Seducing The Beastly Alpha

2. The Darkness

Stop my heart, and my brain will start to beat.

And if you consume my brain with fire,

I'll feel you burn in every drop of my blood. — Rainer Maria Rilke

----

(Mikayla)

"August, please," my mom's mate said to the Alpha and he growled once again.

Grumpy much, I thought with a scoff.

Of course, I didn't say it out loud, but the words were almost at the tip of my tongue, burning to come out. I always had a problem with saying too much. For someone who had lived all her life with books and one friend, I sure did have an active mouth, courtesy of my best friend, Irene. She was a bad influence on me. Always had been. And I loved her to death.

"You only said about your mate. What is this girl doing in my pack?" Alpha August looked at me with those dark eyes that held the hint of acid.

He looked angry and agitated.

I really didn't want to be here, but what the heck, I was here already and I couldn't do anything about that. It looked like the Alpha couldn't do anything about it, either! Poor guy, it must be killing him!

I bit my lips as I looked at the angry man. He was tall, handsome and he was so damn enraged and something in me tilted at that moment. I didn't know what... It was slow and vile, and slightly deranged...

"Her father has to go away for a while. She will be here until then," my Mom's mate said, and I bared my teeth at him, when he wasn't looking at me. Alpha August must have seen it, because he gave me a glare and shook his head with a sigh.

"Just- don't get in my way," he said to me before he walked off towards the overgrown forest.

Whatever. He was a f*cking snob, as all the supernaturals were, especially to a tainted.

It was already getting closer to evening, and I knew the whole place would soon wrap itself in blackness. I sighed and followed my mother inside the big mansion-like house, fit for kings and queens, resenting them for their wealth and power and everything else.

Why must they have it all, while we have nothing? No power. No wealth. No strength.

A girl setting the table looked up at me, and she gave me a hesitant smile. She must be somewhere around my age. I hesitated for a moment, before smiling back at her. It was new for me, a wolf smiling at me! At me!

"Make yourself at home," my mom's mate said and I scoffed. This could never be my home.

"This is not my home," I whispered under my breath, but of course, he was a wolf, so he heard me loud and clear. He smiled softly at me and shook his head with a sigh, as if he understood me, but how could he? He was the freaking reason for all of this.

"This is your mom's home now, and it will be your home, if you want it to be," he said to me as he turned towards the kitchen. "If you want something to eat, just ask Lidia. She is our head cook and she cooks the most marvelous meals that make a grown man cry," he said before he walked away. "Your room is on the second floor. Right side. Second door."

I grunted. "Thanks."

I knew he was trying, but it was not helping. Knowing that he was the man who stole my mom from my dad and broke up our beautiful family was enough to hate him, no matter how nice he was. Mom looked pleadingly at me and I ignored her.

"Baby, please, please."

I frowned at her and then turned to the girl, who was carefully arranging books on the shelf, so focused on them, a somber look in her eyes.

As if she could feel me starting, she looked up and then walked towards me and stopped in front of me with a small hesitant smile. "I am Aleesa. You are?" She asked me, and I sighed again. This was such a waste of time. Once she realized I was not a wolf like her, she would soon be scowling at me.

"Mikayla. Tainted."

See. This was easy. It always was. Wolves didn't mingle with tainteds. I looked at the girl, waiting for the usual scornful look, the pity, the sneer, but it didn't come. She just shrugged at me with a soft smile and winked.

I like her.

"Being a wolf is nothing glamorous. I would have loved being a tainted," Aleesa said with a roll of her eyes, and that was what made me feel like I had a friend in this godforsaken place.

"That is the right thing to say to me, Aleesa. I am tired of prissy wolves always looking down on me." I scoffed, and Aleesa smiled at me and then her smile froze.

I was confused by the sudden mood shift. I looked at her questioningly and she nodded her head, signalling to the girl walking in, looking tall and confident, as if she owned the whole pack.

She must be around the Alpha's age or something... she was wearing a soft blue dress that showed off her soft body and she was beautiful. And I didn't know why, but the moment my eyes met hers, I hated her. The hatred was like a powerful punch in my gut.

And somehow, I knew the feeling was mutual.

"Where is Alpha August?" the woman asked Aleesa, her Ruby painted lips softly pulling up.

"Alpha went for a run." Aleesa's voice was only a little higher than a soft breeze. The woman sighed with a groan.

"Always running," she mumbled under her breath before she stalked away, her high heels making a strange clickety clack as she walked out. I stared at her back with a frown.

"Who is that prickly princess?!" I scoffed.

"Hah." Aleesa said appreciatively. "That is Samaya Holt. Daughter of Alpha Emerson Holt of the Duskraven pack. Everyone says that Alpha August will probably mate with her, but she acts like she is already his Luna," Aleesa said in a whisper, rolling her eyes.

