9:The Alpha's Voice

“What did I do?” Arda was confused. Her heart was pounding incessantly with fear and disappointment.

“This only happens with you,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“What are you talking about?” she whined.

“Are you just playing dumb or you’re dumb?” he demanded. “I’m talking about the kiss. This headache which by the way I think is strange only happens with you.”

“So, what exactly are you trying to say?”

“Why not save me the trouble and tell me exactly what you are?”

“Luke…”

“I figured it out…witch.”

“I’m not a witch, Luke.” She said, her eyes wetting up with tears of pain.

“Then maybe you're just a monster with a pretty face. And that’s what I came here to find out.”

Arda started crying softly as she stood before him. “I’m not a monster, please.”

“I’m just so sorry that I wasted so much time waiting on you. You should have told me you were a witch.”

“Luke, please.” She begged, moving closer to him but he took another quick step back.

“Stay away from me. Gosh, are you cursed or something?”

“I like you Luke, please don’t do this.” She blubbered. “You can still see the doctor.”

“I don’t bloody need a doctor.” He snapped and she just stood there crying softly.

Luke turned towards his car. “Ella please get over here.” He said and through tear-filled eyes, Arda saw a girl emerge from the car.

Ella was a student at her school. She strutted over to where they were and stood beside him. Then he cupped her face in his hands and started kissing her.

Arda felt like her heart was being torn into pieces. Not only was she feeling heartbroken. She was feeling guilty and frightened at the fact that he was currently kissing someone else without having a headache attack.

Behind her, she could hear the house door opening as her friends stepped out onto the porch. Luke tore his lips away from Ella’s and held her hands in his.

“Stay away from me.” He said to Arda. “You and I are through. Better now than later.”

Arda could not stop herself from crying. “Luke please, you know I’ve come to like you a lot. I mean, I’ve come to love you.”

Luke spared her a few seconds of perusal, his stare, laced with distrust.

Ignoring her, he turned to Ella. "Let’s go." He said to her.

“Wait a minute,” Jacob said forcefully, causing him to pause. “You are not going anywhere until I know what is happening.”

He and Karina walked forward to where they stood. Then Karina hugged Arda sideways, trying to give her some comfort as she continued crying softly. Luke faced Arda.

“Why don’t you tell them?” he said. “Or shall we try again? It’s not like I would enjoy it, but I can kiss you right now.”

Arda shook her head, unwilling to be humiliated with another trial.

“I thought as much.” Said Luke and then he focused his attention on Karina and Jacob. “Your friend has issues. I am sorry it had to end this way. Better now than later.” He took Ella’s hand and walked out on the three of them. Letting out a sob, Arda turned and ran back inside the house. Jacob and Karina watched Luke drive away.

“This is so painful to watch,” Karina said.

“Very. But we really cannot do anything.”

“It was easier when she didn’t have time for guys.”

“Yeah, we had better check on her.”

They hurried back inside the house and headed towards Arda’s room. Standing before the door, they could hear her crying. Jacob raised his hand and gave the door a knock.

“Stay away.” She cried out. “I want to be alone.”

Karina tried the handle of the door and it gave way, so she entered along with Jacob.

Arda was seated on her bed, her head, down and her legs resting on the floor. She looked up at them with weeping eyes as they stepped inside.

“I told you guys to stay away.”

They sat down on either side of her and stayed silent.

“I don’t ask much from this life.” She said tearfully. “I’ve never dreamt of marrying some wealthy man or something. Just someone I’m comfortable with, you know?”

Her friends nodded understandingly. They knew that listening to her right now was important and helpful.

“Just when I thought I had found love, this had to happen.” She continued. “Luke is nice and safe. He could have been the perfect one.”

“What happened?” Karina asked gently.

