Cursed Mate Of The Supreme Alpha

RAINA

The echo of Zane's footsteps still vibrated through the marble corridor long after he had vanished from my sight. The air he had left behind was thick like the aftermath of a storm that had decided to hover just above my skin. I stood frozen in front of Diego's door, my heart hammering against my ribs, waiting for it to stop , the trembling, the noise, the way fear had taken a complete hold on me.

I didn't see Diego like I had hoped, only abuse by Alpha Dirke and Zane's timely intervention. I was still shocked by all what was happening to me, it's been a crazy day. All my life i was used to being abused, maltreated by my pack, I had no one to fight for me. But tonight, tonight Alpha Zane did, it felt surreal.

When I finally snapped back to reality, I turned back toward the long, shadowed hall leading towards the lower chamber of the castle where my room is. The silence of the castle unnerved me ..... vast, endless corridors with polished floors that reflected ghostlike versions of myself. My bare feet made no sound, but I swore the walls could hear me breathe.

Zane had told me to stay in my quarters. He had said it with a tone that allowed no defiance. I stopped, my mind swirling with thoughts and emotions. But staying meant waiting. Waiting for punishment , waiting for whatever "preparations" the Alphas made for disobedient half-bloods.

No, I couldn't, not again. I had lived my whole life caged by commands, threats, and cruel eyes that saw me as less than dirt. If I didn't leave now, I never would, this was my chance. I glanced around freightenly, I saw no guards about, the hallways were empty.

So I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.

The corridor stretched before me like a race track. The white robe clung damply to my skin from the earlier bath, and each step made the marble cold against my soles but I didn't care. I passed high-arched windows veiled with red drapes that blew against the wind. Every flickering bulb sent fear down my soul as I ran, my eyes searching for the entrance.

I told myself to breathe quietly, to move carefully. But my heartbeat was so loud It pounded in my ears, echoing in my head and feared that the guards heard it too.

I sprinted down the great curved staircase that led to the entrance lobby. If I could reach the entrance doors... then the golden gate that we had passed through when we arrived... then maybe I could find the road, or even run into the forest beyond the palace walls, then, freedom.

"Don't think, just move," I whispered to myself, my pulse racing. I descended the long stairs quickly, clutching the robe around my waist. My white long hair was still damp from my luxurious bath from earlier, it brushed against my cheeks as I jumped down the stairs.

I reached the ground floor, I stood before the massive double doors in front of me, it had images of the moon carved with the crest of the Supreme Alpha: a wolf mid-howl under a blood moon. The guards that usually stood there were gone, I thanked my luck for that, finally something good is happening to me. I looked around me, no one was around, not a sound.My breath become erratic and shallow as if I was having a heart attack, I felt liquid fear.

"Please," I murmured, my fingers trembling as they reached for the handle of the large entrance door "Just open"

The moment my fingers curled around the cold iron handle, a faint hum rose in the air. The hair on my arms lifted, the security alarm had gone off.

"No, no, no......." I stumbled backward, shielding my ears. "Please, I just wanted......."

The floor vibrated beneath me, I began to shiver as I heard footsteps thundering towards me, I heard shouts, growls, voices, the atmosphere once quiet like a graveyard erupted with chaos. the large entrance doors suddenly started emitting smoke and sealed themselves shut with a loud click.

I turned to run back toward the stairs, but a dozen shapes appeared - tall, broad, silver-armored wolves with tasers, guns, daggers at their hips. Their eyes glowed faintly in the alarm light, feral and pitiless.

"Stop where you are!" one of them barked. His voice cracked like thunder. I froze. My lungs burned, I was sure I would pass out My body refused to move even as every part of me screamed for me to run, instead my feet's wobbled.

"I......I didn't mean to......"

"Your hands where I can see them." the guard ordered. I lifted my shaking hands. They closed in around me, surrounding me like a cage. Someone grabbed my arm; another pulled out a cuff, I gasped, stumbling.

