Mateless Alpha

Chapter Six

Third Person's POV

She tossed and turned restlessly in her king-size bed, sheets twisting around her. Nightmares of her past were hunting her. Visondale, a name she had avoided even in her thoughts, now haunted her dreams, its shadows dancing in macabre patterns across her subconscious.For so long, she had not dreamt of Visondale, perhaps the call to go back there had triggered this dream. It wasn't just a dream; it was a visceral reliving of the horrors she had endured, a cruel playback of a life that had been anything but a dream. It was a nightmare, a relentless volcano of emotions and fears that threatened to consume her sanity.

The mention of Visondale alone was usually enough to send shivers down her spine, but tonight was different. Tonight, it was as though the very essence of that cursed place had seeped into her soul, poisoning her dreams with its malevolence. For years,she had managed to keep the memories at bay, buried beneath the facade of a new life. But tonight, they surged forth with a vengeance, flooding her senses with the bitter taste of regret and fear.

Her entire existence in Visondale had been a nightmare incarnate, a cruel mockery of the word "dream." Every moment spent in that wretched place had created scars upon her soul, scars that no amount of time could heal.

Her mind wandered to the days when she served as Adonis' personal maid, a time marked not by luxury and respect, but by cruelty and disdain. Adonis, once a figure of terror in her life, had tormented her with his sharp words and cold indifference until fate, in its twisted irony, revealed them as mates. It was a revelation that changed everything and nothing all at once. But it was not until he turned eighteen, until he discovered the truth of their connection. Before then, he had never spared a glance her way or even considered her human.

He was by then dating his college sweetheart, Mia, with her laughter like bells and her eyes like the morning sky. But Mia had found her mate, a powerful Alpha from another pack, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

It was her departure that broke Adonis, that shattered whatever semblance of humanity that was left within him. And the words she left behind, hanging in the air like a curse, were a reminder of everything he had lost, everything he couldn't have.

"Don't you get it! You are so childish, I cannot be with you!" Mia's voice cracked with frustration, her words cutting through the air like shards of glass.

"Moreover, we are not mates. I have found my mate, and I am already in love with him!" Her words landed like a final blow, leaving Adonis reeling, his mind struggling to process the sudden news.

"No-no, this can't be, Mia. You love me, remember?" He stumbled back onto the couch in his bedroom. He was in denial because he never saw the signs that Mia didn't love him. They have been dating since they were fifteen. Everyone in Visiondale thought they would stay together forever.

"I am sorry, Adonis." Mia's voice softened, but her mind remained unchanged as she tried to navigate through the shards of their broken relationship. "I stopped loving you a..."

"Don't tell me that!" He shouted, causing the petite lady to flinch in fear at his sudden outburst. The emotions swirling within him threatened to consume him whole, his heart refusing to accept the harsh truth confronting him.

"This cannot be the end of us. Did my mum ask you to break up with me? Tell me. Did she?!" Adonis's mind raced, grasping at straws of hope, searching for any explanation that could rationalize Mia's decision to walk away.

"Hell no! I am doing this out of my free will." Her eyes filled with empathy and sorrow met his. "I like you a lot, Adonis, but I cannot be with you anymore.

Adonis's sighed, his eyes searching hers for the answers he desperately needed. "There is something you are not telling me. What is it?" His voice, now calm, his gaze softened. Mia diverted her eyes, unable to maintain eye contact with him anymore. Her words were caught up in her throat as she hesitated to speak.

"I-i-i am pr-" She stuttered, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes pleading for understanding even as her heart braced for the inevitable anger her revelation would unleash.

"You are what? Tell me!." He demanded with an aggressive tone. Patience had never been part of his vocabulary, especially not in moments like these, where the ground beneath his feet seemed to crumble with each passing second.

"Pregnant for Alpha Yiannis! I am pregnant!"

"What! Noooooo! This can't be. Tell me it is not true. Tell me!" He was by her side in seconds. His teary eyes were pleading with her to laugh and say that it was a prank. In as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew she couldn't since it was the truth. His eyes widen at the realization that she was telling him the truth.

"Why did you do this! Why did you do this to me?!" He shook her as if she was a weightless doll.

"Y-you are hurting me!"

"Get out of my room! Get out!" He roared, controlling his inner beast as best as he can so that he wouldn't shift His fists were clenched and his teeth gnashed as he fought his emotions. He had loved Mia for so long. Long before they even started dating. She was his first love. Now she is the one that has hurt him the most. He had never experienced this type of pain before. The only pain he knew was the pain of shifting. Hence this was foreign to him.

Afraid for her life and that of her unborn child, Mia fled from his room, her footsteps quick and erratic as she collided with Ishtar in her haste.

