A Rose of Blood

ALPHA COLE'S P.O.V

I watched the omega in front of me. The sun had set into the evening, and the palace was quiet. The room was dimly lit with only the bedside lamps. The omega was on the floor, his eyes half closed, his lips parted.

He was fully aroused and completely unable to speak for himself. The half empty cup of tea that had been meant for me sat on the floor next to him.

The door opened slowly, tentatively. I waited as it opened and gently closed before I turned on the lights fully.

Sylvia froze close to the door, her lips parting. She looked down at the servant, then at me, and disappointment immediately flashed through her eyes.

I looked down at her. She was wearing next to nothing, and the tiny robe she had on left nothing to the imagination.

"Why? You look disappointed, my lady. Did the tea go to the wrong person?"

She swallowed hard. "Alpha, I..."

"How fucking dare you, Sylvia?" My voice was low. It never went high anymore. Not after Selena. "What? You think I will end up like him? Waiting for your hands to rid me of the aphrodisiac you slipped in my blood? You think even if I was unconscious, I would want to fuck you?"

"You married me!" She yelled, her body shaking, her eyes meeting mine. "Five years. The pack is making a mockery of me. I haven't given birth. I haven't even been touched by the man who openly claimed me."

"Claimed you?" I asked, covering the distance, till she had to look up to meet her eyes. Good. It was the dynamic that her father had imposed on me five years ago. "The man who claimed you was your father. I never even married you. I announced you as my mate's cheap replacement and you took that and you ran with it. Maybe go run to daddy once more. Go tell him to use his power to get me hard and ready for you."

She raised her hand and slapped me hard, her chest heaving. "I am beautiful! I have a nice body. I am every man's dream! I gave you the security this pack now has. How dare you?"

I stepped closer. "Tell that to yourself till someone believes it. You will be banned from anything that comes to me from now on. This is your fifth attempt at drugging me, and if it happens a sixth, Sylvia, I will ruin you. I ruined the woman I loved. You are next to nothing."

I grabbed my shirt and walked away, abandoning my room for the study once more.

The study was dim, and I leaned on the door for a moment to catch my breath. I turned, towards the smaller door. Before I could stop myself, I pushed myself away from the door and locked it, then walked slowly towards the door.

The knob gave way under my hand, and the lights automatically came on. Those pictures still hung on the walls. Still stared back at me and demanded my heart like the woman in them had not so brutally killed my beta and betrayed me.

I looked down at the rose sitting on the table. It was the last rose from Beta Ian's burial, still alive, kept entirely so because I fed it my blood and my hatred. My fists clenched tight, my eyes closing.

Selena. Damn you.

I walked out of the room and locked it, not because anyone ever went there, but because I needed to see the lock to stop myself from reaching in there again. She was a drug. A drug I hated with everything in me.

A knock came on the door. "Alpha. It is Beta Sean. I have some urgent news."

I rolled my eyes and slipped on the shirt I had grabbed, before opening the door. Beta Sean walked in, and I went back to the chair, my hands resting on the desk.

"I hope you aren't reporting to me this late because of the full moon ball?"

"No, Alpha," he said. Even the high pitch of his voice annoyed me. Beta Ian's voice had been deeper. "Something had happened at the pack borders. A group of unidentified rogues attacked the soldiers guarding the east border. Two are fatally injured, and one ended up dead."

I raised a brow. Another death that I couldn't feel. "When did this happen?"

"Around thirty minutes ago. According to reports from the others, the group came too close and the three casualties had told them to back off without escalating. They became aggressive and started to fight. I have sent a few to crack down on the location of the rogues, as they ran off the minute the soldier dropped dead."

"Fucking rogues," I said, my chest heaving. "Locate them tonight itself, or none of you are allowed to come back. Once you have their locations..." I closed my eyes. "Wait till the full moon. There is little to no chance that there will be any sort of disturbance then. Wipe them out before they become an actual threat."

He nodded. "Yes, Alpha. Do we arrest them or..."

"Do you fucking have to ask me that too? How do you treat someone who attacked your pack? Did you even go through any sort of training before you were appointed beta?"

He took a step back and gave a small bow. "I apologize. We will cripple their army and arrest the rest. I am sorry."

"Leave."

He turned away and all but ran out of the study, the door closing behind him again.

I hated being this man. This angry, tired man who wished for Selena in his bed as much as he wished for her in a grave. The man who saw that young beta, and only saw a sad excuse for beta Ian.

I leaned back on my seat, my chest heaving hard. I hated it. But I couldn't stop. My eyes fell back on the door again, and despite not going in there, I could see everything. Her smile. Her tiny tattoo. The scar.

I closed my eyes. Damn you. Damn you. Let me fucking go.

But I might be the one still holding on.