Bury my name, Alpha

A sharp crack echoed through the room. My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning instantly from the force of my mother’s palm. The shock paralyzed me. I stared at her, my hand slowly rising to touch my stinging skin. Even after I explicitly detailed every venomous word Aliyah had said about using Alpha Kane for his wealth and power, my mother did not hesitate. She chose Aliyah instantly.

"Get out!" my father ordered, his voice booming as he glared at me with absolute disgust. "We are sick of your lies, Vida. You haven't changed at all. You are just a jealous, bitter girl trying to ruin your sister's happiness with Alpha Kane for your own selfish reasons."

Tears finally spilled over my burning cheeks. "You always do this," I choked out, my voice breaking under the weight of the injustice. "I know Aliyah has always been your favorite, but that is no reason to tolerate her toxic lies! You are completely one-sided!"

"How dare you speak to your parents that way!" Alpha Kane roared, stepping forward as his aggressive aura filled the space. "Leave this room immediately before I call the guards to throw your pathetic body out myself!"

I didn't leave because I was afraid. I left because the heat of my anger and heartbreak was suffocating me, and I refused to let them see me shed another single tear.

I bolted back to my room, slammed the heavy door, and threw myself onto the mattress, crying my heart out. Minutes later, a soft knock rattled the wood. I opened it to find Mary, the older maid who knew exactly how hard I had worked to save Alpha Kane. Hope flared in my chest. I rushed out the entire story, grabbing her hands. "Please, Mary, you have to tell Alpha Kane the truth. He will believe you!"

Mary’s eyes filled with tears, and she gently pulled her hands away. "I am so sorry, Vida. I can't. Your father would destroy me if I went against his orders. I am so sorry." She turned and hurried down the hall, leaving me alone.

The final anchor of hope snapped. I slid down against the closed door, wrapping my arms around my knees, crying until my throat was raw and my eyes had no tears left. Exhaustion from a solid month of sleepless nights and hours of sobbing finally caught up to me. I crawled onto the bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I woke up, the room was shrouded in the shadows of late evening. My stomach twisted with a sharp hunger pang, forcing me to leave my sanctuary and head toward the kitchen.

But as I approached the door, the sound of familiar laughter made me freeze.

"The look on her face when you slapped her, Katana!" my father chuckled, his voice dripping with amusement. "She actually thought we would side with her over Aliyah."

"She is entirely delusional," my mother scoffed, her tone full of cold mockery. "We will always choose Aliyah. She is our only real daughter, after all."

My heart stopped beating.

"I still can't believe you found that creature alone in the middle of the forest and actually brought her home, dad," Aliyah giggled. "She really thought she belonged with us."

"An absolute mistake," my father muttered. "Adopting her brought nothing but trouble."

My entire world shattered into pieces. Adopted. The lifelong cruelty, the favoritism, the physical abuse—it all suddenly made a horrifying amount of sense. The built-up rage of a lifetime of mistreatment boiled over. I threw the kitchen door open, my hands curling into tight fists.

"You monsters!" I screamed, staring at the three of them. "You lied to me my entire life!"

My mother turned around, her expression instantly hardening into cold disgust. "Keep your voice down, you ungrateful stray. We gave you a roof over your head, and this is how you repay us? By trying to ruin your sister's life?"

"She isn't my sister," I spat, my glare shifting to Aliyah. "And she's a parasitic liar."

My father took a menacing step forward. "Watch your mouth, Vida. You are nothing but a worthless orphan I found bleeding in the dirt. You don't belong to this family, and you never will. You are lucky we didn't leave you there to rot."

Aliyah smirked, leaning against the counter with a look of supreme victory. "Did you really think an Alpha like Kane would ever look at an ugly, discarded piece of trash like you? You spent a month playing nurse because that is all you are good for. A servant."

"At least I have a soul," I whispered, the heartbreak giving way to pure, unadulterated venom. I looked right into Aliyah's eyes. "You are a hollow, disgusting gold digger, Aliyah. You don't love Alpha Kane. You are just a pathetic leech using his body to get a crown. You are a disease to this pack, and deep down, you know you are completely worthless without his name."

Aliyah’s face twisted into a mask of feral rage. With a vicious snarl, she lunged across the floor, her claws extending as she swung directly for my face.

Instinct took over. I raised my arms, blocking her strike, and grabbed her wrists to keep her from tearing my skin. She clawed at me frantically, forcing me to use all my strength. Desperate to get her off me, I threw my weight forward and forcefully shoved her away. Aliyah stumbled backward out of control, lost her footing, and cracked the back of her head violently against the stone wall. Blood immediately rushed from the wound, staining her hair.

