The Lost Alpha

5

Even as the darkness envelopes her, Bella can feel herself fighting against it, her wolf Star trying all her might to regain consciousness.

She hovers between darkness and consciousness, the feeling not exactly comfortable.

Her stomach churns horribly, the smell of whatever the substance used on her so terrible it makes her want to throw up.

Inches away from her face, a man's face stares at her in shock.

Her eyes flutter for a moment then snap open, taking in the sight of Silver Eyes' face right above hers.

Her lungs work greedily making her gulp in great mouthfuls of air as she feels a bit suffocated. Seeing this, Silver Eyes straightens up and rolls all the car windows down, and Bella raises her head immediately, getting a glimpse of the city outside to try and see where she is. They are no longer in the forest, even though it feels like only seconds have passed. Has she been out for a long time? Remembering what the man did to her, her face works up in an angry expression, and she slaps him hard.

He clutches his cheek, then grins at her.

"I guess I totally deserved that."

"What the f*ck did you think you were doing? You told me you wanted to help me and I was dumb enough to believe it!"

A serious look settles on the man's face as he pulls himself away from her.

"Hey, calm down. No one's hurting anyone," he says, "I wanted to make sure you won't remember the places you pass if you decided to go back to your mate, who I have judged is a danger to your safety. Tell me, when did you find out you were like this?"

She has no idea what he is talking about. The confusion shows on her face as she gazes at him. "I was like what?"

Reading the look of incomprehension on her face, Silver Eyes figures out she must have no clue. He wonders why no one had thought to tell her that she was a gifted wolf, or maybe she didn't live with werewolves until recently.

Yes, that must be the case. The people she lived with were humans, and he knows Welcome is a dwelling place for humans; he has never known werewolves to live there. And he is yet to find out how she found herself living with the humans.

He is getting more and more curious about her every passing second.

He never thought, never imagined...this is too good to be true. She has managed to fight the substance that has the power to knock out an ordinary werewolf for no less than one day at a time.

She has been out for only three hours, and he noticed she started fighting it the moment she inhaled it. He started driving anyway, but over the past hour, she has been twisting and turning nonstop, which shocked the hell out of him and forced him to stop the car to observe what was happening to her.

"Forget it. We need to get going. It's going to take us at least seventeen more hours to reach our destination. We will stop when you are hungry, or want a bath, of course."

The man's captivating eyes sweep over her face, and she catches a look of admiration on it, although she has no idea why he should admire anything about her. "Stay put. I can assure you that you are gonna love the place I am taking you to. Don't you want to see more of our kind? Besides, it's not like you have anything to live for here."

He didn't need to rub it in her face, but he has a point there, and she is curious to see more of her kind, especially females, if there are any.

"Anyway, I am still interested to know why you were watching me. You didn't come that far just to watch me, did you? How did you happen there?"

He takes a moment to answer, staring at her face until she shifts uncomfortably. He moves his eyes from hers when he responds.

"It is a long story."

"I want to hear it," she whispers.

He sighs and leans back against the car seat. "You might as well know everything since it's very much likely you are going to join our pack."

Bella glances at him, but says nothing, waiting for him to start talking.

"A long time ago, about nineteen years ago, a child was born in White Wolf pack to the Alpha and Luna."

Is that the name of the place the man lives in? White Wolf pack?

Bella nods her head, encouraging him to continue.

"The child was believed to have a special gift the werewolves had been anticipating. Naturally, that put the child in danger, and to protect her, the Alpha and Luna tried to keep the fact that she had the special gift a secret. They couldn't keep it a secret forever, though, as soon word got out. A demon lord named Travis had heard about the child, and he made arrangements to kidnap her. He has been in constant war with the werewolves (you will understand that soon), and wishes the demons would dominate this part of the world, and one more werewolf with a gift hindered his success, so he collected as many of the gifted wolves as he could. And the child was going to be on that list."

"Oh no." Bella's eyes go wide, fearing for the unknown child from the man's past. "Did the demon lord get her?"

Silver Eyes sighs again.

