The Alpha's Mate

CHAPTER 41: SYBIL

My feet came to a halt near the driveway, my eyes taking in the line of slick cars. Slowly, I counted them. Ten cars were in our pack’s driveway. I didn’t need to ask whom they belonged to, I just knew. Before, I thought this day couldn’t get any worse, but I was dead wrong. He was here. The alpha of all alphas was here. My wolf pushed to the surface, understanding the threat that hung before us. My wolf wanted me to bolt, run to a faraway place that no one could ever find me. We both knew that was a feat next to impossible. This alpha had thousands of wolves at his disposal. He would tell them to hunt me down and they would find me.

I took a hesitant step towards the pack house, and two bulky men appeared behind my back. “He’s waiting for you,” one of them said. I nodded, walking towards the pack house. Running would only prove that I was guilty. I needed to stand my ground. If things went out of hand, I wasn’t the one going down, and if I did, I was taking someone with me.

Minutes later, I found myself in my father’s office. The door secured shut behind me. The man sitting in the chair exuded power in waves. It vibrated through the room and reached my bones. The urge to get on my knees and worship him overwhelmed me. If he could do this to me, I wondered what he could do to a regular wolf.

He didn’t speak, but his demeanour said it all. His face was blank, his brown eyes void of emotion. One could believe someone had drained him of all emotion. I understood it. Men in power didn’t need to show their emotions. If they did, people used them and often in bad ways. He trained for this. To take no sides, to not relate to anyone so that he could pass judgment without being biased. That’s the reason he came to my pack. To pass judgment.

“Sybil Blackwood. The last time we met, you were just a child. It’s good to see you’ve grown into a strong woman. Not many can resist my power,” he said, as neutral as one could. I failed to even tell if he was serious or not. It made me feel out of place, like a cornered animal with no chance of escape. He studied me, and I did the same. Perhaps I could find something to use to save myself. But I ended up with nothing. All I could take in was his appearance, long thick black hair tied in a sloppy ponytail. Wrinkles marred his face, a testament of how long he spent on this earth. In truth, he just looked menacing, like he would murder me anytime he wanted.

“I’m glad to hear that.” I bowed, as it was custom. Damien Silverclaw watched me with the same curious eyes. They left a trail of dread over my skin and it didn’t help that I was still in this stupid big t-shirt that stopped near my lower thigh. I had wanted to change, but the two men refused to grant my request. They took me here instead. My heartbeat tripled three times, the organ in my chest slapping against my rib cage as fear imprisoned me. It held me in a vise, unrelenting, refusing to let me go. It convinced me that if the alpha lunged at me, I wouldn’t even move.

“I’ve heard stories,” he started, standing up only to walk towards me, circling me like I was prey. In my 110 years, I’ve never felt this kind of fear. I had always been prepared for everything and here I was not knowing if an hour from now I would be alive. The realisation made my mind race and my skin crawl with dread.

“Stories about you doing something at a mating ceremony?” He came to stand in front of me, his long fingers resting on my chin. He used them to tilt my head up, so that I met his eyes. “You made Gavin, of all people, succumb to an unknown power to the point he hurt himself. Everyone I’ve met explained it well. They said it was the kind of power they’ve never felt before. So tell me, is it true? Did you do something to the poor man?” Poor man? I could hear Gavin talking about this and exaggerating everything.

“They’re lies,” I said, my eyes never leaving his. If I looked away, if I blinked, that would mean I’m hiding something. This was a power play. This man came here to show me one thing alone. Power. I planned on not giving him the satisfaction that he got to me. Besides, I had a more pressing matter, staying alive.

“Are you sure about that? I thought so at first, but the way everyone explained it, I believed them. All these people can’t be lying, right?”

“Everyone thinks I’m strange. Would it surprise you if they plotted to eliminate me?”

“You’re strange. The first female alpha. Your existence enough defy so many things. Women are not supposed to lead, let alone have alpha blood running in their veins.” I had to swallow back my laugh at his words. Nature saw me fit as a leader, yet here he was denying it, calling me incapable.

“Yet here I am,” I said. Yes, I was strange. I knew that, everyone knew that. And the things I could do to people only proved that point. No wolf was meant to have that kind of influence on another. What I did to my sister and Gavin was strange. There were times I feared my power, because I didn’t understand its extent. How far could it go? I had so many questions, questions without answers.

“True.” He began circling me again. “Answer this with honesty, because it is the last question I will ask you and one of your last. Honesty, that’s all I ask for.” He made it sound so easy. We both knew where this was going. Honesty wouldn’t save me and so was lying.

“Gavin is a weak man who threw a fit when he learned he couldn’t mess with me.” I wasn’t going to divulge my secrets to this man. I would rather die than tell him anything. I had to think of everything. If I told him the truth, he would either kill me or imprison me so that he could use my power. Thinking about it, I could be an asset to him, a powerful one. Because with men like him, power came first than anything else. I would rather die than have him hold me hostage.

“Why is honesty so hard to get by these days? I’ve lived for 4 centuries, my darling. I’ve acquired wisdom beyond your imagination, studied the body’s reaction to many things, and I can tell when someone is saying the truth or lying. You’re lying, but I’m impressed. It’s not your body that betrayed you, but because what you can do, I can do it too.”

I stepped back without warning, feeling as if someone had knocked into me. If my heartbeat had been worse before, I couldn’t explain it now. My mind raced with every possibility. He could be saying the truth or this was his way of trapping me. I went with the latter. This had to be a trap.

“Now, you’re the one lying,” I spat. I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. He was trying to trick me and I wouldn’t allow him to make me look like a fool.

“It hurts knowing you’re not special after all, right?”

“I never claimed to be special.”

“I’ve heard otherwise.” Before I could brink, he was in front of me, gripping my cheeks between his hands. He made me stare into his eyes again. “The only way for you to believe me is to put this to a test.” His grip around my neck tightened. For what felt like an eternity, nothing happened. Then it hit me, a certain power. At first, it felt cold as it traveled from my head to my toes. Seconds later, it slammed into me again with a vengeance. My blood boiled, as an incessant thought kept ringing in my mind, urging me to do something.

“If you fight it, it will hurt. Give up, do what I want you to do.” I should’ve listened to him and succumb to his power. Unfortunately, I fought. Fought it with my body and mind, pushing all strength in combating this power and like he said, it hurt. A scream echoed inside the room as pain I had never felt before coiled deep inside of me. It burned every muscle, made me feel like someone had injected my body with a thousand injections of silver. My skin burned, my skull felt like it could split in two, and the pain blinded me.

“I told you not to fight. I don’t want to hurt you, Sybil. Give in and do what I want.” I barely heard him over the roar in my ears. The fight evaporated out of me in seconds and I could make out what he wanted from me. It felt like he had a hold of all my senses, especially my mind.

“You see that dagger on the table? Take it and stab yourself where it will hurt.” Damien let go of me and my eyes averted to the table. I hadn’t noticed the dagger before. It lay on the table, the steel shiny and somehow that was welcoming. I walked towards it and grabbed it, knowing what I should do because it would please him. I plunged the dagger deep into my stomach. The pain was instant and at that same moment, the door hit the floor with a thud. I twisted, staring at the figure standing between the frames.