The Lost Alpha Queen

Sarah knew coming to this dive bar on the edge of town was a bad idea. But she decided to ignore her instincts for a drink with a charmingly handsome face, and now, she was running for her life through the woods. She cursed herself with every labored breath as she pushed her body beyond its limits. Pain pulsed through her limbs, her lungs burned like fire, and her heart pounded so violently in her chest she thought it might burst. The ground was cold and unyielding beneath her feet, the crisp autumn air nipped at her exposed skin and began to sting her as it whipped through her increasingly tangled hair.

She didn’t dare look back. She didn’t need to. She could feel whatever was behind her closing in, its presence a suffocating shadow at her back. Stopping and hiding weren’t options. She had to keep running through the pain. She had to survive. But then, a wall of thick brush loomed ahead. If she tried to plow through, it would slow her down too much. She didn’t have much time before it would reach her.

Before she could change course, something massive collided with her, slamming her to the ground. The impact rattled her bones, stealing the last breath from her lungs. A fresh wave of pain crashed over her like a massive wave drowning her; the further it pulled her under, the more the pain faded, numbed by shock. She barely even registered the gore and agony as she watched her own chest being torn open.

With fading vision and morbid curiosity, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at the thing that was killing her. The creature knelt over her, its beautiful face twisted with a mix of hunger and sorrow. Black eyes with feline slits surrounded by red, met hers, filled with an eerie mix of anguish and ecstasy. Its lips curled, revealing sharp teeth, glistening with her blood.

As the darkness swallowed her whole, Sarah managed one last thought: she should have trusted her instincts.

=========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========

ONLY IF FOR A NIGHT

As Jackie was getting ready for the night, her mind drifted to thoughts of how she’s been buried deep in the trenches of grief after the death of her mom for the past few years. Through university, she drowned herself in textbooks, losing herself in the words until they twisted and blurred into an unreadable mess. Nights bled into one another, spent in clubs and strangers’ beds, chasing something she couldn’t even name, anything to numb the ache of loss. It was a cruel, endless cycle, one that only spiraled deeper until her sister Andrea came to the same school and saw the cracks Jackie had carefully hidden. Andrea was a burst of pink and gold, glittering light; she was something precious and pure. She was the light Jackie would protect with everything she had. Despite how different they were, their bond was more profound than words could express. Their love, often unspoken, held them together in ways neither of them could truly understand.

Slowly, with Andrea's gentle persistence, Jackie began to climb out of the pit of grief. She found a way to balance the weight of school and healing, to build a life that didn’t feel so fractured. It was a slow process, but for the first time in three years, things began to look up. So tonight, for Andrea’s 21st birthday, Jackie got ready and promised her sister a good time.

Before she left the house, Jackie stared at herself in the mirror. Dark makeup, her curls pulled into a lazy bun, dressed in black like a silky shadow trying to blend in. She glanced at herself for a long moment, searching for something familiar. "Good enough," she whispered. A smile, forced but determined, swept across her face as she went to find Andrea.

When they were together, it was impossible to ignore that they were sisters. Both had caramel skin and thick curls, and turned heads in any room. The difference, however, was in their eyes. Andrea’s hazel eyes were a warm, golden hazel, the color of caramelized sugar, while Jackie’s eyes, one brown, one dark green, held a fractured beauty, like their mother’s heterochromia; it made her unforgettable.

Jackie used those eyes now to cut the line, meeting the bouncer’s gaze, her stare unyielding, and hypnotizing, paired with her smile, she was almost irresistible. Jackie decided to take her to her favorite club, Circuit Cardiff, where the DJ once kept her company during the haze of her past. He was talented, but his approach and expectations were simple: "Only here for a good time, not a long time." Tonight wasn’t about slipping back into old habits or reliving memories. It was about letting go, for just a little while, and celebrating Andrea, the only thing that still tethered Jackie to the world above the dark.

She had earned this moment. It wasn’t easy to be here again, to step into this place that had once been a refuge, now felt like suffocation, but Andrea’s voice broke through Jackie’s thoughts, calling her back to the present and out of her mind.

“Jackie! Did you hear me? I think my friends are over there. Come on!”

Jackie leaned into Andrea’s ear. "Sorry, Drea! It’s so loud! What did you say?"

Andrea rolled her eyes and grabbed her hand. Tugging her toward their reserved table, where her friends were already sitting, and waving. As they approached, Jackie began talking to herself, as she often did.

‘Get it together, Jackie. Tonight is about Drea. Just don’t drink too much, don’t flirt too much, don’t let the darkness consume you, and don't get all depressed. And for God’s sake, don’t talk about Mom.’

Before they reached the table, Jackie leaned in, voice hushed, “I forgot to give you the letter from Mom for your birthday.”

Andrea froze, her face hardening. “You want to bring this up now? What is wrong with you? I know you have the letter. Let’s just have fun tonight, okay? We can be sad tomorrow. Promise?”

Jackie’s heart ached, and she mentally chastised herself as she nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s go have fun.”

‘Only if for a night.’

The night unfolded into hazy flashes of light and neon, each beat of the music vibrating deep inside Jackie’s chest, and the strobing lights feeling as if they were dancing along her skin, encouraging her to move. Jackie slammed back a few shots and glided her way to the center of the dance floor. Beneath the pulsating lights, the music began to consume her. The beat vibrated through her body, grounding her inner chaos. Her arms swayed, fingertips reaching for something just beyond her grasp. The rhythm of the crowd, the bass that thudded in her chest, the hypnotizing lights, they all wrapped around her, urging her to let go of the weight pressing down on her mind. In this moment, the world outside of the club didn’t exist.

Her face, bathed in neon glow, began to relax as she let go. Her movements grew more confident, more freeing with every beat. The music became her sanctuary. It wasn’t a permanent escape, but it was a reprieve, a brief moment where the sadness, the grief, the weight of everything faded just a little bit. Every sway, every step was a small act of defiance. For one fleeting night, she refused to let the darkness consume her. She danced with her sister with reckless abandon and freedom, letting the light in.

‘Only if for a night.’

Andrea beamed, a bright, starry smile on her face, watching her sister. It was a miracle to see Jackie laughing, dancing, and living again. Feeling winded and a little dizzy, Andrea sat back down at the table with her friends without them noticing her.

“It’s weird seeing Jackie back here,” said a forgettable blonde girl

“Yeah, remember how she could drink us all under the table?” another added, halfmocking.

“That’s not the only thing I’ve seen her do under the table,” said some guy, who was bitter he wasn’t ever the focus of her sister’s other exploits.

Andrea didn’t flinch, but her smile dropped as she shot a disapproving look at the group of people around her. She knew the truth of how the grief and trauma had ravaged Jackie, the way their mother’s death had carved a permanent hole in her, that was a little deeper and darker than Andrea’s own grief. So Andrea loved her through it, stood by her, even when Jackie couldn’t stand herself. She wasn’t about to let these shallow comments ruin tonight.

With a sigh, she broke away from the group and sought Jackie out. Some tall guy had already started trying to dance on her, but Andrea wasn’t having it. She slipped between them, pulling Jackie into a dance of their own. For a moment, it was just the two of them, together again, dancing in their room like they used to, just like when their mom would burst in, dressed in something ridiculous, laughing together until they were on the floor, sides aching.

‘Tonight is a good night.’

And it would be the last time they would have a night like this together again.