Ares.
I opened my eyes for the first time. The images around me were blurred so I blinked a few times before my eyes adjusted to the bright lights on my ceiling.
Looking around the room I noticed Seth sitting at my desk with my laptop, he was on a call with one of my workers at the office.
I turned to the window, it was afternoon. I shot up from the bed, a sharp pain filled my back and I instantly knew what it was as I collapsed back on the bed, resting my head against the headrest.
"Alpha.." Seth gasped, ending the call and running to me abruptly. His grey eyes were tired as he glanced at me worridley. The injury on his forehead was already healing but there was a tiny scar and a pang of guilt washed through me, but I didn't apologize.
Apologizing only makes you weak.
I closed my eyes, rubbing my head as a headache brewed in my head.
"Are you ok? Isabel left an hour ago and she advised you to rest for a few days so I thought to fill in for you at the office." Seth said, pouring a glass of water and handling it to me.
"I don't have time to rest." I snatched the glass from Seth chugging it down before trying to stand up again.
"Bu-"
"What's the situation with the pack ceremony? The elders should have responded to the invitation by now." I asked, rising from the bed gently as my eyes unconsciously traveled to the side of my bed where Alora had been shackled to.
An image flashed in my mind but I couldn't decipher it as I shook my head looking away and heading to my bathroom.
"Yes Alpha they have, they are sending Ezra this time." Seth growled and I rolled my eyes.
Ezra was an egoist asshole who hated me to the very core of his soul. It wasn't new with the elders, after all they hated me too. And it was only by the moon goddess they spared my life.
"And how's the hall coming up? You should use one of my event centers for the ceremony. And also get the young pups in order. The teens who are interested in volunteering should be assisting already. How about the borders? Security should be tightened, I don't want any of Jax pack coming to ruin the ceremony like last time. The elders would truly deem me incapable to be Alpha." I said, snatching the towel on my bathroom door as I walked in.
"Yes Alpha." Seth said, but I could feel his uneasiness and I rolled my eyes.
"What?" I asked irritatedly.
"What about the girl?" Seth asked and I froze at the doorstep of the bathroom.
"The elders don't know about her yet. Are you planning on telling them?"
"No. They don't need to know anything. It's my choice to take up a slave." I answered.
"But not a rogue. You don't know what pack she's from and even worse she's wolfless. I don't think they would agree to it. I think you should send her back to wherever she came from. That way you don't get into trouble again with the elders. The curse is already taking a toll on you, you don't need another punishment." Seth said, his voice sounding worried and I slammed the door behind me.
I heard Seth sigh from the other side before he left the room, closing the door behind him gently.
I threw the towel away, gripping my hair in anger as I went to the mirror. My deep blue eyes stared back at me and I noticed dark circles around them. My black hair fell around my forehead and I made a mental note to cut them as they had started to grow longer than I wanted.
Just as I was about to look away from the mirror an image flashed in my memory.
I was holding Alora's wrist as tears were falling from her eyes. I realized it was from last night. But I hadn't remembered any of it. A sharp pain stung against my back and I collapsed forward, falling knee first on the floor.
I hissed in pain and the images around me became blurry. Sweat filled my forehead as my back started to hurt. It was like a thousand needles piercing my back at the same time and I placed my hand on the floor to prevent me from falling on my face.
It's been fifteen years and each year the pain grew more intense than the last. It was almost becoming unbearable and with the full moon just a week away it would only get worse.
Despite the drugs Isabel gave me and the care each time, the pain never went away. It was designed that way and it was inevitable.
A few minutes later, the pain subsided and I pulled myself up from the floor, washed up quickly and left the bathroom.
Changing to a black jeans and black shirt, I realized Lana had just been in the room judging by her scent. She had dropped a cup of coffee by my bedside and left a note for me to come down for lunch in an hour.
I squeezed the paper, picking the cup of coffee and walking to my window. Drawing back the tall dark drapes, the bright sunlight blinded my vision before I finally adjusted to it.
I could see the rest of my compound and estate ahead. My room window faced the swimming pool, it was a deliberate move to avoid seeing the garden in the backyard.
It reminded me of things I wanted to forget.
