Ashes of the Forgotten Alphas

Chapter 1: Moving forward

Being a werewolf is no easy business, but apparently being a human is no piece of cake either. I ambled out of the exam room with other humans, my head caught in a cloud that doesn’t seem to want to let go of me anytime soon.

The exam I thought I prepared for, crammed the facts into my head for countless nights, was more difficult than I could have imagined. 

As I weaved through the crowd who trudged down the exam halls as if their souls left their bodies like I think mine did, I couldn’t help but feel how stupid I was. There had been many moments I had my a*s handed to me, serving as a good reminder I didn’t know everything. I’m not sure at this moment which was a worse reminder of that—if this college exam or when I was dying before at the hands of a mindless rogue. 

Pushing through the rest and feeling the need to look at something besides people who were obviously feeling the same way as I did, I went closer to the fourth floor’s railing. Overlooking it was the grounds of Ashburn University, the biggest state funded college within the city. There were other people roaming about the carefully decorated pathways of university grounds, right by the wide patches of grass surrounded by walkways. Others were clustered in groups either eating or just conversing with each other. 

I breathed in slowly, trying to calm myself but the pungent strong scents that humans loved to wrap themselves in were sharper this time around since there was a lot of them that I started coughing.

“Hey, are you okay?” someone said from behind me, touching my back. 

I froze mid-cough, my hackles rising since no one in the Alcatrozz pack was with me and I didn’t know anyone here. After everything that happened, being suspicious of most of everyone outside the pack became a necessity.

Discreetly, I sniffed the air. The familiar scent of a human who recently sprayed herself like a skunk with perfume supposed to smell like vanilla, instead of the chemicals it really was. I turned and saw a pretty brunette with pixie hair cut and slanted dark brown eyes similar to that of a cat’s. Taylor. Someone I met before the exam started four hours ago.

Her thin dark brows were scrunched together in worry as she repeated, “You okay? You’ve been staring off into space for quite a while there.” 

Shaking the innate feeling of being in danger without my pack or anyone I knew around me, I shooked my head. “Just feeling off after that exam. How do you think you did?” 

The concern was gone in a snap as she grinned. “Horrible, I think. Not really sure but I wouldn’t worry about it.” 

I raised an eyebrow.. “Didn’t you say you wanted to become a doctor?” 

“And you wanted to take Biology, so? It’s not related to the exam,” she shrugged.  “Don’t stress yourself out over it. We’ll get in.” 

Despite the bit of who cares attitude she’s showing about an exam that can either ruin or help her future, I smiled at her feeling the looming dread of failing fading away. I was about to ask her something else when the familiar sense of comfort and warmth that only one person can bring me crept in. 

‘I’m at the parking lot,’ whispered the same voice that ignited all kinds of emotions in me. Emotions I have tried so hard to deny and ignore as much as I could before, but something I have been trying not to suppress. Well, not subdue as much as I did before.

‘Be there in a sec.’

A soft ping sounded in the air, forcing Taylor to look at the phone she had in her hands. She rolled her eyes as she read the text. “I got to go. My i***t brother’s got a date so he’s rushing to get me home. See you around!” 

I waved at her, shrugging off her abruptness to leave, then headed to the parking lot in front of the building I was in. As I walked, a different feeling from earlier settled into the pits of my stomach like butterflies fluttering their wings softly to the beat of my heart. The nearer I got to him, the stronger the anxious flutter in my stomach became as if I could vomit any time.  

The moment the parking lot was in sight, I immediately saw his obsidian colored car that easily dwarfed the others parked near it. The windows were heavily tinted so no one can see inside, but it didn’t matter since the driver’s side door opened and he stepped down, my breath hitching in my throat.

Being mates with someone has always been a baggage I didn’t want to tie myself down with since I still don’t have my life together. However as much as I tried to deny my feelings to Tate and no matter how annoying he is, I couldn’t resist any longer.

I want to say it’s the undeniable attraction of being mates but it’s not.

Yet as he stepped out the car, his emerald eyes sweeping the area in seconds before he saw me, I couldn’t help but be reminded why I wanted to be with him. It was not simply the way his muscles rippled beneath his chartreuse shirt, where every ounce of his strength and the power he held could not be contained by his clothes. It was more than the striking features that has never failed to hold men and women enraptured, more than the confidence and authority he exuded. 

It’s simply him. 

He gazed at me from afar as if he hasn’t seen me for months and not merely hours. My footsteps halted for a brief second before I continued towards him, still finding it a bit off that I’m with him now. Tate must have realized what I was feeling as his lips lifted into a slow knowing smile that made it impossible to feel there was anything else in the world but him. 

