Hybrid Alpha’s Prettiest Obsession

crumpled contract

Mina

Just as the realization was starting to choke me, the door creaked open. Both of us froze, and our fearful eyes scanned the figure blocking the only entrance of the rays of the sun. It was one of the guards, his face grim as he looked between us, ready to bark out orders.

“Back to your stations,” he ordered in a low but clearly bitter voice. He was probably forced to be here or something. However, both of us were relieved. I glanced at Stacy, who gave me a weak nod, wiping the fear from her face as best she could. I did the same, trying to steady my breathing. We couldn’t afford to look weak, even though we were the imprisoned ones.

As I turned to walk back to my spot, I caught a glimpse of the crumpled contract still clutched in my hand. Urgh! It felt heavier than it had moments ago, as if more implications of it being a blood contract had been added to the list. Would I ever forget about it? I could hear my heart thumping away in my chest without care. Danger was not far from any of us.

Look at Stacy. The last time I saw her, she was just as fearful as me, but then she rocked the dance pole so hard that I thought my existence was a lie.

Now, she was scared. I wouldn't say I was happy to have her back in my position. The guards were watching more closely now. I could sense it. I squeezed the paper. This stupid paper. I had signed it without thinking, believing I could understand Malakai.

He couldn’t have done it while I was asleep. I was sure. But how well did I trust him? The Vipers' politics must be in chaos after finding out that the pit housed some members of the subtle rebels. There wasn’t even a formal warning.

How did they know?

Someone must have tipped them off.

I sighed, seeing my foolishness and how naïve I had been. The guard's footsteps echoed behind us as he left and shut the door with a heavy thud. I caught Stacy's eye one last time, and she gave me a look that spoke volumes.

Oh, there was still fear, more confusion, and a tenfold understanding that filled the silence between us. I needed to find answers. Most importantly, could I trust her not to tell anyone? What if she was the whistleblower?

We were free for thirty minutes before prepping up for tonight's dance. I stepped outside, smiling when the cool night air hit me... but it did little to calm my troubled mind. I could hear laughter from the direction of the Lilith Nightclub, and the familiar throbbing bass reaching me even from a distance. That godforsaken place that housed pleasure.

Pleasure for beasts.

Well, it was a place that held both good and bad memories for me, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face them again. I hadn’t been back since the night everything changed.

But it wasn’t just the nightclub that pulled at me. It was what I’d done there, the choice I had made that still haunted me. I pushed the thoughts away as I made my way toward the pit's prepping area, where the low lights hung like death and flickered like dead fireflies in the thickening darkness.

---

Malakai's POV

Blade flew past the gates with trepidation. He understood that I wasn’t in a good mood and needed to get home quickly. The moment I dismounted, I handed him over to the stable boy, who readily soothed him with carrots and tiny cubes of sugar.

It made me almost smile.

I had barely stepped into the pack’s main hall when I heard the announcer’s voice cutting through the chatter. “Alpha Malakai, can I have your attention, please! A special guest awaits you at the tenth hall.”

I rolled my eyes. “Names, please.” I wasn’t ready to attend to no-names.

“They—they are special guests, Alpha.”

They? Oh, so there was more than one. My mood sank. “Names,” I growled impatiently.

“The—the daughter of General Seif, Natalie, has arrived, and she demands to see you.”

My mood sank deeper and my heart followed suit. Of all the times for her to show up, it had to be now? The room grew quiet, and I could feel the eyes of some of the pack members boring into me. Weren’t they all busy? I sighed, processing her name. She had been part of my past, but the remnants of our shared history were what bothered me the most.

I turned, about to make a graceful exit when a presence made me freeze.

“Alpha…” Wulfgar murmured before me, shaking his head in disapproval. “Don’t even think about snapping. You know who her father is.”

“What does that matter?” I snapped back, allowing my foul mood to slip past the barrier I had put up. The tension also slipped into the air before any of us could stop it. Unease settled over me. All I wanted was to go back to Mina.

Mina.

