Skinned

Valerie

“Valerie, wake up.”

“I’ll be up in five minutes,” I bit out with my eyes kept closed.

I turned away from the direction of Emma’s voice and found a better place on the hospital bed, choosing to hug a pillow and curling myself into a fetal position as I ignored the nagging female in the room.

“You can’t lay on the hospital bed forever,” Emma hissed.

“You forgot that I own this infirmary, Emma,” I groaned, “Leave me alone.”

I was sleep deprived.

I always was, but with my schedule set on Killian every night, it had gotten worse; I couldn’t find the proper time to sleep anymore.

Yet I did not regret anything.

It’s been three days since Killian and I put a start to our hunt for his past, and all the words that ever rolled off of his fluid tongue were questions about our existence, to which I was more than happy to enlighten him with.

I was taking an ample amount of his blood when he had decided to ask me a question, and his eyes held a keen interest within them as he waited for me to answer him.

“How did he become the leader when everyone is aware of his depravity?” Killian questioned, and I glanced up at him before returning my attention back on the needle stuck in his arm.

I didn’t even have to question who he was talking about. Anything of depravity had always been linked to Alpha Azeil.

“He’s the alpha of this pack because he fought to earn his title,” I simply answered him. “A pack runs solely from hierarchy. The strongest will rule, and the weakest will follow. Alpha Azeil fought for his place, and everyone beneath him will be made to follow his wishes, unless another wolf decides to challenge his title and becomes the Alpha.”

Killian didn’t say anything after I answered him. In fact, it looked like he pondered over my words for the entire time he was with me.

And a funny thought had slithered its way upon my mind, sending my lips to turn up into a grin. I figured that a big title could fit him beautifully.

Alpha Killian had a great ring to it.

Every night, he learned something about my pack. From our traditions, to their beliefs of the Moon, up to the knowledge of finding a mate.

“Would I be able to find one?” Killian asked me, his eyes sitting heavily on my figure as I continued to write down the speed of his heartbeat.

“I don’t know, Killian,” I told him nonchalantly.

I didn’t want him to hope for something that wasn’t meant for his kind. He was not a werewolf, not a normal one that could be stable enough for an actual mate.

“We’ll find out soon,” I told Killian reassuringly.

But of course, our meeting was strictly timed. After every questions and evaluation on his capabilities, it always ended the same, he would go back to his cell where he would meet his shackles with his wrists, only to wait for the following night to come.

A hard push to my shoulder had my eyes opening up in surprise.

“You need to wake up now, Valerie. Alpha Azeil is calling everyone up to the main grounds, Alpha Eli’s pack has arrived.”

I took in a large breath and sat up from the hospital bed to see a very rattled Emma with her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

Reaching up to touch my braided hair, I cringed at the messy feel of them and decided to pull away the tie, setting them free to land carelessly along my shoulder and back.

“You need to stop what you’re doing before you get caught, Valerie,” Emma sent me a glare. “It’s not safe for you, especially for everyone in the pack. If even a single wolf catches you with him, you’re going to get killed.”

Too depleted to even try and explain myself to her, I chose to ignore her statement and stood up from the bed before straightening out my coat by running my hands against the formed creases given by my slumber.

“Let’s go.”

Emma and I took our walk to the main grounds of the pack, and upon our approach, we were greeted by the crowd of werewolves that held the stench of strength and power, their demeanor easily conquering the members of my pack without even finding the need of flashing a teeth.

There, on the very front of the newly arrived wolves, stood Alpha Eli in his tall, strapping form. He was donned in a shirt that revealed his umber skin decorated with patterns and images that depicted his war.

His arms were crossed above the large expanse of his chest, taut muscles bunched out as he took in the sight of a pack that was poisoned by its own Alpha, and I had hoped that he could see through Azeil’s greed.

Alpha Eli didn’t express any emotion in front of my pack and turned his head over to his approaching mate, Luna Adira.

It was the first time that I had actually seen Eli’s infamous mate, and I couldn’t help but admire her purposeful stride. Her head was held high as she stopped to stand stiffly beside her Alpha while maintaining an odd distance away from him. She carried herself with a fierce light within her hazel eyes as she scanned the crowd of wolves in front of her.

Just like Alpha Eli, Adira’s body was decorated with the art of her history, but her skin held a unique color that separated her from every other member of the pack.

Vitiligo.

She was of umber color, but there were patches of white around the entirety of her body, the look of it so unique and beautiful that everyone took their time to admire her.

“She’s so scary,” Emma muttered, taking notice of the threat oozing out of Luna Adira as she remained hidden behind me.

I could also feel that Adira was of female strength, its prominence easy to pick up as I kept silent and rooted to my place. She embraced her power as she put her capabilities into the light of everyone’s eyes, and she meant it for the werewolves to acknowledge her respectfully.

She wanted everyone to know that she was not to be taken lightly.

I felt a slight pang of envy for Adira, how she easily carried herself and her wolf had brought shame to myself and what I had chosen to do.

I had completely hidden myself, while Luna Adira embraced the true nature of her wild.

With my lips set straight into a thin line, I turned my head to look back at Alpha Eli, only to have my body stiffen as I caught him eyeing me indifferently.

“Alpha Eli,” Luna Celeste greeted, “Luna Adira.”

Breaking my gaze from the Alpha of the other pack, I turned to Luna Celeste who sported a tight smile on her face, finding it amusing as I took notice of her apparent hate for Adira.

“It’s with honor that we commence this exchange with your pack,” Alpha Eli smiled with his dimpled cheeks, flashing them his teeth that meant anything but kindness, instead it was a fair warning to Luna Celeste who was trying to cross a boundary that begged not to be crossed.

Alpha Eli was not going to allow any offense against his queen.

“It’s an honor as well,” Alpha Azeil grinned as his hand came up to land a tight grip on his mate’s arm, “we’re more than happy to welcome you into our pack.”

Alpha Eli smiled with a glint to his blue eyes, and he turned his head to the direction of his Luna and sent her a hard look that forced her shoulders to curl forward.

Adira snarled at her mate’s way before acknowledging my pack once again, her eyes flooding with distaste as she feigned kindness with the expression of her face. “We hope to make a bountiful night, please accept our gifts as a token for welcoming us into your pack.”

I felt someone approach us from behind, and I looked over my shoulder to see Heath with an uninterested look on his face.

“What is it with lunas these days?” Heath questioned me, his voice held within a whisper as he watched the leaders of the two pack pay their greetings with one another.

“That’s an alpha female right there, Valerie,” Heath said, his eyes taking in the sight of the tall female standing proudly in front of us, his words chosen as if he was pointing at something so rare.

“I wonder how Eli manages to put up with her,” he frowned. “No one is meant to be undermined by each other, one disagreement from the both of them could lead to something worse.”

Maybe that’s why Adira and Eli looked like they didn’t want anything to do with each other. Both of them held a purpose that could never be settled within a single track.

But that was the price of being a female of power, if you embraced your nature, you were going to face an entire pack’s rejection.

And that was the flaw to the hierarchy; females were made to stay behind, and that included me.