A small part of me still wonders if it was the right choice to finally accept him as a mate. There are so many other things I could be doing right now but there’s a bigger part in me that wanted this, wanted him. The same one that enjoyed the feeling as Tate wrapped his arms around me in greeting, the worries and anxiety from earlier passing like a breeze.  

“I take it that it didn’t go that well?” He murmured, pulling away from me a little but I held on, just breathing in his scent. It was a cool blend of smoke and leather, something that didn’t make sense since Tate rarely wore leather. If at all.

“I think it did,” I muttered, reveling in the warmth of his skin before pulling away from the hug. “I’m not really sure to be honest since I can’t even remember the questions.” 

Tate chuckled. “That can’t be helped but I’m sure you passed. You’ve spent countless nights studying. That won’t simply fly out the window in a matter of hours.” 

“It’s not just a case of passing though,” I said, scrunching my brows as the requirements for the biology program I wanted to get into flashed vividly in my head.

“My score needs to be high enough because I heard they use it as a metric to know what my placement would be. I mean what if I get a low grade and I don’t even get in? Or I pass but still get a subpar grade that I would have to take a lot of introductory classes before getting to the heart of the course?” 

I knew I’m rambling but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to take Biology not necessarily because I wanted to become a doctor—although the possibility isn’t out of the window—but because of my abilities. There is more to discover about it and while I could understand generally and instinctually how to help, I know there can be more I can do if I understood the fundamental basics. Simply hitting the books or taking online courses aren’t enough when there are more that can be taught through actual classes.

Tate reached out, holding both my shoulders and forcing me to look at him. I frowned, not liking the sudden interruption. He softened his hold but didn’t remove his hand. “Eve, stop worrying. You know you did your best so you’ll pass. This is just nerves, okay?” 

“Thanks,” I muttered, not able to shake off the anxiety in its entirety but Tate’s words brought me back to reality. “Turns out it’s really not easy being a human, huh?” 

“Tell that to my father,” answered Tate in a light hearted tone. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, not knowing what to respond to that.

Hans, the previous Alpha of the Alcatrozz pack before Tate took over, was the most vocal person against humans. When everyone thought I was human, he led the pack to treat me less than a person, more of a punching bag they can waste away. Then by some trick of fate, my mother Torianna murdered him when she was under a demonic mind-control.

All in all, it was a confusing turn of events that left no one happy. While I cannot scrape an ounce of sadness for Hans’ death, the truth still remains that my mother is the reason Tate lost his father and Elizabeth lost her husband.

And while I knew we had to talk about this eventually, I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. I’ve already caused him a lifetime’s worth of heartache by begging him to let Torianna go, even when I didn’t know she was my mom, so I didn’t want to further put salt into the wound. 

A soft smile graced his lips before he lightly pressed a kiss on my forehead. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” 

“This is the only time I’m thankful that I know exactly what you’re feeling,” I said since having someone know exactly what you felt seemed unnatural but it’s something I’m slowly getting used to. 

More so because I apparently forced the mate bond on us when I healed him from the brink of death at Poly and Brian’s party. I just didn’t know it until Tate told me weeks ago.  

Tate shook his head at me, getting into the car and starting the engine. As I got in and closed the door, his voice that never fails to send shivers down my spine was almost overpowered by the revving engine. “You got me trapped already Eve. No need for you to sound so joyous about the perks of being with me.”

I rolled my eyes and got in the car.

As soon as my seatbelt clicked into place, Tate revved the engine and pulled out the parking lot like the car was a Mini Cooper moving out an open spaced area, not the monstrosity it is.

“You know there was hardly any time for it,” commented Tate, a dry note in his voice as he continued while we cruised out of the university grounds. “If you remember, we’ve been through the wringer and you would have tried to run and push me away more than you did if you knew immediately.” 

“That doesn’t matter,” I argued back, staring pointedly at him. Right now, he was projecting a sense of calmness so I couldn’t feel anything else he was thinking. His blonde brows twitched barely, something I would not have noticed if I had blinked. “I deserved to know immediately, especially when I became the Louve after you took over the Alcatrozz pack.” 

“Evangeline,” Tate started, his voice low and serious as he glanced at me before quickly returning his attention to the road. “How could I have told you when you kept on running away and ignoring me if I so much as talked to you?” 

“The point is, I didn’t deserve to be kept in the dark.” 

He shook his head at me. Unlike before when his glorious curls would have moved with that gesture, there was nothing since Tate had his hair cut close to his scalp. Now, the strong angles of his jaw and the deep accent in his eyes seemed to have made his look darker and more mature. 

