A Slave to the Cursed Alpha

Hermione

"Dinner was delicious," I said to my father who looked satisfied. While one of the maids cleared our table, I pushed my chair backward so that I could make my way to the living room.

"Sure it was. You cook awfully well, my daughter, but you know that it's not in your place to do that. I need you to focus on eliminating whoever might want to usurp your position as the future Alpha of the Gray Sea pack." He warned, his countenance wistful.

I massaged my temples while pondering over what he revealed. I was already twenty-three, but before now, I'd been training with reckless abandon to make sure that I was fit to become the future Alpha of the pack. No one would steal my hard work from me.

"It's fine, but you know how much I like being in the kitchen...."

The words hung in the air as Beta Cedric rushed into the living room, anxiety etched in his features. We were valiant warriors who didn't entertain any form of fear, but the way he barged into the house showed that something had gone wrong.

"What is the matter, Beta? You know how wrong it is to come in here unannounced." My father said calmly, stomping his foot in irritation.

"I'm sorry, Alpha, but we are under attack!" He announced and the both of us jerked up the armchairs so fast that it almost tumbled.

"By who?" I was faster in asking the questions.

Beta Cedric inclined his head like he was reluctant to respond but at the sound of my father's thunderous voice, he replied. "By the Alpha of Layon pack and his wolves. They have burnt down the estate gates and some of them are marching towards the pack house."

Alpha Rolan is back? Cold chills ran through my spine as I thought about it but I ignored the feelings of dread. My father had dealt brutally with Alpha Rolan the first time he came to overthrow him, throwing him to the place we called the dungeon, where all offenders were gruesomely tortured till they bore pain as a name.

He escaped after a year, and promised my father that he would return through a letter but he waved it off as a bluff. I guess it wasn't just a bluff because after three years, the seed my father had sown had come back to haunt us.

Till date, I was yet to understand the reason for the unending enmity between the both of them but Father kept it as a secret from me. He kept telling me that everything would be revealed on the eve of my coronation as Alpha.

"I'm coming right away. Make sure that the women and children are taken to a safe place." He ordered with a note of urgency, taking off his kingly regalia and tossing it to the floor.

In less than a second, a servant had brought his fighting attire which he changed into. They hurried towards the door, totally forgetting that I was supposed to be a part of the war.

"Can't I come with you?" I asked, "I need to be there and fight along with the others. This is what you trained me for, father." I protested in exasperation.

"Don't leave the house, Honey. The guards will keep you protected." He said with a tone that left no room for challenge, while I stared at him in unbelief but he wasn't done dishing out orders. "If I don't return tonight then take the pathway that will lead you out of Booms Valley and return in six months."

"What... What are you talking about, Dad?" I asked with a shaky voice, my heart racing together with my eyes which had turned misty.

He shook his head then planted a kiss on my forehead, and then lowered his lips to my right ear. "Don't forget who you truly are, even though our kind is rare in this world. Be proud of it." He admonished me.

"Alpha!" Beta Cedric called my father again who took some steps away from me immediately and made for the door.

I tried to go after him, but the guards who were already on standby pulled me back and led me to my room. They didn't manhandle me because of my status but after I'd been led to the bed, I heard the sound of keys clinking which signified that I'd been locked in.

It would have been frustrating for any other person but I was a hybrid - having the power of a witch and werewolf at the same time. It was forbidden for anyone with witchcraft to become an Alpha, so we kept hiding our personalities.

I waited until the steps of guards walking about ceased then I left the bed, and crawled slowly towards the door. I fixed my gaze towards the keyhole, my eyes turning into the darkest shade of green. The strands of my hair flew in different directions as I felt my powers emanating from my body.

Not a single chant left my lips as opening a door lock was a small case for me to handle. I heard it click, then I turned the knob and let myself out.

"How did you...." The guard standing right beside the door asked with his eyes popping in surprise, but he wasn't able to complete his statement as I fixed my gaze on him.

His eyelids began to close and gradually he slid down the wall with a loud thud and then fell unconscious.

"That was quick," I muttered and turned around, heading towards the backdoor of the house so that I could get to the estate gate on time.

**********

Growls from wolves who had shape-shifted from humans filled the air, and the metallic stink of blood too. I hid behind a tree watching my father dig his claws into the body of Alpha Rolan's warriors.

I ran out of my hiding place and began to fight as well. I did everything possible to hide my powers even though I felt the urge to let them out.

A loud growl resonated, alerting us that Alpha Rolan was close. He walked briskly, his shoulders squared with unrivaled confidence. He had scars on his face and arms, which reminded me of the time he was held captive in our dungeon.

He looked more huge than before and his eyes held nothing but anger and undiluted hatred for my father. I noticed that his attention was fixed on a particular spot which he kept approaching, and when I followed his gaze I noticed that it was my father.

He was going to hurt him.

"Do something, father, you're going to get hurt," I whispered through the mind-link, but it was too late as Alpha Rolan reached for his neck, his claws closing around it.

My father choked and tried to shove Alpha Rolan's wrist as well, in a bid to move it off his neck but he didn't bulge. I tried to approach them, but my father's voice stopped me.

"This is my battle, Hermione, just run as I asked you to." He said through the mindlink but I couldn't leave him there.

Alpha Rolan brought out a silver knife laced with wolfsbane. If he stabbed my father with it then he would die except he was able to say some protective chants. But how could he when he was being held in a chokehold?

"I told you that I'll be back, and now I am." Alpha Rolan said with the most disdainful tone I've ever heard. He crouched to the ground together with my father, then plunged the knife deep into his chest.

"No!" I screamed, drawing their attention to me.

Alpha Rolan had a satisfactory smirk on his scary face. He left my father and walked towards me while I tried to summon my powers.

They weren't responding, getting me startled since that was the only way I could leave unharmed. Then I remembered that my powers were connected to my father's and since he was dying slowly I wouldn't be able to summon my powers as well.

"You think you'll have it all rosy, but I would leave you with a curse that you won't be able to break. Every fortnight, you will experience excruciating pain and on your thirty-fifth birthday you will die." My father said with his last strength as black blood poured out from his mouth.

I gasped and hurried towards my father, but a strong grip held me at a spot. Alpha Rolan let out the most scary laughter and then glanced at me.

"I made his death easy so that you will stay alive to experience what I have in store for you." He uttered, then let go of me forcefully and gave orders to his warriors. "Take her away."