VALERIE'S POV
"Where are you lost? You have been acting like this for a couple of days now," Blue shook my hand, and I came out of my thoughts.
"I am just feeling a little out of it. You guys eat. I will catch up with you later," I stood from my place.
"Hey, Valerie. Something has happened, no? As much as I hate your smirk attitude and annoying comments, I feel even weirder when you aren't doing anything. This doesn't feel like you at all. I know it's hard to trust new friends, but you can share anything with us," Monty looked at me, and I patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry. It's nothing severe. Maybe the changing weather is getting to me. I will see you guys tomorrow," I walked out of the canteen, dropping the forced smile from my face.
Logan left last night. He said he explained everything to the Alpha about why I tried to hide my identity from him and what trauma I had suffered with other packs. Logan even said he shared a little bit of my past about my previous pack with him.
Everything except my cursed fate was shared and talked about, and the alpha said he would not punish me, but I should keep him updated about my whereabouts. For that, I have to be in constant touch with his beta.
The alpha has forbidden me from meeting him. The original plan was that I would go and explain my innocence, but at the last moment, Alpha called Logan and asked him to come alone.
As much as it bothered me, I shouldn't be complaining too much, right? Isn't this what I wanted?
'You miss his presence, don't you? He had started to grow on us,' Adele said the one thing I didn't need to hear right now.
With a grunt, I walked towards the forest, not wanting to return to the empty apartment.
"Babe, give me a chance. I know we didn't start well, but I like you. Give me one chance, and I will show you how much I care for you," a boy was proposing to a girl in front of the restaurant, and I remembered how that grey-eyed alpha had said something similar.
'I will visit you daily and kiss you until you finally come to me and confess your feelings,'
That alpha had said.
It was a lie. I have not seen the alpha since he walked out of my apartment. I honestly miss his presence. He would've been making jokes or moves on me if he had been here.
Wait. What am I thinking about?
Am I hoping he would come to kiss me? Get your head straight, Valerie! Stop thinking about things you can’t afford.
'Why? Why should you get your head straight, Valerie? Tell me why can't you accept his feelings. You are afraid he would leave after knowing about our curse, but won't he leave either way? Why are you always so hard on yourself?' Adele said, and I halted in my steps.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
'Stop acting stupid, Valerie. You and I know you've started to like this alpha and his persistence. The way he cares for you and fights anyone for you has made your heart melt. I don't want to say it, but you would be dumb if you let go of a potential relationship because of fear of the future,' Adele said, and I sighed.
Don't say things like this, Adele. My resolution is already breaking. I want to meet him and explain everything myself. It’s already getting hard to keep my emotions at bay. I looked at my feet, my heart feeling heavy as I remembered the hurt expression that had crossed his face when he found out everything.
It wasn't just the fear of the future. I am afraid I will let my heart slip and get hurt if I let that alpha in. This grey-eyed alpha has had my attention from day one, and the more we interact, the more I like being around him.
I know I am being rude to myself by not letting my heart breathe but -
'- but are you any better than everyone who wants to harm you? I thought you loved ourselves,' Adele interrupted, and her words hit my heart like an arrow.
She was right. I promised myself no matter what others did, I would always be true to myself. I would love myself and respect myself and my desires.
'You miss him,' Adele smiled.
'I do. But more than that, I am guilty. Let me get this issue cleared. If the alpha still doesn’t want to see me after that, we will respect that,' I walked back to my apartment to take the clothes he had left.
Quickly stuffing the ironed clothes in a bag, I rushed out.
I can use this excuse to meet him.
"You wanted to infiltrate my pack? Don't you know who I am?" I heard the familiar cold voice with my keen senses, and I parked my cycle immediately, walking forward to see what was going on.
"Plea- please let me go, alpha," I heard another pleading voice.
"Let you go? Filth like you don't deserve to live. What did you say to my Gama? The alpha can do whatever he wants, yeah? Now I will do what I want,"
It was the alpha's voice.
I stopped a few hundred meters away from the scene, looking at them in horror.