"Word travelled back to the pack about the demon's intentions to take the little girl. The Alpha and Luna panicked, then in the end decided they would hide her. The Alpha remained to fight the demon lord when he arrived, while the Luna ran away with the child. Neither the child nor the Luna was seen alive again after that, but the body of the Luna was found near that place we found you in. It is believed the demon had known where to find the Luna, had followed her and killed her, then got the child. It is also believed that the child had used her powers to hurt the demon, because he returned home burned from head to toe, and hasn't come out of his house since that day. The child wasn't with him. Rumor has it that he became hideous, which he finds really hard to cope with as he was quite good looking before. But the child is believed to be alive as her body has never been found. And the demon lord's beauty can only be returned if the child reversed the magic she performed on him."

"Mmm. How would you know the demon lord didn't dump her in a well somewhere? I mean, he never told anyone what happened to the child, did he? He just came home all hurt and hid himself."

Silver Eyes shrugs. "News came out as soon as the child went missing that Travis had put a pricetag on her head. Huge sum of money promised to anyone who would take the child to him. Aside from that, the Alpha said he felt that she was alive. He died three days after his mate died because mate bonds are so strong that it is a miracle when one dies for the other to survive. On his death bed, the Alpha had said that he felt his child was alive and that she should be found and brought home to take over the title of Alpha, that was after she grew up. The Alpha left the pack in the hands of his best friend, Marcus, to rule the pack members before the child was found. He instructed Marcus to look for the child and begged him to raise her like his own and train her to be a good Alpha, and Marcus promised he would do just that.

"But after the Alpha's death, Marcus never bothered to look for the child. He loved being in power, still does. He told everyone the Alpha was just in denial because there was no way the child could be alive when the mother had been found dead, and that he would not waste time and resources to look for her. Since then, some of the wolves that were loyal to their late Alpha have been looking for the child, guided by the pack's old seer, who told us the child is being raised by humans. She wasn't sure where or how to find the child, but we have been looking for her for a long time now, still there's nothing. We never lose hope, though. The pack needs their Alpha."

Bella is amused by the story. "Wow. I have never heard anything weirder before," she says.

"Is what I am telling you weird?" he asks with mock outrage.

"Yeah, it is. I mean, how does this seer See the child and still not know how to find her?"

"She is getting a little old, plus, the child in question is not ordinary, remember? There is a possibility that she doesn't want to be found and prevents us from finding her until she is ready to be found."

Bella shakes her head sympathetically. "You will find her one day. She must be a woman by now, if she is still alive. You want to know what I think? I think you don't suit to go on such pointless missions. Anyway, how is all that connected with you stalking me? Just tell me the truth now."

"We happened near that place and, since I am a protector, I sensed your distress and followed you to see if I could help. I am cursed to help as many wolves as I can, especially members of my pack."

Well, she still has a lot to find out about her kind. What qualifies one to be a protector? Can she become one too?

Also, she feels sorry for the Alpha and Luna, and their child. From what she has heard, the child had gotten kidnapped and then managed to attack her kidnapper. And then what followed after that? she must have wandered around on her own, crying and calling out to her mom until, after several days, she died of thirst and hunger.

Bella's heart twists painfully at the thought. She strongly hopes the unknown girl is alive and well.

"So, from what I understand, you go in search of the girl against the wish of your leader? Don't you get in trouble with him?"

"We probably would if someone told him."

He must be dumb.

Bella takes her time looking at his face. She is reminded that he is a very gorgeous man to look at, with the perfect, chiseled features of a Greek god. His big body looks healthy and well exercised, and the golden hair is so thick and slightly curly, she wishes to run her fingers through it and feel it's texture.

But they are just thoughts. After what Jack has put her through, she wants a distance between her and anything to do with romantic relationships.

"I hope you find her," she surprises him by saying. "The next time you go looking for her, let me know. I want to help. It is important that I make myself busy, especially after the recent loss I experienced. Even though you go on pointless missions," she winks.

"Sure," Silver Eyes whispers, thinking how wonderful it is that she has taken the side of the rebels instead of the Alpha's, even before she has arrived in the pack. She is an interesting one.

He hands her a picture of a cute toddler with strange red hair.

"That is the girl we are searching for. She must be a woman now but it's hard to miss that hair."

Bella nods as she stares at the little girl in the picture, who looks happy and well fed.

"Also, where do I apply to be like you?" She shrugs at the puzzled look she gets from him. "You know, a protector?"