Cursed Alpha

Rodney.

The death of another servant didn’t horrify me. Instead, I stared at the frozen corpse lying at my feet and sighed. The young man who couldn’t have been older than twenty had delivered a report to me and I lost control when he accidentally mentioned another failed lead.

My men had just finished following a new lead which had led to finding another woman who wasn’t the elusive Fireheart. I lost my temper and the stupid curse took over. Ice spread through the room and now the body was frozen on the floor.

Nobody moved after seeing what I’d done. The warriors stood nearby looked terrified of me, by now everyone was scared but they were too chicken to leave the pack. They know I’d hunt them down and make them regret it.

My wolf growled, feeling angry and frustrated. For five years, it had I felt the effects of the curse more than me. I hated the stupid curse and the constant pain it created inside my chest and heart.

Everyone avoided my gaze, and mothers pulled their children away when I walked past. I was becoming a monster and everyone was scared of me.

“Take it away,” I said and warriors scrambled into action. This body was joining many others that had died in the same way over the years.

I was fed up. Sometimes I felt like taking my own life. Ice formed wherever I slept and fires went off when I got close. It was so bad that could barely stay warm. The constant cold was draining me. After following so many leads, I was close to giving up.

But I decided the one remaining lead would be the last I would follow.

A visiting merchant had told me about a woman living inside a small cabin deep within the mountains. Apparently she was a fire heart.

By the time I arrived, nearly twenty warriors had gathered outside and were waiting for me. I felt hopeful. Maybe this was the day I got rid of the damn curse.

I pushed open the cabin door and the woman stood immediately. She was young and beautiful with hot red hair, flowing down the sides of her pretty face.

I smiled when I saw the Flames dancing around her fingertips. This was it, the moment I had been waiting for. Finally, I could be normal again.

The woman smiled, sending a wave of electric current down my body. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

I ignored the greeting and stepped closer.

“Prove it.” I said. Having wasted a lot of time on fake leads, I didn’t have any more time to waste.

The words wiped the smile off her face. “What?”

I moved closer. I expected to feel somehow warm but I didn’t. “Prove that you’re part of the Fireheart bloodline.”

The flames around her hands suddenly flickered, almost going off. My wolf immediately became suspicious.

“I have nothing to prove.” She said as the fire around her fingers suddenly vanished then reappeared after a few seconds. When they vanished again, I realized it was a cheap trick. I narrowed my eyes and the room temperature dropped instantly. Ice spread across the walls.

Her face turned pale as she realized I had figured out she was a fake.

“You lied to me. Why did you want to lure me here, knowing you’re not the Fireheart?”

“Look around,” I said to Jared through mind link. I had a feeling this woman had been used by one of my enemies to set me up.

When the cabin started freezing, the woman stumbled backwards, her eyes wide open.

“Please don’t kill me.” She said. This woman was no Fireheart but just another fraud hoping to profit from my desperation.

“Do you know how many people have died because of this curse?” I asked.

The woman started crying. “Please, Alpha Rodney.”

“Do you know how many years I’ve searched for a Fireheart?”

Ice spread across the floor and the woman dropped to her knees. She started shivering, her teeth chattering.

“I was desperate!”

“Who paid you to do this?” I asked.

She shook her head, tears cascading down her rosy cheeks. She was beautiful and I might’ve had different thoughts in other circumstances.

“I have children to care for. Don’t kill me, Alpha Rodney.”

I felt neither sympathy nor mercy for her. I had suffered enough with the endless cold and couldn’t stand people making a mockery of it.

I stared at her as I let the room freeze. She let out a terrifying scream but it only lasted less than a second. Then there was silence and a frozen statue before me. The disappointment was immense.

A fresh wave of pain assaulted me and I doubled over. The frost was spreading. I knew that soon my heart would completely freeze over. Death was coming and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Every day the cold grew stronger and I became less human. I lost another piece of myself each passing minute. With one last glance at the woman, I left the cabin without looking back.

As I wandered through the forest, I ignored the warriors following me. I was just moving like a zombie and didn’t care. It was only when I caught Damien’s familiar scent that I began to feel something.

“Hey,” I said to him via mind link.

“Wait up,” he said. “I have something to tell you.”

I stopped walking and told the warriors to proceed.

Damien emerged from the trees. He was breathing heavily as if he had been running prior to finding me.

“What now?” I asked. “If this is about another fake Fireheart, I don’t want to know.”

Damien shook his head. “No Fireheart stories. You’ll never guess what I found.”

“Stop with the suspense and tell me what the hell you found.”

I was fed up of getting hope only to be disappointed.

“I found Evie.” He said.

The world seemed to stop moving. Evie, the only woman who truly loved me, my Evie who would give her life for me. Evie could make all this better.

I grabbed Damien’s shoulders. “What did you say?”

“I found Evie.”

My wolf stirred.

“Mine.” it said, starting to get agitated.

Evie may not be a Fireheart but I was sure she could make my miserable life better.

“You’re not going to believe who was standing beside her.” He said.