The Rogue Alpha's Temptation

CHATPER 2

The Reality Beneath the Lies

Aria‘s POV

The sun was just starting to rise, tinting the heavens pink and gold. Still, the beauty of daybreak did not affect calming my inner fire. My pulse thumping, I waited at the edge of the meadow and watched Varian stumble towards me with blood all over his shirt and clothes.

"You shouldn't be here," he muttered, his voice low and harsh. "I instructed you to return to your pack."

Trying to keep my voice calm, I crossed my arms. "You never get to order me around."

Though he refrained, his eyes glowed with wrath. Rather, he painfully grabbed his side. Blood moved across his fingers.

"You're hurt," I said, my anger turning to pity. "Let me aid you."

He turned back, his jaw tense. I need your pity, not here.

I gave him a nasty look. You stubborn imbecile; this is compassion. I went up to him, not staring at his frown. "Sit down before you go past."

He stopped, looking straight at me. I thought of him momentarily, perhaps denying him once again. Then his shoulders fell, and he dropped to the ground, slanted against a tree.

Having torn a bit of cloth from my shirt, I knelt beside him. "Lift your shirt".

His eyes opened broadly. "Excuse me."

Rolling my eyes, I fought a flush. "To mend the cut." Get no ideas.

His mouth opened to a ghost of a smile, but it vanished as he watched and pulled up his shirt to find a terrible gash across his ribcage. I breathed, and my fingers shook.

"This...this looks poor." I tried to stop the bleeding and lay the handkerchief over his incision. He flicked and let out a great shout.

"Stop... fussing," he advised, his voice taut with pain. "I've suffered more."

Sure. I turned back, watched the wound, not wanting to see you bleed to death. You saved me last night; today, allow me to save you.

He was still for a minute, fixed on my face. Why?

I brought myself to his level. Therefore, then?

"Why do you care?" he said gently and in control. Once I told you, once you found out what I was... why didn't you run?

I choked; my heart turned inside. "I'm not sure.). The truth was exactly as it was. Not sure if I could have either. He harbored risk. Reversed. He is supposed to be my enemy. But every time I looked at him, my heart wouldn't listen.

Concentrating on bandaging his injury, I said, "Maybe I'm just stupid." "Maybe... I feel you are right."

His eyes opened, surprise ablaze across his face. Then, do you believe me?

I nodded and paused. About my father, about the curse. Most likely, you did not kill him.

His shoulders lowered as the strain left his body. You have no idea the value of hearing that. His voice was straight-up and honest. "I have carried that guilt for so long, thinking one would ever believe me."

I do, softly said. But I have questions with answers. Either a curse exists, or they are here for me; I have to know everything.

His face darkened; the right jaw clenched. Knowing the information won't change your risk.

I said, speaking calmly, "I don't care." Keeping my darkness does not protect me. If I am in danger, I have the right to know why.

He looked aside, obviously in pain. You are tough.

"Get used to it," I shot back, folding my arms. "Start the conversation."

He moaned and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Perfect. But you won't find appeal in what you learn.

"I'm already living a nightmare," I murmured. "I can work with the truth."

His golden eyes softened; for a few seconds, I felt regret. "It started with your father," he continued with a slowed-down voice. He came from Shadowmoon's family and was the strongest Alpha. Authority does, however, have a price.

I hunched over. "A price?!"

"A curse," Varian answered with a hard voice. "An old curse the Shadow Sorceress applied on your line of ancestry. She pledged no Alpha of Shadowmoon would survive to see his successor succeed. To release the curse, they killed your father.

I felt the ground turning underfoot. "That... that is untrue.

He replied, "Yes," with a hard expression. "Your father set out to lift the curse. He came to me since I knew how to call it off by myself.

Heart pounding, I looked at him. Then, why did you not also?

He turned away, remorse throwing shadows over his face. I dropped him. I was lacking the required power. The Shadow Goddess's henchmen arrived for him and framed him for his death.

I was filled with intense rage. "You should have battled harder. You ought to have kept him under cover.

"I tried," he murmured in a hoarse and strained voice. I battled till I couldn't stand it. However, their strength was immense, and they cursed me as a form of retribution.

His shoulders slanted, and his gaze was filled with loss. I became the renegade Alpha designed to wipe out Shadowmoon. I kept away for this reason. If I left, I reasoned, I could protect you from the curse.

I staggered in, inhaling, trying to organize everything. Have you been running all this time, then? From a curse you neither sought?

His posture became tight. "Surviving, running, battling; nonetheless, it is never enough. Every time the curse returns, it is stronger.

I looked at him, and then, for the first time, I saw the weight he was carrying. The Guilt. The agony. The loneliness.

I said, "I'm sorry," my voice cracking. "I... I did not know."

He raised his head and stared at me. You were never supposed to know. You need to live free from all this.

One dropped a tear across my cheek. "I cannot be free if I run away from the truth. I will not run any longer.

As he extended his hand to wipe away my tears, his face softened. His touch was smooth, warm, forbidden. "You are more solid than I would have credited you for."

His fingers stayed on my cheek as his eyes darkened, and my heart leaped. "Varian!--"

He drew in near, his face hardly visible to me. His voice was low and anguished. "This is wrong," he murmured. But I cannot hide from you.

His soft, hesitant lips caressed mine as though he were afraid I would break. Every nerve in my body set off, and my heart exploded. My hands falling in his hair, I kissed him back.

For a minute, nothing else counted. Not a curse. Not a hazard. Just him. Solely with us.

Then a cold breeze whispered a horrible note across the pitch. Every shadow around us twisted in form. My blood chilling, I started to back off. "Do you know that?"

Varian's eyes widened in panic, and his face went white. "We have to go. Not right now.

Before I could question why the shadows moved, they produced twisted monsters with blazing crimson eyes. Their mouths snarling into awful smiles, they moved forward.

Varian said, "They found us," in a shaky voice. "They are here for you."

The creatures launched themselves, darkness spinning about them. Varian drew me behind him, and his golden-lit eyes burned as he moved. I cried.

He gasped, "Run, Aria!" “I’ll hold them off!”

I hesitated; horror froze me in place. No, I will not be abandoning you!"

His eyes met mine, angry and urgent. You absolutely must. Should they take you, everything is over.

Before I could respond, the creatures attacked, engulfing him in the shadows. His yell echoed throughout the forest as I turned and raced, my heart tearing with every step.