Reclaiming my Fated Alpha

LAUREL's POV

Damn, it's a full moon again.

I hasten my steps, running up the winding staircase which takes me to Alpha Helios’ chamber on the topmost floor of the Morningstar packhouse.

I am late, I should have come earlier but I had to oversee the pack training in the Alphas absence. Quickly, I run my fingers through my hair, careful to tuck the hazel strands behind my ears in a desperate bid to look presentable. I know that it'll be messy again soon but I still want Helios to see me at my best even on a night like this.

Soon, I reach the top of a brightly lit landing where two guards stand on each side of the dark timber door. I nod at them and they both step aside. Then, taking a deep breath, I place my hands on the brass handle and push it open.

Something's wrong.

The faint whiff of a familiar scent coming through the door stops me in my tracks and my heart skips a beat. There is a musky and sweaty odour aggressively prevailing in the air too.

Could it be? No...it cannot be. Only I am allowed to enter the Alpha’s chamber tonight.

Thinking that I had probably imagined it, I step through the door to his room. Right there and then, my heart sinks to the deepest ends of the ocean.

For what greets me is the sight of Helios in the arms of my sister, Jamie.

Helios, in his sleep, is sprawled on the bed and on his lap is Jamie. She is naked and straddled on his thighs, sensually stroking his chest. There are bruise marks all over her body.

My jaw falls agape and I quickly cover my mouth to stifle a gasp. I watch in horror as my world comes crashing down with cruelty I had never known before. My heart shatters into a million pieces like glass thrown against the wall. But worst of all, I feel the sting of humiliation as I watch the only man I have ever loved in the arms of my sister.

Helios is a god amongst wolves; his face and physique are a gift from the Moon Goddess and it is no secret that he has always been a womanizer, but among all the girls that he has bedded, this is the final blow.

Why does it have to be her? And why does it have to be him? He is the one I've dreamt of all my life, and I'd do anything just to look into his eyes. For years I have served him and given him my heart and yet he breaks my heart time and time again. Does he not know how I feel or does he simply not care?

Sensing my presence, Jamie turns her head towards me. Both our ocean blue eyes meet and her lips curl up into a sinister smile.

Slowly, she unmounts Helios and saunters towards me in all her naked glory. The moonbeam shines on her golden locks as she sashays over, proudly showing off all the bruises and marks on her curves.

I would have to be a fool not to know how Jamie got them.

She stops but a mere inches away from my face and the smile plastered on her face tells me that she is pleased with herself. Very pleased.

Jamie has always been fond of Helios too and ever since he ascended the throne to become the Alpha, she has been dead set on becoming his Luna.

My sight blurs a little and I have to close my eyes. My breathing goes shallow and my chest tightens so hard I have to open my mouth.

I don't want to be here anymore; I want to leave this room but I cannot.

"Sister, why are you just standing there? You should be congratulating me. I finally got the man of my dreams,” she whispers tauntingly into my ear even as I stand rooted to the ground.

“Do you know how passionate Helios was in bed?” she snickers as she cups her own breasts, rubbing her nipples until they harden. “He kissed me, bit me and he marked me. He was an animal, and I loved every minute of it.”

I endure her taunting. It hurts so much that these two had spent the night together. I feel nauseated as if I am about to throw up but I swallow down my bile. My sister, my dear sister had spent the night with Helios. How did that happen?

I fist my fingers and feel my nails dig into my skin. It is painful, but the pain is nothing compared to the heartbreak I am feeling right now. But what right do I have to stop them? I am only the Beta of the Morningstar Pack; I am not his Luna.

Helios is the Alpha and he has the right to bed any woman he wants, my sister included.

I push aside the pain and force myself to open my eyes. I need to regain my composure; I am here for official business and I must not let matters of the heart get in the way. There's no time to waste. I say as calmly as I can, hiding the cracks in my voice, “Jamie, you must leave now.”

My order is met with a cackle of laughter. Jamie slaps her thighs and clutches her stomach as she giggles and snorts, laughing as if she has just heard the funniest joke in the world.

“Leave? Oh Laurel, don't be silly. Helios would want me to stay.”

She walks even closer and towers above me, her blood-red lips curling up high. She pokes me in the chest, hard, and says, “Laurel Moon, you should be the one to leave instead. You are stopping us from our lovemaking.”

I grow impatient and begin to tire of her arrogance

“Jamie, I am speaking to you not as your sister but as the Beta of the Morningstar pack. Leave now.” Jamie sneers at me and bares her teeth. She begins to shift and is just about to lash out with a hammerlike claw at me when suddenly, she shrieks, effectively changing back to her human form. "Oww!” she yelps out in pain.

