The Alpha’s Forbidden Love

CADE

My stay in the dungeon had taught me a lot of lessons I wished I had known long ago. My envy and greed had made me lose the people I valued most, friends and family.

“I know you hate me because of the throne, but I need you to know that I wouldn’t be taking your place if it hadn’t been assigned to me to do so,” my younger brother said.

I scoffed. “Save me the details, I know you are more than glad to be stealing my position as alpha of this pack. I knew Father had always chosen you over me but that will never happen. The throne is mine and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do about it.”

On the day of his coronation, I watched in envy as my brother took my place as alpha. I wished I could strangle him where he stood with the rest of the elders. I hated my father and brother so much that I rarely spent time in the palace.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Rather, I built another pack of my own far from the pack, a rogue pack in my name where I could be alpha. I recruited many rogues and formed an army of my own but it didn’t give me the power I desired. I wanted more, I desired the throne of my brother more than the little empire I had built.

Brewing hate and envy in my heart, I sought out one night to kill him. On that night, I held my blade as I tiptoed into the palace and into my brother’s chambers where I supposed he laid asleep. On getting to his chambers, a figure rushed out of his chamber in a hurry, holding a knife in his hand.

I hid in the corridor to see who it was but it was late at night and it was very impossible to see his face. I only saw a distinctive symbol etched into his flesh. I wasn’t sure if the strange man had seen me but I was lucky to be alive that night.

After he had escaped, I rushed into my brother’s chambers to find him whimpering in pain. He stretched his hand towards me, pleading for help but I stood there not knowing what to do.

Eventually, I moved closer and held him close to me. “Who did this to you?” I asked.

The murderer had slit his throat so he couldn’t say a word. I watched as blood oozed from his neck. “You would be alive if you had stepped down from that position. You are too weak to rule this pack.”

In my arms, my brother breathed his last. I felt my heart break as life seeped out of my brother but the deed was done. The distant footsteps caught my attention and I knew I would be in trouble if I remained there. I kissed my brother goodbye and ran out of the chamber before I was caught by the guards.

Hiding again, Lucian, Lucy’s father, walked into my brother’s chambers. Not long after he entered, the guards arraigned him, accusing him of killing my brother.

A few days after my brother was buried, I thought the elders would crown me as alpha but the moon goddess had rejected me again as alpha and chose my brother’s tiny child. My fury increased and I plotted different ways to overthrow the child with the help of some of the elders but none of my plans ever worked.

***************************************************

Maybe the moon goddess was right after all for choosing my brother over me. Maybe if I had become the alpha, this pack would have been in ruins due to my lack of resilience.

Now all I could do was blame myself for everything that had happened in the past. If I hadn’t harbored the thoughts of killing my brother, maybe he would be alive to this day. Maybe his son, Chris wouldn’t have gone through half of what he had gone through.

I sat in the solitude of the dungeon, my head bowed, seeking repentance from the moon goddess this one last time. I cried, hoping my repentant soul would save me. But a part of me convinced me that I was unworthy of repentance.

Although I had revealed the truth about the real killer, hoping against hope that Chris would believe me, that he would see the truth in what I said. It was the least I could do to atone for my sins, to save the throne and bloodline from being destroyed.

In the early hours of the next day, the first light of dawn filtered through the narrow windows, exposing the figure of a man standing in front of me. Startled, I scrambled to my feet, my heart pounding in my chest with fear and apprehension.

“Who are you?” I asked, my voice trembling.

The man’s lip curled into an evil smirk as he drew closer while I teetered back. A glint of his blade caught the faint light. “Do you recognize me now, Cade or should I say, Uther?” he asked. “Do you recognize this mark?”

He exposed the mark on his right arm and immediately I recalled who it was, Chris’ father’s killer.

“Y-you’re the one,” I stammered, my mind reeling with shock. It turned out that he was someone I knew, someone I never thought would betray the throne. “You’re the man responsible for……. his death.”

“Ahh…you figured it out already. I guess the Parker’s bloodline isn’t as dumb as I thought they were,” the man said. “I knew you would figure it out soon enough, but I guess this is where we draw the line, my dear friend.”

The killer raised his blade high above his head while I frantically searched for ways to escape. “There’s nowhere to hide, Cade. It’s just you and me here, there’s no one to save you.”

Desperation clawed at my chest as the killer drew closer. I knew deep down that there was no escaping fate. I took a deep breath as I embraced death. “I’m sorry, Nathan.”

With those words on my lips, I braced myself for the inevitable, knowing that my time had finally run out.

I slammed into the floor, my sight slowly deteriorating as the killer once again escaped from his deeds.

Not long, Lucy walked in to find me in a pool of my own blood. With the last strength I had, I whispered the name of the killer before I gave myself away to the darkness.