The Forbidden Love Series: Alpha Reika

THE BEGINNING

~In the calm, deep waters of the mind, the wolf waits. ----F.T. McKinstry

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The Crescent Stone Pack's territory was located northeast of the land of Boulderstall. The place was named by the first werewolves who settled there hundreds of years ago. Every werewolf in Boulderstall knew the story of how the place got its name and the great rivalry between the Crescent stone pack and the shadow pack of the land of Midvein. It wasn't always like this, Thousands of years ago the Crescent Stone Pack and the Shadow pack lived in peace together as one pack, known as the Moon Empire Pack. The Alpha then, Alpha Rudolphus was a great and mighty warrior who guided and taught his pack to leave together as one. He had two sons Ulfang and Grogan. Ulfang was the eldest and was to be the next Alpha since his father was old and getting weak. Grogan was only a year younger than Ulfang and was known to be quick-tempered and rude, the opposite of his brother. Everyone in the pack loved and respected Ulfang. He was the replica of his father, the most powerful Alpha who ever lived. He was a great and skilled warrior just like his father. Alpha Rudolphus was old and depleting and ended up dying a sudden death. Ulfang was made Alpha and ruled gracefully for many years. One day during one of his nightly endeavors he came across his mate, Uma. They accepted each other and Uma become the Luna of the pack. Uma was a beautiful and strong-willed woman. Together with Alpha Ulfang, they became an unbeatable pair. Four full moons later, Uma was announced pregnant and expecting the Alpha's first child. Ulfang was so happy and excited when he found out. He was finally going to have his child in his hands. But there was one problem, Grogan was in love with Uma. He didn't believe in the notion that one was to wait for a soulmate and stay with that person till death. He was jealous of his brother being Alpha and having Uma all to himself, so he planned to overthrow Ulfang. He went to the rogues and promised to bring them back to the pack if they helped him kill Alpha Ulfang. The rogues agreed and so a trap was set for Ulfang. The rogues attacked the village and Ulfang and his warriors including Grogan rushed to protect the people. After successfully winning the fight with the rogues, Grogan stabbed Ulfang in the back, with a silver blade he acquired from a witch when Ulfang was still in his wolf form and become the new Alpha. He changed the name of the pack to the Shadow pack and made a new set of rules.

 A great mourning fell over the whole pack as they lost a leader they loved and cherished. Uma tried to kill herself and her child in her womb after she heard of her mate's death by his brother but she was stopped by Grogan when he came across her before she could finish the act. After her son was born, one of the warriors who was a friend of Ulfang informed her of Grogan's plan to kill her child before sunrise the following day. She escaped from the castle with the help of some of the warriors who did not like Alpha Grogan. She was still weak from giving birth but managed to run away from Midvein with her child whom she named Bodolf, her parents, and a few of her loyal maids.

 They journeyed for days and months until they came upon a land with no residents on it. Uma named the place Boulderstall which meant freedom and so they settled there. Some days later she passed away because she was too weak and didn't fully recover after giving birth to Bodolf. Her parents Lupin and Ida took over taking care of Bodolf. Bodolf grew and married one of the maids called Belvina and they gave birth to children who also married and gave birth to more children. Years later, the Crescent Stone Pack was born. The story of how Boulderstall came to be was spread from generation to generation. The Crescent Stone Pack and the Shadow pack became sworn enemies and remained so for thousands of years.

I ALMOST DIED

"The wolf is the arch-type of ravin, the beast of waste and desolation." - Theodore Roosevelt.

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 I could feel the adrenaline in my body increase as I run as fast as my legs could carry me. Paige was right behind me trying to keep up but I was way faster than her. I stuck my mouth out of my mouth, as the wind slapped my face. I liked to let my wolf out and run free. To feel the sun kiss my face. I wished this moment would last forever. Freedom, how I longed for it.

   "Hey, wait for me," Paige spoke, communicating telepathically to me while trying to catch up with me. I ignored her and ran further into the woods. I wasn't supposed to be out but I  convinced Paige to help me sneak out. We reached the clearing which lead to town and changed into our human forms and wore our clothes behind the bushes. It was easier to sneak out in my wolf form. "What the hell is wrong with you Reika? Do you seriously want me to lose my head!" she shouted startling me and drawing the attention of some people passing by.

 "Relax. It's not like anyone recognizes me anyway." I whispered, trying to assure her. She was such a wimp sometimes. "I should have never helped her get out. I'll be six feet in the ground if something happens to her." Paige mumbled to herself. I didn't think she knew that I could hear her. People were selling all kinds of food that I'd never seen before in my life and I wanted to try all of them. My hands felt the sack of gold coins that I packed into my pocket. This was my second time coming to town. During my first visit, I was seated in a heavily guarded carriage as I passed through town. The curtains were tightly drawn that I couldn't get a glimpse of anything in my surroundings.