And then the sound of the alarm cut off abruptly, everywhere became silent again. I lifted my now watering eyes to see him marching towards me with so much rage, Alpha Zane.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The guards parted instantly, lowering their heads in a low bow. He emerged through them like a God, tall, broad-shouldered, his black coat swirling around his boots, he towered above them all. His presence filled the hall, and the air seemed to bend under it. His eyes, dark with rage locked on me.

"I told you," he said softly, dangerously, "to rest."

"I.....I wasn't......" My voice cracked. "I only wanted to....."

"To what?" He stepped closer, and I could smell his scent : smoke and pine and the faint metallic tang of dominance. "Disobey me again? Run? From this castle?" His lip curled faintly, and his eyes turned toward the glowing doors with the smoke subsiding now "You thought you could escape me, you wretched slave?"

I flinched. "I didn't mean to ..... please, I was scared.... please" I trembled. I knew this was the end for me, he would surely kill me now.

His wolf stirred. I could feel it - a pulse of energy that brushed my skin like invisible claws. I could feel his control over me, something sparked within me as my wolf stirred again. She only appeared whenever I was close to him, never when I was alone, heck! , I didn't even know her yet, her name, I only felt her presence when close to Zane.

Then, with a quiet breath, he straightened. "Take her back," he ordered the guards. "Now." The guards dragged me up the stairs. My legs barely held me; every muscle trembled, my legs were like Jelly.

The large walls of the castle suddenly felt so small as if it will suffocate me. I swayed as tears blurred my vision, I could still feel his eyes on me; that cold, assessing stare he had even as the doors to my quarters closed behind me with a heavy thud.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

I sank to the floor, my knees hitting the plush rug with a soft thud. My hands shook as I pressed them to my face. "Why," I whispered, "why can't I just be free?"

The air smelled of lavender and donkey milk soap from the earlier bath. The bed lay untouched, it looked too soft, too grand, too alien to me. I slept on a hard bamboo bed back in moonshire, it creaked under my light weight whenever I slept causing me pain. I hated all that was happening to me. The large golden walls, the silk curtains, the, the soft bed. None of it felt real to me, it felt like the prelude to a death sentence.

Because that's what this was, wasn't it? The kindness of an Alpha before the execution.

A sobbed, my tears spilling fast and free. "Why let me live if you're just going to....."

My voice sounded croaked, I curled in on myself, trembling. Every bruise, every scar, every humiliation I had endured in moonshire suddenly felt fresh again. I wasn't meant to exist, Alpha Dirke had said it so to me all my life. I am just a curse, a mistake, an abomination. Maybe this was the Moon Goddess's punishment finally catching up to me to finish me up.

But even through my haze of despair, a question rose in my mind. A strange warmth washed over me. why did his wolf call me mate? I felt it. Every time Zane looked at me, something inside me responded, my wolf stirred, why?.

"Stop it," I whispered fiercely to myself. "He's your captor, not your savior."

The minutes dragged, I was still slumped on the floor of my room, my head rested lightly on the door. I thought of Diego, I wonder where he was? had he betrayed me? Or was he locked up somewhere, paying for my failure? The thought sent a wave of guilt crashing through me. I pressed my forehead against the hard door. The moonlight from the high window spilled across my white robe, creating a silver glow as it reflected against my silver hair.

I was about to doze off right there when I heard Footsteps. Firm and swift coming closer down the corridor. I froze. The door handle rattled once, then stilled. Then I heard muffled voices, low deep tones which I recognized immediately.

Zane and his Beta Mark were standing outside my door. My pulse quickened.

"...she triggered the barrier herself," Mark's voice said. "If she's a spy, that would explain........"

"She's not a spy." Zane's tone was rougher now, quieter. "She's... something else."

"Then what do you want done with her?"

A pause, long heavy silence. I pressed my ear to the door. My hands were cold and slick with sweat. Then I heard Zane speak again, his voice calm but firm.

"Make the necessary preparations, Mark."

The footsteps moved away, fading into silence.

But the echo of his last words continued pounding in my head. The words had been said after a long silence from the Alpha making it sound important, grave. What plans? what preparation?