tell me

why'd you have to go and make things so complicated

i see the way you're acting like you're somebody else

gets me frustrated

My theories of the Alpha included:

Bipolar disorder

Psychopath

Brainwashed by aliens

Radioactive spider bites

All would explain his sudden 180º change in attitude.

As he was doing my work, I stood there awkwardly, unable to form a coherent sentence. Shifting gear, I left the cell and went to the supplies closet, grabbing a couple of cloth rags and disinfectant spray.

When I got back not even a minute later, I was surprised to see almost half the room cleaned. Alpha Rowan was certainly efficient. He tilted his head slightly, eyebrows scrunched, as I entered the space.

"You don't have to stay, Reya," his voice was low, sending tingles up my spine as he spoke my name.

Ignoring him, I began wiping the walls. After a couple seconds, I heard him resume mopping. We worked silently for half an hour, finishing before it was even one in the morning.

Alpha Rowan took the rags from my hands before I could even blink and pushed the mop back to where it belonged.

Despite my will, I felt extremely comfortable having him there. My panic attacks completely subsided, and I managed to clean without being on the verge of freaking out the entire time.

There was a tiny sink beside the supplies closet, and I stopped to wash my hands. My shoes were soaked in blood and I mentally groaned as I realized they were my last pair of sneakers. I would have to try and wash them before my next training session.

"You no longer have to clean the cells."

Well this man was just full of surprises tonight.

Confused, I pivoted to face him, noticing he was turned away from me, wringing a cloth out. His muscles flexed as he performed the movement, thick veins clearly protruding out from his forearms.

I felt insulted. Well, assuming he was doing it because he thought I was incompetent of course. But, as I was in no mood to cause an argument, I simply shrugged my shoulders and replied with, "Okay."

He gripped the cloth even tighter, if that was even possible, his knuckles turning white almost.

"They didn't check with me before asking you to clean the cells tonight," he roughly threw the rag in a laundry bin. "I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not asking you to stop because you're an Omega," he murmured in a soft voice.

Add demonic possession to the list, because I was pretty sure this wasn't my mate.

"Then why are you?"

Abruptly, Alpha Rowan spun to face me. His eyes locked with mine.

"It was wrong of me to make you do that in the first place."

And with that, he swiftly walked towards the stairs, leaving me alone with my heart racing.

~*~

I officially hated Alphas.

After a night of tossing and turning, having my mate's words replay over and over in my mind, I was straight up confused and mad.

My mate was annoying, Alpha James had been annoying, and this stupid Blood Alpha I needed to find, was also bloody annoying.

The green onions on the cutting board in front of me were getting the brunt of my wrath, as I repeatedly slammed the knife down on them, succumbing them to a fate of nothing but soup garnishes.

In my mind, all the chopped pieces looked like little Alpha Rowan's heads.

Bringing the knife down again, I severed six more of my mate's heads. "Take that motherfucker."

"Reya, you're going to slice the counter in half at the rate you're going," Ma chuckled.

Throwing her a tired smile, I used the knife to wave at her as she put on her apron. "Hey, Ma, how've you been?"

"Picking up after these useless buffoons!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "The amount of socks I've collected is ridiculous!"

I simply laughed in response.

It was an hour later that I felt a familiar ache in my bones.

Struggling to fight the urge to cry out, I quickly tidied up my station and ushered out of the kitchen. Not even 30 seconds later, I was at Uncle Eddie's door, knocking as calmly as I could.

The door flung open and all it took was one glance at my face before he knew what was going on.

"Try to hold it in for a few more moments, okay Skittle?"

I gritted my teeth as Uncle Eddie darted around the room, whispering enchantments and drawing the curtains shut. Once he was finished, he simply gave me a nod and I took that as my signal.

Kneeling down, I began to release the control I held on my body, causing my bones to begin rearranging. Normally, I had a significant amount of control over my shifts, but this time I hadn't shifted in a few months, and my wolf needed out.

The process was painful, since I had held it in for so long, but it was bearable. Not even 30 seconds later, my wolf had replaced me, standing in the centre of Eddie's room, taking up far too much space.

My beast was a fair size, coated with beautiful white fur, speckled with grey. I had taken after my mom's wolf, but my eyes stayed the piercing blue of my father.

At least that's what I was told.

I had never actually seen my wolf since I'd only ever shifted at home, so I only saw my paws and knew what Uncle Eddie had told me. It was too risky to shift outside - my scent was really strong as a wolf. When I was younger, I had always dreamed of running through the forest really fast, feeling the breeze in my fur as I explored.

Unfortunately, I didn't know when or if that day would come, so the dream slowly faded.

Doing a big shake as I settled into my form, I let out a sigh as I stretched my limbs.

"My oh my," gasped Eddie. "You look stronger every time. Let me get a good look."

I did a little twirl for him, showing my beast off proudly.

"Alright, let's see those teeth," he inspected me closely as I threw him a wolfy grin. "Excellent. Now give me a growl."

