Chapter 5: Alpha's Den

— Leia Steele —

Even though my hands were beginning to get clammy and my entire body was sweating profusely, I knew I had to keep going.

After finishing my duty of cleaning the area of the common wolves, I hurried to get out of there before anybody else decided that I was going to be their target.

Another reason why was because I needed to get to Katja. Fast.

I knew where I was going, but my biggest problem was that I didn’t know how to get there. Us slaves had our assignments for each area, and today I was not assigned to go anywhere near the Dark Alpha’s den. If anyone so much as caught a glimpse of me and realized I was not supposed to be there, I would be screwed before I could even try and save Katja.

Carefully and as quietly as possible, I walked at the sides of the hallway leading me to the area of the gigantic mansion where the Alpha and his closest men stayed. I made sure to stay in the shadows and tried to blend in with the other slaves that were in the area; cleaning, brushing, and doing all sorts of tasks.

I was getting closer. I was only a few steps away from the backdoor entrance of the Dark Alpha’s den when I heard it.

“Where are you going?”

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach as my body froze and my feet planted on the ground.

Fuck. Did they find out already?

Oh, goddess, I need to figure out a way to get out of this before they capture me and torture me.

Should I run? Should I just pretend I didn’t hear them and never turn back, just keep going and going until they give up?

“I—“

“Leia, what are you doing?” The voice asked before I could say anything else, and it was then that I realized I was not as screwed as I thought I was because nobody in this Pack knew our names.

We were never called by our real names. It was all derogatory ones like ‘trash’ or ‘dirt’ or ‘filth’.

When I turned around, I let out the biggest sigh of relief and my heart’s fast beating started to slow down.

“Jane…” Her name escaped my lips breathily. “Goddess, you scared the hell out of me.”

She blinked at me both confused and curious at the same time. “What in the heavens are you planning, Leia? Because I know damn well you were stationed at the commons and not here, so like I said, where are you going?”

I swallowed the lump that had lodged in my throat.

For a second I debated on my choices — tell her what I was doing aka the truth, or make up an excuse so she would leave me alone.

But then I remembered what she was like this morning and how she wanted to fight for her life, for her freedom. If there was one person in this entire place that would understand what I was doing and why I was doing it, it would be none other than her.

“Not here. Come with me,” I whispered to her before taking her hand and with our heads held down, I brought her to the closest spot I knew nobody in the Pack would be able to see or hear us.

If there was one good thing that we could get out of this hell, it was the fact that we knew many of the tiny spaces here that nobody else did because we cleaned them daily, something none of them would bother to do.

When I was sure that we were both safe, I let out a deep breath and began to tell her everything.

Jane looked at me blinking for a good few seconds before a neither happy nor sad smile formed on her lips. It was the kind of smile that looked just like… optimism, like for the first time ever, she was seeing light in a very dark place.

A match was lit and from the flames appeared hope.

“I will help you,” she finally spoke.

“What? Seriously?” I asked in disbelief, and then I asked again just to make sure she meant what she said.

“Yes, of course I’m serious. I’ll cause a scene or do something to distract anybody near the area so you can go inside without worry. You said there was a backdoor entrance, right? Are you sure?”

I nodded my head. “I am positively sure. I saw it in his bedroom while I was cleaning yesterday. There is no doubt it exists at the back of this hallway.”

“Then it’s perfect. I’ll cause a ruckus to make sure nobody sees you come in. Wait for my signal and then go.” Jane said before getting ready to turn, but I grabbed her by her hand and she looked back at me.

“No, wait. If you piss off Beta Calypso or Gamma Cane or honestly just anybody with authority, we both don’t know what kind of punishment they would give to you. I need to know if you’re really sure about this because this is a huge sacrifice, Jane…” My grip on her hand tightened as I imagined the horrors they’d make her go through.

But instead of seeing hesitance in her eyes, the fire of determination in them burned even brighter.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, Leia. I don’t care about what they’ll do to me. What matters is that you get in there and you destroy him, Leia. You are all that matters here.” Jane’s eyes pierced into mine deeply.

“Bring that fucking monster down and burn this hell to the ground once and for all.”

Jane’s words had been engraved in my mind that even after she left, it was all that I could think about. It echoed in my head over and over again, but the best part was that it also motivated me because I knew that I was not alone in this battle and I had no idea I needed that until now.

“I can do this,” I whispered to myself as I peered from the side of the hallway where nobody was passing while waiting for the signal Jane was talking about.

I have no bloody idea as to how I was going to fight off one of the strongest Alphas in the world, but I knew that whatever it was, I would die trying.

Just then, a loud sound of glass breaking echoed in the hallway and my eyes widened at the sight of Jane in the middle of it.

“Oh my goddess, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!” She cried out apologetically, and if I had no clue of what was really happening, I would actually believe her.

Loud gasps sounded off as the other wolves and slaves looked in terror, especially when he showed up.

