Chapter 5: Sorrow

We were led to the shed with glassless windows, as I'd presume. After being left there, we received a warning: if any of us attempted to escape, we would face the same fate as the slaughtered ones. The fear in the remnant's eyes revealed that they were too traumatized by the horror that had occurred back there to even consider escaping. I was more traumatized that I was mated to him. Alpha Gunner, The Stone-Hearted Alpha.

For years, I had kept to myself, never opening my heart to anyone again, fearing that once I did, my curse would lead them to their demise. And today I'd found out that I was mated to someone who bore a striking resemblance to my deadly curse. I felt as if my curse had stealthily crawled its way from my body without my knowledge, taking the form of a werewolf, weary of not killing for a while.

I quickly went over to a drum filled with water, cleansing the blood from my face. The sight of blood mixed with water in my hand, I hastily washed it off, panicking.

"Where should I take the dead bodies?" I heard a guard ask.

Water coursed from my face and hands as I stood straight to look, and my heart ached to see the bodies that were once full of life pushed away in a barrow like dead leaves.

Another guard responded, "Carry them to the pit for burning."

Tears welled up in my eyes, spilling down my cheek, sighting the smashed head of the nameless wolf among them. As the barrow slowly came out of my sight, I wished what had happened to her didn't as well, along with my deceased loved ones.

At the back of the cabin, I, along with several she-wolves, was coerced to share. I spotted a tree, and I moved to it. My body felt heavy with sadness. Every step felt as if I was sinking into the earth. The weight was overwhelming; as I reached beneath the tree, I lost my balance and fell onto my butt.

I folded my feet, drawing them close to my chest, wrapping both arms around them, and propping my chin on my knees.

I broke down into tears; I never thought my mate would be as cold-blooded as my curse.

I dig my fingers into my legs, filled with anger. My teeth clench tightly in my mouth, and my nails grip my legs even tighter, causing the physical pain to surpass the intense anger I'm feeling.

"Why have you given me a mate as wicked as my curse?" I asked the moon goddess, enraged. Is it your way of finally punishing me for all the innocent lives I'd taken?"

Another thought struck me, and I immediately calmed down, now coming to understand why the moon goddess had paired me with the cold-hearted alpha. He is my punishment for the lives I've taken, and so she cursed me with a fated mate who was far more deadly than my curse.

I cried softly, knowing that I deserved it as much as it hurt.

"Are you okay?" An unfamiliar man lowered himself before me.

I immediately sat up, backing away.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he said, attempting to calm me down. "I saw you under the trees, and I just want to know if you're fine."

As he was talking to me, I observed his polished and taintless outfit, a blue shirt paired with black trousers and black shoes; I could tell he wasn't like me, a rogue, nor was he just any normal member of the pack.

His eyes reminded me of dark chocolate; I was stunned to notice a hint of concern for me within them.

Like everyone who tried to talk to me the day I'd found out I was the one killing everyone whose love I'd returned, I walked away saying nothing.

He caught up with me and touched me on the shoulder, saying, "Hey, I'm just trying to help you."

I angrily turned around, shaking his hand off me.

"Don't ever touch me, and stay away from me," I lashed out.

"I'm not like Alpha, and I'm only trying to help," he said.

"I don't need your help, so stay away from me."

I was about to hastily depart once more when he reached out again, this time holding my right wrist.

Angry at the thought of him touching me again, my eyes transformed into a yellow wolf form, and with my beastly strength, I attempted to drag my hand from his.

I'm left stunned when I realize that tapping into my beastly strength, I'm unable to free myself from his grip, though he wasn't using his.

He had to be very strong to be able to do so.

Gazing grimly at me, he revealed the color of his eyes, shifting them into a fiery blueness, which caused my eyes to dilate. As he unhanded me, I immediately drew back, staring at him while rubbing my aching wrist.

I could have been maimed or worse, killed, for trying to compete against him, for he wasn't an omega but a beta. The second most powerful member of the pack. As the lowest-ranking of werewolves, any omega who tries to compete with any higher-ranking wolf in their right or wrong should be severely punished.

I'm sorry my lips trembled to speak, but no words came out.

"See... I'm not trying to hurt you, for I could easily put you down for trying to compete with me," he reminded me of the werewolf order in a friendly tone.

"Well, I don't need your help," I said coldly.

Pushing everyone away to save them from my curse had left me grumpy.

"Are the guards or fighters using your family against you to quiet you from saying anything to me?" he quickly asked, assuming I'd been threatened not to speak.

His question about my family brought back memories of their lifeless bodies lying in a pool of blood.

"Just stay away from me; I don't need to be safe," I lashed out at him and ran away.

I had no desire to leave; I deserved to remain here as a punishment for my deadly curse of killing all those who loved me, and now I must face the same fate by allowing my mate to take my life.