I continue to stare at the lifeless body in front of me. This was a man who trained for three weeks nonstop to try and win a stupid battle that should have been his automatically since he's the heir of the previous Alpha. John... I can't believe he's gone. What will I do? I stare speechless for almost forever until my eyes burn and I've come to realize that I'm crying to the point I'm heaving for air. I look up to the blue moon and scream and wail till everyone in the circle are staring at me like I'm the monster in the night. Greg comes up to me and starts whimpering to my belly. My sorrow is quickly replaced by anger and rage and without knowing I lunge at Greg's neck, but he stops me with pinning my hands to the ground leaving me unable to move at all. Greg growls in disapproval but then licks the side of my face where dirt and tears have mixed to form a paste.
"Get off me," I scream. He obeys with no hesitation but remains on high alert of my next move.
"Minerva, please don't kill the next Alpha," says the blonde woman who spoke about me earlier. "He's the only one to lead us out of turmoil."
"What do you know of turmoil?! All you women have the luxury to live as a devoted mate who bare children to men who steal you away from your homes! John lost his life to your way of living. No one needs to die or be taken! Why are you this way!" I look at the crowd and curl up in fetal position, wishing to disappear or wake up from this horrid nightmare called life. I continue to cry until my body is exhausted to the point of sleeping in front of everyone.
. . .
I wake in the same position but in a different location from where I once was. I stay in the same position but look around the different hut I'm lying in. The hut is dark and all I could see is little balls of light surrounding the middle of the ceiling. It almost looks like the roots of a tree with the little lights on the ends. I don't know what this sorcery is above me, but all I know is that I'm not in John's hut. Just the thought of John, the memories come flooding back from last night. Poor John, our last great memory on the top of the mountain looking out at the glistening water.
I close my eyes and hope that it was all a horrible dream until realization struck me-- I now belong to Greg, the new Alpha. I also Greg's quick reflexes from my forward attack. Of course, I was too emotional to try and kill him, and that snobby blonde woman with her comments. I'm about to succumb to crying my eyes out once again until I hear someone clear their throat as if to let me know I'm not alone.
"I know that you're awake," says Greg when I stopped breathing. I took a little breath as he emerges from the shadow in the corner of the hut. I still say nothing as he pulls out a chair to sit in front of me and looks at my whole body. I shiver from his intense stare of his glowing yellow eyes. I break eye contact and concentrate on his arms crossed across his chest. His muscles were ripped to the point of seeing a faint vein on his forearm under his thin layer of arm hair. He takes a deep breath before continuing the conversation.
"I know that I'm the last person you want to see at the moment, but I do want to tell you how sorry I am for your loss," he says. I say nothing yet, but my eyes deceive me with tears spilling out.
"I know that you are against the whole tradition of the Moon Village, and I respect it," he pauses, "but keep in mind that now I'm the new Alpha, you won't be casted as an outsider since your mate died. I'll be your mate, if you'll have me. Not to mention that you'll be having John's baby in a few months.
"What," I yell. There's no way I wanted kids, my whole goal was to escape once John becomes Alpha, so he'd least expect and make it back home. It was the only plan I could think of without trying to cause any more attention to myself. I think Greg may be lying to keep me tied to this Moon Village.
"He mated with you three weeks ago as well as last night before the battle. All the males could smell him all over you," I hear him inhale and sniff the air to double check and stares down in disappointment. "The men prefer to mate after the battle to have a chance to live out their lives with the women and children."
"I shouldn't even be here," I whisper.
"I know," he whispers back, "I told John the night he came back with you to leave you to your village after you murdered the previous Alpha. It was beginner's luck for him to bring you back unconscious." He shook his head and leaned further back into his chair looking at the floor with a small grin. "I didn't want him to be killed but once a wound is open like that... the most honorable thing to do is put an animal out of its misery rather than leave them to a slow death."
I start to cry harder in my hands once his words came out, trying to conceal the pain of losing someone I grew fond of in the span of a whole month. He wasn't the strongest or the most open, but he tried his hardest to make me comfortable with the huge change in my new life in Moon Village.
"I just want to go home," I cry out. "Why can't I go home? No one seems to give me a straight answer except the fact that I can't leave. What is the reason, Alpha?"