Not Natalie Sief. I didn’t want to face her, not when I was still dealing with my own mess. Unfortunately, Natalie was not one to make her presence a secret. Some members of the pack knew I was around. Ignoring her now would spark murmurs among the pack. They would sense my unease…

“What the f**k are you looking at?” I snarled at a nosy onlooker.

He cleared his throat, hurriedly walking away. “What’s wrong with him today?” I heard him whisper, and his friend chimed in, “He looks like he’s seen a ghost.”

“Shut it!” I barked, surprising myself with the harshness of my tone. Everyone around me froze and fell silent. Their fearful eyes were on me, and I could see Wulfgar’s frown deepening, his concern clear.

“Alpha, remember their place in your life,” he cautioned gently. He was poking an Alpha wolf yet knew how to use a soothing voice. “Just take this as a form of respecting her father. He helped win the war, you know. We have to welcome them properly.”

“But why would she bring her father when I haven't made up my mind yet?” I nearly laughed with bitterness. “And what about my respect? She walks in here like she owns the place, demanding to see me. Doesn’t she think I’ve had enough?”

Just then, Natalie stepped into view, her expression filled with determination to reach me and confusion over her... what? Foolishness? “Kai?” she called out, her voice cutting through my mood like a blunt knife.

It only served to irritate me further.

I felt different emotions pass through me at the sound of her voice. Nostalgia, regret, and a stubborn urge to protect myself. I took a step back, wanting to hide from her gaze. I felt sorry for both of us.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, taking a step closer with cncern knitting her brows together. She was always asking what’s wrong. ''She'' was wrong!

“Nothing’s wrong, just leave me alone!” I snapped. Frankly, the words escaped before I could stop them. Her expression fell, and I could see hurt flash across her face.

She pulled me closer to herself. Or rather, she stood on her toes to whisper. “Don’t forget the sacrifice my pack made, Malakai,” she said, her voice trembling. “I gave my virginity to you. I trusted you.”

I was the only one who could hear her words, yet the room held its breath. Everyone was discreetly watching me, their curiosity piqued. I could feel their eyes boring into me, but all I could focus on was the pain I had caused someone else.

“It was different back then,” I simply said. I was in control now. “Look, I’ve changed.” That was what I wanted to tell her, but I changed my mind instantly. “The war is still on, my darling,” I said instead. “You have no idea what I’m dealing with now. And then you bring your father…”

“Is it another woman?” she suddenly switched topics, with tears brimming in her eyes. “Is that why you’ve been acting like this since you came back from the nightclub?”

I swallowed. Has she been keeping tabs on me? I raised an eyebrow at Wulfgar. The fucker shrugged and looked away.

“Don’t be silly! Just leave me to think,” I spat, refusing to let her see that I was scared by her words. Can’t she move on? What a hypocrite I was, because I couldn’t move on from someone myself. The anger of her being at the center of it all made it impossible to see the hurt I was causing her. I wanted to vent all my frustrations, but instead, I was hurting someone who had been a part of the pack for so long.

Natalie’s expression crumbled, and I somewhat felt a pang of guilt. I had never wanted to hurt her. But I was trapped in my own problems, caught between the choices I had made and the repercussions of my responsibilities.

I had signed Mina’s contract in blood. That was a stupid thing to do. But I was drunk on pleasure. I didn’t really know when…

Or did I really not know…?

“Natalie, I understand you, but you don’t get to walk in here with your father and demand anything from me, not after everything,” I added. “I want to rest.”

“But I’m here because I care about you, Malakai!” she pleaded, saying my full name. It shocked me for some reason. Only one person did that.

“You think I don’t see what’s going on? You’re not the same person you were before. Ever since that night, something changed in you, and it’s tearing you apart. The whole pack can see that.”

What? Her words hit me harder than I expected. They echoed in my mind, reminding me of the darker parts of myself that I had been trying to bury. I could feel some of the servants that worked for me watching us subtly.

There was one pretending to clean the gates. I scoffed in realization. Then I turned to her.

“To my office now.”

With that, I left her standing there. To be frank, I wanted to yell at her... to tell her to go away and leave me alone, but part of me also wanted to reach out, to explain that she would never have my heart.

And that I was tired of her.