The Wolfless Alpha

Chapter 3

"Kai…"

Annabelle tries to interject but William holds her back with a hand on her arm and a slight shake of the head. He will take the hate, he doesn’t want his mate to bear any of it from their own son. Annabelle is gentle, she can't handle such things like he can. They don’t need to say anything, enough has been done.

After learning the procedure from her grandmother, the young witch grabs the syringe with a slight tremble of the hand, her blonde hair has been slightly covering her face the whole time she has been in the room, the power that she can feel in the room presses hard against her, she can feel it in her bones, it is something that she has never felt before and is not a fan of.

She finally looks at the man in front of her and can't help but blush. How can someone be so handsome? When her grandmother told her about the wolf packs and that some of the occupants were so handsome it would cause people to lose their minds, she thought it was an exaggeration. Now that she has seen for herself, she knows that it is the truth, she could just stare at his face and happily for the rest of her life and let her mind slowly turn to mush. Her nerves and embarrassment are not helped by the fact that he is not clothed in the slightest, if his face is incomparable, his body is a work of art, so beautiful that she feels like her soul is getting sucked out of her body.

His body is better than any model and what is that thing between his legs? Is that real? She resists the urge to reach out and touch it. It would set witches back hundreds of years.

Her grandmother nudges her again and she has to wipe her chin to make sure that there is no drool and she injects the liquid into his his large and thick, well-toned arm, resisting the urge to touch his honey colored skin that looks just as sweet as, looking solely at the arm, not letting her eyes wander further than that in the fear that she will do something truly stupid in the face of such stunning beauty, it is a trap and no other man could ever live up to if she looks any longer, she is sure after just the glimpse that any other man is going to look like a train wreck in comparison. She is sure that she is already ruined for life.

She finally looks up and meets a pair of copper-coloured eyes that are staring at her like he is the reaper ready to harvest her soul. The coldness of the sight cuts straight into her heart.

She jumps back slightly, resisting the urge to place a hand on her chest to make sure her heart doesn't jump out of her chest. What a scary look. The handsome man is truly frightening.

Kai doesn't feel anything at first, he has a deep sense of regret and he just wants to break the shackles and run. He shouldn’t have done this, but it is already too late, the liquid is already in his body.

The cold silvery liquid runs from the injection point, coursing through his veins, through his beating heart, reaching every extremity. They all watch on as the originally handsome man's tanned skin starts to move and quiver, his veins seem to be attached to the skin. Silver colour pulsing through, making him look discolored and slightly distorted.

He throws his head back and his arms pull up, pulling hard on the restraints, the silver scorching his skin further, the smell of burning flesh is filling the room.

Getting more and more pungent, Annabelle resists the urge to cover her nose, tears forming in her eyes as she watches her son being so distressed.

Annabelle was there when her mate went through this, she could actually feel the pain through the link, but watching her son go through the same thing almost feels worse.

William just holds Annabelle and watches. He shouldn't have done this, he really shouldn't have done this. Regret washes over him, there is nothing he can do now to take it back.

Kai pants hard as every muscle constricts, convulsing wildly. His chin is thrown from his chest into the air repeatedly.

His fingers clench on the chair as his howl turns into a scream, that turns into nothing.

Kai leans back in the chair, breathing hard. The pain is gone.

His wrists and ankles are no longer damaged and they are no longer burning. The fastenings are quickly undone and Kai stands tall. He looks at his father and mother, who are standing huddled together watching him with wide eyes. Kai’s own eyes are as cold as ice. His voice is placid, not a single trace of emotion can be heard as he talks to the people that gave him life.

"I hope you're happy now"

He walks straight out of the room, he doesn’t even look back, he does not pause as he walks straight through to the pack house, not sparing a glance at anyone before walking straight up the stairs to his room.

He is embarrassed to face any of them. He has gone from the strongest in the house to now the weakest.

He packs up his bag and walks straight out the front of the house into the waiting car, not even sparing another glance at his parents that are ready to see him off.

