39. Hell on Earth

Aleida’s POV

The world is black—everything’s black. I’m alone in a dark world with no happiness inside it. At least that’s how it feels for me, and I have myself to blame. I knew from the beginning that I would have to leave my mates behind to save us all; I just didn’t know that I had to leave them with a rejection. I guess this is the price I have to pay; at least they’re safe now, even if it’s just for a short period of time. Why can’t I open my damn eyes? This darkness is making me annoyed! I can’t hear anything or anyone. Am I dead? Is this where you go? I must say that it’s sickly overrated; it’s just dull; I’m even beginning to miss my fucked up void; at least it was light over there... Even though the whole situation breaks my heart in half and makes me feel helpless, I can’t do anything but think that in the end, everything will work out. There’s a point in all this; there has to be, right? Again I try to open my eyes, and this time I succeed. It looks like some kind of basement room. A minimal window that can’t be more than three decimeters wide sits high on the wall at my left side. Besides that, there’s no other light source. In addition, it begins to obscure outside. This place is new to me. I was almost confident that they would throw me down in my old basement where I lived, but this is a unique place; I can’t recognize any familiar scents. Moisture, blood, mold, and dirt are the only smells I can find. It’s not easy to see in here; without my wolf that I can’t sense right now, my vision is as good as a human’s. My night vision is non-existent right now; my body feels weak, and I have to make an effort to listen to my babies’ heartbeat. It takes a little while, but in the end, I hear their strong heartbeats inside my womb, tears of joy fill my eyes; my darlings are okay! I make an effort to move forward when a pain cuts through my wrists; I look up at the metal cuffs that hold me in place hurt my skin. Well, that isn’t very pleasant. Gullible bastards! I sigh at their simplicity. They see me as a threat and show me that by putting this torture on me.

“Rule number one, never show your opponent your weaknesses.

Rule number two, never show your opponent that you see him as a threat.

Rule number three, never give your adversary the right to believe that he is better than you.

Rule number four, don’t let someone provoke you in a fight; it’ll make you unfocused and a simpler victim. Last but not least, rule number five, never back out and never submit to someone else’s will!”

Those are my dad’s words through every training session, and I’ve lived my whole life without understanding them until now. The door opens, and a small slip of light comes in. Heavy, trailing footsteps echo between the moist walls. Someone groans from pain when a thud sounds. Shortly after that, the door slams shut. Despite the pain in my body, I lift my head and see a person lying on the cell floor next to mine. It’s an older man that I very well recognize; his name is Luis, and he’s the leading strategist for the Rose moon pack. His eyes meet mine, and I see nothing but remorse.

“Aleida?” he asks with a shaky voice as if I were a ghost from his worst nightmare; it’s enough to quickly review his body to see how badly they’ve treated him since I last saw him.

“How have you been, Luis?” I ask with a warming smile.

My words make him break out in sobs. His shoulders are shaking, and he sniffs soundly. If I weren’t hanging from the freaking ceiling in chains, I would hug him hard. This man has been broken down piece by piece. It looks like I’m not the only one they torture...

“I’m sorry, Aleida,” he sobs.

“It’s okay, Luis. Everything’s going to be all right; I promise you that.”

“Where have you been? What happened to you?” he asks with glossy eyes.

I tell him everything that happened, and he only interrupts a few times to ask a question. It’s obvious he didn’t know what I had to put up with over the years. He looks more and more horrified the more I tell him. When I finish, he doesn’t say anything. I let him process and don’t interrupt.

“Your dad and I were like brothers,” he finally says; I look at him. “I, just like Jonathan promised him, we’d take care of you. To protect you and help you become the best alpha you could be. I’ve let him and you down; I understand you’re disappointed. You’ve always had someone who could help you reclaim what was rightfully yours; instead, I was too cowardly to dare help you... Jonathan threatened to hurt Charlene if I did something. Not that it matters now...”

“What do you mean?” I ask, and he gives me a sad look.

“They killed Charlene two months ago...”

“But why!?” I exclaim, horrified.

“Because I threatened Jonathan to tell everyone the truth about you. I knew that you were the rightful heir to the pack.”

It hurts me. Jonathan has once again damaged my pack! The wrath boils inside of me, but I know I can’t do anything about it right now. With a sigh, I decide to grab the situation.

“If I told you that you could become part of my pack, what would you say about it?”

“There’s nothing even to ask; I’ll be there without a doubt.”

That makes me smile; his loyalty reminds me of Michael... Oh, Michael, I’ll come for you; I hope you know that.

“Nothing is done with the idea. But I already have several people who are interested in joining the pack. The problem is, I can’t open it until we have our territory, and I figure we’ll take the unused that’s in the North. But first, we need to get out of here.”

“Tell me your plan.”

I wake up from the door opening. My neck pains me after my head hung while I slept. Heavy footsteps move closer and closer to me until they finally stop in front of me. I lift my head and see Jonathan; he smirks at me.