Just as I watched the pool, lost in thought, someone came to my view. From the angle, I couldn't see who one of them was. But I recognized Raya because of her darker skin. She was a very hard-working lady whose father was one of the pack warriors.
The person beside her was wearing a very large coat that fell to her knees and there was a headphone around her head. I squinted my eyes to make out who the person was.
As if on cue, Raya stepped away and stood in front of the person who I finally realized was Alora.
A tiny gasp escaped my lips as I noticed that there was something different about Alora at that moment.
Though she still looked the same, dirty hair and battered body but yet she didn't look the same.
And I knew why.
She was smiling.
I didn't realize how such a tiny smile could change someone so much. Her violet eyes sparkled just like the surface of the pool, like a thousand diamonds. Her cheeks were flushed as she nodded gently to the music over the headphones and I found a strange feeling filled me.
Raya took off the headphones, placing it on her neck. And I found myself wanting to know what they were talking about so I used my wolf hearing to listen to them.
"You like it right?" Raya asked and Alora nodded, making Raya smile.
"I knew you would, don't worry I'll get you a headphone tomorrow, and an MP3 so you don't have to learn how to operate a phone instead." Raya said excitedly but Alora's face fell.
"Do you think the Alpha would allow that?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper as I strained harder to hear her.
"I don't know. I'll just ask him when he comes downstairs for lunch." Raya said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Come on. Let's go in to do the dishes." Raya said as she started to walk away when Alora called.
"Why is there a river that isn't flowing in the house?" Alora asked, pointing to the pool and I frowned.
Didn't she know what a pool was?
Now that I even thought of it, she barely knew anything. Almost like she had been locked up for a while. A sudden pang of guilt filled me as I turned to the shackles at my bedpost.
"That's a swimming pool, Alora." Raya laughed before Alora nodded and followed after her as they left my view.
I drew back the curtains, dropping the cup of coffee on my desk before I decided to head downstairs.
But just before I got to the door, the sharp pain stung my back and this time I collapsed to the floor, a scream escaping my lips as I shut my eyes in pain.
Just as I shut my eyes, I was transported into a memory from fifteen years ago.
I opened my eyes to the whispers of people around me and I knew immediately where I was. I looked down at myself, at my fourteen year old body. My wrist stung from the wound that had just been inflicted on it a few days ago.
It was a deep wound from a knife that had been pierced through my wrist to keep me in place. I frowned at it as I remembered how I had gotten it and then a smirk filled my face.
I looked away from it at the people around me.
I was in a huge courtroom, and each seat was filled leaving me at the center of the room. Men and women sat surrounding me, hushing and talking to each other while pointing at me. Some stared at me with accusing glares while some just shook their heads in disappointment.
"Silence!" Someone shouted and the courtroom fell quiet that if a pin fell to the floor it could be heard.
I looked up at the source of the voice, it was an older wolf who I had seen his image a few times when my father taught me the way of the elders. He was the leader of the elders, an older man with grey hair and wrinkled skin.
He wore a white robe with a shiny crown on his head. The crown had a logo of a wolf holding the moon. A mark of the moon goddess' power. In his hand was a long staff with a ball at its peak.
The man bled of power and authority and beside him were other elders who stood with red robes as his subordinates. The elders were men selected by the moon goddess to watch over the packs and keep the Alphas in line. They passed judgment as well as law and order.
"We have gathered today for the punishment of the second son of the Delgado family. The Royal lineage of the Blood Moon Pack!" The chief elder spoke in a loud voice.
"I say we kill him instead!" A woman shouted and a few grumbled in acceptance, nodding their heads.
"Or torture him!" A man shouted, pointing at me while giving me a hard glare.
"I agree! Let's give him a painful death!"
"Yes! Yes!"
"Silence!" The elder shouted as the room fell silent again.
"I would pass the judgment but let's all be quiet and have our seats." The elder said as decorum filled the room and they nodded.
He walked swiftly, taking the biggest chair in the room and sat down followed by his subordinates.
"Before we get started let me introduce the person before us."
I said nothing, keeping my gaze fixed on the elder who frowned at me.
"This boy right here is the bastard son of Giovanni Delgado. His name is Ares Delgado."
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