Eclipse On Alpha

Chapter-1

[Irene Miles’ POV]

Dews on a snowy night freeze on the defenceless dying grass. They look so beautiful.

The rose glittering in the sun's rays that pity the thorns and steal their value. They look so beautiful.

People are always attracted to beauty and also to ugliness. They approach beauty to admire it and ugly to abhor it and tell it how its existence is illicit and unwanted. When I was young, my father told me a story about an ugly werewolf who was expelled from the pack. She had stretch marks all over her face. When she transformed into a wolf, she had no fur on her skin and it hung loose from her flesh. People called her ugly and everyone forgot about her once she was gone. The story didn’t even follow where she went, what she did — it ended. Ugly people have all the same fate.

Not until my father, monk Orobus Miles, added a twist to the story. He said, “the ugly wolf kept on walking deep into the woods. One day she found a Miscellaneous pack made up of rogues from all over the globe. They were all ugly according to the packs that abandoned them, but when they came together, they added beauty to the diversity. There the ugly wolf found a doctor from the south who examined her. She got to know that she wasn’t ugly she was suffering from a skin disease which was rare but curable. Over years of constant efforts, she slowly cured and turned into the most beautiful wolf. Her fur was fine, as silk and shiny as the moon. They told her to return to her pack now that she was acceptable, to which she replied, ‘there is nothing like beauty or ugly. It’s only the standards set by ignorant people. I have been a misfit since birth. You people accepted me. I will stay in this pack and make it a place where none is judged on any standards and everyone is welcomed.’ Thus, she met the purpose of her life.”

I know my father made this story for me, to tell me I was worthy and that the right people would love me at the right time. Near my small hut in the Sin Garden, flows a stream of crystal clear water. It had been my mirror. The others in Sin Garden don’t even come to fetch water when I am present. So, for them, I wake up before the sun and complete all my daily chores. In my life of eighteen years on Lycanaria, I haven’t talked to anyone except my father. I don’t know if he is beautiful or not because his face has always been covered with long white beards and straight hair.

That day was no different. I woke up early, picked up the wooden bucket and went to fetch water. The stream was flowing slowly and I could see my shivering reflection in the water. I removed the kerchief that had always covered my face. Father never allowed me to remove it in front of the others. No wonder why? When others look at me, I see the disgust in their eyes and their repulsive behaviour. I wonder if only this scar didn’t exist. Would I be beautiful?

My face is pigmented. The skin on my body is fine with moles here and there. My face is my only problem. My eyes are swollen and then there is this huge scar running obliquely across my face. It looks as if my face was severed by a sword and the scar remains. Vaguely, but I remember…

“Why did we come here?” I heard someone coming. Jumping on my feet, I hurried behind a tree near the stream.

“We are asked to inform every single corner of Lycanaria about the ugly bride our king is looking for.”

“These are rogues, do you think the king will accept someone from a mysterious bloodline and origin to be crown prince’s bride?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think. The king has ordered and we need to follow that’s it!”

I had never seen them in the Sin Garden. They looked like typical soldiers who come to announce whatever king wants his people to know. Navy blue military tunic that ended above the black belt fastened around their black pants. And a sword hung in the scabbard holder strapped around their left thigh. It was then did I realise I had left my black kerchief near the stream where they sat and quenched their thirst. I covered my face with my hands and waited for them to leave.

“Hey, what is this black cloth?” one of them picked up my kerchief. I widened my eyes. Pressing my back against the tree, all I wished was not to be found out. Father would be really mad if he came to know someone saw me and furious if he came to know an outsider saw me. Fortunately, the soldiers threw my kerchief in the stream and headed towards the monk ministry. My house was far away from other were-monks because my father had me. They say I resulted from his sins and that I deserved to be loathed and called ugly.

As they reached far away, I filled my bucket half with water and sprinted towards my hut in the woods. I never dressed like the monks in the Sin Garden. They wore orange long robes with a hood while I covered myself with white cotton robe and a black above-abdominal jacket. Father always said that I didn’t belong to that garden.

My heart was pulsating against my chest. I could feel the veins in my eyes pulsate as I made my run. I did not know why those thoughts came to me then.

Ugly bride? Why would the king search for an ugly bride for his son? I thought. The girls who went out always boasted about how they could get a glimpse of the prince. Through their eyes, crown prince Zane Eliezer was the most handsome man to exist and the most beautiful wolf in the entire Lycanaria. His valour was unmatchable, his strength unwavering. He was a God, as they claimed him to be. Blue eyes deep enough to drown an ocean, skin as white as ice, body strong enough to break the rocks and glare that of a death angel. I could only imagine him, never saw him in reality.

