DOMINIC
“Welcome back, Alpha,” the wolves greet me as I storm into my mansion.
“Where is Clarisse?” I demand as I head towards my study.
“The Luna is at the training fields,” one of them responds.
“Hmm. Tell her I am back.”
“Yes, alpha,” he says before disappearing from my side.
Louisa
Louisa is alive.
And strong.
The leader of the Coalition.
“Hah!” I scoff out as I take my seat beside the desk
Just what are the chances of that happening?
A wolf-less, pathetic creature being the leader of a pack of savage mutts.
What has the word turned to?
And for the fact that all those gathered wolves had fallen for her ruse.
Pathetic
What do I do now?
Thanks to that bastard, Viktor, my plans have not only been completely destroyed, but I have also been completely humiliated
No one, not even a single soul had stood up to him after he had thrown me out of the window
Is that how they all see me?
As some pathetic wolf that does not deserve their respect or sympathy.
If any of them had gone through the same thing, how would they feel?
And they sit there and talk about honour
Hah!
Honour my foot.
I need to give them a response.
One to show them that I am not the type to mess with.
A knock sounds on the door, breaking my internal monologue.
“Come in,” I call and watch as the door opens and Clarisse walks in. “Clarisse? Why didn’t you just walk in?”
“And risk being thrown against the wall again?” She replies coldly. “No thank you.”
Ah.
That.
She still hasn’t moved on from that accident.
“I already apologised for that, didn’t I?” I mutter.
“For that? For that?!” She snarls. “I lost my child!”
“Our child!” I snap back. “It was our child. I lost it too.”
“Well, pardon me but you don’t certainly behave like it. Especially, since it was you who killed it.”
“I said I was sorry!” I shout.
“And that is not enough! You are sorry? So what? You haven’t shown it in any way! You haven’t taken responsibility for your actions!”
“It was an accident, Clarisse!”
“That! That is exactly what I am talking about!” She roars as he points a finger at me. “It was an accident, Clarisse,” she mimics me. “Your temper, your lack of control, is not an accident. It is something that I have warned you about, several times and you have never listened. And even now, when you should be sorry, you are still trying to shift the blame from yourself.”
“What would you have me do, then?!”
“I don’t know!” She screams at me. “I don’t know,” she whispers brokenly. “All I know right now is that I can’t stand you. So, why don’t you tell me what it is you called me for and let me go back to my workout.”
“Fine, ” I say with a scoff before settling down in the chair. “You were among the wolves that my mother put in search of Louisa’s corpse, weren’t you?”
“What? Why- what the hell would you bring up your dead mate now?!”
“You asked why I called you for, this is it”
“You-”
“Just answer the damn question, Clarisse.”
“Yes,” she gets out. “I was. What of it?”
“You never found a corpse, did you?”
“You already know the answer to that,” she replies. “What is this about?”
“I saw her.”
“What?”
“I saw Louisa, today. At the Wolf Council meeting. She is the leader of the Winter Wolf Coalition. Can you imagine that?” I ask with a scoff. “Wolfless, pathetic Louisa is now a leader and to top it all off, she seems to be having an affair with that bastard, Viktor.”
She doesn’t respond and I look up to see her staring at me with a hint of disbelief.
“What?” I ask. “You are surprised too, aren’t you? I was as well. Thankfully, I managed to keep my cool-”
“You… You are an asshole, Dominic. A true asshole. And I only have myself to blame for not seeing it earlier.”
“What? What are you talking about? I-”
“No, I did see it,” she continues in that same cold and indifferent voice. “I did. What I am is foolish. Foolish to think that I wouldn’t be affected by your callousness. Foolish to think that I was special. Nobody is special to you, are they? Only you hold that position. Every other person is weighed by their value to you. Goddess, I have been so stupid.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We just had a conversation about our baby. The one that we lost thanks not only to your lack of control in your temper but also because the pregnancy was touch and go because we are not mates! And the next thing you are talking about is your fucking mate!”
“I-”
“I don’t give a shit if she is alive or who she is having an affair with. Damn it! What have I gotten myself into?”
“Don’t you understand?” I retorted. “She is with Viktor now! She could tell him our secrets -”
“What secrets?!” She shouts. “What bloody secrets do we have? Do you think she will talk about it? About you? When she has Viktor!*
“Clarisse, don’t you dare!”
“Oh, I dare. I’m case, you don’t remember, let me remind you. She was more than happy to reject you as well. She was running away from the pack that night. From you. She didn’t want you as a mate. Why in the hell would you think she would care about you?! Rather than worrying about her telling secrets that she knows nothing about, why don’t you worry about the ones you keep killing or kicking out of your pack, you fool!”
THWACK!
Before I could stop myself, my hand had made its way across her face, slapping her to the floor.
Shit.
“Clarisse,” I call as I reach for her, only for her to snap my hands away.
“Don’t touch me!” She snarls as she makes her way to her feet.
“Clarisse, I am sorry-”
“Don’t. Don’t say anything. Don’t apologise. Your words are worthless to me. I was busy before you called, don’t bother me again.”
“DON’T WALK AWAY FROM ME,” I roar at her. “I am your alpha!”
“What are you going to do?” She retorts. “Kick me out of the pack? Oh, wait! I know. You will rape me and then throw me off the cliff like the pathetic coward that you are. Go on. I dare you,” she taunts before walking away.
“Ugh,” I groan as I head back to my seat
What a bloody mess.
Why are women such complicated characters?
So emotional and irrational.
I had called for her to tell her about my discovery and the way I was treated, hoping that I would at least get some understanding from my partner and that is how she reacts.
No one understands me.
I am all alone.
Which is expected, I suppose
The great are the ones who have to go through isolation and despair.
But I will show them.
All of them
Including Clarisse.
Hah!
Me, a mistake?
I will show her.
Another knock on the door brings me back to myself.
“Come in,” I grunt.
A wolf, one of the patrols walks in, fear in his eyes.
“Al- Alpha,* he greets with his head bowed.
Goddess!
How did I get this sort of wolves?
Weak, pathetic, cowardly, sniveling excuses for wolves
Wolves are bold.
Tough, ruthless.
Not cowardly.
And yet, every attempt to make them into that is met with resistance and stupid murmurings of how cruel I am.
It is exhausting
“What is it?” I groan out.
“One of the wolves you sent to spy on the coalition sent word,” he says.
“Well? What is the word?”
“Um… uh… he… he said that he found a wolf. An alpha! Uh… Alpha Donald.”
“Donald?” I ask. “Of the Herring pack?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Donald was one of the alphas who had gone with Viktor and the others to attack the coalition.
He was supposed to be dead.
“Well, where is he? Where did he find him?”
“He… he said he found him heading towards his own pack. He kidnapped him.”
“He did what?!” I roar as I get to my feet. “Why?!”
“He… he was bringing him here… to you… I…”
“Where is he now?” I demand.
“He… he lost him.”
“He lost him?” I repeat with disbelief. “He lost the fucking Alpha that he kidnapped?!”
Goddess help me, I am going to kill someone today.
“Where did he lose him?” I ask. “Where is he now?”
“He said…”
“Speak man!”
“He said …he lost him at the boundary lines of the Vale pack.”
Fuck!