The Forsaken and the Alpha

I woke up to the aroma of fresh coffee after a great night’s sleep.

When I entered the kitchen, my mother and Lilian were already there.

“Good morning,” I said from the top of the stairs. “How I missed that coffee.” I settled next to Lilian, a warm mug in my hands.

A new aroma soon crept into the kitchen, mingling with the scent of the coffee. It was Brad’s unmistakable pine smell, and I turned to find him staring at me from the bottom of the stairs.

He was wearing gym shorts and a plain T-shirt, very different from the business attire I was used to seeing him wear.

He entered the kitchen and placed a kiss on the top of Lilian’s head.

“Good morning, cousin.”

Then he walked to my mom and kissed the top of her head too.

“Good morning, Valery.”

He turned with a smile on his face as he made his way toward me. When his lips touched the top of my head, I fought the tremors that threatened to take over my body.

“Good morning, Alice.”

How could he be the fucking alpha and still be so kind and caring?

“Alice, can I ask you something?” Lilian asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Of course, Lili,” I replied, smiling. I grabbed plates to start setting the table.

“Did you get any scars?”

I almost dropped one of the plates, but Brad was quick and caught it in the air. He looked at me with concern.

“No need to answer. Sorry, I was just curious.”

Usually, wolves didn’t get scars. We only scarred when the wound left us between life and death. That was what happened to me. It made sense why she was so curious.

“No, Lili, it’s okay. I have a scar on my knee and one on my belly.”

I pulled out a chair and rested my foot on it, lifting my knee and pointing to the thin line on my skin. It was a light pink line, almost imperceptible. “Here. And here.” I lowered my leg and lifted my shirt slightly, showing the scar on the side of my navel.

Not only did Lilian see it, but my mom did too, and Brad. For a second, I shuddered to remember that he kissed my scars without realizing it.

“Are those your scars?” My father’s voice rang out as he and my brother walked into the kitchen.

I kept my shirt up so they could get a closer look.

“At the time, the doctor said the wounds would scar, but you can barely see them,” my dad said curiously before sitting down.

I lowered my shirt and finished setting the table.

“At first, they physically hurt. There was a pain in them. They were purple and bulky, and I felt a deep sadness and almost panic when I looked at them. But gradually, they faded, and the physical pain went away. They don’t haunt me anymore.

“All that’s left is the emotional pain of that day. The emptiness, the sadness, and the guilt. That’s why I couldn’t come back.”

Everyone was motionless, staring at me.

“You came back because of him, didn’t you?” Lilian asked me in a choked voice. Adam hugged her shoulder.

I swallowed hard and nodded.

“Since I met Brad, since he told me about Liam, I thought about coming back. But Liam was responding to the treatment, so even though I wanted to visit, something inside me wouldn’t let me. I didn’t think it was right. I didn’t think it was fair that I could have all this again, and Joseph wouldn’t…”

My voice cracked now. My eyes stung with tears, but none fell. “And then Brad called, telling me that Liam stopped responding to the treatment… I would never forgive myself if he left before I said goodbye…”

All eyes were on me. The silence was deafening.

“Good morning,” Liam said from the top of the stairs, breaking our reverie. I hoped he hadn’t heard. But it wouldn’t be a problem if he did. It was the truth, and he probably already figured it out.

“Good morning,” we answered in unison, and I finished setting the table.

Soon, the house smelled like pancakes and bacon, and we sat to eat. The cacophony of a family breakfast was music to my ears. As I sipped another cup of delicious coffee, I reminded myself that I only ever felt this way with the pack.

“You went all this time without seeing any other wolves? Without shifting?” my father asked, continuing his questioning from last night.

“Yes, but it wasn’t easy.” I swallowed hard, remembering my wolf’s reaction when she saw Brad for the first time. “I let it go too long—my wolf was almost crazy. But I’ve been going for a run every week since Brad showed me the reserve.”

“I’m glad it helped you,” Brad said, sipping his coffee.

I read the double entendre in his words, and I just stared back at him.

He then furrowed his brow as if remembering something. “Alice’s wolf is white. How is that possible if you are all gray?”

“Alice is identical to my mother, even in personality. My mother was a white wolf from the Claumman-Eastwood family of northeast alphas,” my father said.

“A family of alphas. So, you have alpha DNA? That explains the personality and stubbornness.” Brad chuckled.

“She was never easy,” my mother said. “Adam was always calm and obedient, but Alice always questioned everything.”

“Even as a child, she was always in charge of whatever games we played,” Lilian said, laughing.

“Hey, I’m right here,” I said, trying to protest.

“But that’s not a bad thing. It’s just a trait. A trait that’s pretty hard to miss, Alice.” Brad chuckled again and held his gaze on me.

Three rhythmic knocks on the front door made everyone turn their attention as guards ran into the living room.