"I can't tell you at the moment but if you stick around longer than anticipated, you will find out that the truth is front of you." He looks in my eyes as if he wants to say more but remains silent.
"I don't know what you would want of me," I sniffle, "no one wants me, yet I can't leave. Now I'm pregnant with a dead man's baby and promised to you of all people--a killer monster." He chuckles and begins to stand up in front of me.
"Shut up you hypocrite," he laughs, "you have no right to call me a killer monster when it's your fault as well for being in this predicament. You basically sold yourself to a man who was weak and controllable, so you'd have a chance at survival in our stupid village. I choose to survive than be manipulative like you." His words stung and pierced at my head as I realize how very much right, he is.
"It's true that I don't want you," he looks away clearly lying to himself, "but you are my mate by role, and I will do whatever it takes to protect you and your baby. But this," he points to me and himself, "we are not together as a couple. I only wanted the title of Alpha without finding a mate. I have no goals with being with you."
"Good to know we are on the same page, prude," I yell as I get out of bed to go follow him outside. He goes to the other side of his hut where it appears he chops wood for his fire. He picks up his ax and grabs a piece of the log and in one swift move his arms swing over his head and split the log in half. His muscles managed to bulge out even more when the blade of the axe hits the stump leaving the sound of wood splitting echoing around us. He looks up at me with his piercing yellow eyes as if annoyed with my presence. "You're still here?" He smirks as he goes to retrieve another log to place on the stump. I blush slightly from the way he swings once more only I can hear his grunt as the axe pierces through to the bottom of the stump.
"I don't know. I'm the Alpha's mate, what do you think I should be doing," I say annoyed.
"Make friends with the women in the village, cook, clean, gossip. That sort of thing that women do," he swings on the next log. The sweat between his shoulders start to shine from the sunlight. For some reason my body had other ideas of what to do with my time, but my brain is saying hell no to that idea.
"I don't know how to bond with women my own age," I complain. Especially with the girl from last night that insulted John and our relationship before his sudden death.
"You got to talk with the girls from last night, I'm sure they'll be glad to see you again," he muttered.
"Are you blind? I did not get along with that flock of gossiping hens. The women hate me, and I don't like them either way." I cross my hands like little child with a heavy temper. My body from the hips down wanted him badly but I continue to stick to my mind over matter process.
"You need allies and starting with the women in the village will give you something to focus on while being pregnant," he said in a softer tone and casts me another glance before another swing of the axe.
"If anyone tries anything with me, be sure to realize that it's your own fault for forcing me into this lifestyle." I storm off to the middle of the village to try and consult with these idiots.
I hear Greg sighs and puts down the axe before I feel his hand grip my arm to pull me into the hut. Once inside, he draws the pelt to cover the entrance and the lights illuminate the inside like the stars from last night. He sits me down on the chair and he takes a seat on the bed.
"What I tell you right now, cannot leave this area," he whispers while maintaining eye contact. I nod in agreement to not say a word.
"I don't approve of women being stolen in the night," he pauses, "I'm planning at some point to end that ritual in this village."
My eyes widen from his words, surely, he must be joking or trying to get on my good side, so I'd become a devoted mate who never leaves.
"My plan is to unite the other villages over time and introduce interracial mating and to return you back to Cidra." He waits for my reaction, but I remain expressionless.
"And how are you going to do that," I finally ask. I cross my arms across my chest once more.
"We need to work together in order to convince everyone else. And that includes you," he points to me, "you need to mingle with the women of this place and have a better understanding of them and where they came from."
"And what about the men of this village," I ask. Surely, he can't possibly think this idea of his won't work overnight.
"I know it won't happen overnight," he adds, "but I'm sure they can't object to their new alpha." It feels almost like he could read my mind when he said that.
"So, what you're telling me is basically to get to know the women here and figure out who belongs where and hopefully reunite them back to their families. And for you to somehow persuade the men here that your idea is better than the one they've been following for who knows how long." I roll my eyes as he nods in response to my brief summary to his idea.
"Alright, fine I'll go along with your stupid plan, but here's the catch," he waits, "but you need to do me a favor."