 "Hey want to try these?" Paige said, handing some sought of food to me. It looked like bread with some kind of sauce on it. It looked very appetizing so I took the whole thing and placed it in my mouth. Paige silently gasped while I chewed as my life depended on it. I didn't think I'd ever chewed food like that in my life.

 I wished Kira could see me, it would have driven her crazy. I licked my fingers and Paige looked at me with disgust displayed on her face. "What?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow. "Oh, nothing. I guess you forgot all your manners as soon as you stepped foot out of the castle." I ignored her and continued to check the others things that had been put on display. The place was so packed with people that we could barely move down the path.

 "Hey, watch where you're going!" A man carrying a heavy sack on his head rudely shouted, startling me and nearly pushing me to the ground if not for Paige who held me in time. "Be careful Reika." she sighed before saying, "I think today's expedition is enough we should head back before someone recognizes us. Plus the place is too crowded today. It's not safe." Paige tried to push me back along the path we had just come from but I escaped from her grasp. There was no way I was going back right now. I'd been locked up in that castle for so long. Now that I finally had the chance to see a little bit of the beautiful world around me, there was no way I was going to give it up. "Stop being a chicken, Paige. There's no way I'm going back right now to sit through one of Kira's boring lessons. Come on let's go" I spotted a narrow road on the right side of the path, which I assumed was a shortcut, and pulled Paige with me as I walked down the road.

 "Hey, where are you taking me? Do you even know where this road leads to?"

"Why do I have to know where it leads to? Can't you see other people walking here?" I shouted, puzzled by her question. "Why are you so dumb and naïve? I thought you were supposed to be smart." She frowned and used her hand to poke my forehead. "I have a bad feeling about this, Reika. Let's just go back, okay?"

 "Are you serious right now? Why can't you just understand that..." "To what do I own this visit, ladies?" Someone snarled behind us. I was so caught up in arguing with Paige that I hadn't realized we'd passed a man sitting in front of a door to a bar and had reached the end of the route. Paige looked like she'd seen a ghost and shot me a glare saying 'I told you we should've gone back' while I just tried to remain calm and think of a way to get out of the mess I had created. "What are beautiful ladies like you doing down this road," the man asked again taking our silence as not hearing him the first time. He smiled showing inside his mouth which looked so black I could barely make out his teeth. It took everything in me to not cover my nose from the bad smell that was emitting from his opened lips.

 "W…we uh we were looking for someone but guess he's not here so we'll take our leave now.", I said awkwardly and pulled Paige so we could walk away. We had only made two steps when the man got up from where was sitting and shouted at us to stop. We started running as fast as we could as the man tried to get a hold of us. We had almost reached the entrance of the route when the man suddenly pulled Paige to the ground. I screamed and tried to get him off her but he was too strong. He pushed me from on top of him and I ended up hitting my head on a stone situated where I fell. Paige was screaming as the man tried to open her undergarments and have his way with her. I tried to get up but I was feeling dizzy because of the fall. I placed my hand on the part of my head that had hit the stone and felt something wet there which I later realized was blood. Paige's screams had turned to cries now while the man still moved upwards to open her bodice. This was happening because I hadn't listened to her in the beginning. I considered turning into my wolf but she was too small and weak It would only make it easier for him to have his way with the both of us so I decided against it.

 "Ah, you smell so good. I going to have lots of fun with you." The man sniffed her hair and trailed his hands down her legs. I got up although I was still feeling dizzy and spotted the broken leg of a chair near the stone. I took it and made a swing for the man's head but he caught on to what I was about to do. He turned and caught the piece of wood in his hands before it could touch his head. "You bitch what were you going to do huh?" he got off Paige and pinned me to the ground and pressed my throat.

 "What? You were going to hurt me right? Well, I'll finish you off before you finish me off. I don't need you anyway. The other lady can satisfy me just fine." He continued to press my throat and I could see my vision start to blur. I couldn't breathe and white spots start blinding my vision. My throat began to hurt and my hands tried effortlessly to remove his from my throat. I could faintly hear Paige screaming and trying to get the man off me to no avail. He was too strong. My throat was hurting badly, I couldn't breathe and could feel the blood rushing into my head as my vision became blurrier. I was gasping trying to breathe but his grip on my throat prevented that. So was this how I was going to die, in the hands of this man who smelled like he hadn't taken a bath since the day his mother gave birth to him? Was this my end? My hands become limp as I felt my life gradually start to leave my body.

 I swear I almost died but then I felt my nose start to breathe in oxygen and blood start to flow back into my hands again. It was only then that I realized that I wasn't dead and the man was no longer on top of me but lying on the ground with a silver danger in his chest.