“What the actual fuck just happened here?!” Beta Calypso stomped his way towards the broken shards of glass and it was terrifying the way his eyes practically pierced through Jane’s soul.

“It was the slave! She broke it!” One of the wolves cried out in a split second.

“You stupid bitch, how fucking dare you break something here? Come with me right fucking now.” The Beta ordered and I watched in horror as he grabbed her by her hair and dragged her on the floor without exerting much effort.

As much as it pained me to not be able to do anything to help her, I knew the best thing I could do was to follow through with our plan.

With everyone staring wide-eyed as the Beta dragged a screaming Jane, it was the perfect opening to enter the backdoor.

Carefully and quietly, I pushed open the door and as soon as I was inside, all I could see was… nothing.

Complete and utter darkness.

Fuck. Where the hell do I go?

Where would I even begin to find Katja here?

Think, Leia! You have to think and get moving before it’s too la—

“Aaaaaah!”

My head snapped towards the scream and shivers ran down my spine. I knew instantly who it was.

“Please, Dark Alpha! Please don’t kill me! You—you said that if I did everything that you asked, you would spare me! Please!” Katja’s desperate cries grew stronger and my heart ached even more.

It was impossible to see in the pitch black room so I followed her voice, praying to the Goddess that when I finally come face to face with the monster, I would have an idea as to how to defeat it.

Suddenly, there was silence. It was so quiet that it made me feel even more uneasy.

What the hell happened? Oh my goddess, did he kill Katja already? But how? How could he have done that in a split second and without making a single sound?

Panicking, I knew it was now or never. I didn’t care about anything else but saving my one and only friend.

I rushed to get out of this dark room, not caring that I was hitting things along the way. At one point, I felt something cold by my leg and deduced that it was a steel rod. I grabbed it and prayed to the Goddess that it could be used as a weapon.

I had no idea how long it took for me to feel a wall and a door knob, but as soon as I felt it, I twisted it and pushed the door open.

What I saw next was something in my life I would never wish for anybody, not even my enemies (if I had one) to see.

“Well, well, well…” The deep voice said in a condescending tone as he looked at me with such a cold piercing stare.

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to get out of there and save your friend,” he finished before glancing back at Katja who was dangling in the air, the Dark Alpha’s humongous hand wrapped around her neck.

“H— how did you know she was my friend?” I managed to ask, surprised that words were even coming out of my mouth as well as the fact that I was able to form a coherent question.

He grinned at me and I could have sworn I let out some liquid underneath me. My own pee? Fuck.

“Because nobody in their right fucking mind would go so far as entering my room to save a nobody so she’s got to be special to you in some way.”

I gulped. He was right.

But none of that matters because now that I’m here, I needed to do what I came here to do.

My eyes looked over at Katja whose face was turning much too red. She was losing oxygen and I needed to get this monster off of her.

“Let her go,” I said with as much vigor and threat I could muster but somehow it felt like I was just a little girl trying to act tough.

Fuck. Fuck! This is all so fucked!

Thankfully, it turns out I was right and what I managed to grab earlier was a steel rod with a spike at the end. I knew there was no way in hell this was enough to defeat him, but I was going to do what I could with it anyway.

But the Dark Alpha didn’t let her go. In fact, he tightened his grip even more, cutting off Katja’s oxygen faster and my eyes widened at watching life leave her body per second.

“I said let her fucking go!” I shouted before lunging towards him with the spike of the steel directed at him.

Everything had moved far too fast at that point. I ran and with all my strength tried to stab him somewhere with the spike, but for some reason, something happened, and before I knew it, just like Katja, he was now holding me by my neck.

Close. He was so close to me that his features were now far more visible than from where I was standing earlier.

What the hell is happening? It’s doing that thing again where it seemed like he was some sort of magnet, and I was being pulled in by him!

The Dark Alpha let out a cold chuckle, breaking me from my hypnotic state. If I had known what he was going to do after that, I wish I had just stayed oblivious.

“I said nobody in their right mind would go in here, but you know what? You’re still pretty fucking stupid if you think you could do anything by yourself and that rod in your hand.”

I blinked just as I heard the sound of a bone snapping.

Katja’s bone. Specifically, her neck.

What. The. Fuck.

He killed her. He killed her just like that.

Monster. He is a fucking monster.

“You… asshole… You… fucking.. asshole…” I said with shuddery breaths and my heart beating loud and fast.

My vision was beginning to blur and my body was starting to heat up. I had no idea what was happening, but the next thing I know, the Dark Alpha had let my neck go and was now staring at me wide-eyed.

I had never seen him look at me or anyone like that. This was completely different.

For the first time ever, the Dark Alpha was shocked by what he was looking at.

He was shocked by me.

“H– how? That– that’s impossible…” His words came out trembling.

“It can’t be. Who… who the fuck are you?”