The Female Alpha's Hostage

Chapter Fourteen

Alpha Talia’s POV

A gust of wind knocked down my body as I teleported myself back to the mansion. I wailed and collapsed on the ground while attempting to control my tears. The agony I was feeling within outweighed the hatred I had been holding onto for years. I had no intention of leaving him alone in the cave, but I felt compelled to protect him.

Something about his deep brown eyes brought me warmth. But whenever I peered into them, all I could recall was Ryan’s eyes dimming before he died. The thought of losing Hugo as well made me feel terrified. Despite my best efforts to keep him at a distance, I couldn’t resist a powerful draw in his direction. I was positive Hugo was my mate. He was the mate I was looking for. But it wasn’t easy to jump into conclusions when I was convinced Ryan was my mate as well. Witnessing Ryan’s death made me realize that I would do everything in my power to prevent Hugo from suffering the same fate.

The best thing I could do for him is to make him forget that I teleported him here in the first place. Make him forget that I was going to mark him. Make him forget that he finally realized he was my mate. I knew I couldn’t and wouldn’t truly let him go, but until the ritual was over and I was recovered, I needed him to stay away from me. I needed him safe.

I glanced at the clock as the time had run out. I was aware that since I lacked a beta for the ceremony, the curse would kill me instead. My final life, the fifth. Which meant that I would be weaker than before and easily destroyed. Not to mention the obvious, it also denotes that I will have one more full moon before I die for good.

The muscles and bones in my body clenched as the sound of the clock grew louder, and I wailed aloud. I climbed onto the bed with the aid of my elbow. Even though the ritual was beginning, I was relieved that Hugo was safe. A part of me yearned for him to accompany me right now. If I actually found my mate, perhaps the curse would be lifted. There would, however, always be a catch if I knew my mother any better.

The white crown encircled my forehead. As I awaited the impact, I closed my eyes. I would normally mark a beta at this point, but as soon as the ritual determined the beta was not my mate, the mark would disappear and the light in their eyes would dim, and the beta would eventually perish.

At least this time, there won’t be any casualties.

My eyes remained closed as the white crown became immensely bright. I was willing to pay with my life since there was no beta by my side. I gasped for air after sensing a stinging ping in my chest before collapsing on the bed.

There goes my last life.

*48 Hours Later*

Birds chirped outside the garden while the sun shimmered brightly into the room. I groaned, unable to move my stiff body as they gripped the bed linens. From a distance, I could hear Frieda humming the strains of a song.

“Oh good, you’re finally awake. Here’s breakfast” Frieda gleefully kept a tray of food on the bed side table. My eyes although unwilling to open, peeked at the breakfast as my stomach growled in hunger.

“How long . .” I began to but she cut me off mid-sentence.

“You’ve been out for two days” She replied taking a quick glance at the clock. Frieda knelt down near the bedside taking a good look at me. She sighed for a second. “How are you feeling?”

“Did you check on him?” I asked instead. If I was unconscious for two days that meant a couple days had passed in the outer world. Within the confines of the mansion, time worked differently. Mostly because it is shielded from the outside world to defend against intruders. Especially because I was the beast hunting betas and every Alpha in every city wanted me dead.

“Yeah, still asleep after your spell but the cave is spell bound, so unless he steps out of it, he’s safe. I’ll check on him later tonight as well” Frieda assured.

“He must be starving. When you go, make sure to bring him some food. Also, who was that werewolf after him?” I asked her while sitting up on the bed and biting into a croissant.

“A member of the Kaos Pack. The same pack that tossed him to you in the first place.” Her reply almost made me spit out the remnants of the croissant.

“So he’s not safe.. I have to go” I tossed the half-eaten croissant on the tray and got out of bed by enveloping myself in the bed sheet. Frieda, however, dissuaded me from doing so.

“You can’t, Tal. Your powers are completely drained. You need to recharge and gather your strength first. His cave is masked, he’ll be fine. How long do you plan on concealing yourself and tracking him wherever he goes?” She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

She caught my grimy gaze as I regarded her. Although I took Frieda and her coven in, it has always been the opposite. They took care of me when I needed it the most. When I was my most broken. Frieda’s coven has tried numerous times to alleviate my curse by undertaking multiple rituals but to no avail. Although she’s been like a sister to me, all members in her coven see me as someone superior because of my hybrid nature. I possessed ten times the strength of an ordinary witch or werewolf which led them to refer to me as Alpha Talia. I was aware of how protective she was, but I didn’t want her to get in the way of my efforts to keep Hugo safe.

“I don’t know, as long as he’s safe.” I stressed.

“Well, he would have been safer here, don’t you think? You had to make me help him escape and for what? When you could have checked he was your true mate or not and ended the curse for good but no, now he’s out there alone without a pack of his own, stuck in a cave” Frieda ranted.

“It’s… complicated.” I managed to say. Hugo’s life would have been in jeopardy just by a mere decision to involve him in the ritual. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

“Fine, then tell me. Is he your mate?” She asked sternly.

I recalled how he had gazed at me with his puppy brown eyes. There was a true connection between the both of us. “All I know is, I don’t want it to be anybody else”

“Then you should have brought him for the ritual” Frieda whined.

“And risk him dying? It’s still a 50-50 chance. There’s no definitive way of knowing if he’s my mate or not because of the curse. I’m not watching him die like I watched Ryan.” I defended my actions.

“You’ve lost your last life, Tal. Do you know you have just one full moon left? What are you going to do then?” She wandered around the chamber nervously. I was appreciative of the fact that she was concerned about me.

But I didn’t regret my actions.

“I’m done with the beta deaths. If anyone else should die, it might as well be me. Look, I tried the first, four full moons to save betas. When I got to the last life, I had this urge to live and let out this rage that I had suppressed. Watching all those beta’s die didn’t make me feel a thing. I was numb for all of it. Until he came along. He is my priority” I reasoned quietly.

“You’ll end up hurting him, Tal” Frieda replied instantly.

“Not if, he doesn’t know I’m watching over him. All he thinks of me is some beast he escaped from” I justified again.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Frieda asked me one last time assuming I would change my answer. But I’ve already made up my mind.

“With only a few weeks till the next full moon, all I want to do is spend it protecting him.” I replied.