INDIRA: RISE OF THE ALPHA QUEEN

Indira's POV “That man killed my father!” I thrashed around in the hold of the guard holding me down. My throat burned from too much yelling and pent-up anger, but it still seemed like no one could see what I was saying. “Stay still, Indira!” An authoritative voice came on and I was compelled to stay still. Beta Louis finally stood up and stormed over to me, clamping his hand over my shoulder to stop me from thrashing around. More angry tears streamed down my cheeks, and pain wracked through my body as my claws dug into my palms due to my balled-up fists. “That man, Indira, is going to be the new Alpha of our pack, so you'd better acknowledge him and stop with your madness if you want a piece of this pack!” Beta Louis yelled, his hand on my shoulder tightened with how angry he was getting. I managed to weasel my way out of his hold as it was starting to bite at me and I might end up doing something crazier if any part of his body was still touching mine. But the hard glare in his eyes and the threat that followed his words compelled me to look down. It was a sign of submission, but I was too weak to fight against him or anyone at the moment. After a moment of silence, I looked up, with more gathered strength this time around. “My uncle is a murderer, why don’t you believe me?” My voice rose, and my hands started flailing around once again, drawing the attention of the people outside. They all looked at me like I was going crazy, but I knew what I was saying. My father told me, he warned me before he passed away. Why won’t anyone believe me now?! “Indira, your uncle is going after your brother next. You have to protect the pack and your brother. Stop him in any way you can. He’s dangerous.” My father had said. Even if I lose my memory, I’d never forget those words. They were his last words, and his hands went cold in mine immediately after he said them. He had warned me, and they wanted to make the same man the Alpha of the pack. My brother is still alive with no threat to his life, yet. But I knew my father wasn’t delirious, he must have known or seen something to have said that. He loved his brother, my uncle, too much to lay such serious accusations against him. I looked around the yard where Beta Louis was giving a speech, and only a few people gave me attention. Even the few people looked at me as if I were crazy. Of course, no one would believe me. My uncle was a saint in their eyes, and I used to see him as one too. But I also knew that my father’s death wasn’t natural, he was too strong to have died from mere ‘food poisoning and heart attack’. “It’s a great loss for everyone. The Alpha was a very compassionate and strong man, but we all have to understand that…” Beta Louis continued talking, announcing the death of my father to the pack members. He had walked back to them, leaving me alone on the ground. I stood up and ran through the back door. My brain was going haywire and I was scared that I’d go crazy if I didn’t do something. I stopped by my father’s study, knowing that was the only place I could get evidence or anything. “Evidence. Evidence. Where is it?!” I yelled, rummaging through the loads of papers on his desk. Then my eyes landed on his death certificate. That was too soon. I didn’t know they’ve prepared one for him already. I skimmed through his name and other information till my eyes landed on the last paragraph and a new bout of anger coursed through me. Cause of death: Heart attack. That only meant one thing, and it was that they had closed the investigation into his death. Just like that? But my father was healthy! How could anyone just die from a heart attack without foreshadowing it earlier? I flung the death certificate away and started rummaging through the drawers instead, searching for anything that could help me. The only reasonable thing in there was the dagger that my father had given to me. I kept it in his office because of my brother by myself, and while I was staring at the heavy metal, the office door suddenly rattled and came open, and the same person who had been making me restless staggered inside. My uncle. He reeked so much of alcohol that my wolf belched in my head. The dagger in my hand suddenly felt useful as I stared at him. I could easily use it to my advantage by killing him with it right there, he was drunk after all. “Do it, he’s weak right now. He won’t be able to fight back” My wolf urged me. Staring at the precious dagger again, I thought otherwise. I didn’t want to stain it with the blood of an enemy. My uncle was even too drunk to realize that he wasn’t alone in the room. I saw him stagger to the middle of the study, and I bent down more when I felt Beta Louis coming over to the study too. “Mask my scent as much as you can,” I ordered my wolf and pressed my body to the ground. Beta Louis soon entered the room, and he went straight to my uncle. “I’ve been searching for you everywhere, where have you been?” My uncle laughed hysterically, “I had to celebrate the death of that fool somehow. You can’t understand how happy I am right now.” His words were slurred, but still very clear. My breath hitched, but I kept quiet so they wouldn’t know I was there. Beta Louis connived with him too? “Right. What are your plans now? I’m afraid Indira might be a hindrance. We have to take care of her.” Beta Louis’s voice was so chilled that I shivered slightly. Take care of me? “Don’t worry about her, she’s nothing but a pest. I’ll usurp the pack very soon, and there won’t be any threats. I’ve mapped out the plan for years.” “And how do you intend to do that?” My uncle belched, “It’s quite simple. That little boy will be captured through the hunting expenditure coming up in five days, he’ll be killed through that.” My head went light immediately. My brother was meant to be killed in five days? With what he just said, they’ve been planning my father’s death for a while then. The hunting expenditure only happens once a year. They had planned everything. “And Indira?” Beta Louis asked. “She’ll be sent to marry the current Alpha Lord. Her father owed him before his death after all.” The Alpha Lord? My hand tightened around the dagger again and I felt my blood pump through me faster. Everyone knew that man to be a terrorist. I’d rather slice my throat with the dagger in my hand by myself than watch myself get married to that brute. “This is your chance to act now, Indira! They’re currently cheering on their plan, they’ll be caught off guard if you attack.” My wolf spoke. I peeked out from underneath the table, and truly, they were lost in celebration. I took my wolf’s advice instantly. I wouldn’t sit there and watch someone end my bloodline just like that! I had to do something and I had to do it fast too. Just as I stood up to charge at them, a shadow flashed towards me. It was so fast that I could barely see it. It was Beta Louis, and he stood before me with a very dark smirk on his face. The anger that pummeled through me switched to fear immediately. Did he know that I was there all through? He stepped closer to me and I kept going back till my back hit the wall. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The dark glint in his eyes made my hands weak, I couldn’t bring myself to use the dagger anymore. What I didn’t see coming however was for him to hold a folded handkerchief over my nose. He was so fast with everything that he did it in a millisecond. My joints went weak and darkness enveloped me instantly.