Forced Bond With The Cursed Beastly Alpha

Alera I knelt in the soft grass and picked the stem of wild mint, brushing the dust from the leaf before dropping it into my basket. The scent rose up mixing with the other herbs I had gathered for my mother. She always said these ones sold fast at the market. Women used them for healing teas, and the old men swore they helped with their joints. My father traded too, but he handled the bigger things. Grain, leather, tools. My mother's herbs were her pride. I loved helping her. Every time I picked a good batch, I imagined her smile when she spread them out on her stall. Our village Elderwood was small, tucked between the hills and the stretch of forest I grew up running through. People knew each other by name, and everyone knew me as the daughter who still wandered around collecting leaves and roots like my mother used to when she was my age. I was fifteen, still a year away from the age most girls felt their wolves for the first time. Sometimes I wondered what mine would look like... if she would ever come at all. My mother used to tell me I would shift into a beautiful she-wolf when I turned of age. She always spoke about it with such certainty, like it was guaranteed like the moon itself had chosen me already. And she told me my mate would be someone powerful... someone who would treasure me, protect me, and stand with me no matter what. I never truly believed those words. They felt like stories meant to make young girls dream. But I still had that tiny hope of that happening. I adjusted the basket on my hip and began my walk down the hill, humming quietly as the trees opened and the path widened. Soon, the familiar glow of Elderwood Village came into view—soft lantern lights scattered between the little clay houses, the same sight I'd grown up seeing every evening. It always made me feel safe. A thin line of smoke drifted above the rooftops, and I smiled. Someone must have started the night cooking early. Yonah would probably be waiting by the door already, hoping I had berries hidden somewhere in the basket. But as I moved closer, the smoke thickened. It wrapped over the lights, dimming them one by one until the warm glow of the village blurred into a dark cloud. I slowed. My heartbeat tapped hard. "Burn everything down!" A voice rose through the air. Deep, rough, filled with rage. My whole body went cold. For a moment, I couldn't move. "Kill everyone!" another voice shouted, louder and closer. That ripped me out of my frozen state. My feet took off on their own. The basket slipped from my hand and hit the ground, berries rolling everywhere. I ran down the hill, faster than I ever had. Smoke wrapped around me, thick in my throat. I pushed through it and stumbled into our village. People were on the ground. Some lifeless. Some gasping for air, fading. Some reaching out for help that wouldn't come. Pain rippled through my chest when I saw Old Mara the woman who owned the herb stall beside my mother lying on her side, her apron soaked in blood. "No... Mara!" I fell to my knees beside her. Her eyes moved a little, unfocused but trying to see me. "A... Alera?" Her voice was thin, barely a breath. "Your... mother... your father... your house..." She coughed painfully. "Go... quickly..." "Mara, stay with me—please—" But her eyes drifted shut. Her chest stilled. Gone. A strange ringing filled my ears. My heart beat too fast to feel real. I pushed up from the ground and ran harder than I ever had in my life. I turned the corner to our house. The door was broken. The window shattered. Smoke curled from the roof. I stepped inside and everything inside me stopped. My parents lay on the floor my father's arm stretched toward the door, as if he tried to shield someone. My mother was beside him, her hair messy, her dress torn. And just behind them... Yonah. My little brother. He was curled in on himself, his small hand still holding the wooden wolf toy he carried everywhere. All of them...lifeless A sharp pain tore through my chest, so deep it felt like something inside me was splitting open. My eyes went blurry. "No... no, no," I whispered, dropping to my knees. My hands shook as I touched my mother's arm. It was already cold. I shook my father's shoulder. No response. I pushed Yonah gently, begging his body to move, to breathe, to blink, anything. But nothing happened. "Please," I breathed out, my voice barely there. "Wake up... please..." Silence. Only fire crackling outside. And then the scrape of a sword dragging on the ground. Coming closer. "The Rogue King said no survivors. Clear everyone." came a cold voice freezing me in place. I lifted my head slowly, my vision spinning. Smoke, fire, and the lifeless shapes of my family made it hard to breathe. My legs felt weak, almost like they wouldn't hold me. A guard stepped closer. Armor clanking. His blade lifted toward me. I closed my eyes braced myself, letting the fear roll through me. Let it take me. The world went quiet. My chest ached. My thoughts scattered. And then darkness took me. ** My eyes opened slowly to an unfamiliar ceiling. Brown, cracked, and stained with age. My gaze moved around the small room. The walls were worn, the air thick with the smell of old wood and smoke. A single lantern glowed in the corner. "You're awake," a soft voice said. I jolted up. A sharp pain shot through my head and I grabbed it with a small groan. "Where... where is this place? Why am I here?" I asked, breathing fast. An older woman stepped into view."We found you unconscious outside the edge of our village," she said gently. "Some men brought you in. You were barely breathing." Her words opened something inside me as everything came rushing back. My chest tightened so hard. My vision blurred. "I... I should have died with them," I whispered, voice shaking. "Why didn't I die? Why did they kill them? What did we ever do to the Rogue King?" Tears burned behind my eyes, trapped there. The woman handed me a wooden cup. "Drink this. It will help your head." My hands trembled as I took it, the water sloshing over the rim. She watched me with sad eyes, the kind people wear when the truth is too painful. "I'm Adalene but you can call me Ada. Your village was burned to the ground. The Rogue King's guards didn't spare anyone. And now... word is spreading that they're moving toward our side. It's only a matter of time before they come here." My heart dropped. Again? More lives? More flames? Why? I didn't even finish drinking. My fingers froze around the cup when a loud shout exploded from outside. The woman's face turned pale. "They're here," she whispered. "We need to leave. Now." My legs felt heavy, but fear pushed them forward. Ada led me out of the small room, down a narrow hallway, and through a wooden door. Behind it was a hidden passage, the walls lined with old stones. "We can't go through the front," Ada whispered. "They're already here." The shouts outside grew louder, boots stomping, metal clashing, people screaming. My chest tightened again. I had barely woken up, barely understood that my parents and Yonah were gone... and now death was chasing me once more. I didn't know much about the Rogue King, only the stories whispered by traders passing through our village. A ruthless ruler. A man whose soldiers obeyed without question. Ada urged me deeper into the tunnel. I followed, stumbling once. My head felt crowded with questions and grief, but there was no time to sort anything out. The tunnel was long, damp, and cold. Water dripped from the ceiling. The flames and screams behind us faded slowly, replaced by the sound of our footsteps and my pounding heartbeat. "We're almost out," Ada said. At the very end of the tunnel was a small opening that led out to the woods. Through it, I could see night creeping in and the glow of torches from afar. Ada turned to me and held both my shoulders. "Listen carefully girl. Follow the path straight ahead. Do not stop. It will lead you toward Ferrowood. That's my hometown. You'll find help there." I stared at her, confusion and fear mixing together. "What about you?" My voice was thin. "You're coming with me, right?" She smiled, but it was the kind of smile that hid something. Ada gently pulled her hand away from mine. "I will be with you," she said softly. Before I could understand her meaning, before I could ask again, she pushed me out through the opening. I stumbled forward onto the forest floor. I turned back immediately but the entrance was already closing, the stones shifting into place as if they had never opened. Ada was gone. Anger, fear, pain all of it twisted inside me. Everything I knew had been burned. Everyone I loved had been taken from me. The Rogue King had destroyed my life. But... why? Why had our village been attacked so suddenly? And how did I survive? I remembered the blade raised above me. And then there was Ada. Who exactly was she? Why did she help me escape when she didn't even know me?