Fractured Alpha (BxB)

{Seventeen}

This is how I imagine Birchwood Forest, but with houses littered across the respective packlands.

Alessio, please talk to me, Aleskei pleads with the Alpha tucked into his own embrace, as sobs bubble past his lips.

"Leave me alone," he says in a hoarse voice, sounding as if he was shattered glass. "Please."

No, I'm not leaving you alone, he speaks in a firm, unwavering voice.

"Yes, you are," he repeats, as he blocks their mind link, effectively cutting off Aleskei's string of pleas buried under obscenities.

"No, I'm not," Messiah blurts out. His olive eyes were speckled with flecks of sadness, shadowed beneath his inky eyelashes. "I love you," he tells him.

I love you, too, were the words he wanted to say, but the cruel words that barked in his head caused him to whine and masked the words lying on his tongue.

'You actually think he loves you? Oh, please. Who would ever love you? You are worthless. He deserves so much better than you. What a disgrace.'

Jumbled into the sharp, disdainful words that juxtaposed Messiah's loving promise was a dry, mocking laugh bouncing off the barren walls of his bedroom.

"Please don't shut me out again," Messiah begs in a soft whisper, his voice a mere echo in the shadows eclipsing Alessio's mind. "Please, I'm begging you, baby boy."

Aleskei, who found a way through the barrier when his guard was down, let out a quiet whimper of distress, the pain reflected in Messiah's eyes was drowning him.

The voice refused him oxygen. The words spit at him, that sounded like a rewording of what his father used to say to him as a pup, shivering from fear, felt as if a pair of rough hands were wrapped around his throat and suffocating him.

'You're scared of words? Goddess, you really are fucking pathetic. Your father should have banished you from the pack as a fucking pup. After all, you caused the death of your mother.'

Don't listen to him, Aleskei assures him. You didn't kill your mother, Alessio. You've been consumed by guilt and your father's words. You are not a murderer.

Alessio cradled his knees closer to his bare chest, freshly scarred, and let out a strained sob. Immediately, Messiah dropped to his knees and pulled the Alpha into his lap. "Please stop crying, Alessio. I hate seeing you in pain."

The voice scoffed. 'See? Even he's sick of your damn crying. He thinks you're weak. No, wait, let me restate that. He knows you're weak. Imagine what he'd think if you knew you're a murderer.'

"Then fucking leave," he growled, his voice hoarse from crying. "You're the one who wanted to stay with me. You should have rejected me when you had the damn chance," he whispers wearily.

"No, baby boy, no." He shakes his head hastily. "D-Don't do this to me. Please. P-Please. Y-You can't."

Tears pricked Messiah's olive eyes and clung to his lashes. His freckled skin became painted with salty water and blemished by pain. Hiccups bubbled up from his throat, gliding past his parted lips.

The light in his dewy-green eyes slowly clouded over with twilight, devoid of stars.

Tell him you're not rejecting him, Aleskei insisted, his tone soft but in earnest.

"I'm not rejecting you," he retracts. To reject your mate was a crimson knife to both parties involved. Alessio knew he couldn't forgive himself if he sent Messiah into that downward spiral, where he could risk a feral wolf or even death.

The risks of rejection, especially when love is involved, is deadly.

He stares at the cracks carved into his palms. Messiah sighed in relief and wiped the tears from his stained skin. He buries his head into Alessio's neck, inhaling his breathtaking scent, and traces soothing circles on his back. "I love you. I love you so much." Alessio melts into a puddle at his soft grazes. He succumbs to the warmth of his mate's embrace. He hooks his arms around Messiah's torso and lies his head on his shoulder. "I promise I'll get you some help, Alessio. There's nothing wrong with you, okay?"

'You're a sorry excuse for an Alpha.'

Amidst the growls released by Aleskei, directed at the cruel voice, he allows himself solace in Messiah's arms, even if it's just for a few moments, before the belittling of his self esteem starts again.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

With his head lowered to the soft, dirt floor, Aleskei faces his opponent with a lopsided smile dangling from his lips. Spar with me, Rishad, he dares.

The silver-furred wolf, bathing in the dust-pink and maeve coloring the sky, bent down to mirror his challenging stance.

Hmm, we haven't sparred in a while, Alpha, he reflects. You sure you up for it? Has submitting to your mate made you soft?

Aleskei emits a low growl in reply and demands his opponent strike first. I'm not soft. What about you? Tell me: do you bottom or top the strongest warrior in Birchwood?

Without hesitation, Rishad lunges at the looming wolf and bares his teeth at him. I won't submit to you this time, he growls out.

Onto the lush, green grass he wrestles with him, until moments later, Aleskei pins Rishad beneath him.

Growl at me again, he grits down at him. Instantly, Rishad turns to the side in submission to the towering, inky wolf.

Shaking the dirt braided through his fur, Aleskei stands up, a victorious smirk on his face. I thought you weren't submitting today.

You're easily agitated today, Les, he discerns. What's wrong? His tone is serious.

Alessio believes he's a murderer.

Rishad recoils. Why? He hasn't murdered anyone.

Aleskei falls silent. Don't you dare tell him, Aleskei, Alessio warns. The fear of his best friend being scared of him creeped into his mind.

His father told him, he half lies. While Adler engraved the belief he was responsible for his mom's death, because his mom gave herself up for ransom after Alessio was kidnapped, the guilt has consumed to the point where he believes the words himself.

Son of a bitch, Rishad mutters.

I'm so sorry for this chapter. I'm sorry for putting Alessio through hell so many times, but I swear it's essential for his character. Do you like Rishad? He has grown a lot from the first chapter, don't you think?

Next chapter will be centered around Zyah and her point of view. What do you think is going to happen? 🙊😉