“Whenever he tries to kiss me, he gets this sudden weird headache. Deep down I knew something was wrong and I think he did too. He came here today with that…” Arda searched for an insulting word to use on Ella but decided the girl was not her problem. “that girl just to prove it.” She said instead. “He kissed me and that weird headache attacked him but when he kissed her…” Arda’s voice trailed off into a sob and Karina placed a comforting hand on her back while Jacob held her hand in support.

“I feel like my life is a curse.”

“Don’t say that, Arda.” Said Jacob.

“First, it’s a weird mark on my hand that I have to keep private. Then it’s a strange gift and note from an anonymous man banning me from dating. Then I started dating Luke and this happens. Guys, something is wrong. I don’t know who I am anymore. I dream of getting married to a nice man and raising children immediately after graduation. Luke was perfect. I cannot do this. I need to find out what is wrong with me.”

“There is nothing wrong with you,” Karina said and hugged her. Arda wept on her shoulder while Jacob kept trying to calm her down.

“We’ll figure out all these, Arda. Just try and relax. We are here for you.”

Arda sniffled and tried to stop crying.

“He called me a witch and a monster.”

“I did hear him say something like a pretty monster,” Jacob said and she chuckled through her tears. The comic relief didn’t last though as she slowly disengaged from Karina’s arms, her countenance solemn. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and sniffled.

“I want to go home and spend the weekend with my family.” She said. "I want a change of environment.”

“That’s understandable.” Said Karina.

“Call us if you need us,” Jacob said.

“Thank you, guys. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

They smiled empathetically at her.

“Try and sleep well,” Karina said and she nodded.

“Goodnight, Arda,” Jacob said.

"Night guys."

They rose and exited the room, shutting it behind her.

As soon as they left, Arda approached the dressing table and reread the note the anonymous man had sent. It made no sense to her.

She touched the necklace and flashes of the handsome guy she had seen at the restaurant danced before her vision. In shock, she let go of the chain.

Slowly, she touched it again and memories of him returned, lingering on the moment when their gazes had joined. Why she was remembering a random stranger, she had no idea.

It felt like her subconscious was trying to replace the anonymous sender by filling the gap, using an image that seemed powerful and connected to her. It was dumb trying to imagine that the guy had sent her the gift and note.

Arda placed the necklace back on the table and sat down. Then she booted her laptop. When it came on, she visited the internet, typed the word Alpha into a search engine, and hit the enter button.

Images of handsome hunks and men with wolves filled the image section of the page. Then she looked at the wolf jewelry for a few seconds before returning her eyes to the screen. The features of the men she was seeing reminded her of the stranger she had seen at the restaurant.

Arda began to study the headings of the articles that had surfaced on the screen. Remembering that she was dealing with a human, she refined her search by typing human-wolf in the search box. Then she hit the enter button. She focused her attention on the first question under the headline people also ask. It read, what is a human wolf?

With one click, she expanded the question and read the top content, her attention-grabbing the words…is a human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf. When she visited the article, its headline read werewolf.

Arda’s hand left the keyboard and her eyes returned to the gift. “Damn joke.” She swore under her breath and was startled as her phone rang. When she checked the screen, the number calling her was private. She reached for the phone on the table, picked it up, and received the call.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Arda.”

The voice was male and sounded deep, attractively distinct, and compelling. The man’s voice enthralled her.

“Hi, who am I speaking with?”

“I’m sorry about your broken heart.” He said and Arda was momentarily surprised at his words. The man was a stranger. How could he know about her breakup?

Then she remembered that even though she had fallen in love with Luke, dating him was supposed to let her know if she had anything to worry about concerning the note sent by the anonymous man. And now it seemed like she did have something to worry about.

“Who’s this?”

“I’m sure you got my message.” He said. “Did you like the gift?”

“Who the hell are you? And how did you know about what just happened?”

“It won’t be long before I come to you,” he said, ignoring her question. “So, wait patiently for me and do not accept another man again. I will not tolerate it.”

The line went dead and Arda became speechless and trembly. Now she knew that the man was serious, the Alpha or whoever he was.