"Kane!" Aliyah shrieked, clutching her head as she collapsed to the floor. "Alpha Kane, help me! Vida is trying to kill me!"

Heavy footsteps thundered down the hall, and Alpha Kane burst into the kitchen. The moment his eyes landed on the blood dripping down Aliyah's face, a terrifying, murderous rage took over his expression. He ignored my existence entirely as he rushed to her side, pulling her into his arms.

Then, Alpha Kane stood up, his posture trembling with a lethal Alpha fury. Before I could even attempt to explain, he crossed the room in a blur of terrifying speed. His large, powerful hand clamped around my throat, slamming me hard against the opposite wall.

"How dare you?" Alpha Kane snarled, his fingers tightening like a steel vice around my neck.

I choked, my hands instantly flying up to claw uselessly at his grip. Air was cut off instantly. Spots danced in my vision as he lifted me slightly off my feet, his face inches from mine, twisted in complete hatred.

"Why did you do that to my mate?" he roared, his voice vibrating right through my skull. "You are a sick, jealous lunatic, Vida! She stayed by my side for a month, and you try to murder her the second I wake up?"

I couldn't answer. I could only gasp for air that wouldn't come, my chest burning as the man I had spent a month tirelessly nursing back to life choked the remaining strength out of my body. Just as the darkness began to creep into the edges of my mind, Alpha Kane threw me carelessly to the floor like a piece of trash. I collapsed in a heap, coughing violently and clutching my bruised throat, desperate for oxygen.

Alpha Kane turned his back on me, not caring if I lived or died. "Guards!" he roared, his voice shaking the stone walls. "Take this psycho away and give her the ultimate punishment!"

Rough hands immediately seized my arms, pinning my elbows behind my back. I struggled and kicked, but the guards ruthlessly dragged me out of the pack house and deep into the dark, terrifying woods. Horror cold as ice gripped my chest when I realized exactly where they were taking me: the Timberwolf Den.

"Alpha Kane's orders," the lead guard sneered, throwing me onto the damp earth. "We are burying you alive, liar."

I scrambled backward, fighting with every ounce of strength I had left, but the guards were too fast. They descended on me, their sharp claws slashing repeatedly across my arms and torso to weaken my defenses. I screamed in agony as the deep cuts tore through my flesh, staining the dirt with my blood.

"Please, stop!" I shrieked, tears and dirt mixing on my face as I tried to crawl away from their sharp blades. "Please have mercy! I didn't do anything wrong! I saved his life!"

They ignored my desperate pleas, laughing darkly as they pinned my bleeding limbs into the dirt.

"Save your breath, orphan," the guard mocked. "No one is coming to save a delusional liar."

While I lay gasping in absolute pain, sobbing and begging for a mercy they refused to give, another guard began rapidly digging a deep, dark pit right next to me.

Just as the guard raised his shovel to throw the first pile of dirt over my bleeding body, a dark, suffocating pressure dropped over the entire forest. The air turned freezing cold, and the sound of nocturnal animals vanished instantly. A powerful, earth-shattering roar sliced through the trees, vibrating with a ruthless, lethal command that literally fractured the stone walls of the nearby cavern.

“Which one of you worthless pieces of filth wants to die first?

The pressure of his dominant Alpha aura slammed down so heavily that the guards fell to their knees, gasping for air. Their weapons dropped into the dirt as their faces turned entirely pale with absolute terror.

"Alpha Maximus?" one guard choked out, his chest pressed to the earth by the weight of the aura. "The Apex Alpha!"

Panic erupted among them, and they desperately tried to crawl away into the brush to flee. But Alpha Maximus moved like a shadow. With blinding speed, his razor-sharp claws flashed through the moonlight, instantly decapitating the guards before they could even scream.

My body finally gave out, the world spinning as I began to fall. Before I could hit the cold ground, a pair of strong, impossibly warm arms caught me, lifting me securely against a broad chest.

I looked up and froze. Alpha Maximus was the most handsome man I had ever seen. His sharp jawline and dark hair made him look both handsome and intimidating. His golden eyes glowed in the darkness, filled with power that demanded obedience. He stood much taller than Alpha Kane, and his dominant aura made my heart pound.

He looked into my eyes and whispered,

"My mate."

Those were the last words I heard before everything went black.