Restless

The door banged shut and Destiny stumbled over to the small bed and collapsed on it.  She sobbed into the pillow, lamenting her fate. 

“I won't mate with Johan,” she mumbled, wiping the tears away. “I would rather die than mate with that bastard.”

When she was done with her crying, she stripped off her clothes and slipped on her nightgown. The light gauzy material of the sleeveless gown caressed her body and fell to her knees. Pulling the thin sheet over her tired body, she tossed and turned. Her stomach growled faintly, and she remembered she had skipped her lunch as well as dinner. Curling up into a fetal position, she tried to relax her mind. There was nothing she could do about the hunger pangs. 

Her father wasn't always like that. When she was little, her father had been her everything. To say that, he was her world, would be saying too little. He was more than that. Her mother and her father were perfections in her eyes. She had never known what it was that had driven him to madness, but she would always remember the first time she saw it. She was 10 years old. She had been redecorating her room. Taking away the pink colour wallpaper she had chosen when she was 7 and moved on to the grown-up lavender one.

The sound of screaming caught her attention. Then she heard the unfamiliar sound of skin slapping against skin. Her whole body shuddered at the sound. She heard her mother cry. When she hesitantly walked into the living room, her mother was on the floor, blood trickling out of the side of her mouth. Her father was a seething pillar of rage standing over her. The shadow that he cast over her wasn't enough to cover the tears seeping from her eyes. She moved to help her mother, and her father lashed out. He grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off the ground. She had never felt so much fear, then or since. Her hands drifted to her neck, she could remember how hard it had been to breathe. The look on her father's face was so different from the face she had known before.

It was full of rage. She buried her face into the pillow as the memory grew more distinct. He had thrown her into her room and locked the door afterwards. She could do nothing but huddle in the corner. That was when the cold wind blew in.

He had left her alone in the room for three days. At first, she was terrified. So, she busied herself in finishing her room. 

On the second day, when it was finally done, she had pounded on the door for hours. She tried her best to get anyone's attention. Her poundings turned to sobs, the sobs to pleas, and the pleas to silent whimpers. On the third day, she curled up on the floor. Her hand was bruised from the beating of the door. Her voice was hoarse. The same terror that had taken hold of her within her father's grip had taken root again. They had forgotten her. Left her in the room, they would never come for her.

Late in the evening, one of the omegas that worked as her nanny came in and got her out. She held her and washed her. She put ice on her hand and fed her, but Destiny never said a word. She waited for days, but she never saw but a glimpse of her father. That was how things started to deteriorate. Her father hated her, but she was still a valuable commodity to trade-off for status. 

*********

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sam asked as Jake made another loop around the Inner Chambers. “You've been pacing since we got here.”

Sam was in his early twenties, and Jake's second in command, beta. His short brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and boyish looks earned him the nickname “cute guy”. But looks were deceiving, he was ruthless in a battle.  

“I… don't know,” Jake replied as he stopped to look out one of the windows. “I have this feeling of anguish, of desperation. I can't sit still, and I feel like I need to… Damn, I don't know; I just feel like I need to do something. Be somewhere.”

This was probably just his subconscious trying to get him in trouble and out of the 'arrangement'.

Sam smirked and sat down on the chair, putting his feet on the table. As the Alpha's best friend, sometimes he didn't give a damm about protocols.

“Maybe it's Eliza, your wolf is finally accepting her.” He grinned, knowing full well that Jake hated talking about her.

“I've found myself saying 'I don't know' to similar questions repeatedly tonight. Just drop it.”

The tone in Jake's voice was dangerous and Sam didn't know what, if anything, he could or should say. 

Jake was the Alpha of his wolf pack. He turned 25 not long ago and controlled one of the strongest wolf packs in the area, 'The White Claw '.

Eliza's father Richard Webster was dying. He was ancient. Jake owed the man his life. If it weren't for Richard, Jake would have been killed years ago. Eliza was his only daughter. It was obvious that his child would not be able to succeed him, and the vultures were clamouring for his throat.

So, Richard asked Jake to mate with his beautiful daughter Eliza. Jake couldn't refuse the old Alpha. The girl was stunning. Jake would take over her pack," The Wolfgang" and merge it with his own. When they would have cubs, one of the cubs would carry the Webster name and rule Richard's pack in the future.

Initially, Jake had refused this offer. But having noted the political turmoil in the territory would have affected the peace of the area, including his pack. He didn't want to deal with a new batch of rogues, which usually sprang up whenever a pack had an unstable leader. 

By securing a suitable mate for Eliza, the rebels knew that if they challenged Richard, there would be someone able to take his place who was a powerful Alpha. There was only one problem, he felt nothing for Eliza.

Jake had reasoned that if he hadn't found a true mate by now, it was entirely likely he would never find one. He had never put much stock in the idea of a 'true mate' anyway. He had always assumed that when he wanted a family, he'd pick a woman and mate with her and have a family.

He sat at his desk, rubbed his face in his hands, and tried not to feel like his life was ending. Technically, he should have been thrilled by this. A beautiful wife and an unchallenged addition to his pack.

“When did this start?” Sam asked as he moved closer to Jake.

“Early this morning, and it's getting worse,” Jake said as he closed his eyes. “I'm needed. I need to be somewhere. There's this feeling of helplessness.....”

“Maybe you need to get laid, it's your body telling you that you need a woman.” Sam grinned again.

Jake frowned, “fuck you!” 

“I would love to, but I like women,” Sam said, then howled with laughter.

 "I am not in the mood for your stupid jokes,” Jake said, his eyes narrowing dangerously on his friend.

“Well, Serra, Gerald, and the rest of us have noticed you are distracted, and we get it.” Sam shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “We've been talking about that too.”

“Talking what?” Jake growled.

“The mating. We just wanted you to know that,” he looked at Jake sympathetically, “you don't need to do this.”

“I don't ?” Jake leaned back in his chair. It was obvious that no amount of glaring was going to have any effect on Sam.

“No. The way we figure it, in the worst-case someone challenges Richard. He may not be a bad Alpha. Who knows, he might be better than Richard, and the peace reigns. If he is an asshole. So, what? We get into a fight. We've been at peace so long, some of our guys are forgetting to watch their backs. Maybe it's time again.”

Jake sighed. “Thanks, but I put a lot of effort into what little peace we have. Besides, the last thing we need is another pack war. The humans love to prod, and the feds would be all over us.”

“But you don't love Eliza!” Sam said with some disgust.

“It's not like there are any other women higher up on my list,” Jake mumbled.

Sam rolled his eyes, “Whatever,” he said in annoyance.” But you do need to get laid, if not Eliza, then any Dame bitch you find."

It was Jake's turn to roll his eyes.