Cursed, Mated, Free,

Chapter 2: The darkness and the voice

"Is she alive?",

"I don't know man",

"oh, for goodness sake check her",

"She's alive... barely?",

"well, the arrow wound in her leg definitely doesn't help, she's bleeding everywhere. What do we do?",

"pick her up, Alpha Decker will want to see her, and whatever that rock is she's holding",

"dude, it's a crystal. Randolf you pick her up, you have a thing for bloody naked women",

"Shut up man, psycho's aren't my type, no matter how hot",

"Randolf, Jace, start walking, Alpha will want me to take her",

"Yes, Beta Jackson", Gamma Randolf and Jace responded.

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Everything is dark, pitch black and I cannot seem to gather the strength to open my eyes. Feeling my body shift from strong arms that seem to lift me effortlessly, I try call out although no one can seem to hear me.

Gruff voices murmur all around me, three distinct male voices I believe. Who are they? Where are they taking me? The onslaught of panic was strong enough to distract me from the numbness in my right leg. Pushing my memory back to find what I am missing only shows a large vacant gap in my brain. What do I remember last? Pain. Searing, burning, unforgiving pain. My whole body felt like it was on fire. Then it hit me. Calytia.

The sudden feeling of trepidation from my last blackout brought on a surge of broken fragmentations of memory. Red, burning heat, orange licks of flames and black smoke. Thick gushes of smoke. People are running, yelling, shouting to those around them to get out and to hurry. I was laughing and mumbling that these wolves deserved it, that worships of Celina the moon goddess is forbidden and that I will not tolerate it anywhere. A bar then came into my vision, glass shattering, drunken men ready to fight, shifting into their wolfs.

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"Have you guys noticed this mark on her? It's like the ones in the stories of rivals of gods and goddess's", Jackson thought out loud.

"Maybe the rumours are true, I heard her pack were devil worshippers of some kind and ate hearts that turned them evil" boasted Jace as if he solved a century long mystery.

"Jace, can you hear yourself talk, how were you even chosen to come on this mission man", Randolf laughed his reply.

Jackson rolled his eyes at friends' usual banter, not surprised Jace entertains himself with drunken rumours at the pack pub. "Guys enough, before my wolf kicks both of your asses. Were here, Alphas waiting."

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A man approached me, well Calytia really. He called me a demon, an abomination and that Celina will put an end to the evil. My arm stretched out, flexing my hands, putting my sharp nails on display in front of the man's face. "Do you really think you can take me little wolf? I helped create you! you're an ungrateful dog!", My hands wrapped around the man's delicate throat and squeezed. I felt the crushing of his windpipe, his eyes bulging while his hands gripped my wrist in a weak attempt to fend me off then, then... nothing.

My mind goes black without a hint of any more flashbacks, which I am grateful for at this moment. I want to wake up, I need to wake up. Male chatter floats around, something about Alpha? Evil?

"Hello? Guys?" Nothing, zip. No reply. Then realization hits me, I am unconscious, my body and mind are healing. No one will here me, nor can I move. Where are these people taking me, to an Alpha?

                                                                  ----Alpha Deckers POV----

The stench of blood alerts me to the arrival of my Beta, Gamma and Jace. Taking in another long sniff, Its not their blood. They must have her. Good.

Before I became Alpha, my mentor always told the story of the moon crescent pack, how one night everything changed, swarmed with a black smoke that seeped into the pack's bodies, they became possessed. Days later the whole crescent moon pack was found dead, surrounding a rock. Well, not the whole pack, all but one girl. She should be 18 by now, 2 years younger than myself.

I have been obsessed with hunting her down since stories of burning villages and slaughtered packs kept arising. It was always roughly the same description, a girl with red eyes, that transformed into a large wolf that looked the colour of blood. The wolf was only ever seen around a full moon. The murdered and chaos stopped for 3 years, not one incident until recently. A call came in about a village that had been attacked by a woman, she killed residents and set ablaze the pub, luckily the casualties were considerably low than normal. I sent out my men to investigate, hoping they will find some trail of her.

I once felt connected to her story, we both lost our parents, our pack however, I was fortunate enough to be taken in by an old wolf who was a retired warrior. He helped me train, even if some methods were cruel, I was stronger for it. I thought I understood what was motivating her for all the killings and towns she has destroyed but I guess I don't. I wonder if the rumours of her curse are true, either way its my job to get to the bottom of it. As Alpha of the bloodclaw pack people look to me to handle such matters, to protect my pack. That is what I will do.

The hall doors open and in walks Jackson, my beta with a naked bloodied girl slung over his shoulder. "Is she dying my beta? I hear her heartbeat is faint", I question, listening in to her sluggish heart struggling to beat.

"My Alpha, Decker, she seems to be in a coma like state, she does have an arrow wound to her thigh and has lost blood. Her wolf is struggling to heal her." Jackson responds as he lays her body down in front of Decker.

Beautiful, captivating is her beauty. I get a good look at her for the first time and search the plains of her face, the curve of her pouting, plush lips, her button nose, and the impeccable shape of her eyebrows. In her comatose state her head rolls to the side, baring her long neck. The most tantalizing scent hits me, the smell of blooming lily flowers.

"MY MATE", I growl through my clenched teeth. My beta Jackson looks to me in astonishment.

"Decker are you sure....? You can't be serious... This girl is your mate?"

Overwhelming protectiveness towards this unruly girl overwhelms my soul, I feel weak to my knees now paying attention to the blood still oozing from her leg wound.

"Get her to the infirmary now, take care of her wounds and clean her up and please dress her", I shout to the room, knowing it is only myself and my beta there.

                                                                ------Lillian's POV------

Mate? Did I hear that correctly? The man, Decker, his voice is strong and masculine, he sounds dominating. Like an Alpha. That is not regarding me I am sure. I have been alone for so long I do not think there is a mate for me out there. I diminished my own thoughts, knowing that it was silly considering I have not even met him before. I probably will be punished for my crimes over the years. No one will understand I did not have control of this.

I know I am not done with the flashbacks from this last possession, I deserve it for being so weak to let this happen. Maybe I deserve my punishment, to suffer for all the crimes I have done. Every time the guilt builds stronger, and I wish for an end. I will accept my punishment. I will not run this time. I cannot live to hurt another innocent. My thoughts yet again become interrupted by a voice.

"Get her to the infirmary now, take care of her wounds and clean her up and please dress her",

I feel arms encircle me and carry me away somewhere, the infirmary? Maybe. Even in my unconscious state I feel as if I'm becoming weaker, exhausted, my thoughts start to scramble, and I let them. I welcome the deep sleep and abyss I fall into.