An impudent child

Lyra woke with a groan and a gasp.

The world was upside down and it was moving. She could not feel her legs, only the dull pain of something weighing on her stomach. Or her stomach weighing on something, she couldn't tell.

She blinked a few times to clear her head.

"what... Where am I?" She groaned, trying and failing to understand her bearings.

"Oh good, you're awake. Finally" the voice sounded closer to her than it should be.

That was when Lyra realized that she was being carried over Alpha Kai's shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he walked.

Suddenly, the world tilted back to how she knew it, as he dropped her to the floor, facing him.

She looked around and they were in a thick forest. She did not know how far away they were from. Alpha Dorian and his pack. She did not recognize the hills or trees, especially since she'd never left the pack lands in years.

"Where are we?" She asked him as she rubbed her throbbing head. It was dark, with the only light provided by the full moon above them.

"We've been on the road for three hours" Alpha Kai said. when Lyra didn't answer he continued "We?More correctly put, Lyra darling, I've been on the road for three hours while you slept like a princess the entire time".

"It's not like I wanted to. My mating bond just snapped and broke, a little sympathy would be nice. But then again, from what you do to your own people, breaking and killing them at will, sympathy should be the last thing I would expect from you." Lyra spat.  Herne yes narrowing at the silly smirk that played on his lips as she spoke.

"Exactly, I'm evil. The whole world knows that. Humans, werewolves, witches and vampires alike. They know that." He took a step towards her as he spoke, prompting her to subconsciously take two steps back.

"My story and scary lore is told in every campfire, every battle ground, every gathering. That's me. So don't expect anything else. Now that we have that cleared up, let's keep going, try to keep up" he said and walked away.

Silence stretched out for minutes between them as they walked.

Lyra wanted to ask where there were going, but her pride would not let her concede on the silence. She would not be the first to talk.

She would only speak if he first speaks to her. She would not be looked down on like that.

She threw a vulgar gesture at his back as he walked in front of her, and was about to stick out her tongue when she heard him say "Childish."

Lyra promptly stuck her tongue back into her mouth , angry and mortified at being caught, but still maintaining the silence.

Damn him and his stupid high and mighty, useless, disgusting, dreadful, tyranic..."Big head" she muttered.

They walked for hours, Lyra's breathing started to come in short pants, sweat gathering on her brow and leaking down to her chest, armpits and back.

Her knees were wobbly, and aching. She waved in and out of dizziness, feeling herself getting weaker and weaker with every forward step. It was all too much.

Soon she dropped to the floor, breathing in deeply.

Alpha Kai kept on walking even though he heard the sound of her falling.

"Alpha" Lyra called weakly. Hoping he would at least stop for a bit so she could rest.

Alpha Kai, paused, turned and looked at her with exasperation clearly written on his face. He was irritated.

"Were you this weak with your mate, Lyra darling? Falling over yourself at the tiniest stress? No wonder he took another. Omega's are very strong in bed I have heard"

Lyra's blood boiled. She was too tired to argue with him, and she broke her rule by speaking first!!

She had not been allowed to train, so her muscles were not used to being pushed this far.

"The longest I've walked in the NightLight pack is from my quarters to the great banquet hall or to the prayer temple, my body is not what it used to be"

"Or it never was anything to begin with" Alpha Kai stated as he began to walk towards her. He held out his hand to lift her up but she just looked up at him. Clearly not ready to continue walking.

"These woods are not safe, I would have brought a horse with me, but I never intended to have a liability going back with me"

"A liability?"

"Yes" he deadpanned. "A liability who can't walk, fight, or keep a man"

"You better stop taunting me" Lyra growled.

"Or what? What CAN you do, Lyra Martinns? Except maybe, choose the perfect flower arrangement for my next pack meeting?"

The last jab, prompted Lyra to stand from the floor, face red with anger.

"Stop taunting me. I'm warning you, Alpha Kai" she seethed.

"All my life I've been hated by so many creature's, I've lost count. But I've never been warned by a kitten before. I feel dreadfully scared."

In answer, Lyra growled, her hair standing on end. Her canines and fangs elongated, ready for a fight.

"Such theatrics, but can you fight or are you only meant for the kitchen, Luna? " Alpha Kai said, and yet he readied himself for her, a smug smile playing on his face.

Lyra charged, anger flooding her veins, replacing blood. She had suffered so much, endured so much thinking it was the right thing to do. She did not go through all that for some pompous, overfed, over feared, bloodthirsty Alpha to put her down for doing the best she could as the time when she had limited options.

The look of surprise on Alpha Kai's face told her that her eyes had turned white and her white hair was glowing.

That was as far as she could go with her transformation and shifting.

She had never fully transformed into her wolf, all through her twenty four years of life.

She had been called an anomaly, a curse carrier. And that her wolf had been held bound by the curse.

All she felt from her wolf were strong feelings, like she was behind a foggy glass while it was on the other side, reaching for her but never getting close enough.

Lyra knew she was at a disadvantage, she could not win against Alpha Kai, if all she knew and heard about him was true, then he was a trained warrior and would wipe the floor with her bleeding carcass, but that would not stop her. She had nothing left to loose.

What was her life when all she had to show for it was a broken mating bond, a shattered marriage and an annoying alpha leading her to goddess knows where.

"What's wrong, Princess? Too weak and broken to try? Do you need Freya here to give you your next directions?"

And just like that, whatever string was holding together the sane part of her brain snapped in two and Lyra charged towards Alpha Kai with a loud, resounding growl.

She barely made it a few feet close to him before he tackled her effortlessly to the ground still standing erect like he never moved.

That did not deter Lyra though, she picked up herself and was throttling towards him again with her teeth barred. With swift grace, Alpha Kai grabbed both of her hands in his one hand and pulled her flush against his chest.

He looked down at her with his smug smirk, smiling wildly with a glint of mischievousness in his eyes as he threw her down to the ground.

"You fight like a child. Your mate is a weak man, no wonder he liked your weak company in his misery. You would not last a day in my pack, Luna" Alpha Kai said, staring down at her.

Her hair slowly faded back to its original white, the translucence slowly dissipating.

Her fangs remained, as she sat sprawled on the floor aching all over again.

"I hate you" Lyra finally said.

"You don't have what it takes to hate me. Not yet. But at least you're angry enough to fight me. That's a God start." Alpha Kai said and turned on his heels, walking away.

Was he really planning to continue his journey without her? Lyra thought to herself.

She groaned in anger again as he looked at him walking away, not single hair out of place and yet she was sprawled on the floor. It was even more humiliating when she thought about the fact that he definitely did not use a tenth of his strength on her.

She really must look like an impudent child to him.

A snap of twigs in the bushes closer to Lyra, snapping her attention. There was something there. One of the wild creatures Alpha Kai had talked about perhaps.

Lyra tried to control her emotions, werewolves could sense a creatures fear and vice versa.

The best she could dk was not look like an way prey.

Alpha Kai was a short distance away, but still too far to have heard it. Lyra stood to her feet and began to walk slowly in his direction. She made it  few steps before she heard the distinct sound of an arrow snapping and then the piercing pain that enveloped her thigh and slowly spread to the rest of her body.

Lyra's scream of pain bounced and echoed over the hills and trees. She had been shot by an arrow.

Even in her blinding pain, she turned to look at the direction it came from.

Alpha Dorian stood high and proud with his bow and arrow strung up again, ready to take another shot at her.