The lead guard stopped when he saw me. Only then did I recognize him. It was James. He was Joseph’s best friend, and from the insignia on his shirt, he was now the chief of the guard.

“Alice…,” he said, confusion evident in his voice.

I smiled and got up. He ran to hug me, lifting me in the air.

“Good to see you. Are you back?” he asked. It was the question everyone wanted to ask, but no one wanted to tempt fate.

“I’m visiting, James. At least for now.” I didn’t know what to say. I came only to visit, but I didn’t expect being back to feel so good. Staying was a possibility, but I had a lot of ghosts to deal with yet.

James smiled before saying, “I’m glad to see you.” But then his gaze turned serious, and he turned his attention to Brad. “Alpha, we, uh, have an emergency…”

It was clear that James was hesitating because of my presence. The guards were never cautious with messages delivered in the pack house. After all, only pack leaders lived there.

But I was a forsaken, no longer one of the pack.

“You can speak freely, James,” Brad said firmly.

“There was a raid on the border, possibly an exile.”

“Again?” Brad asked. “They’ve been increasing the attacks recently. We need to get to the bottom of this.” He planted his hands on the table and stood up, pushing his chair back.

I felt his gaze on me, but I couldn’t look at him. My dad also got up quickly. And then everyone started moving.

I sat there, astonished, not knowing exactly what to do, what to feel as a whirlwind of movement went on around me. It was as if my heart was a big soup of emotions and I couldn’t distinguish one from the other. I was nervous and worried, scared. But at the same time, I wanted to accompany them, to investigate with them.

When I was with the pack and training to be the next beta, it was the part I loved the most.

I knew everyone except Liam and Helena needed to go. Brad and my parents were the pack leaders and would make the decisions, but Lilian and Adam were in training. They also needed to be there.

“Lilian, didn’t you say you wanted to take Alice on a tour of the village? How about you stay this time? I’ll update you later, darling,” Adam said, smiling, trying to take the tension out of the moment.

“Great idea, Adam. I’ll be more relaxed if Alice has someone with her. Is that okay, Lilian?” Brad asked. Lilian just nodded, smiling at me.

“Let’s go then,” Brad said loudly to everyone. He walked behind me and placed a kiss on the top of my head, whispering just for me to hear. “You’ll be fine, won’t you? If anything happens, you call me.”

I nodded in agreement, and they all left.

Liam went upstairs to rest, accompanied by Helena. The medication made Liam tired, and it was painful to see Helena getting weaker as he got worse.

Lilian helped me collect the dishes. “I don’t know how much that attack messed you up, but I could see it in your eyes that you wanted to go with them.”

“For sure.” I smiled back. “But that’s not my life now.”

After breakfast was cleaned up, we changed clothes to head out. But before stepping out of the house, I hesitated.

“Should I show up in the village? Won’t I get more questions? I’m a forsaken now,” I said to Lilian, sighing with my head down.

“Forsaken? Are you crazy, Ali? You’re always welcome here. It’s your home, your pack, and you’ve never done anything wrong. Let’s go, it’ll be nice.” She held out her hand to me, and we left.

“Now tell me, what’s up with you and Alpha?” She was always direct, getting straight to the point.

“Nothing happened, Lili. We only met once before…” I tried to lie, but I knew she would see through me.

“Ali, you could maybe lie to your parents, but to me? He practically devours you with his eyes, and you get irritated every time he gives an order. If you haven’t had sex yet, you will soon.”

I was silent.

“So, you guys already had sex?” She spoke louder than I would have liked.

“Lili, keep your voice down… It was just once, and it won’t happen again,” I said, almost in a whisper.

“I knew it, I knew. But tell me everything.” She waved her hands excitedly.

“He’s your cousin, isn’t that weird?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m your brother’s mate. If I told you about our sex life, it would be weird,” Lilian said, tilting her head.

“Argh yeah, don’t tell me. I don’t need to know.” I was happy for them, but I didn’t want to know their intimate details.

“So…,” Lile prompted.

“So… I met Brad in a bar. The smell of him turned me on. I can’t explain it. I was so aroused just looking at him, and my wolf nearly made me lose control. But it was just that. I knew I needed to let her out. He offered to help and took me for a run—and it just…happened…”

“It just happened? I love that justification.” She laughed out loud. “But how was it?”

“It was the best sex of my life,” I blurted out without thinking. Almost as if my body was speaking out for me.

“Hmm, so it’s definitely going to happen again, it’s just a matter of time. Who knows, you might become my cousin, huh?”

It didn’t make sense, but it made me think.

Could that be a possibility? The Moon Goddess already gifted me with a mate, but then he was violently taken from me. It was unheard of to have a second mate—when one of the pair passed on, the other shortly followed.

But I was the exception to the rule. Could something be building between Brad and me?