Marked By The Cruel Alpha

Chapter 3

***Slade***

The rogues retreated, their snarls fading into the night as the last of the chaos dwindled. Alpha Micah wasted no time, his authoritative voice cutting through the exhaustion that hung heavily in the air. “Get the wounded treated! Take the dead to the morgue for their families to see,” he ordered, his tone firm but not unkind. The urgency in his voice mobilized the pack, warriors moving with purpose as they tended to the aftermath of the battle.

I felt the adrenaline still coursing through me, my body alive with the remnants of the fight. My heart pounded in rhythm with the victory, yet the echoes of what had just transpired—the lives lost, the blood spilled—clung to my thoughts like a shroud. This was not the way I had envisioned solidifying an alliance; this was chaos, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Slade,” Micah said, pulling me back from my thoughts. “Come with me to the meeting room. We need to finalise the details of our alliance.”

I nodded, trying to suppress the weight of regret and somber reflections as we strode through the pack house. The corridors were filled with echoes, the clatter of paws against the floor, whispers of worry. The air was dense with unspoken words, the atmosphere thick with gravity. Both our packs had been irrevocably altered this night, and the reality of what lay ahead loomed dauntingly.

As we entered the meeting room, I noticed my warriors standing at the ready, their eyes flickering with uncertainty yet pride. These were my loyal fighters, the backbone of the Bloodmoon Pack. My responsibility weighed heavily on my shoulders; I had to ensure their safety and the future of our home.

Micah settled into his chair across the long table, the tension still coursing between us like a taut wire. “The threat from the rogues is gnawing at our peace,” he began, his voice steady. “We can’t let fear dictate our actions. Alliances are our only means of survival. The fact they chose to attack us now, they must know about our meeting for an alliance. That means they feel threatened by it.”

I listened intently as he started sharing plans for patrols and strategies, detailing how we could fortify our territories. It wasn’t hard with the details considering our pack boarders were practically neighbours. The words were practical, straightforward, but my mind wandered—skirting dangerously close to thoughts of the violence we had encountered. The blood staining the earth was a harsh reminder, a cruel tapestry of sacrifice and loss, and my wolf growled at the haunting images of battle that flickered in my mind like a nightmare.

Suddenly, the tension in the air shifted, and a loud commotion erupted at the door. The sound of hurried footsteps and frantic voices pierced through the heavy silence. My instincts kicked in; I was back on high alert, prepared for anything. A moment later, a female burst into the room, her eyes wide with panic, face pale as if drained of all color.

“Lorenzo! He’s been attacked! He’s in the infirmary!” Her breath came in ragged gasps, each syllable laden with urgency. It took me a moment to piece together the chaos in her eyes, the fear radiating from her.

The atmosphere transformed in an instant. A heavy weight settled in the pit of my stomach, and a wave of urgency washed over me. Without conscious thought, my senses sharpened, and I caught a whiff of something intoxicating and unfamiliar: the scent of poppy, sweet and alluring. It was an aroma that wrapped around my mind, pulling me into its embrace.

In that startling moment, my instincts roared to life. “MATE!” my wolf howled in my mind, demanding recognition of this stranger who had so forcefully entered our lives. I let the primal instinct wash over me, the need to claim flaring to life in a way I had never anticipated. My body moved before my mind caught up, driven by an instinctive urge I could no longer resist.

I stepped forward, narrowing the space between us, my mind rooting me in the moment regardless of the chaos residing in the corners. Without thought, without hesitation, I closed the distance between us and marked her, biting down on the flesh of her neck to stake my claim. The world around us blurred into nothingness as I felt the heat of the moment engulf us, plunging us into a frenzied chaos of emotions.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, a flicker of realisation lighting up her features as she registered what had just transpired. Confusion danced in her gaze, and I felt an overwhelming surge inside me—a mix of possessiveness and a fierce need to protect her igniting a protective drive I had never known. Then she fell limp in my arms. I know held my unconscious mate at the realisation that my wolf had taken over me to mark what was ours.

Instinctively, I stood still, the sparks dancing on our skins as I held her. I was still absorbing the moment while a growl came from behind me. Alpha Micah sounded pissed as hell and I didn’t even flinch.

I tilted my head and my eyes met Alpha Micah’s as his wolf was slowing emerging from how angry he was. The tension thickening even further, heavy with the weight of what had just occurred. I could feel Micah’s gaze burning into me, a mix of surprise and incredulity etched across his features as he processed the unexpected turn of events.

