A Heart So Dark And Lonely [t.n]

Chapter Three

As dawn painted the sky a dusty hue, Theo emerged from the depths of the forest, shedding his wolf skin for another.

    He slipped his shirt over his head, wincing slightly at the discomfort between his shoulders and the strange, unfamiliar stretch of his arms. His muscles burned every time he shifted and his bones would ache for hours. It would take a while before his body got used to being in this form again.

    This was what he hated the most - the in between.

He grabbed his coat from the mailbox and slipped it on. His body temperature was still high from his transformation and Theo planned to retain the heat as best as he could, wrapping the coat tightly around himself.

He rubbed at his eyes tiredly as he trudged his way back into the village. He was mentally exhausted, having spent an entire night prowling the forest. But physically, his body felt wide awake.

    His beast still stirred restlessly inside him.

    Theo tried his best to shove the beast deep down as he entered the community hall. He was looking forward to a quick breakfast before he ventured back into the forest in search of a better place to setup his new home.

Somewhere deeper, perhaps. Where it would feel more secluded.

Theo leaned his cheek against his closed fist, his elbow propped up on the wooden table. He had finished his third helping of bacon and eggs but still felt like he had room for more.

    As he waited for his fourth helping to be delivered by the waitress, Theo watched his friends bicker with a growing sting in his heart.

    His food finally arrived just as things started to get heated. The tension in the hall snapped when Blaise crossed a line that he shouldn't have. Everyone at the table froze as the words hung heavily in the air. Theo could tell that his friend regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.

    But it was too late. The damage had already been done.

    Alice spat a curse at Blaise before she stormed away from the table. He wasn't sure if it was the light playing tricks on him or if he was just too tired, but Theo swore he saw the glisten of tears rolling down her pink cheeks.

    Pansy chased after her, but not before she called Blaise a dumb asshole and told him to pull his shit together. Theo couldn't help but silently agree. Blaise had been needing a reality check for months now. He was glad that it was Pansy who had finally vocalised it.

    Theo had been manifesting that for weeks.

    Draco was silent. But the corners of his mouth twitched disapprovingly before he coaxed his mate from her seat and they left the hall wordlessly.

    It was just the two of them now. He could feel the miserable rage and regret rolling off of Blaise's shoulders and the pheromones being released in the air was making him feel agitated as well.

    No wonder Draco had left. Surely his mate must have felt uncomfortable. The place reeked of aggression.

    Theo turned his gaze to his fellow Alpha, trying to decipher the complicated emotions that flitted across his face.

    Theo couldn't ever understand why Blaise was the way he was. He certainly could never be able to understand why his friend needed to make everything in his life so complicated for himself. When in reality, he had it the easiest among everyone else.

    Theo used to think Draco was the dramatic one in their trio when they were younger, but the crown really goes to Blaise.

    A part of him sympathised with Blaise, but the other part of him - the darker part of him - hated his friend.

    Blaise had everything Theo ever wanted. A mother, wealth that he didn't have to work for, great combat skills, guts of steel, power and respect.

    A mate.

    But he was never grateful for any of it. Well, maybe only for his mother. Blaise was a dutiful son above all else, that was the only redeeming quality of him. He wasn't a completely bad friend either, on occasion.

    Yet sometimes, those positive qualities of him were easily overshadowed when Theo was reminded of all the reasons he couldn't stand his friend.

    And the top vindication of his unjustifiable hatred was the fact that Blaise had a mate but refuses to accept it.

    It grated on Theo's nerves. Sometimes, he wished that the universe would allow them to switch places. What Theo wouldn't give to have what Blaise had.

    A mate; an Omega.

    Someone that the universe had deemed physiologically perfect for you. A gift from Heaven.

    Yet Blaise had looked the gift horse in the mouth and said to Hell with it.

    And for that, Theo sometimes despised him.

    "You really are a piece of shit," Theo spat out before he could stop himself.

    Blaise had looked up at him in surprise, either at the venom that dripped from his words or the mere fact that he had even said anything at all.

    His friend looked like he wanted to say something back, something that he would regret. But then Blaise stopped himself when he looked at his eyes, at the desolation and self-hatred that surely burned in the depths.

    Blaise saw the loneliness that gaped at him from his hollow eyes and understood that nothing had needed to be said. You couldn't hurt someone who was already hurting themselves. He just looked away from Theo, head bowed.

    "I know."

    Theo left the hall before he did anything that he would regret later. Like punching Blaise in the face, for instance. He was feeling the unadulterated anger and aggression clawing at his insides, threatening to rip at his skin. The need to shift was almost intoxicating, but Theo fought it.

    He was more than that. He wouldn't give in to the beast.

    Theo passed by the Betas that were on guard duty and left the village. They eyed him apprehensively but knew better than to talk sense into an Alpha in his current state of mind.

He stalked deeper and deeper into the forest until barely any daylight shone through the canopy. The cold air nipped at his skin, cooling down the burning sensation and turning his beast dormant for the time being.

Theo barely had the time to sigh in relief when something sent his entire body into overdrive. His senses had gone haywire and he nearly stumbled at the feeling of having his legs swept out from under him.

What the hell?

Theo could feel his insides churn painfully and an unfamiliar heat burned him from the inside out. It was like mercury was running in his veins.

He doubled over, gasping in pain as he clutched at his chest. His heart felt like it was being physically ripped out; the arteries pulled taut until they were on the verge of snapping.

    The feeling of a searing hot knife was being dragged across his abdomen, slicing him open. He had fallen to his knees, grovelling against the forest bed as he groaned in pain. Gasping for air and clawing at the dirt ground.

    Fuck.

    This was hurting more than the first time he presented as an Alpha. More than his first shift. Ten times more painful than the time he got half his shoulder bitten off by a raider.

Hell, Theo had never felt this level of pain before.

    It felt like he was dying.

His lungs burned and he had to force himself to breathe. Theo trembled with the effort of keeping himself from turning. His insides felt like they were being shredded.

The moment he regained some semblance of control over his senses, he took a sharp intake of breath through his nose and the scent hit him.

The scent that made him lose all inhibition.