“Mornin’ Aleida, what do you say about us playing a game? You loved to play when you were a kid.”

“You stay away from her!” Luis growls at him.

“You, zip it!” Jonathan growls right back at him before he turns around towards me.

He puts his hand in his pocket and picks up the very same silver dagged I cut myself with the night I got taken to Kian’s pack.

“Do you remember this beauty, Aleida?” he says and smirks. “You liked it very much when you decided to embarrass me in front of other high-ranking members, didn’t you? Now, why did you do it, Aleida? Attention?”

“No.”

“No?”

“I wanted to die, and I prepared to do it my way.”

One glance towards Luis, and I can see his eyes with tears all over again. Jonathan laughs out loud.

“You will never get rid of me, don’t you understand that?”

He circles me, but the only thing I can focus on is the other members the guards throw into the cells. They all are members who haven’t been nasty towards me. Sam and Thomas are among them. They all give me sad and ashamed looks, knowing deep down that the pack is mine.

“And do you wanna know why my sweet Aleida?” he asks with a disgusting voice and caress my cheek.

I bite down on his hand, and he lets my cheek go before he slaps me across the face.

“You are a disgusting whore, Aleida! But I need you, that’s why I’m not going to kill you... Yet!”

“I don’t give a fuck if you need me, old man. I’m my own person, and your fucking queen. I don’t need to listen to anyone!” I growl with my alpha aura while he chuckles at me, and I’m confused to why it doesn’t work on him.

He has a witch on his side, Aleida. Your command doesn’t mean shit as long as she’s helping him be immune, Lisa explains in my mind, and I begin to feel panicked about the escalating situation.

“I know that you’re the werewolf queen; that’s why you’re going to carry my pup,” he exclaims happily while everyone in the room gasps.

“Oh, hell, no! I don’t take orders from anyone, you’re not my alpha, and you’ve never been either. An alpha takes care of its pack and doesn’t harm others for no reason. You’re going to die, Jonathan, upon my honor,” I growl, and he looks furious, but I still can’t hold myself. “And you know what? I have my mates. Alpha Kian and alpha Miliano will never ever let me go, even if I reject them. They love me, and although it wouldn’t be that way, I already have their pups in my womb. That’s why you’re going to back the fuck away and let me go before I make you!”

He growls at me, and it looks like he’s going to punch me in the stomach. My mother instinct kicks in, and I rip the chains off the wall in anger. I spin them around my head and throw them like a lasso around Jonathan’s neck; I tighten the chains, and his only source of air is immediately limited. I’m about to kill him when the moon goddess’ appears in my mind.

Not yet, Aleida! You have to wait before you can kill him; it’s not time.

“Listen here, you fucker, if you ever try or even think about hurting my pups again, I will fucking kill you and break you like a dry twig! Am I making myself clear?” I growl into his ear.

Before I can react, something burns in my shoulder blade. I turn around and see Cathrine stand there with a big smirk on her face.

“Hello, slut! Long time no see,” she snorts.

My mood shifts in a few seconds and I break her neck without hesitation. Behind me, Jonathan howls after the loss of his mate. All members are affected by this; they can feel it. At the moment, however, I don’t care; they deserve an excellent Luna. It’s enough with a hit in Jonathan’s head for him to go out like a light. The guards are staring at me before they run out of there. I open Luis’s cell door and hug him.

“I forgive you on one condition,” I tell him.

“Anything!”

“Plead yourself to me and honor my parents with me,” I say, and he goes down on one knee.

“I plead my undying honor and protection to my alpha, Aleida Mendez,” he says, and the others soon follow after him; I look around confused.

“We all knew, Aleida. When we rebelled, he killed our mates. We have nothing left here; please let us follow you!” a young man pleads.

“Luis, open up the cells and meet me in the meadow in ten minutes.”

In the meadow, I break down. What’s happened has been too much. I killed another wolf; I’ve left my mates and my pack behind... How will they ever forgive me?

“Alpha?” Luis’s voice breaks the silence. “We are-”

He stops talking when he sees my face. Without a word, he walks up to me and takes me in his arms, hugging me with the same warmth a father gives his child; he understands me. It takes a few minutes for me to stop crying and put myself together, but I stand up with an expressionless face when I finish.

“How many members do we have?” I ask Luis.

“There were fifteen members in the cells. Everyone except one is males.”

“Have all of them lost their mate?”

“Sadly, yes.”

“Then I have an announcement when they appear.”

“You just need to howl, and they’ll be here,” Luis says; I challenge my wolf power and howl; my new members appear within minutes.

“Dear members, from this moment on, this pack is for those people who lost or rejected their mates. If you know someone else who might want to start fresh, please, give them the opportunity.”

“Yes, alpha,” they say in unison.

“We have a long journey in front of us. But before we start that journey, we have one stop along the way.”

“And what is that?” a man asks, and I smirk.

“We’re getting my beta back from the Blood winter pack.”