“Slade, what have you done?” he demanded, the authority in his Alpha voice strained against the bewilderment creeping in.

Rational thought was slipping through my fingers, overshadowed by the rush of emotions. I guess this action in front of him would only show that my nickname from the werewolf world was true, I was indeed the cruel Alpha.

My wolf heightened my senses, pulling me deeper into the new reality we had stumbled into. No, what my god damn wolf had done. I gazed at the female in my arms, drinking in her features—brown hair, tanned skin, her confused brown eyes before she had passed out, the quick rise and fall of her chest.

I had marked her, and now, she was mine. But this was no ordinary claim. There was a connection binding us, an unexplained bond cemented in that single act. I could feel it deep in my core, like the roots of a tree anchoring me to the ground. Yet, with this bond came a turbulent storm bearing down on us, threatening to tear the fragile threads of our alliance apart.

I stare at the mark I had placed on her neck, it drew blood yet.. it didn’t heal. My expression was blanked but was questioning why she wasn’t healing, why the mark wasn’t healing. I scanned her arms and saw a few scratches that were still fresh, still there, they weren’t healing either.

The door flew open and in came Micah’s Beta and My Beta, Dallas. Beta Pace looked horrid and Dallas stood there eyes wide. I could only imagine that Micah mind linked his beta who was with my beta. I quickly linked Dallas and told him she is my mate, my wolf lost control and marked her.

“Put my sister down.” Micah growled in a dangerous tone.

I turned back to look at Alpha Micah and glared at him. I wasn’t going to let my mate go but oh my goddess, did he just say sister.

I didn’t show any emotion to his statement, I just mirrored his expression.

“Alpha Slade, I think it’s best I take her.” Beta Pace steped forward hands out and I let out a warning growl.

“Slade, listen to him. Give the girl to Pace.” My own Beta said in a cautious tone.

I gave him a look that said hell no!

“Slade,” Micah growled again, breaking me from the mind link I was about to do to my Beta. “We need to talk."

I turned toward him again, the urgency evident in his eyes. “We need to consider our next moves,” he continued, his voice calm yet firm. “This changes everything. We came here for an alliance and instead you forcibly marked my little sister, in front of me.” He growled at the memory.

“I know,” I replied, my voice steady. “She is my mate.” His eyes widened with shock at my words.

“No.” He growled.

“What do you mean no?” I growled.

“Slade, she won’t know your her mate.” Micah said sounding horrid.

“You can’t keep my mate from me! That goes against werewolf law.” I reminded him.

A sigh of frustration and anger left Micah. “It didn’t go against werewolf law if the mate is still underage.”

My arms slacked at what he said. I tried so hard not to show my realisation of what I had done. “You not saying,” I said, my voice steady yet the shock in it was evident

“Lyra is only seventeenth.” Micah gritted out.

I felt blood rush to my face, but I held onto my cruel expression and didn’t expose my true feelings of the disruption.

“Give her to Pace, she can’t heal the mark on her own, she hasn’t shifted yet.” Micah said as if he was losing patience

I obeyed as Beta Pace stepped forward and grabbed her, if he didn’t say that she was not healing from what I had done I would never have handed her over to another male.

“Pace, take her to her room, get the pick doctor. Also she came in saying something happened to Lorenzo, link me when you find out.” Micah order and his Beta left as Dallas closed the door behind us.

“Now,” Alpha Micah growled. “You came here for an alliance. We are going through with the alliance to protect our packs. However, as for my sister, you are not going to go anywhere near her.” He said.

“She is my mate.” I growled, my wolf slowly surfacing as my Dallas stepped behind me to calm me down.

“So you say but that needs to be said from her mouth if you want me to believe it.” He shot back. “She’s weeks away from her birthday but knowing my sister, when she wakes she’s gonna want to know why she was marked. And if that isn’t all, you know the rules for marking and claiming a mate that hasn’t shifted!”

I swallowed slowly but held a deadly glare.

“I’m willing to ignore it, only if she does.” He added. “I’ll have your people given a room until she wakes ups and gives her answer.

“Who else did your Beta tell?” I asked.

“I just told him to only tell your Beta. No one else can know. I’m sure your not liked very much amongst many Alphas, they will jump to call council and have you on trial. That’s something we don’t need right now, especially with what just took place on my pack grounds.” I sniffed my agreement.

“Will it be able to talk with her when she wakes?”

Micah stared at me for a long minute. “If she says yes.”