BROKEN
1799 Words
ALARIC'S POV
It was not the last time Kurt showed up at my residence unannounced, confronting Malia. Apparently he had bribed a member of my security staff to let him in whenever he wished, which was conveniently the time I was away at work. Poor Malia could only take it all in silence. She had always felt inferior, and as much as she had normalized it, I loathed it. But it wasn't enough to just surround her with all the nice things in the world if she would never assert her authority.
I had to put an end to all of it. Once and for all.
“I’m very sure you are all aware of the reason for this meeting. As much as you're all officially or unofficially aware of my new relationship, I can very clearly remember every one of you being sworn to extreme secrecy and I made sure that you all were the highest paid security team in the entire region. I never defaulted from my duties to you. So, what went wrong?” I demanded.
I was facing my entire security staff in my garden. The people I had always treated like my own family and expected to go the extra mile for me especially in times like these. But here I stood, trying to detect the mole in the gathering.
They stood tall with nearly identical figures in the special uniform I'd flown in from another region for them on the day of their recruitment. They had all served me for ten years.
The tightest security in the region. Until now.
I stole a second round of gazes at the blank expressions on their faces. Not a single quiver. I expected it. They were professionals. But I was prepared for this.
“I’m offering a 10,000 reward to anyone who spots the mole in the group and brings them to me with concrete evidence. You are dismissed”.
I walked away to let them deliberate among themselves.
I knew the effect I had on them as Alpha was already strong no matter how much it appeared small in the eyes of Kurt and my father, but I already had a lot on my plate and I needed just loyal people around me to get through this stage with Malia.
When I walked into my room, Malia was not there. My focus shifted to the water running in the bathroom and I assumed she was having a bath.
It was late morning and a weekend, so I had some time to myself.
I made a few important calls regarding my proposal plans to Malia.
I knew it was unlike an Alpha to go down on one knee to propose to his mate, but Malia was worth everything. I had already foreseen my unorthodox living plans with Malia and I valued her above all the opinions of my subjects.
It wasn't up to five minutes after my calls before I heard a knock on my door. I sat up.
“Enter!” I called. It had to be one of my staff.
A petite older woman in the housekeeping uniform walked in and stood at the far end of the room close to the door.
“Alpha, Miss Tasha is here to see you” the woman mentioned.
I heaved a huge sigh. So much for the relaxation I'd promised myself.
“Thank you. I'll be down with her shortly” I responded.
She nodded promptly and dismissed herself.
I knew Tasha was not here for work or she would have called or texted me to brief me on the issue before her arrival.
“Lia, Tasha’s here!” I called. We had talked about my staff yesterday and I wanted her to meet them one after another until she had met everyone.
No response came from the bathroom. I left her to her thoughts and walked downstairs to meet Tasha.
“Good morning Alpha” Tasha smiled. She rarely smiled. Something was up.
“Why are you so giddy?” I teased her, taking a seat on the sofa opposite hers.
“Because I have good news, Alpha” she exposed, still smiling.
I leaned in a bit, peering into her face.
“ I found the perfect set-up for your proposal, Alpha” she whispered.
I chuckled. I didn't know she had been doing the search even when I'd not given her the go ahead to.
But I didn't mention that. Instead I said;
“It's very unusual for you to be excited about all of this”.
She relaxed, letting her back touch the seat.
“Well…I've always been. You've just never asked, Alpha” she countered, fiddling with the ends of her hair which was up in a ponytail.
It was a bad lie. But I let it be.
“Interesting…why don’t we come back to that when I actually give the go ahead signal” I told her, chuckling.
She rolled her eyes subtly, nodding promptly.
“Anyways, I told Malia she'd be meeting you today. I'll send for her now” I added.
I watched Tasha's facial expression go from shocked to unworthy and then to a warm smile.
I knew Malia would be in perfect hands with Tasha on her side.
I summoned one of the helps and asked her to escort Malia down to where we sat waiting for her.