I let out a low growl, the sound rising from deep within me.

"Atta girl," he patted my head. I began prancing around the room as best I could, given there was hardly any space.

I gave myself about an hour to stay a wolf, before returning back to being human. It was never enough release for my beast, but it was all I could manage.

It was pretty late at night when I finally took a long, steaming hot shower, before settling on the couch and drifting off to sleep.

~*~

I jolted awake to the sound of paws scratching against my door. Checking the clock, I saw that it was well past two in the morning. Rowan's wolf didn't usually come this late, but I didn't really think anything of it.

Flicking on the lamp, I shoved my feet into my slippers and padded over towards the door.

However, when I opened it the scene in front of me was completely unusual.

His wolf lay there, slumped against the wall, a pool of blood forming beneath him.

With a gasp, I knelt down beside him. His black eyes met mine, and he let out a small whine.

"Where are you hurt?" I asked as lightly as I could.

He only whined in response.

"Let's get you to the pack doctor, okay?" His fur was so dark that I couldn't quite see the exact location of his injury, but the amount of bleeding was enough to tell me he was hurt badly.

He snarled and shook his head, leaving me even more confused.

"Okay," I blew a hair out of my face, as I tried to think. "Okay, can you make it into my room?"

He stood shakily, which enraged my wolf. I felt a burning desire to strangle whoever did this to him. I bent down slightly to stand partially under him, letting some of his weight fall onto me as I guided him to his usual spot.

"Sit down here, alright? I'm gonna get some towels," I helped ease him down, before rushing into the bathroom.

There were a hundred questions floating around in my head. How did he get hurt? Was there an attack? Why didn't he want to see a doctor?

But I knew from personal experience that now was not the time for an interrogation.

Grabbing some towels, I soaked a couple in water and rummaged through the cabinets for some rubbing alcohol.

I almost dropped all my supplies, as soon as I stepped back into my room.

My mate had shifted back, lying in the same place where I had left him. And more importantly, he was entirely nude.

The first thing I noticed was the number of bleeding cuts littering his body.

The second thing I noticed was he was fucking fine.

But this was not the time to let my thoughts run wild.

My blood ran cold as I took in his wounds. Wounds that I was very familiar with. Wounds that could only happen if you were held captive. 

The lines were straight and deep, and there were too many to count, raising the biggest question of all - how did an Alpha get whipped?

The mate bond twisted painfully within me.

My wolf was seething and she wanted blood. It took everything in me not to run out the door and hunt down whatever fucker did this. 

It didn't matter right now.

Approaching him, I realized he appeared to be unconscious, which was not good.

I draped a towel over his lower region, before kneeling beside him.

"Alpha," I whispered. "Can you hear me?"

No response.

I poked his cheek.

Nothing.

Fortunately, I could hear his heart beating so I knew he was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, I gently placed one of the wet towels on a wound and began to lightly clean it.

The cloths were quickly drenched in blood as I did my best to wipe it up. He didn't even flinch as I gingerly dabbed the rubbing alcohol on them.

What concerned me though, was the fact that he didn't seem to be healing.

"Come on, wake up," I kept trying to get him conscious as I began wrapping some of his gashes with my spare t-shirts, but nothing seemed to be working.

I racked my brain, trying to think of a way to get him to start healing.

I had done everything I could, except for ...

Taking a deep breath, I gripped his hand. I had never tried this before, but I knew from Uncle Eddie that it was possible. Concentrating on his cuts, I imagined them healing.

Nothing happened.

Holding his hand tighter, I closed my eyes. I began picturing his wounds transferring onto my body, disappearing from his.

I flinched as a burning sensation erupted all over me, sending a wave of searing pain through my body. Lifting my shirt, I saw cuts and bruises lightly form along my rib cage, before sinking into my skin and fading. My heart hammered as I looked to see my mate's injuries beginning to close up.

Letting out a breath, I dropped his hand and sat back. My family's royal blood gave us one power that no regular wolf had - healing other wolves. Eddie had taught me everything he could about it; the Moon Goddess gifted us with the ability to heal our own. If our people were going to put their trust and faith in us, it was only fair we be able to protect them as best we could. 

My parents were supposed to be the ones to teach me how to do it, and I had never been able to practice it since it was a dead giveaway of my identity.

I propped up Alpha Rowan's head, placing a spare pillow beneath. Grabbing a blanket, I draped it over him before shutting the lights and returning to the couch.

My eyes settled back on him, noting how peaceful he looked. A pang shot through my chest as I recalled his numerous rejections of me.

With a sigh, I turned around, letting my exhaustion drift me to sleep.

----------------------------

hiiiiiii

it's literally been months since I updated and I am soooo sorry !

But thank you to all of you who have been reading/voting recently <3 <3 I noticed a huge jump in my reads and I was like wtf is going on - you guys pushed me to upload this so huge HUGE thanks <3

I'll try to get another chapter up soon!