All Chapters of Zeus - The Alpha of Hatred : Chapter 31 - Chapter 39

Dark and imposing, I found myself in an unfamiliar room when I woke up next. Warm lighting competed with the soft morning glow filtering through a sloping floor-to-ceiling window with an arched top dominating one wall. Untamed wilderness was all that ruled beyond it. By its towering expanse rose high a grand stairway, leading to a secluded sitting area shrouded in darkness. The walls, furniture and everything else were fashioned with a mixture of rich mahogany and sturdy oak. Shelves, adorned with vintage showpieces and ancient tomes took up most of the other wall. I tilted my head back and gasped. Right above the five or six feet tall triangle headboard commanded a large wolf-head. From its snarling jaws, cascaded down a pair of crimson curtains. So strange and terrifying yet so oddly magnificent. I was so awestruck, I forgot to wonder where I was. “Anastasia.” The familiar voice thrummed through my heart, and in a flash, those striking green eyes were above me. Worry and unease

“It happened during a hike in the Alaskan mountains,” Mom started, settling into the chair the doc occupied moments ago. I sat beside her on the bed, cupping her hand in-between mine on my lap to offer her what little comfort I could. “I got lost from my group, and a bear attacked me. I thought I would die that day,” she continued, a bunch of lines forming between her brows like they did in my heart, but then, a smile split her lips in half, her eyes distant with the memories. “But, like a heaven-sent angel, a man appeared out of nowhere and drove the bear away. He was so handsome, I fell in love at first sight.” I immediately had an idea who that man was. My father. That's who my mother was madly in love with. Unconsciously, my eyes drifted to the floor-to-ceiling window where Zeus stood in silent contemplation, his arms folded behind his back, and his gaze firm on the horizon. I couldn't help remembering our first encounter. How unfortunate that was. How he fell in repulsion with

The shock was too overpowering to realize the pain searing through the skin of my stomach. Even the cries of my friends. I was suspended in time, taking in the man before me. No… the monster. He looked so much like my dad that if he was alive he’d look probably the same when he grew old, but what separated him from my dad was the deranged, diabolic gleam in not just his eyes, but in his smile, in his aura and in the way he carried himself. Even his scent smelled like a graveyard with trapped souls and lurking demons. It almost made me gag. “I had been waiting for years to meet you, and finally the time has come,” he spoke, his eyes glinting with a twisted, malicious delight that made my blood run cold. I glared at him through tears I didn't notice escaping. “I had been cursing you since the moment I knew you.” I spat each word with every bit the revulsion I felt towards him. His smile strained, and he twisted his claws inside me, piercing through more flesh, making me grab his arm

Zeus lowered me to the ground gently and straightened my clothes, carefully fastening the buttons he undid earlier. I heard footsteps and voices approaching the door just as his expression steeled, his familiar commanding aura settling over him like second skin, and his voice regaining its cold, authoritative tone as it cut through the air. “Come in.” The door opened, and there stood Iris, gripping someone by the arm and not in a friendly way. She roughly yanked at them, and the person stumbled into the room. Malorie. She whimpered, slowly rising back to her feet, but her eyes remained fixed on the floor, never daring to rise. Her shoulders shook weakly, fear etched into her very posture as she was shoved further into the room. Iris kicked at the back of her knees, pushing her down at least ten feet from where Zeus and I stood. “What's going on?” I whispered, my brows connected. I felt Zeus’ hand press against the small of my back as he stood tall beside me. The air around him c

“Begin,” Zeus commanded, and the feast came to life. The grand pack hall buzzed with clinking of cutlery and fine china as the pack members indulged in the ceremonial meal. Laughter and chatter echoed through every corner, excitement humming in the air. Only, I wasn't feeling any of it. My dinner sat untouched before me, my nerves tightening. It felt as though a dagger hung suspended above my head, inching down closer and closer with each passing second. The anticipation was unbearable, like waiting for a storm I couldn't escape.I had heard tales about bones shattering and reshaping, skin stretching, and muscles tearing as the body took a new form. One of the late bloomers in the pack even described it as being set on fire from the inside out. Even though I had experienced the transformation once before, it had happened so suddenly and in such a blur that mixed with the rush of adrenaline, the pain hadn't felt as intense as it should have. I took a shaky breath, trying to steel