Hybrid Alpha’s Prettiest Obsession

tricked by the blood rot

Mina

Enough with the thinking. I eyed the guards Malakai claimed were for protection. Not glancing at them, I marched toward the exit. with Tito beside me... our steps quick... Well, that was what I thought. But then they were fast, the two guards, standing firm and rigidly blocking the exit.

No…

“Let us through,” I demanded, my voice filled with authority I didn’t fully feel. My heart began to hammer in my chest as the walls around me felt smaller by the second. I didn't want to believe it for one second! It just can't be! Not after what he said! The guards didn’t budge. Not an inch. One of them, a thick-necked guy, glanced at me like I was a fly buzzing too close to his meal.

He didn’t even acknowledge my words, just stood there, staring blankly. This just can't be!

“Tito,” I hissed, feeling the pressure building. The more I stayed there, the more my heart sank. I've been tricked by the almighty Alpha again.

“They’re supposed to let us leave,” Tito muttered, though a hint of doubt was creeping into his voice now. He eyed every one of them. “Oi! Didn't that tall man tell you to guard us? Well, the coast is clear now. Let us leave!”

"Let us through!" I repeated, my voice louder this time. When they still didn’t move, something inside me snapped. I charged forward, hands outstretched. I didn't realise my nails had bared like cat claws, ready to tear past them if I had to. It was when they looked at my hands in surprise that I noticed.

“Move!” I screamed, ignoring their looks. What? They've never seen a halfling before? I shoved against one of their broad chests, but it was like pushing against a brick wall. He didn’t even flinch. Unfortunately, my nails scratched against his armour, leaving no single mark.

“Malakai said we could leave!” I was rather desperate now. Any moment from now, Pompeo would be looking for escapees. I didn't want to be caught. A sitting duck. “He said we were free to go!”

Malakai didn't exactly say that, but...

But nothing. The guards remained silent, unmoving. I lashed out, scratching at them, beating my fists against their unmoving forms, but nothing.

That was when my rage built into something wild. I just couldn't help it. There was no going back to that hell. It was better to live on the streets, begging and pretending to be a monster, than...

"You can’t keep us here!" I shrieked, but my voice was shrill, bouncing off the stone walls uselessly. I could feel my strength slipping and my voice breaking, but I wouldn’t stop until they let me out.

I wasn't planning to stop fighting. Those brutes! Tito watched me for a while, silent. And then I heard it. Tito’s laugh. It was low at first, almost as if he was trying to hold it back, but then it grew, filling the air, until it echoed off the ears, loud and hysterical.

I paused, blinking and whipping around to face him.

“You... you really believed him,” Tito said between fits of laughter, but his voice filled with something dark and almost manic. “You thought we’d just walk out of here?”

My chest heaved with exhaustion and suppressed fury. He was supposed to be helping me out with these guards in their place! “What are you talking about?”

“This!” Tito gestured wildly toward the guards with wide eyes, still laughing like a madman. “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you! There’s no leaving, Mina! There never was!”

I stared at him, my mind racing, trying to process what he was saying. “But... Malakai... he said—”

I was trying to distract myself from the truth that I was tricked by the Bloodrot once again.

“Malakai lied.” Tito interrupted. A crazed grin spread across his face. “He played you, Mina! Just like I said he would. He’s always five steps ahead, and now... now we’re stuck.”

When Titio confirmed my denial, I stumbled back, and my knees almost gave out. I’d been truly tricked. Malakai had used me once more, manipulated my emotions, and now I was trapped here, with no way out. All this while, he told me not to fall in love, yet planned to keep me here.

I was never leaving, right?

“No...” I whispered, shaking my head as if denying it would make it less true. “No, no, no...”

Tito’s laughter died down, but the smugness never left his voice. “You thought you could outsmart him, but you never had a chance. None of us do. That was why I told you. He is a monster.” To that, he ripped Malakai's coat off me, throwing it to the floor and stamping it hard.

The guards watched on, amused.

I turned away from him, my hands trembling as I pressed them to my face, trying to contain the flood of emotions that threatened to swallow me whole. Betrayal, anger, fear… they all churned inside me, but there was one thing I felt most of all.