Taking deep breaths, I stopped outside my hut. Father stayed in the hut beside mine. He rarely came out and talked to me in recent years. He didn’t eat or drink while he meditated, and I didn’t disturb him either. I was the only family he had. There was no way I could ever leave him, even though I didn’t belong beside him.

The soldiers howled. It was a call for a public meeting, “they will announce about the ugly bride in the garden. Should I talk to my father? No! I can’t disturb his meditation.” I locked the door from within and helped myself into a dark corner.

“I don’t exist. I am an illusion. Don’t look at me, don’t come to me. I am ugly, don’t stain your eyes.” It was happening again. My panic had kicked in. I hugged my knees, curling them to my chest. Darkness was my only comfort. It was where I could hide and exist, because it took away seeing capabilities. Without eyes, none can differentiate between beautiful and ugly.

Darkness was the only place where I wasn’t judged.

“Alpha Amon Eliezer has ordered to bring the ugliest girls from all over the Lycanaria to him. If you know someone who is an epitome of unpleasant existence, it’s your duty to send them to the palace. The ugly girl shall be honoured to be the bride of the crown prince.” They howled loud and clear. Even far away from them, I could hear them. I shut my ears with my hands and kept on mumbling. I loved hearing my voice again and again whenever I felt lonely and panicked. It made me feel I wasn’t alone.

“There is one ugly girl who lives in the woods with her sinister father. She is scarred and unbearable to watch. She is an eyesore! But why is the Alpha searching for an ugly bride for his son? There are thousands of heavenly beauties waiting to die on one call from the prince.” I don’t know why I could hear them from afar. My hearing abilities have always been a curse.

They were all gossiping about and judging Alpha Amon. Everyone has always been the same. They talk about others incessantly, but never about themselves. All of them hate each other. Monks? Give me a break, they foul their mouths on each other’s back. There is no cleansing, only toxicity filled in them. No. No. No. I mustn’t judge them. If I do, I am no different than them.

No matter how tight I shut my ears, I could hear even their whispers. Their footsteps rushed towards my hut. No, don’t come! This is all a trap. My father needs me. This judgemental society will devour him, they will curse him if, by even the slightest chance, I reach the palace. I know they will pick up on my father once I leave. Might even kill him.

“Can’t go! Why me? They said ugly people always meet a cursed fate. I am not cut to even stand beside the crown prince. God, help me.”

They banged on the door, loud. The banging kept on getting louder. And louder. And louder! Until they barged into my hut. I squeezed myself into the dark corner of the hut, hoping they didn’t see me.

“She is the ugliest in the world. I am sure the king would use her like his shoes. Or prince’s punchbag. He can’t do that to a beauty, so he is asking for an ugly girl. No one would even care if the prince abused her or even killed her. She had been an eyesore anyway, take her away!” They were all devils.

The soldiers could see me even when I felt I was invisible. They grabbed my hand and dragged me out into the light, where they could see my face. My chin rested on my collarbone as I did everything I could to not let them see my face.

“Come on! Look at us. Let us see your ugly face!” The soldiers grabbed my wrist so tight that marks were left behind on my skin. One of them grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. I shut my eyes tight. They immediately threw me on the ground, “she is disgusting! Her scar is the only horrific attribute about her.”

“Take her to the palace. We might actually get some gifts for finding a perfect ugly bride.”

I wish I could have screamed NO. I had no guts to resist, no self-esteem to protect, no one to rescue me. I looked at my father’s hut. There was no way I could speak. Crying for help was a far away deal. They grabbed my wrist again, their disgust for me ruling their anger as their grip almost crushed my bones. I looked at my father’s hut as they dragged me. While the other so-called monks smiled as devilishly as they could when they saw me bleed from my knees as the soldiers kept on dragging me.

Father! Father! Save me! I know you must know what is happening to me. Please come and save me. Only if my thoughts could turn into words, I would be so happy.

Slowly, my home was fading from my vision. “Fath-” my voice faltered. My erratic breaths were hazing my vision. Panting, I uselessly tried to free myself.

“Did she say something?” The soldiers glanced at me as I reached out my hands towards my father’s hut.

“Father...” I said just before they pushed me in a horse driven carriage.