Alpha of the cursed pack

Ch 10

Alastair’s POV

“I will wait for you, Alastair. I wait for the curse to break” Claire said to me.

I shook my head at her “Claire, please try to understand. Don’t do this to us, to our friendship” I pleaded with her. She gave my hand a squeeze.

“I really love you Alastair. I will prove to you that we are made for each other” she looked determined.

“You are my best friend, Claire. I really care for you. I don’t want you to wait for something which is never going to happen” I said.

The smile left her face. Her hand left mine. It was never my intention to hurt her but I feel that ending her expectations right now is better than prolonging them. Later on, it might become impossible for her.

“Don’t make assumptions when you yourself don’t know what is going to happen in the future” she said. I rubbed my forehead as this conversation is not going anywhere. Claire is not ready to understand.

Standing up, I stared down at her “don’t make decision which will only bring you disappointments” With that said I decided to leave.

I was almost near the door when she said “I believe in myself and in my love for you. I will fight for us Alastair” without bothering to reply her I walked out of there.

There is no point in trying to put some sense into her. I will just keep my distance from her. All that remains is my responsibility towards her. I will fulfil my promise to take care of her which I had done to her parents. As for our friendship, we will be friends.

I will make sure nothing will change not until I find my real mate and for that to happen, I need to break this curse. And for the curse to break, Astrid must be here. The point now is to get her by hook or cook. Those were my thoughts, before I went to my room.

There were so many things to be taken care off. I was going through pack accounts, when salutary Mai and Dr Sophie came to meet me with their reports.

“Alpha” they greet me.

“Please have a seat” I muttered as I checked the file in hand. It took me another five minutes before I was done.

Looking up at salutary Mia and Dr Sophie, I inquired “So, what is the result?”.

“Alpha, it’s been four days. So, most of them have healed. Salutary Mia had bought special herbs this time which made the wounds heal early” Dr. Sophie explained.

“That’s great” I nod at her as she passed me the file.

“Alpha, as you know there were total three hundred and twenty-five deaths including all the age groups in the pack. The most serious with maximum injuries are ten of them. Looks like the members are in great shock” I could hear the seriousness in her voice.

“Go ahead” I nod at her.

“We won’t be able to know their state until they wake up” Dr. Sophie informs me.

“What about the rogues?” I inquired while linking my fingers and placing them on the table.

“The rogues have healed. Beta Trevon had informed me that you wish to speak with them. We have placed them in a separate room with no windows, so that they won’t escape. Only one is serious among them and that is a girl. Once she wakes up, we will put her in the same room” she said to me.

“Don’t bother. I will be speaking with the rogues today itself. Once I have a talk, we will know who wants to stay among them” I informed them.

“As for the girl, we will deal with her once she wakes” I said to them

“Alright, Alpha” she nods at me.

I smiled at both of them “thank you for everything that you have done for the pack”

“Alpha, it’s our job. Please don’t thank us” salutary Mia said to me.

“I agree with salutary Mia, Alpha. You don’t need to thank us” Dr Sophie added. I smiled at them with a grateful look.

“Anything else?” I asked them.

“Yeah, there is something else. It had totally skipped my mind” Dr. Sophie started.

“What is it?” I gave her a questioning look.

“The girl whom you saved from the woods wants to meet you” Dr. Sophie informs me.

“She woke up?” I tilt my chin in her direction.

“Yes, she is fine but is very silent. I guess she is just disturbed” Dr. Sophie explained the situation to me.

“Alright, I don’t have anything to do anyway. So, I will meet her now” I muttered as I got up from my chair. Both salutary Mia and Dr. Sophie stood up as well.

“Alpha if you will excuse me, shall I take my leave?” Salutary Mia asks the permission to excuse herself.

“Sure. Go ahead Mia” Giving me a nod, she left the room.

“Shall we Dr. Sophie?” I forward my hands towards the door.

“After you, Alpha” Dr. Sophie followed me as I walked out of the office. Few minutes later, we reached the infirmary of our pack. As we walked inside, I saw a girl around eighteen years old lying on the bed. She was awake. She turned her face in our direction as we walked in.

“Alpha” she greets me softy and tried to get up.

“That’s alright. Keep lying down. Don’t move so much” I assured her.

“It’s improper, Alpha” she murmured politely. Dr. Sophie adjusted her pillows behind her and made her sit properly. I sat down on the chair beside the bed.

“What is your name?” was the first question I asked her.

“My name is Lina. Thank you for saving me, Alpha” she passed me a grateful look. I could see the sincerity in her eyes.

“It is my job as Alpha of this pack to protect everyone” I said to her.

“What were you doing in the woods?” I asked her. She looked nervous as she twisted her fingers.

“I and my family went and stayed at the edge of the woods. We had booked that guest house from the humans. We thoughts that perhaps if we are not on the pack lands, the curse won’t hit us” she explained.

I wait patiently as she continued “But we were so wrong. The curse first hit my brother and then my best friend. They attacked my parents” tears fell from her eyes. I passed her my hand kerchief.

“Thank you” she hiccupped as she wiped her tears.

