Chapter 5 : The Great Alpha

The bed stopped creaking around the dawn and Alistair Vane laid beside Maeve, their bodies sweating profusely because of their intense heat session.

Alistair may not have the mercy of Moon goddess but has the impact of full moon.

He is the Alpha, a powerful beast on the earth, a ruthless king and the one who possess more powers than any other Alpha.

He is the only White wolf, a blessing of Moon goddess and was named the Great Alpha Alistair Vane but a full moon night changed his fate and stripped him away from the title.

Now he is just Alistair Vane, the king of Lycanor Kingdom, an abomination of his pack.

Even so, compared to the other wolves, every emotion heightens within him on full moon, including the need but no matter how much sex he had with Maeve, he cannot be satiated because she is not his mate.

He gave a look at the sleeping woman beside him and sat up, feeling the restlessness grow inside him and got down the bed, walking towards the window.

The moon is obscured behind the clouds, taking off the effect on him but the hollowness is still vivid.

The lack of mate in his life bothers him every second of his life, which reminds him of the curse.

Every time he sleeps with Maeve, a dull ache makes it’s way to his heart, inducing the pain into him slowly like a poison, stinging him like a scorpion.

And the emptiness creeps into every single cell of his body, twisting his organs, torturing him all the time.

He knew something is wrong with his body but every time the thought struck his mind, he feels an intense headache like someone is trying to pluck the thought out of his brain.

The pain is infuriatingly unbearable and he surrenders to the uncertainty, numbing himself to the fate.

He fought many invisible battles around him but he lost all of them.

In the end, it’s the woman on his bed who makes him feel better with her words and presence. She is the only person who stayed by his side when everyone turned their back on him, including his mother.

So, no matter what the pack says about her, he never wishes to abandon her, even if she is the rogue princess, the daughter of the man who killed his father.

Moon goddess made sure he never finds his mate or rather condemned him to die without a mate but he never feared the almighty.

She gave him the White wolf and the strength of thousand Alphas but left him stranded just because he couldn’t control his rage. A trait he has no control over but got punished for.

He clenched his fists, looking at the sky, something dangerous lurking behind his sea blue eyes.

He doesn’t need a mate to fulfil his life. He may not be satiated throughout his entire life but he has Maeve, the woman who understands his misery.

He will live the best life he can while it lasts and let every breathing soul in his kingdom know what a mighty king he is.

He smirked, his eyes boring at the hidden moon but felt his heart constrict with subtle pain.

No! He won’t succumb to the curse.

He withstood the sting, pushing himself to endure the emptiness, not thinking about his mate and walked back to the bed before pulling Maeve into his embrace, finding solace in her warmth and closed his eyes to sleep which is far away from him.

His mind is clouded with the abundant anger towards the Moon goddess for making him the impotent king that he didn’t notice the evil grin playing on Maeve’s lips.

She knew he wouldn’t leave her side.

Even in sleep, he needs her. He cannot help it. He is bound to her in this life time and no one can save him or his kingdom from her.

…………………

Remus stood in Meliora’s chamber, his eyes staring at his sleeping stepsister with unreadable look.

The woman on the bed is the same one who he adored since childhood and cared for with all his heart but she didn’t align with the woman he saw last night or many nights since the previous full moon.

Something changed in her.

She used to be sick, mumbling within herself most of the time but lately she has been silent, her eyes probing for answers, observing things, especially people like she is eager to unfold the mystery behind every thing she came across.

The royal physician said she is nearing to her death when he came to examine her a full moon ago but he didn’t see any signs of sickness in her body.

Forget about the change in her behaviour but what about the woman he saw last night?

She looked different, her face, her clothes, her voice, everything is different as if someone else stood in his stepsister’s place.

Not just him, Agnes must’ve seen her as well but unlike him, she isn’t surprised or shocked.

He moved his eyes from the bed to the old woman who is wiping Meliora’s face and frowned, confused by last night’s events.

It’s a full moon. A night to unleash the beast within them and to relish the gift given by Moon goddess.

He was in his wolf form, preparing to visit his mate’s house but heard screams coming from Meliora’s room and immediately ran towards her.

His heart escalating at the thought of something happening to her but when he made it to her place, he saw a strange woman running in the corridor, her waist length hair flowing in the air like river, her body wrapped in unrecognizable fabric which he never saw in this world and more than anything her body scent, the unique fragrance which he never inhaled in his life.

He blocked her path, to see the face of the brave woman who trespassed into his donjon and got lost in her beauty.

Her striking sparkling eyes which filled with fear after seeing his wolf, her rapid heartbeat which sounded melodious to his ears and the whiff of her sweat aroused the beastly desire in him but when those eyes witnessed him transforming into his human form, she lost her consciousness.

At the same time the clouds loomed over the full moon, taking away the light and the darkness consumed the corridor as he carried the strange woman’s slender body into his stepsister’s room but when he looked down at her in the candle light after putting her on the bed, he was shell shocked to see Meliora. His stepsister.

Everything happened in just seconds that he didn’t even know what his eyes witnessed.

He clearly remembered seeing a woman in white clothes, fair skin, sweet scent but she was gone as soon as he placed her on Meliora’s bed.

How is that possible?

His eyes possibly can’t deceive him but when he confronted Agnes, she said he is hallucinating because of the heat due to full moon.

He is a wolf, a young one to be precise and of course full moon excites him but that doesn’t mean he degrades himself to mistake his stepsister as someone else.

He cannot hallucinate a stranger’s face or the scent.

He spent hours standing near Meliora’s bed, expecting a miracle to happen, hoping to see his stepsister turn into the woman he saw in the corridor but nothing happened.

Meliora is still sleeping, her face pale, her scent sick as always and he looked out of the window, staring at the bright sun.

Did he really have illusions because of the heat?

It’s true that wolves get visions of the alluring woman their heart desires when they’re in extreme heat but mistaking his stepsister as someone else is far from illusions.

“Agnes!”

He called out, making the old woman turn to his side.

“Are you certain that it was Meliora last night?”

Agnes furrowed her brows in irritation, having enough of his questions.

He asked her a million times and she told him the truth a zillion times and yet he is in denial.

How can a woman trespass into the Donjon when it was surrounded by wolves last night?

And he is saying that the woman changed into princess Meliora miraculously.

How ludibrious that sounded?

“Have faith in me Your Royal Highness. I was with princess the previous night.”

She put the princess to sleep and slept in her chamber to look after her and only woke up when she saw her running out of the room in fear.

And it was the prince Remus who brought her back. Why is he coming up with strange stories?

Remus frowned, unable to confront Agnes because in this donjon, she is the only trustworthy person he can find and there is no reason for her to hide anything from him.

With many questions in his head, he left Meliora’s room and took off with his horse to meet the only person who can help him solve the riddles in his head.

Sigrid doesn’t know that her original form was exposed to Remus the previous night and rested peacefully in Meliora’s body, oblivious to the things that are going to happen to her.