"Miss Mia, where are you going? Are you alright?" She asked with concern. A tray that contained two glasses of juice which was meant for Mia and Adonis was in her hands.

Mia didn't reply, She only continued walking briskly, leaving Ishtar to wonder what was going on. It took her about a minute to get to Adoni's room. She placed a gentle knock on the door and entered.

"Master, I brought your juice."

His back was turned to her. All she could see was his broad back, muscles tense beneath his shirt, his heavy breaths audible even from where she stood.

"Get out of my room," his voice came out almost as a whisper, but held the familier coldness.

"Pardon?"Innocently, Ishtar asked. He was the same person who asked for the juice so she thought she had misheard him.

"Are you dumb?" I said get out of my room." This time his voice was firm and a little louder yet not harsh.

"But... you requested for this?" her voice was filled with uncertainty as she attempted to make sense of his sudden change in behaviour because just a momemt ago, he was happy.

His patience wearing thin, he strode towards her, his eyes piercing and stern. With a swift motion, he pushed the tray from her hands, the contents splattering onto the floor, glasses shattering upon impact.

"Get the f**k out of my room!" He bellowed.

She ran out of the room almost immediately leaving the tray and the broken glasses behind. She returned a while later with a broom. As she entered the room, her eyes widened at the sight before her. Adonis was sitting amidst the broken glass, his legs crossed, and his hands clenched tightly around sharp pieces of glass, crimson droplets staining his palms. His expression was unreadable, a mask of pain. Ishtar witnessing this rushed to his side. In as much as she hates him for all the ruthless things that he had done to her, she couldn't bear to see him in pain. After all, it is her duty to serve him and make sure he is alright.

On impulse, she took hold of his hand and opened his palm, making him drop all the glass pieces that were now coated with his blood.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you hurting yourself?!" She yelled, forgetting that she was talking to her superior.

She went to his bathroom for the first aid box and that was how she found herself falling in love with him. He sat quietly and imperturbably whiles she dressed his wound. In those moments, Ishtar saw a different person from who she knows. She saw a very vulnerable man with a broken heart who was hurting. He didn't feel the pain from the glass pieces in his hands because the pain in his heart was a much greater one.

This all happened exactly a week before his eighteenth birthday. Ishtar was only sixteen.

Since she couldn't sleep nor shake away the nightmares, she woke up quite early and spent the rest of the hours in her son's room, cuddling him. The way she covered him with her body showed how much she was over-protective of him.

Adonis' POV

"Alpha, your mother, cousin, and sisters have arrived."

André announced right after I finished my meeting with Nicholai, the Alpha of the Northern Supreme Moon pack. For a long time, the Northern Supreme Moon pack had been close allies with Visondale, but the same cannot be said for the Southern Supreme moon pack, our sworn enemies. They base their accusations on us being friends with hunters, which is entirely false. Wolves and human hunters share no common ground, let alone friendship. The Southerm Supreme Moon pack was once part of Visondale during Alpha Gael's reign but division occurred during his son, Alpha Hercules' rule, when I was still very young, about four years old and can't recall what happened. My father recounted these events to me. Since becoming Alpha, I've made numerous attempts to reconcile with them, but they have consistently refused.

"Thank you, Nik. I believe that following these plans will ensure the safety of both our packs. Just inform me if you need anything," I remarked, ignoring André's interruption.

"No problem, my friend. I'll reach out if we require your help. Thank you," we sealed our agreement with a handshake, and I escorted him out, leaving André in my office.

"Where are they?" I inquired upon my return to my office.

"Your mother and sisters are in their rooms. Ace, I heard, has gone to visit his friend."

"Good, I'll join them for dinner."

"But Alpha, your mother wishes to see..."

"Tell her I'll see her at dinner. I'm heading to my room. Please ensure I'm not disturbed," I instructed, dismissing him. I know my mother. Once she starts talking, she doesn't stop. She often reminisces about missing Dad and the pain of losing him. Then she transitions to pressuring me to choose a wife, something I will never do. There was only one mate for me; there will never be another. I know she passed away a long time ago, but I can never bring myself to replace her. She took a part of me when she died; a part I'll never recover. At her insistence, I attempted to find a new mate at some point, but I tend to look for Ishtar in all the ladies that I have been with in the past six years which makes it difficult for me to commit.

"Where is he? Where is my son!" I heard my mother's voice growing louder as she approached my office.

"Luna Grace, I'm sorry, but he's occupied. You cannot enter," André's frustrated voice came through as he attempted to block her.

"Get out of my path André!" I heard her yell then my office door came ajar a few seconds later.

"I am sorry Alpha, she wouldn't listen to me."

"Leave us, André." I ordered to which he exited my office.

"Mother!"