"Drive"

Kai does not even look back at his home, which will not be his home for the next six months. He doesn't look back at his friends that are watching not knowing what is happening, he doesn't look back at his parents, that he knows deep down that they are doing the best for him. But it is too raw, the price was too great, the sacrifice was too large.

William and Annabelle look at the back of the car. They know he needs to do this, they know that he doesn’t mean what he says and he loves them deep down, but the look, the look from their son like he wishes they were dead. Their hearts are breaking just the same.

Kai feels nothing as he crosses the pack border. Why would he? It is not possible to feel anything anymore. All he feels is emptiness, his body feels hollow. The incomplete feeling settles hard in his heart, it rests on his lungs making it hard for him to breathe.

The car travels steadily along the meandering mountain road. Kai sighs as he looks out through the trees, his sense of freedom and his sense of self is no longer there, his best friend and half of him is gone, just like that, it is just gone.

He already misses so much. What can he possibly gain from this experience? It feels like it is just going to be loss after loss after loss. If he gets through it with his life intact, he will be surprised.

At some stage during the drive, he falls asleep. The driver doesn't say a word to him. He is one of the few that knows what has happened. He is the beta, he was around when William disappeared for six months. Many years ago he never understood how William missed his own childs birth. Once he found out the reason, he just can't comprehend it, it sounds crazy and he doesn’t agree with it at all, but rules and traditions in the werewolf world sometimes are without rhyme or reason, sometimes they're just followed blindly, what has worked just keeps on going along the same path, never a single deviation.

Dex knows that when William finally did reemerge after the six months, he was significantly stronger, he was wiser and had more humility, but back then he didn’t think much of it.

Finally, they pull up after a full day and night of driving. Dex points out the window.

"There is your house, future alpha"

He hands Kai the keys and a bank card. Then he restarts the car before Kai has even got out of the car. Kai sighs as he watches the apartment disappear as he settles back into his seat, his eyes taking in the scenery of the all too boring town. Dex pulls up in front of a school.

"Here is your school"

Kai looks blankly out at the school gate that is teaming with people, his lip quirks as he sighs, what a terrible hell hole, this is just the icing on the cake of a really sh*tty couple of days.

He just wants to lay on his bed in a fetal position for a week or two to try and deal with his loss. The last thing he wants to do is to insert himself into some terrible school situation. Dex doesn’t notice all the emotions traveling over his future alphas face as he continues his explanation.

"There are four different packs and lots of humans here. You should fit right in"

Kai snorts, the only sound he has made since entering the car. Fit in? A wolfless alpha will fit in nowhere.

"Remember future alpha, you don't have your abilities, you don't have your wolf, you don't have back-up. From the moment you step out that door, you are no longer future alpha, you are just Kai"

"Just Kai"

Kai repeats blandly, the words stick to his tongue and leave a bitter taste in his mouth, he has grown up revered, so he is not sure what it even means to be ‘just Kai’.

"Keep out of trouble, keep out of danger and don't tell anyone who you are. Without your wolf it will just put you in more danger"

Dex doesn’t even realize that his words are just rubbing salt in the wound. Kai wants to yell and wants to scream, he wants to take out all his anger on Dex, but it would solve nothing and it is unfair.

"Got it"

Kai opens the door to step out. Dex reaches back and grabs his arm.

"Kai, try to enjoy it"

"What is there is enjoy? I enjoyed my life before. How could I possibly enjoy this?"

Kai steps out and shuts the door, his tall body emerges from the car and attracts attention straight away. Kai walks away with confident steps, not daring to look back at the car, his last link to his pack and what he was. Now he is just Kai and he hates it.

Dex heaves a sigh as he watches Kai walk away. He can't blame Kai for his attitude. After all, who would be happy having only had his wolf for three months to have it taken away from him in such a way? He knows that William is trying to teach him something, as they have all done it before. But it is hard for your wolf to not become your identity, because it is half of you. To have half of yourself ripped away is a hard thing to tolerate.

Whether he will learn from this task or whether he'll come back in six months even more pissed off at the world, is unknown. Dex can only hope it is the former. He can only hope that Kai steps up. He is the future of the Misty Dawn pack. If there is actually value to be gained from this task, then he can only hope that Kai manages to absorb it.