CHAPTER 3 – SUSPECT

The room was clean, the smell of antiseptic was enveloping me into a daze. I noticed I had drips attached to my right hand, my left elbow plastered, and I couldn’t even make a single movement. My entire body was aching in agony, but the question remained unanswered.

‘where was I?’

I noticed a window to my right, howls, and laughter echoing from it. Was I back in my pack? Had they traded me?

Suddenly I hear footsteps near the door with a round of whispers. I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep. I need to know who they are before I plan my next escape.

‘How is she, doctor?’ a man asked, his voice still grumpy.

‘We have treated her Alpha. She has a fractured bone on her left elbow and cuts all over her body, nothing serious, she needs a bit of rest…and..’ the doctor’s voice hesitated. So, he is the Alpha of Green Blair, a group ranking below the Crimson Knight.

Known for their kind and generous behavior, they rarely had conflicts and never threaded on the line to power. Hmm..if I could stay in this pack, then I might get back my revenge.

‘What happened?’ a female asked. Her voice was so smooth and calming, it was almost like a Lullaby.

‘There were traces of molestati…’ and before she could complete, A man raised his voice ‘WHAT? Those fucking bastards, I KNEW THEY WERE UP TO NO good,’ he fumed.

‘Darling, calm down, you know you are going to scare the child if you talk like that’ the doctor cooed. ‘sorry dear’ he responded, and I left out a chuckle. It was hard imagining him wagging his tail at the female.

I could clearly register that I was in a room with 4 people, The Alpha and a woman, the doctor and the hot head.

‘Oh, is our rabbit awake?’ the lady with a beautiful voice asked, patting my head, but I maintained a static face, not yielding to her.

‘I bought a green cake, ahhh…it’s going to go to waste now’ she said, and I opened my eyes in an instant. Sweets were my favorite, especially Green Cake since that is the costliest cake anyone can get their hands on, only made by the Green Blair pack for auspicious occasions.

There were tales and legends in our pack, talking about its flavor and taste, only the rich kids flaunted about it, but I doubted they did. Because no one could taste it, unless it was the pack’s Alpha and the King.

‘you have a beautiful color’ The doctor exclaimed, looking deep into my red eyes. I had heard my father say that ‘anyone who looks into your eyes will fall in love with you in an instant.’ But back in my pack, bullied by everyone, I doubted if his words held any truth.

The doctor came towards me, pressing my wrist between her thumb and forefinger. She looked at her digital watch for a minute, and damn was time going slow. None of them talked as they intently stared at my hand.

I took this chance to make a mental note of the people in this room. 4 of them, I confirmed myself, again. Even if I had to outrun them, the plausible escape route was the window, but with a condition where my leg was cast and hung around a metal pole, I doubted if I could walk out of the fall, alive.

‘Her pulse rate is normal’ she informed. She brought a small torch from her pocket towards my eyes, ‘open your mouth’. ‘ahhhaaaa’ my jaw was hurting like crazy as she pushed in an ice cream stick, lowering my tongue.

‘Her body is normal, but she needs some rest,’ she says, completing her diagnosis.

‘How long will it take Sophia,’ the chocolate guy asked. ‘6 months at most, if she receives the treatment properly’ she winked at me, thinking I was the mischievous one.

I like this woman, Sophia was it, she was a beautiful young lady, accompanied by a deeper brunette hair and a pair of pale green eyes, her slim figure, I would doubt if her age was anything beyond 18. She wore the doctor’s gown over her red dress.  

 ‘That’s good, speedy recovery, speedy joy’ the chocolate brown hair talked brimming with happiness, his deep green eyes equipped with a well-built body. He had an air of warmness.

My gaze traveled from him to the Alpha who looked at me crossing his hands across his chest, he had a square-shaped face, taller than the chocolate guy, he pursed his lips closer, staring holes at me. 

I looked at him with shivering eyes; I don’t know where the courage I summoned yesterday went, but he was scary. He had never changed his posture for the past couple of minutes.

‘Darling, you are scaring her’ the lady with a ruby necklace around her neck replied. It was sparkling like the stars in the night sky.

She was charming too, wrinkles covered her forehead and cheek, but her beauty remains unaltered. She was around my mother’s age, but damn was she pretty. What was with the Green Blair pack, wherever I looked, I was surrounded by models?

‘So, do you have anyone we can contact, your parents must be worried,’ The Alpha spoke in his deep husky voice.

‘No, my father died when I was 5 and my mother…’I paused. I’m not sure if I want them to know about that woman, that disgusting woman who abandoned her own child to gain the favor of Dicken Red.

‘Well, she passed away recently’ I said, and as I spoke, I had come to terms with it. It relieved me of the burden. Now that I think about it, she was already dead in my heart, long back, and what I spoke was an affirmation to my thoughts.

It is better to forget her than to remember the cruel betrayal she made me go through. 

‘We are sorry to hear that dead’ the Doctor..I mean Sophia patted my head.

‘What about your relatives, do you have any’ the Alpha demanded? Damn, did he not have an ounce of respect that I was already grieving my parent’s loss, does he have to continue his interrogation?

‘none’

‘Darling, what is wrong with you?’ the lady asked, ‘I’m sorry dear, I just want to know if the Reds are plotting something against us,’. Dear? She must be the Luna then.