"Are they true mates, then?" I asked with an irritated frown. I didn't know why that information just angered me.

"Not really. But they will be chosen mates."

"Yeah, good for them. Hey, Aleesa, will you be here tomorrow?" I asked and she nodded eagerly. "I will only be here for a few days tops. Till then, can you keep me company? I will go insane if I have to survive this place alone," I said to Aleesa, and Aleesa nodded, looking enthusiastic. It made me smile.

I said bye to her and climbed up the winding stairs, carrying my backpack and a small suitcase. I only packed very light. Two weeks. Yes.

What did he say? Second door? Third?

I tried two rooms and they were locked. The third room opened. This must be mine.

I kicked the door open and walked inside. I was too tired to look around or even change my dress. I threw my luggage down and went to the bathroom.

I was so tired... my eyes were making weird shapes by that point.

Sometimes, I yearned to live in a world that had people like me. People who had no special powers. People who lived their lives, forever, without powers, or magic, or any other abilities. I had heard of a place like that, but I had no idea how to go there. Earth, they called it, and hell, I wanted so badly for it to be true.

Tiredly, I slumped on the bed, cursing whoever that chose to make us powerless...The bed warmly took me in. It smelled heavenly. I inhaled the scent, and it was calming.

I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take me over inside the warmth of its inky black blanket.

***

The night was black, black as the wings of dark crows that bring the news of disasters. The sliver of the crescent was glowing dimly, its emaciated light fighting with the darkness and it failed miserably. I stood in the dark, eerily silent forest, with tall trees that almost reached the first sky. The branches were thick and unkempt.

All I knew was I shouldn't be here. This was not a place to be. This place looked haunted and dark. I should escape the suffocating stench of death that hung in the air and the overwhelming darkness. I turned around, my heart pounding as I looked for a way out of this place, but I couldn't find anything. The darkness was too much and I was too blind.

The stench of blood was thick, so was the scent of wet, soggy earth.

I could see trees flashing by as I ran through the dense forest with tall trees. The branches were bent, and the trees stood perfectly still in rows and rows, keeping me inside their maze of prison.

It was a blind man's land. The black was thick, so dark, that it surrounded me like a thick, oily black and I stumbled on nothing.

I blinked... and then my eyes were not so blind anymore.

I didn't know how or why I could see through the dark, but I could. And I could see with so much clarity. It was as if my vision was suddenly in HD or something.

The wind was cold and snippy, but I felt almost warm. Like I was wearing a cozy fur blanket.

And then I saw it. The man crumpled beneath my feet. He was bloodied and torn in such a way there was no recognition of him.

There were long gashes along his body, his bones were broken and he looked obliterated.

I shuddered as I lifted my hands up and I could see blood dripping from my long, sharp claws. My eyes widened.

I knew it wasn't possible for me to have claws, but I did have them.

And then I saw it.

The dark beast was standing just a few feet away from me and I knew it was not my claws I had seen, it was his. He snapped his jaws and snarled at the torn man. The man wailed, the sound soft and broken. Just as broken as him.

The wolf growled as it took a whiff of the man.

I could almost hear the wolf's thought. Dark and loud and angry.

The man, now almost half dead, stared at the wolf with fear and panic. If he could have run then, he would have. But sadly, his legs were bent at weird angles.

Horrified, I watched as the beast stalked towards the man. The air stood still. The trees stood still. The whole place was quiet. I almost stopped breathing in fear that he might hear me if I breathed out loud.

And then the wolf leaped. Time slowed. Everything happened in slow motion.

I saw the exact moment the wolf with dark gleaming eyes landed on the half-dead man. And then there was blood. So much blood spraying everywhere. The Wolf's astute, angry eyes shone in viciousness and bloodlust.

The man's hands were torn off.

The wolf growled, its loud voice filled with unquenched anger. He lifted his claws, slashing against the already dead man. Once. Twice. There was so much blood.

His teeth gleamed in the moonlight. The canines shone, sharp and dagger-like and the wolf looked like he was leering. It was a game to this obsidian-colored beast.

The wolf tore the poor man from limb to limb until the man was nothing but a mangled, slaughtered animal. He was not a man anymore. He was ground beef. Kheema.

My body shuddered. I placed a hand over my mouth, stopping myself from whimpering or screaming. I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell and cry. I wanted to get away from this place, far, far away. I wanted to wake up.

Then the wolf turned and, for a moment, I was sure he could see me, even though I knew I was probably dreaming.

His eyes stared straight at me, and I wailed as his dark, glowing eyes stared at me with murderous intent.

Sweat dripped down my back, even as the freezing night nipped at my skin. I could feel his fury deep in my bones.

Heart tumbling down in panic, I turned away from him. His growl filled the dead forest as I ran and ran and ran. As fast as my legs could carry me.

----