Hopelessness.

“We’re never getting out of here,” I whispered to myself. The feeling was like being suffocated with a wet blanket.

Tito stepped closer, and when he opened his mouth, his voice was suddenly softer and even more wicked. He enjoyed rubbing this in my face, didn't he? “This is what I’ve been talking about, sister. There’s no escape. Not from Malakai. All we have to do is kill him. As for me, I never wanted to leave. Not until I kill that monster and rid the earth off all of them!”

My stomach twisted at his words. That was a strong... declaration. Tito has always been an expressive boy, not minding if his words hurt others. I understood. There was nothing I could do anyway. All my energy had been drained, leaving me hollow. I had been so stupid to trust Malakai to think I could outmaneuver him.

Although this was not a question of who was more manipulative, No. I was helplessly falling for Malakai again. Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of my angry Tito. Not in front of these guards who looked down on me like I was already defeated. I clenched my fists, swallowing the lump in my throat.

There. Frozen was better. Slowly, the world fell into chaos. Men from left and right ran after people who were hiding in the shadows, waiting for nightfall. I had been blind, so focused on my matters that I didn't notice what was going on. The guards loomed, and their shadows swallowed the hope of escape everyone had with the rogue's attack.

It was still day yet my brother's laughter haunted me. Did he think I was unhappy? At that question, panic clawed at my insides. Was I really happy to be here? No. I have to find a way out, or I would be dragged back into the abyss I thought I had escaped.

“Get back!” I shouted at the guards, willing myself to sound brave, to show them that I was still in control. But deep down, there were deep cracks. They had formed the moment Malakai left. I never wanted to return to this place. The memories flooded in, taking up space in dark corners.

“Hafling, be calm. The Alpha asked us to take you back. You aren't leaving the Pit. Even if you thought you were, forget about it.” A guard snarled. Probably out of pity for me.

Immediately he finished, an oppressive silence followed.

“Was that what he told you?” I shakily asked.

“You are no different from the rest of them. What would become of the Alpha's reputation if he specifically let you out of those gates?

Screams, my scream and the rest of those who had defaulted, plagued my mind. The Pit was hell, and I was about to be dragged back. I took a step back, my heart pounding as I searched for another way out. Just then, from the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of movement... It was a figure being pulled toward me with both hands tied together.

My breath hitched as I recognized her.

“Stacy!” I gasped, but the sound felt heavy with disbelief. She was here! Really here! I didn't think she heard me but then her eyes locked onto mine, wide and terrified. I could see the bruises that marred her scaly skin, the disheveled hair that framed her face... In that moment, all the noise faded away. It was just us, separated by the cruel grip of the guards, and I couldn’t comprehend how she was still here, still caught. Everyone was getting caught while I was here, protected, waiting to be handed over?

I couldn't get why I was still here in this bloody place!

“Why are you still here?” I whispered, afraid the guards could hear us. “I thought you escaped. I thought... I thought we’d be free.” That last part was for myself.

But as she opened her mouth to respond, a thick voice rumbled out, filled with exhaustion. “Why are you with the big bad wolf, Mina? Planning to escape without me?”

The shock of her words cut through the haze of my panic. I stood, stunned, as her words sank in. How could she think that? How could she believe I would leave her behind?

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about her at all.

“I wasn’t—” I started, but the words got logged in my throat. “I thought... I thought we were free!”

Stacy shook her head, her eyes narrowing in suspicion at me. “You thought the Big bad wolf would let you go?”

I froze. “How did you know…?”

“I saw him that day. When he came in, there were a lot of wolves bowing down to him. We weren't allowed to look at him, but I raised my head up. He was ushered into the VIP room. That was the room you came out of!” Her eyes were accusing.

No wonder I was being ridiculed. And now Stacy had seen me, I was guaranteed to be more ridiculed. “That's not what…”

“What? You thought he wouldn’t drag your filthy halfling ass back here?” She looked away, bitterness threading her last statement. “He’s always waiting for us to make a mistake.”