But this Alpha really doesn’t like our pack, not like others, do. I knew we had a terrible reputation, but worst enough to doubt a 10-year-old girl, a victim, to have ulterior motives? When I came to them in a disheveled state. I dint know which was worst, the fact they hated the Alpha or hated me who might bring trouble in the future.  

‘Mark, try acting like a bear’ The Alpha demanded, ‘no, I won’t’ he crossed his arms up refusing to do so. That act, in itself, was funny to watch.

‘yes, please do it’ Luna requested and so did Sophia ‘kids like it when you do that’ and before I could register what was happening.

He pushed his hands up in the air, and made his fingers into a claw, and started moving his hip sideways while coming towards me. It nearly freaked the hell out of me. I pulled my bedsheet covering half of my face, peeping through a small gap between my fingers to see if he had stopped.

‘ahh…you scared her, go outside, for now, I will talk to her’ Sophia requested, and I could imagine a drooping tail and ears as he left the room. ‘My job here is done, I will resume to the office’ The Alpha reported before he left. He was too intimidating, but I knew he cared for his pack.

‘Both of them wear their emotions on their sleeve,’ Luna commented, and we chuckled.

‘I’m Areena Green, Luna of Green Blair, you don’t need to be scared dear, we are all here to protect you, we’ll never hurt you,’ she smiled like a caring mother.

‘I’m Sophia green, mate of Mark Green, his wolf tactic always works on Luna’s children, I’m sorry if he scared you,’ she looked apologetic. Ahhh, they were so sweet.

All I craved for, was this affection, was for my pack members to smile at me, to talk to me, to treat me like a human being, but who knew I would find it here. If they accepted me, I would do anything, even die for them.

‘I’m Valerie Red from Crimson Knight pack and I like the Wolf tactic,’ I smiled.

‘oh …you are so cute’ Luna said poking my cheeks. ‘My kids are going to love you’ she replied, and I grinned almost finishing up the cake.

A month had passed as I laid in the hospital recuperating. Luna and Alpha kept visiting from time to time, checking in on my health, while Mark green the chocolate guy, I had to come to know his name by now and Sophia, came every day, sometimes even staying overnight when I had nightmares, cleaning and feeding me. Although I feared Mark, I slowly grew on him.

‘How are you Vali’ Mark Green asked, the beta of Green Blair's pack. I let them use my pet name, something I closely relate to father because these people have shown nothing but love over the past 6 months.

‘I am feeling better, how about you Sir?’ I asked, addressing him as Sir still weirds me out, but I had to respect the position they gave him.  

‘How many times have I told you, not to call me Sir, you know there is an alternative word’ he smiled eagerly waiting for me to call him dad? They had talked to me about adoption, but I was not yet keen on the idea.

Because that meant I would live as a privileged child, I just wanted to be a commoner in the pack, cleaning, cooking, and fighting for the pack. Receiving such unconditional love, I feared if they would come to hate me just like the people in my pack. Just imagining their faces turn sour as they sight me, rips my heart apart.

But I still had to try. Giving up is not an option, NO, it was never a choice to begin with.

Mark and Sophia couldn’t have children because of some circumstances, When Luna proposed the idea, they were more than happy, Luna said, they mentioned ‘it was their privilege to adopt me’. Just hearing those words brought me to tears.

They were such a sweet, caring couple. I wanted to give them the best of me, but this deep-rooted revenge, I feared it would cause a calamity. I knew they would take care of me more than themselves, giving me all the love, I was parched for 5 years.

But what would happen when they know all I wanted was revenge, I would bring danger to the pack. Instead, I will become the Alpha warrior. Each pack as a warrior group, 10 members who are exceedingly well are included in the group and their leader is called the Alpha warrior.

Earlier it was only the Alpha’s son who could resume that position, but now because of the change in politics and exemption of patriarchal hierarchy, anyone who wields the supreme power will be allowed to be the Alpha Warrior.

‘I will fight as the Alpha warrior’ I said, looking at him with a firm resolve. Nothing could shake me away from this feeling.

‘Do you know what it means to be an Alpha warrior’ he asked, and I nodded. It was a tradition passed down by generations to fight for the position of the Star Knight. A position only second next to the King. Green Blair never had a reason to fight, so they always exempted themselves from the competition. But now I wondered if they could still hold on to that thought.

Why? Because of the way Crimson knight treated this pack, kidnapping, killing innocents, waging wars in the name of pride and dignity. Everyone feared them more than the king himself.  But Green Blair's pack never revolted, NO, they couldn’t because they believed the majesty favored the Red’s.

There was an old prophecy that passed down for generations, that the Luna, THE QUEEN for the Dark Eclipse Kingdom is birthed from the Crimson Night pack. And to this day it holds the truth, because that Dicken Red sister is the queen.

The rules and lines were too rigid to believe a superstition enough to turn a blind eye on the disastrous happenings. The fight for the position of Star Knight always happened between the Crimson Night pack and currently in power Yellow Moon pack. The winner of the fight resumes supreme power under the king. And to do that, many warriors shed their blood.

Not an entertaining battle, but one where you have to kill or be killed, no mercy is spared upon anyone.