She has been hit at the back of her head with a table lamp.

“What's the meaning of this?” a deep baritone booms from across the room and both of us immediately stop.

It is Helios and he has awoken. He runs a hand through his black mane. Our argument must have pulled him from his slumber. He turns his head to the side and looks at both of us with his eyes of obsidian fury. He was the one who had thrown the lamp at Jamie.

His thick dark eyebrows furrow and his strong clean-shaven jaw turn downward into a scowl. Jamie's smug look immediately melts away and is instantly replaced with one of a damsel in distress. She runs over to the bed, goes on her knees, and lovingly clings to his arm, “Oh, Helios! I was just telling Laurel not to interrupt your slumber but she wouldn't listen. She was so mean, she wanted to use her status as a Beta to kick me out. She was even going to —

"Shut up.” Helios swings her hand away. “Leave.”

He sits up straight now, in a posture and gait that screams of power and strength. With a single word, my sister, who had been acting all high and mighty just moments ago is reduced to a puddle of tears. She starts to cry, “But Helios, we were having so much fun. You and I, we were --" "ENOUGH! LEAVE!" he bellows.

Jamie is sobbing and looking at me with pure resentment. Between us, she’s the one ordered to leave. She must hate it to be embarrassed like this in front of me. Our Alpha’s word is law and Jamie quickly gathers her clothes and flees the room.

I slowly approach Helios and pick up a robe that lays strewn on the floor, wondering if Jamie had helped him to disrobe. I grit my teeth and force myself to focus on the task at hand.

“I am sorry, Helios. I did not know how my sister snuck into your room.”

He merely sits by the bedside and sneers at me. “Funny, isn't it? This is exactly the kind of thing you need to know,” he says, his words dripping with sarcasm. Helios has always had a temper that can rival the gates of hell

"At least I don't sleep with random women without even knowing their names,” I mutter.

"What did you say?”

Crap, I forgot his sharp ears. But right now, I don't feel like apologizing to him. In fact, a part of me wants to lash out and then hide until he goes away.

Helios sighs. It is the kind of sigh that shows he doesn't know what to do with me.

Swiftly, I hand him the robe and he pulls it over his herculean figure. Then he places his forehead between his palm and mutters, “Look, Laurel...”

Suddenly he lets out a groan and sways. His muscles tighten and his body is now covered in sweat. It's starting. This is not good...not good at all.

Pushing aside my heartache, I quickly move towards him and reach out an arm to steady and support his massive weight with my tiny frame.

"Helios, how are you?” I ask, filled with worry.

“Wiser to worry about yourself,” he whispers.

The full moon had always been particularly cruel to him and tonight, it sends him into an abyss of pain. Helios would be in so much pain he would lose all his senses and it tears me apart at how much he has to suffer every single time.

Suddenly, he screams and his nails dig into my skin, drawing blood. I swallow a whimper of pain. He snarls and turns his head my way. Our eyes lock for a fraction of a second and at that moment, my whole body begins to quake with fear. His usually obsidian eyes have turned crimson red, signalling that he is losing control over his senses. His inner beast is fighting to take over.

“Pull yourself together, Helios. You can do this.”

My plea falls on deaf ears as he begins to shift. I hear the sound of bones snapping and his body begins to change into his wolf form. Fur starts to envelop him and he throws his head up, letting out an excruciating howl at the moon.

“Helios, no! You have to fight it!" I shout, hugging him tightly.

I am not sure if it is the sound of my voice that pulls him back but suddenly, he starts to turn back to his human form.

“Laurel...” he calls out. “I can't control it any longer. Hide. NOW!" I won't listen. Helios can be a lot of things; domineering, overbearing and dictatorial. But I trust that he won't hurt me.

I hold his hand, whispering soothing words even as my heart beats thunderously.

His victory is brief because his human form disappears once more and he begins the agonizing shift again before he tries to shift back. In front of my eyes, I look at the wittiest and most powerful man I know turn into a senseless beast.

His eyes are now narrowing at me with a dangerous light and his fangs glint chillingly in the moonlight as he growls at me menacingly.

I have no choice but to back down and try my best not to irk him further. But it is too late. Step by step he advances, backing me into the corner of the room. Then, he stops.

Relief washes over me slightly Maybe he realises I am not a threat. Working up my courage, I carefully reach my hand to him, and gently caress his fur.

"Steady now..." I whisper.

Suddenly, he pushes me to the ground and climbs on top of me, effectively pinning me down, and leans dangerously close.