“Continue” I murmured. I wait as she gathered her thoughts.

“I had no choice but to run from there. I tried to convince them Alpha, but they were hit by the curse and tried to attack me” she murmured.

“If not for you, I would not have been alive today” she said to me.

I took my time in replying to her.

“Did you really think that if you leave the pack grounds, the curse won’t hit you?” I narrowed my eyes at her.

She avoided looking at me as she whispered “I am sorry, Alpha” she cried. I know I need to go easy on her. She has already lost her family as it is.

“I can’t say that the situation would have been different if you and your family stayed here. But we could have at least tried to protect you guys” I said to her. Lina did not say anything as she continued to cry silently.

“The curse surely affects when pack members are on the land. But it also affects the werewolves. You are born werewolves. How did you forget that?” I asked her. She did not reply anything.

I got up from the chair and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. I was surprised when she suddenly hugged me. Her arms wrapped around my middle as I was standing. Dr. Sophie’s eyes widened. I kept my face neutral. Dr. Sophie moved forward to pull her away but I shook my head at her.

“It’s okay, Lina. Everything is going to be alright” I assured her in a soft voice.

“Nothing is going to be the same, Alpha” her voice came out muffled as her face was pressed on to my stomach.

“Ssh. I and the pack are here for you” I pat her head awkwardly.

This is something new for me. Except for Claire, I have never comforted anyone and Lina was complete stranger to me.

“Calm down” I rubbed her back. After sometime, she stopped crying and gave me an awkward smile.

“I am sorry, Alpha. I did not realize what I was doing” she apologized. I blinked my eyes at her in assurance.

“Make sure you don’t tell anyone why you were not on the pack lands when the curse hit everyone. If anyone finds out, I fear that many will try to do the same thing even if it will put them in danger” I said to her.

“I will not tell a soul” she said to me.

“Alright then take rest” I said to her and decided to leave.

“Alpha” she said softly.

“Yeah, do you want to say something?” my voice soft.

“Can I stay at the pack. I don’t want to stay at my home alone” she requested.

“You are always welcome to stay in the pack but make sure to not come with stupid ideas” I said to her.

She smiled at me “I won’t”

“Good” giving her a nod, I left the room.

“Dr Sophie informs Trevon that I will be speaking with the rogues. Ask him to meet me at the basement” I requested. Dr. Sophie gave me a nod.

“Also, one more thing” I started as she took out her cellphone to make the call. Dr Sophie looked at me.

“You don’t need to follow me. I will take care of this one” I said to her.

“Sure Alpha” Giving me a nod, Dr. Sophie left to do her duties. I walked down the corridor. There were guards stationed outside. They opened the door once I walked towards them. Entering inside, I was surprised. The rogues were casually having conversation among themselves. They looked up the moment I walked in.

“Good to see that all of you are in good spirits” I muttered as I stared at them. Rogues are really meant to be dangerous but because of the curse everything has changed. They are like normal humans.

“Alpha” Out of the eleven members, seven of them greeted me politely. The other four looked rude. Trevon walked in as I was about to start. He stood right behind me.

“I will get straight to the point” my eyes moved on each of them.

“All of you are free to stay here. We will take care of you and send you guys to universities and get you jobs. Whatever you decide, it is up to you” there was smile on the faces of the ones who had greeted me. The other three kept their expression neutral.

“If you want to stay here, there are some rules you need to follow” I said.

“Those who wants to stay, step forward” Trevon spoke. His voice loud and clear. Out of the three, one joined to stay with other seven members.

“You both can leave” I stated. Without a word, the other two left. Good for them. I don’t want someone rude in my pack. They might become nuisance later on and for now I don’t want to deal with that stuff. Not that I can’t handle it. They walked out on their own anyway so no need to bother myself with them. Trevon started with rules right away.

“Firstly, we will accept all of you in our pack”

“Secondly, you need to respect the Alpha and his decisions. You cannot pick up fights or bully others in the pack. If you do, you will be thrown out” Trevon stated. The rogues were listening with apt attention. I stood there keeping an eye on them as Trevon continued.

“Every full moon, you are not allowed to go to the city to avoid attacking the humans. And most importantly you follow what the Alpha says”.

“Am I clear?” Trevon asks in a steady voice. There were murmurs of agreement from the rogues.

“Good. As for your jobs or university joining, Trevon will take care of it. Later on, meet him tomorrow morning” I ordered them. They gave me a nod.

“Okay. Now we will accept you in the pack” I informed them. Trevon gave me the knife. It was a ritual to accept rogues and others in our pack. A bowl was placed on the table. One by one each of them made cut on their fingers, after that I accepted them in the pack.

Before the curse, if we accepted someone, our mind links open to them and we could feel their presence in our head. Now as there is no mind link, it is just their presence in our pack. The ritual was over in ten minutes.

“Welcome to the Dark Wood Pack” I said to them. There were smiles on their face as they replied in unison.

“Thank you, Alpha”

Giving them a nod, I said in a stern tone “I hope there won’t be any complaints about you” my facial expression was serious as my eyes moved all over them. There were two girls and six boys” the ritual was over. I asked Trevon to assign them rooms.