A honk from outside blasted me out of my thoughts and back into reality where I saw Tate had stopped the car because we were home. There was a knowing look in his eyes, telling me clear as day he knew I was distracted by him. 

Fighting the urge not to blush or to shy away from his stare, I continued my train of thought. “I just don’t like being blindsided so if we’re going to do this right,” I gestured to both of us, “then let’s be open to each other.”

Tate leaned across the seat to peck me on the lips. “I’m all in, every step of the way with you.”

He smiled softly at me before we both got out of the car. I stopped in my tracks when I saw someone I didn’t expect sitting on the stoop of the stairs, browsing through her phone with a furrow in her brows. Trisha’s chestnut brown hair was placed into an intricate braid that loosely looked like a fish’s tail resting on her shoulders.  

When she saw us, she stood still with a determined expression on her face. An expression I’ve only seen with a touch of malice before when she wanted me to stay far away from my mate. 

Ever since I came back from the Reons pack, she has changed. Not necessarily for the better because there were still instances where she showed glimpses of her snarky self. However, rather than being a constant presence around the Evans house like before, she only appeared when necessary like if there were pack meetings.  

I can’t even say it’s because she couldn’t stand my presence as the Louve of the Alpha she had been chasing for so long, since nothing snarky came out of her lips at all. Surprising didn’t begin to cover it but I didn’t question it. Too many things had gone wrong around here so something like Trisha not being a problem was the good kind of surprise I just accepted.

“Something wrong?” asked Tate as we headed up the stairs, looking at Trisha. She didn’t answer even until we were by the large door. “Trisha? Did something happen?”  

Her blue eyes flitted to Tate before settling on me with a seriousness I didn't expect. “I will come with you.”  

Definitely unexpected, I thought, raising an eyebrow at her.

“That’s not necessary. It’s only a short drive to Osoria anyway and Lowell will be coming with me, unless that plan’s changed in the last minute?” I asked, glancing at Tate who shook his head no. 

“I don’t care about you,” Trisha snapped, her voice shrill. A millisecond after, her blue eyes widened with realization. “I—no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just need to go with you.” 

Seeing the hint of desperation in her eyes and knowing this moment here is the most she’s talked in weeks, I had no choice but to agree. “Alright. I’m just grabbing my bag and then we’re heading out.”

I turned around to leave, heading to my bedroom where the overnight bag I packed earlier sat on the foot of my bed. Tate stayed behind and I could hear his soft murmurs of concern towards Trisha. Being fully accepted as a Louve was slow going but I wasn’t worried Trisha would do anything to Tate. Not with how she has been acting like she lost someone close to her.

Or a mate. 

I have an inkling that she found her mate in the Reons pack or something like that, which was why she was acting that way but I couldn’t really be sure. 

Shrugging it off since I couldn’t care less, I started grabbing my things for the road, including the photo on my table. It was of Alpha Daniel’s human friend, whose photo has captured my attention over a year ago. He had a seemingly untameable hair like the darkest of nights where you can barely see anything and eyes like the brightest of days.

There is something in him that I cannot help but be drawn to. Not because of his obvious attractiveness, but a sense that he can command anyone’s attention and right now he had mine. Even through a more than a decade old photo, whatever charisma of sorts that King had was still apparent.

And more than the attention and curiosity I had over this guy was this innate feeling he could be my father. After all, Sofia the crazy ex and stalker of my father, said my dad’s name was King. Whether it’s coincidence or not, I need to find out so hopefully Daniel had answers. It’s been longstanding after all since I’ve been meaning to ask him for ages but there were always things that took priority.

“You ready?” Tate asked from behind as he leaned on the door frame.

“Yeah,” I said as I placed the photo in my bag. “So is there any chance that you convinced Trisha not to come?”

“Not by a longshot. She has business there that I even if I commanded her, she would still find a way to go so just let her be. At least this way we’ll be able to see what she does and help if it becomes necessary.”

I frowned at him. “We? You’re not coming. Lowell is.”

Mischief glinted in his bright emerald eyes as he grinned at me. “As the future second in command of the pack, Lowell suddenly found himself busy preparing for that meeting with the Carmick’s. Can’t come unprepared to a meeting with witches, you know.”

“You’re the one who requested to meet with them since their family likely helped Sofia release that demon so they’ll be expecting you. Not Lowell and his entourage.”

“He can handle himself Evie and I want to come with you.”

“There’s nothing I can say to make you not go, huh?” When Tate shook his head, I sighed knowing this will be a long trip ahead. And I wasn’t entirely looking forward to Tate being anywhere near the Reons pack, much less Rastor.

It would already be awkward enough with me seeing him after I rejected him but seemingly toting around him with Tate? That’s like pouring gas on an already lit fire.