A Baby for the Alpha King

CLEO “Run, Cleo. You have to escape!” My mother exclaimed, urging me to leave her. I shook my head, desperately trying to lift her, but my strength had already left me. My vision blurred out because of the tears as I desperately tried to put pressure on her wounds. My hands were already covered in blood, but I didn’t care. I have to save my mother. I can’t lose her. She held my shoulders firmly, nails digging into my skin and making me wince. “Cleo, listen to me. I’m injured, and I will die soon. But you, you can live if you run now while they capture the others. They can’t capture you, you are-” We both flinched when we heard an explosion. They’re getting near. Our warriors must have already fallen. If we don’t escape right now, I don’t know what will happen to us. “Please, mom. I can’t leave you. Let me help you.” I cried, clutching her hands tightly while trying to lift her again. Her expression suddenly changed. What used to be a soft, loving gaze became a glare full of resentment. “Just leave, Cleo!” she snarled at me and pushed me back, her strength surprising despite her injuries. “I raised you as my own, but you’re not my child. You were left at my doorstep, and I only took pity on you, but that was the biggest mistake I’d ever made in my life. Ever since you came into my life, I felt nothing but suffering! You’re a misfortune. I hope I never took you in.” Confusion washed over me. “Wh-what are you saying?” I approached her again, but she pushed me with all her might. “I raised you and protected you, but all you brought into my life was misery and shame.” “No…” I shook my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be true. She was my mother. She had to be. “You’re the reason why all of this is happening. Now, leave me alone before they find us because of you. Leave me alone, you freak!” I backed away in surprise. Everyone has treated me less than an omega because of my condition, but never my mother. She had always defended and loved me. Another explosion shook the ground. The screams and howls around grew louder and closer. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I muttered, wiping the tears freely streaming down my cheeks. “If you really care about me, do me a favor and leave me be.” I didn’t want to believe her, but maybe she was right. If I stayed, I’d doom us both. With one final look, I mouthed a “sorry” before running away. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tripped or hit something, but I kept getting up and moving forward, not knowing where I’d go when the only place I knew as home was gone. My steps halted when I heard familiar voices pleading from a distance. They were omegas like me, people who were barely treated as one in our pack. It was already tough for us in our own pack. What more if we were in the hands of rogues? A heavy weight suddenly slammed into me from the side, knocking me off my feet and sending me sprawling into the ground. Before I could react, a hand gripped my arm and lifted me. He laughed at me as if all of this was mere entertainment for him. “There’s another one here.” He announced. His hold grew tighter in my arms. I tried to pull away, smacking and clawing him, but he was way too strong for me. I winced when his claws dug into my arm. A tear escaped my eyes, but he didn’t care at all. “Don’t try to escape, little omega. We have a lot of plans for you.” The rogue who captured me said and turned to the rest of the rogues, “Take them. We’re leaving first.” He threw me along with the omegas in our pack. All I hear are cries and pleading, but no help came. Not the warriors of our pack, not our alpha... My vision immediately blurred out when they suddenly threw some sort of powder in our direction. The people beside me started dropping one by one, losing their consciousness from whatever they threw at us. I tried to fight it, pushing myself to stay awake, but to no avail. Mom... I’m really sorry I couldn’t escape. When I woke up, the world was still dark. My head ached, and my wrists burned from the ropes bounding my hands. They covered our eyes, giving me no idea where we were. All I knew was that we were in a moving vehicle, probably a wagon, as they needed to transport a lot of people. The roads were rough, making simple sitting feel like huge labor. The scent of sweat, blood, and fear surrounded me. “Who’s there?” I called out, feeling like a miracle they didn’t cover our mouths, too. As if on cue, I heard muffled cries around me. Familiar voices murmur their worries. I shifted slightly, testing if I could pull away from the ropes binding me, but I hurt myself instead. The rough rope dug into my skin, almost making me whimper, but I bit my lip to stop myself. I can’t cry. Not now. I tried reaching out to my wolf and felt it weakly responding to me, but like I was, it was also too drained to help. It wasn’t a foreign feeling, being weak, but I had never felt this utterly powerless before. Whatever powder they threw at us made us weaker than we already were. The wagon we were in suddenly shook, making me stumble against someone beside me. “Cleo? I-is that you?” A voice whispered. I immediately recognized the voice as Mara. Her voice is hoarse, trembling and barely audible. “Yes, it’s me,” I muttered, a little relieved to hear a familiar, friendly voice. “I’m sorry I landed on you. Are you okay?” “No,” she admitted, almost about to cry, “None of us are. They killed everyone. My whole family is dead. I saw our alpha and betas being killed. It’s over for us.” I couldn’t respond. Her remark stirred a commotion. The muffled sobs became loud cries. I wanted to speak up and offer some comfort, but I was just the same as they were. I shouldn’t have left my mother in there. Dying with my family is better than whatever they were going to do with us. Before I could say anything more, the wagon came to a sharp halt, almost throwing us forward. We all squirmed away from each other, struggling as we were all blindfolded. I heard the same rogue barking orders outside. I also heard numerous footsteps around us—too many for us to have a chance to escape. A hand suddenly grabbed me, yanking me forward and removing the cloth covering my eyes. “Get out,” he ordered before I could recover, pulling me out of the wagon. One by one, they yanked us out of the wagon. I stumbled as my feet hit the ground. My legs were still shaking when they shoved us into a line this time. My eyes roamed the place. The sun had already set, and the only thing that illuminated our path was the rogues holding lamps. They removed our blindfolds but not the bound to our hands, leaving us helpless in whatever they’d do to us. They were laughing while most of us were crying. They were happy about how much they’d get selling us off. I gritted my teeth, pushing myself not to tear up. I’d never give them that satisfaction. Their laughter suddenly halted when a loud thud was heard from a distance. The rogues holding us immediately tensed. The amusement in their faces vanished and was replaced with caution and anger. Low growls were heard around us. I looked around, but my senses weren’t sharp enough to see well in the dark. My eyes widened when a rogue was suddenly sent flying just beside me. The remaining rogues barely had time to react when another attack came. It happened so quickly, giving us barely any time to process it. One moment, the rogues were standing over us. The next, they were all beaten up on the ground as if it was the easiest thing to do in the world. A wave of relief and hope crossed my heart. Maybe Mara was mistaken, and our pack was here to save us. Before I knew it, the fight was already over. The surviving rogues were forced to their knees, clever enough not to fight back anymore. One good look and my hopes shattered in an instant. They weren’t from our pack or any neighboring packs. I couldn’t help but feel terrified by their gaze alone. They’re clearly stronger than those rogues... One of them stepped forward. His eyes surveyed all of us before speaking. “Which pack are you from?” He asked, still looking at us. No one responded, mostly because we were terrified that these people were just another group of rogues. “Don’t be afraid. You’re safe now. We are here by the order of the king.” My breath caught in my throat. The Alpha King?