost her immunity and they were never going to let her hear the last of it.

*****

"Anna!" The bang from the gun brought her out from her shock and she turned just in time to see the rogue that had creeped behind her fall to the ground, gasping for air. The silver bullet barely missed his heart but he'd be dead soon either way.

She took out her gun and shot him twice in the head without flinching or even batting an eyelid. Finally, she looked up to see her Alpha storming towards her with murderous intent in his eyes. He flicked her forehead with his index finger and she staggered back, wincing from the pain and covering the spot.

"What the hell, Weston!" She screamed into the night and he grabbed her shoulders, roughly shaking some sense into her.

"Idiot! You could've died, you idiot!" he cursed with a face so serious, the Grinch couldn't beat that. "If I had missed, you would have been howling on the floor with a hand over your boobs."

Anna rolled her eyes, growling low in her throat but she had to concede. She had spaced out again on a mission. That was the third time today.

"Clean this up, Ariel," Alpha Weston ordered and started to pull her away.

"Where are we going?" she asked even as she walked beside him with his strong grip on her arm. "We should head back to the Pack, yuuno. The elders will get worried."

Weston scoffed as they passed a lonely street where the moon and the street lights aided their vision, "Yeah right. They'll worry about the kids I owe them."

Anna held herself back from laughing. They were right though. He did owe them kids. Which Alpha in this age and time didn't leave an heir behind? Well, Weston begged to be different. He claimed at thirty-four he was too young to have an heir. He didn't even have a mate yet nor did Anna.

At first everyone thought it was absurd for Alpha Weston to pick a female as his Beta without her being his mate or fuck buddy- next they said it was even stranger that his Beta was thirty-one and she too was mateless. It was hard to understand what they were mad over; the fact that a woman was his Beta or the fact that they were both mateless.

"You're not getting any younger, Weston," she reminded him. "Besides, wouldn’t it be better to just find a surrogate mother if finding your mate is taking too long?"

"Wow! Look at you dishing out advice. You should take it," he threw her words back at her face with a mocking tone.

She shrugged, "Meh. I'm not interested in a mate." truly, she wasn't. Her life was going great already-

There was a loud explosion that caused the grounds to shake and Weston grabbed onto Anna, ready for any danger lurking by but Anna had already grabbed his hand. It was a Beta's instincts to protect the Alpha at all times after all, his life was more valuable than hers will ever be.

When everything cleared, she turned to him quickly, making sure he was okay-

"I smell fire," Alpha Weston sniffed the air and pointed in a direction behind her. "And I hear screams," there was a thick smoke coming from that direction and Anna's heart skipped a beat.

"Isn't that where the human children orphanage is located?" she asked even when she already knew the answer to that. "My goodness- it must be really serious-"

"Yup, let's go drink," he turned the other way.

"What? There are lives in danger!" Anna pointed out. She knew her Alpha was nonchalant about Humans but she didn't think it was this bad. What if the kids were in trouble?

"Look Anna, there's an order to things. Werewolves don’t interfere with Humans and in return, they won't do the same. It's how we've been living our lives for years now," Alpha Weston explained and held her wrist. "Now let's go-"

"But, Weston," she looked back at the fire and it didn't just sit right with her to walk away. Yes, they had signed the bill years ago that Humans and werewolves could coexist but each would face the government of their own kind.

"The Human cops will handle it," Alpha Weston said again. "We're only here today because their government called our government that there were rogues disturbing the vicinity. We're done, mission accomplished- now let's go-"

"You go, I'll catch up with you," her mind was made up.

"No, I'm not letting you go-"

"I don't need your permission," she shook her head as she started to walk away.

"That's an order, Anastasia. Get back here," his voice was stern and she knew he was no joke especially when he called her full name.

Unfortunately for him, he had a woman for a Beta. Anna's ancestors had Alpha blood and it was often said that she could just be an Alpha in the right Pack.

She spun on her heels and looked him in the eye, "No. if you're gonna be a pussy then fine. I'm gonna go check it out and see how I can help. What if the cops don't make it in time, those kids could die-"

Alpha Weston groaned, almost wanting to rip his head off. Now that she was adamant, he would have to go with her just to ensure her safety. He followed behind her, dragging his feet along while she hopped from house to house and finally, they got to their destination.

Alpha Weston had his jaw on the floor when he saw the building. The heat alone was enough to send the humans at least fifteen feet away.

Anna went around asking questions as she helped the humans get away from the fire. There were a few kids by the side of a truck with some adults attending to them. Alpha Weston threw his face away as he watched Anna instead- the worry and concern on her face made him frown at the humans more.

She was much more prettier when she smiled without a care in the world or when she was badass with her gun and her claws ready to beat anyone who crossed her path-

He saw her dash towards the fire and his heart jumped.

"Anna!" she stopped at the call of her name and squinted her eyes to the figure that ran towards her. The heat was hard against her leather outfit but she had to endure and the smoke was on a whole other level.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Weston yelled.

"There's a baby, Weston. He's in there-"

"That's not your responsibility. Let the humans handle it!" he was getting tired of how softhearted she was.

"Where are there? They're nowhere here and it'll take a while- look, I gotta go in-"

"It's fucking dangerous, you imbecile!" he grabbed her shoulders. "Think of your life-"

"I'll be fine-"

The cry of a child made them freeze and they both turned towards the three story building that was being licked up in flames. Weston glanced at Anna and he saw the look in her eyes- she truly wanted to go in. She would throw herself in there without even caring about whether she would survive or not.

"Oh, fuck it, Anna! I'll be right back!" at least he knew he would survive the flames. He was Alpha- originally said and proven to be faster and stronger than mere wolves.

He dashed towards the fire and headed first for the door, using his body as a shield before he disappeared into it.

Anna was consumed by fear where she stood but she tried to calm herself down. She was confident in Weston's ability not to just die in a place like this. They had faced worse over the years and they still made it out-

Someone grabbed her hand from behind and she flinched, ready to grab their neck before they could execute their thoughts but she turned around to see it was only a young woman with black dust on her face.

She had a hand over her mouth and nose, coughing as she was too close to the fire-

"Let's get you someplace to sit-"

"Who was that? Why did he go in? This place is going to explode any minute now," the woman grabbed her wrist. "We have to go-"

"There's a baby inside so he went to save-"

"What?" she frowned in confusion. "Baby? There's no baby. What are you talking about-"

Something exploded in the building and everyone around screamed and ran to find shelter elsewhere.

Anna, however, looked back at the lady in horror. "Wh-What do you mean there's no baby-"

"Look, ma'am, I work here, okay? And I counted ten children before the fire started. We were able to save those ten children. This orphanage haven't had a baby in years so there is no baby-"

No. This couldn’t be happening to her. This couldn't be happening. She knew what she'd heard. The cry of a child couldn't be mistaken for the yell of an adult. That was a baby and even Weston heard it too-

Weston!

The fire was rising too quickly. Where was the fire department? Why weren't they here yet? She looked around as she started to panic. Someone needed to call the fire department while she-

Her eyes caught signs of movement across the street. There was a man walking past with a black hoodie that shielded his face but when he turned to her direction, she saw it.

The smirk on his lips that soon turned into a full-fledged grin but that wasn't all- those were fangs. Werewolf fangs.

"No," Anna staggered towards the fire. "No, no."

It was a fucking trap!