HER SECOND CHANCE : A CURSED ALPHA

CHAPTER EIGHT : ALPHA DRAVEN

DRAVEN’S POV

I flexed my fingers, trying to calm myself, as my dark eyes stared at that familiar name on the screen of my computer.

‘ALINA TARIUS.’

I’ll recognize it anywhere. I’ve seen that name plastered across every corner of the werewolf realm continuously for three months.

The runaway bride from the Greenlake pack. Her reputation was already bad enough, and now, she dared to apply for a position in a facility as prestigious as mine, knowing our pack's history.

I would have dismissed her resume the moment it was brought to me, if my dumb cousin, Kade, had not made me swear to actually look at her qualifications and give her a chance.

Apparently, his newly found mate was a friend of hers. But the mate bond meant nothing to me…But Kade did.

He was one of my most loyal men regardless of being my cousin and was as close as a brother to me.

Memories flashed through my mind of twelve years ago, just like they had done every single f*****g day.

And this time, I could not stop it. My hands tightened, curling into a fist, as my fingers dug into the thick skin of my palm.

My father’s face was the first thing to flash past my mind as I relived those painful memories, like they happened just yesterday.

My young legs raced towards the kitchen the moment I heard my mother’s chill curling cries and screams. And I knew my dad was home.

But what I never expected was to walk in on

his bloodied knuckles, and his eyes gleaming red from overdrinking. But that was not what froze my childish heart cold.

No…it was my mother’s body lying stiffly that froze my heart, so much so that I could barely take in air. And my father, he stared at her unmoving body with nothing but disgust, not even a drop of sympathy or guilt considering that she might be dead.

She was already frail from his countless beatings and the numerous times he had cheated on her.

I knew more things than kids my age, because my father never bothered to hide his extramarital affairs from anybody.

I had to watch my mother lose her wolf right before my eyes, all because he could not keep his d**k in his pants.

And now this!

He saw me walk in, and a proud scowl cut across his features as he grinned.

“You see her body there boy?” He smirked. And I only swallowed, my entire body trembling as I rushed towards my mother.

But the second I stepped close enough to take in her bloodied form, I knew I was too late.

Her wide lifeless eyes stared back at me, freezing me to my spine.

“Take this as another of your lessons. This is how you treat women who refuse to be submissive. You cut their worthless life short.

Women are good for nothing except f*****g and bearing children. And when they can’t do that properly, you get rid of them.

Do you understand me, boy?” He smiled moving closer to where I knelt beside her.

But the moment his eyes landed on the tears that trailed down my cheeks, his hands darted as he landed a harsh slap on my face, sending me flying.

And then he moved towards me, curling his disgusting hands around my neck enough to cut off my breathing.

“How many times do I have to warn you never to shed a tear! How many!

I did not birth a f*****g weakling.

If the pack members see you, they’ll think I produced a defective heir. Wipe those things off your face, or else you’ll be joining her soon.

And take my teachings deep in your damn stupid brain,” he spat. His breath was heavy with alcohol, enough to make my stomach churn.

My mind swirled, my mother’s still form with wide dilated eyes was the only thing I saw in my head over and over again, till my vision blurred and all I could see was red. And then, I let loose.

“You bastard! You killed her.

You f*****g killed her!” I roared, my hands clawing at his which still held me in his choking grip but I barely cared. I was fifteen but I grew faster than most kids my age and was almost his height already. I could take him on, except for one f*****g weak link, and that was my wolf. I was not old enough to awaken my wolf, else I would have killed him a long time ago.

He only laughed in my face, a mocking one, as his fingers sharpened into claws digging into the skin of my neck.

“Forget that you are my heir. I would kill you without blinking if you cause problems for me, you weak thing,” he hissed, throwing me to the floor. And then, he picked up his other bottle of booze lying on the table as he sauntered out. Leaving me crying, pleading, and begging for the only person who ever believed in me to wake up.

What followed was a blur, but I did not blink in hesitation when my aunt, who was our pack doctor, offered me a potion to awaken my wolf just so I could challenge my father and dethrone him as our alpha. I knew she was wrecked by the pain of losing her sister and she thirsted for revenge, and so did I.

Overthrowing my father was easy. Not when he drank half his weight every day. No one stood by him when I challenged him, because he was the worst alpha to ever rule the Silver Wood’s pack. He destroyed and wasted rather than built.

But still, a fifteen-year-old boy shouldn’t have defeated an alpha for almost twenty years so easily. But I knew my wolf wasn’t normal. I saw it the first day the potion worked and the blood red eyes of my wolf form stared back at me. One that looked like hell, and craved nothing but blood.

Soren, my wolf was a beast, and it was everything I needed to defeat my father and calm the anger in fifteen-year-old me for being too weak to save my mother. And Soren, he did that so easily too. And I took over the pack.

But the moon goddess cursed me for that, I knew she did. Soren was a blessing to me because I won every war, every f*****g battle, and fight. But with every blood I shared, it craved more. And that was until I completely lost it, and could barely handle him anymore.

And I knew for a fact why she cursed me, because I became a monster like my father, or even worse. So I had to escape and build this facility far away from my pack, and the human world was the safest option. This was the best way to conduct research and find a way to cure my wolf, without killing him.

“I’m here for an interview. I've already explained that to you a thousand times already,” a soft feminine voice shouted from beyond my door, jerking me violently out of my thoughts.