"This rogue is your brother, no?" The alpha asked before he plunged his hand straight through his chest and pulled his heart out, making me slap my hands on my mouth to contain the scream that was fearing to come out.
"Oops. He died. Now, who is the next one?" The alpha's voice was beyond recognizable. It was hard as stone and colder than ice. It was devoid of any emotions.
He was nothing like what appeared in front of me all the time. It was as if I was looking at a new person.
I stood there as he disremembered the rogues one by one, making their painful screams echo in the forests.
I was shocked, but there was one more thing bothering me.
My canines.
Why were they hurting like this? It felt as if I was about to mark someone, and my canines were itching to elongate. I wasn't even in my wolf form and didn’t ask for her powers either.
Touching my canines, I winced when a small cut appeared on my fingers, making me look at my blood.
Lub! Dub!
My heart pounded furiously at the sight of blood, and my vision started to turn red. It was as if nothing mattered around me anymore.
I brought the bleeding finger close to my mouth before licking and sucking it, and as soon as I did that, the veins in my neck tensed as my throat went dry.
"Mmmmm,"
My blood was tasty. It was nothing as I had tasted before. I don't know what was happening, but one thing was for sure. I liked the scent and taste of blood. Was this why I was feeling like this?
The screams around have stopped too.
I looked up towards the area where the alpha was standing, gulping slightly when my gaze met the Alpha's angry ones.
"Valerie," he barely whispered, but because of my heightened senses, I could hear him crystal clear.
'Valerie, run,' Adele said, but my feet were frozen in their place.
‘How can I run away? And why should I? I was here to tell him everything, right? That's what you wanted too.’ I told Adele without wanting to.
Something was definitely wrong with my mind. Things were happening of their own accord. I was doing and saying things that made no sense to me.
'I know what I said, but you need to run away, or the alpha would know you are cursed. You just tasted your blood, and you loved it. You are thinking of going towards a place bathed in blood. What if you lost control and attacked a rogue to drink his blood too?' Adele said, and I chuckled at her words.
Has my wolf lost her mind?
'What are you talking about? You act like I am some kind of blood-drinking monster. Are those words from the pack members getting to you? Stop making it sound like -' the rest of my words paused.
I tasted my blood. And I liked it. I widened my eyes in realization.
The memories of that night when I saw my father for the last time resurfaced.
'Drinking blood will trigger your curse, my love,'
'Blood? Eww, dad. How can you even say that? We are not vampires or demons. Why would I drink blood? It's gross,'
'I know, sweetheart. I want you to know in advance for the future. We don't know what's going to happen, no? The future is uncertain. Whatever you do, control yourself around blood, and no matter how appealing it looks, don't drink it,'
Lub! Dub!
My heart pounded again as the wind from their side flew towards us, making me smell their blood again, and my canines, or should I say, my fangs, started hurting again.
The conversation I had with my dad didn't make any sense back then, but now that I have tasted my blood, I think I know what this is all about.
'I don't know what makes sense to you and what does not, but you need to leave this place. RIGHT NOW!! I am losing control, Valerie. If you don't move now, I won't be able to keep things in check, and you might slip,' Adele said, and I realized she was the one holding me back from running there and doing what my body was telling me to.
I wanted to drink blood. As much as gross it sounded, it was the truth. This was probably another and the uglier truth of my curse.
I took a step back in horror as realization dawned upon me.
I looked at my fingernails which had grown way longer and sharper than they were.
"Valerie, I can -" the alpha spoke again, but I didn't wait to hear him out.
I ran. I ran away as fast as I could to protect my curse from being out in the wild.
My mind was constantly overflowing with a red vision, and my heart didn’t stop pounding since I tasted my blood.
Slamming the door as fast as I could, I went straight to the bathroom and turned on the cold shower before standing under it to cool off my heat and clear my vision.
This isn't good. Who should I talk to about this? Logan?
But what if he asks me to return to the council and keeps me locked there? No. I can't jeopardize my freedom like this. I have to think about something else.
There has to be a way to control this curse from flowing and taking control of my body.