Mated to the alpha

Tawanda was living in a small village near the big forest where people were always talking about spirits and strange shadows. Every morning he wakes up before the sun rises and goes to fetch water from the river. The river was cold and dangerous because crocodiles sometimes appear there, but Tawanda did not have a choice. His uncle, who he stayed with after his parents died, was a hard man who didn't care much about children's feelings. “Move faster boy,” Uncle Jere always shouted. “You are lazy like your father.” Tawanda never answered back because he was fearing him. The house they stayed in was old and leaking when rain came. At night, the wind enters through the broken walls and makes strange noises that scare him badly. Sometimes he thought maybe ghosts were living there too. One evening while he was returning from the river, he saw a strange light inside the forest. The light was blue and moving slowly between the trees. He stops walking, and his heart starts beating too much. Everybody in the village says the forest was cursed and nobody should enter there after sunset. But the light keeps moving. Tawanda doesn't know why, but his feet followed it. Branches scratched his arms as he walked deeper inside. The forest became quiet. No birds. No insects. Only the sound of his breathing. Then suddenly the light disappeared. “Hello?” he asked with a shaking voice. Nobody answer. He turned around to leave, but then he heard whispering behind him. “You finally came.” Tawanda jumped in fear and fell down. Standing near a huge tree was an old woman wearing black clothes. Her eyes were white like milk and her hair looked like smoke floating in the air. “Please don't kill me,” Tawanda said quickly. The woman laughed softly. “I have been waiting for you many years.” Tawanda didn't understand anything. “You know me?” “You carry the mark.” The old woman pointed at his neck. Tawanda touched it and felt the birthmark he had always had since babyhood. The mark looked like a crescent moon. “My mother said it was normal,” he whispered. “She lied,” the woman replied. Wind suddenly blew hard around them. Trees begin shaking violently. The old woman raised her hand and the blue light appeared again, floating above her palm. “You are not ordinary child,” she said. “And soon, dangerous people will come searching for you.” Tawanda wanted to run away, but his legs refused to move. “Why me?” he ask. The woman looked toward the dark sky. “Because your father stole something from the Shadow King.” Far away, thunder roared loudly. Then screams echoed from the village. Tawanda's eyes widened. “That sounds like home!” Before he could move, the old woman grabbed his wrist tightly. “If you go back now,” she said, “you will die tonight.” But Tawanda pulled away and started running through the forest as fast as he could. Branches hit his face and stones cut his feet, but he didn't stop. Smoke was rising above the village. Something terrible was waiting for him there. And deep in the forest, the blue light followed silently behind.