The rogues wanted to stay together as they don’t know anyone in the pack. We got their names. All of them are younger except for one guy. Trevon gave them the room available on first floor. The girls will take one room. In another one room three boys will be staying and next room beside that, the remaining two boys will stay. Once the other rogue wakes up, we will see if she decides to stay or leave. If she stays then we will keep her with the girls. They can share a room.

The whole day went by quickly. Pack matters were taken care of. It usually takes one whole week for everything to settle down. After the full moon, pack members adjust to their daily life and everything gets back to normal.

After taking a quick shower, I wiped myself clean and wore my night pants before going to bed. Now in the confinement of my room, my thoughts wandered to Claire and her decision. I wish I could change her mind. Somehow I have known about her feelings for a while now. What I don’t understand is that how can she have feelings for me when I never encouraged her to begin with. All I did was be good friend to her and took care of her as she has no family.

If I had the slightest inkling about her having these deep feelings towards me, then I would have put a stop to it then itself. I remember whenever we talked about future, I always mentioned about finding my real mate.

So, what made her have feelings for me? I frowned in confusion as I recalled my actions. Maybe she thought my caring nature towards her as love. That could be the only reason. As I tried to remember, my eyes widened when I realized one thing.

There were times when everyone thought of us as a couple. I never really defied them or asked them to stop. Could that be it? Even Claire herself never denied it. Yeah, that could be the only reason.

All this will only stop as I get Astrid here. A smirk appeared on my face as a solution came to my mind. This is best. This is the only way to kill two birds with one stone. I will have my goal achieved in stopping Claire and I will also succeed in not hurting Astrid by faking the love. Now I won’t make her fall in love with me just for the sake to break the curse and bring the pack. But first I need to see if she will agree with me on this.

It was finally the weekend. Sera has not yet come to the pack after she left two days ago. I am waiting for her. I was ready in my suit to visit the Dark Wood Pack.

I had already called Sera a few times. She is yet to appear.

“Where is she man?” Trevon walked in the living room. Like me, even he was wearing a suit. “I don’t want us to be late. Impression is something you know” he muttered. I can understand him. Exact at eight, the party will start. Now it is seven thirty in the evening.

‘Where are you, sera?’ I had not even voiced it out loud. But looks like she heard it because the next moment Sera appeared in front of us.

“Finally,” Trevon lets out a sigh of relief. He can be a control freak sometimes.

“Where have you been, Sera?”

“We had been waiting for you” I said to her. She gave us both on apologetic look before replying “I am sorry for being late. I had gone to meet the council”.

“Oh. So, what did you find out?” I gave her a curious look.

Before she could reply, Trevon interrupted by saying “can we talk about it later. For now, we need to leave for the Dark Wood Pack as soon as possible?”

I let out a sigh as Sera said “I will explain everything to you later. Trevon is right. We need to maintain our impression”.

“Let’s go” she forwards her hand to us. Thankfully there was no one in the living room. Sera used her Fae powers and teleported us on the grounds of the Dark Wood Pack. A car appeared out of nowhere. It was a black Rolls Royce.

“What are you looking at, get in” Sera said to me and Trevon. Right away, all three of us get in and drive the rest of the way. Few minutes later we were already parking at the entrance of the pack house. One of the guards wanted to park our car where the rest of the cars are parked but Trevon refused and did it himself as we don’t trust anyone here.

Alpha Jasper was at the back of the pack where the party was organized.

The moment he saw us, he came to us with a smirk on his face.

“I thought you would not attend, Alpha Alastair” he said.

“Disrespecting an Alpha’s invitation is not something we do. That’s not our style Alpha Jasper” It was sera who replied instead of me.

“Who have we got here?” Alpha Jasper stared at Sera.

“I am Seraphine. Alastair’s friend” she introduced herself but did not forward her hand for a shake. I smirked at her attitude. Alpha Jasper’s eyes did not waver from Sera as he said “nice to have you here Miss. Seraphine”, he welcomed her.

“And you too, Alpha Alastair” I ignored the fact that he did not welcome me with the same enthusiasm. After that, he excused himself “enjoy the party. I will take your leave as I have to meet other guests”.

We were glad to be among ourselves. Soon Trevon joined us. “The arrangement looks wonderful” he muttered.

“Yeah” I replied as I took a look around. Right from the seating arrangement to the decorations, everything was nicely done. The dinner buffet was set. Guests were mingling around. Alpha of Moon Light pack, Snow white pack and Gemstone pack were present. There were many others present who are not from our neighboring packs.

“Now let’s do what we have come here for” Sera suggested. There were many pack members serving drinks.

“Yeah” I murmured as I took each of the new faces. None of them was Astrid.

“Did you find her?” I asked to Sera. She shook her head at me.

Trevon was of no help as he has not seen her or the other witch.

“Did you find the other witch?” I inquired as I took a drink from one of the waitresses.

“Not yet” Sera murmured as she helped herself a drink. I was just looking around when my eyes stopped on her. She was standing by the buffet table but something about her shocked me.