Now I was starting to feel unnecessarily giddy. Something about being in the room with Malia always made me feel like I had won the lottery, even if we were at the far ends of the room, interrupted by something.
Tasha took a sip of the drink she'd been offered upon arrival, staring at the wall.
“Do you hear from Vince often, Alpha?” She asked, out of the blue.
Vince, my beta and her boyfriend, was away to another pack representing me for an alliance in one of our major sectors.
I had been to these kinds of meetings endlessly with him and when I figured I wouldn't be able to keep up with work at the same time, I began sending him in my place.
He was well experienced and an all round organized person. The same reason he and Tasha were compatible with each other.
“Of course, he's my beta” I answered.
“When was the last time he reached out to you?”.
“Just yesterday…”.
She went silent, taking another sip of her drink.
“There's something you're not telling me” I told her.
She couldn't hide anything from me because I would read her countenance in less than a second. She always seemed to forget this.
She sighed.
“I don't want to be too forward, but…” she started, pausing.
“There's something Vince is not doing right?” I added.
“Something like that. We had our two year anniversary a few days ago and he never called. Not one text too. I left several texts and calls but he answered none of them. I honestly hate to bother you with this…”.
As much as I was ‘the stubborn Alpha’, I had always made my staff comfortable enough to report anything they felt was threatening or uncomfortable to them.
However, love issues were the only exception I'd made for Tasha and Vince.
I'd first met Tasha when Vince had vouched for her as a good friend who was suffering from domestic abuse at the hands of her stepfather who was her only guardian. Vince had fought off the man and brought her to me for safety. In just a few months, she had proved herself to me and I had promoted her to my personal assistant.
Tasha and Vince's relationship had not kicked off immediately because they had both been in denial even when it was glaring they loved each other. Now they were two years in and I was still a strong advocate for their relationship.
“I will have a talk with him, Tasha. Ease your mind” I smiled.
She smiled back, taking a deep breath.
“Thank you, Alpha” she said. I nodded in response.
Our gazes shifted to the help I had sent to bring Malia, coming down alone.
I assumed she had requested to come down alone.
As the woman got closer, I tried to read her facial expression and it was a bit downcast no matter how well she hid it.
My heart raced as she stopped right in front of us.
“Alpha, I'm sorry to announce that Miss Malia is neither in your room, wing or any part of the house” she said, choosing her words carefully.
I sprang up from my chair with rage.
“What do you mean?! Where the hell is she then?!” I screamed in her face.
The poor woman shook with fright, unable to muster another word.
I imagined the worst: that she had been kidnapped and possibly held for ransom or something worse!
“Leave my sight! I'll find her myself. All of you incompetent…” I rambled on, brushing past a confused Tasha and up the stairs.
“A…Alpha?” The help called, her voice unsteady.
I paused. What else did she want?
I turned to see her at the foot of the stairs, reveal a small note in her hand and stretch out her hand to give it to me.
“She left this note in the bathroom”.
My heart sank. She? Willingly?
I grabbed the note from the help and she dismissed herself quicker than I'd ever seen.
“What…what does it say?” Tasha asked, her voice unsteady and fearing the worst as well.
I straightened the crumpled note and my eyes read through every word of it.
‘I’m sorry for leading you on for this long, Alpha but I have decided the best choice for the both of us is to stay apart. I can never be a worthy Luna to these people. I'm a nobody no matter how we try to pretend. I still love you endlessly and I wish you the best”.
I almost tripped, holding on to the railing quickly.
I couldn't believe it.
I looked at Tasha who was expecting me to read from it.
I couldn't. I couldn't look through that note again. I threw the note on the floor for her to read through by herself if she wished.
I couldn't imagine Malia leaving me. I knew she had entertained the thought once or twice but I had always assumed she would give us a fighting chance at least.
I dashed outside to my car park. I had to find her. I couldn't lose her.
- Writer
