The Alpha's Mistake

-Chapter 14-

I stumbled down the stairs with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart. The one thing keeping me going was the life growing inside of me. Nothing else was motivating me apart from my baby. Honestly if I wasn't pregnant, I'd probably jump off of the pack house roof. But I can't do something like that- especially when another yet to be a life is depending on my existence to bring it into this world.

"Ariana! I haven't seen you in so long dear- wait why are you crying?" Gretel's worried voice encased me and I couldn't help but cry even more. You know how when someone asks you how you feel and you're upset or they point out that you're crying and then you just burst into tears? Yep so that just happened with me. The steady flow of tears dribbling down my cheeks only increased and I wished I didn't feel anything.

"And why do you smell different? Oh have you found your mate! Are you expecting? John come here!"
Gretel had engulfed me in a hug at this point and her excited shrieks were not something I could bear right now. Right now every sound hurt- you could whisper a mile away from me and I would feel as if you're shouting into my ear using a megaphone.

Gretel had always been nice to me, she was best friends with my mum and the two of them had found their mates at the same time and they ended up coming to the same pack-
The Lunar Moon Pack as my dad was the beta and Gretel's mate was obviously Alpha John. 
I felt rude for saying what I said next, but my anger got the best of me.

"If you want to know why I'm crying, why don't you go ask your son Dmitri."
I spat out before yanking away from Gretel and sprinting out of their house.

It didn't help that the guards who had let me in were now bent over in pure laughter. How was someone's pain something to laugh at? You never know what or when fate can throw something horrible your way so why take glory in someone's misfortunes? Upon closer notice I realised that the nicer guard from before wasn't laughing, but the one who had urged me to go inside was practically dying of amusement.

I didn't really know where to go, which was strange because I had a family at home waiting for me, I had a friend waiting for me. And yet in this moment all I can feel is alone. Someday Mia will find her mate, Knox will find his mate and my parents will grow old and I hate thinking about it but the truth is that they will eventually die. We all die at some point. And then I'll be alone. With my child (yet to be born) but someday even they'll find their own mate and I'll be alone again. There's no escape to how lonely I'll be.

There'll be people growing old alongside their mates, dying alongside them but I won't be one of those. I'll be that one misfortunate being, destined to live a life void of love and happiness. At some point people won't even bother keeping in touch with me because who needs negativity in their lives and surely someone so alone would be so bitter.

Instead of going home, I opted to go to the clearing and sit there. I've never visited the clearing at night before but I can tell you now that I have- it's breathtaking. It's so serenely majestic that although forests and the dark are a combination of the two things people are afraid of, if you could see from my eyes you'd know how painfully beautiful it is.

Growing up I used to be afraid of the dark. You might ask why a werewolf was afraid of the dark but for one I wasn't a werewolf since I hadn't shifted then and it's also quite ironic I was scared considering I'm literally a wolf. I was surrounded by creatures that radiated fear to an average being and yet I was afraid of the dark. Ironically the people that came to chase the monsters away were my own parents- who themselves weren't much less than monsters.

I stood up and shrieked at the clearing.
"I WANT TO RUN AWAY." And shrieked it at least a thousand times. Surprisingly screaming is a great way to let out your suppressed emotions and the Moon Goddess knows how long I've been suppressing emotions. I've felt the urge to cry at home so many times but I couldn't because I knew mum could hear me and I didn't want to put my parents through any unnecessary pain.

It must be hard enough knowing your child's been rejected so there's really no need for me to break their hearts further by constantly reminding them.

My rare moment of bliss was abruptly stopped when I heard rustling in the nearby bushes. I couldn't smell who it was and that's what scared me- what if it was a rogue?

If it was in cahoots with the rogue from before then there might be a very obviously high chance that it's after me. I don't exactly know why anyone would have a personal vendetta against me but you can never be too sure these days.

Here's the plan; I could either run in the opposite direction of the rustling or I could just duck behind a bush and try and cover my scent using the mud.

My planning was cut short by a tap on my shoulder that very nearly gave me a heart attack. I turned expecting to be launched into the face of death but instead I was met by the face of Stella? This day just gets better and better, doesn't it?

"I can help." Stella confidently spoke and I was beyond confused; what was she on about?

"What? What are you on about?"

"You said; 'I want to run away'. I said; 'I can help'. As in I can help you run away." Stella spoke and I had so many questions- mainly how she got here so fast and why she was here. No one knew about the clearing other than me and the last time I was here- Dmitri was also here. So two people knew- big deal but how did Stella of all people know?

If I wasn't so desperate to flee my current situation, perhaps I'd have asked Stella why she was so insistent on wanting to help me. What would she gain from helping the person she had bullied most her life? Perhaps if I wasn't so desperate I would have asked her but I was disgustingly desperate. I wanted nothing more than to run away from what seemed to be my life right now.

"I can help you if you let me?" Stella's tone made her statement sound like more of a question; she seemed like she was awaiting my approval.

"Okay, I'm in."

Stella grinned a wide grin. "Follow me."

As she led me into the darkness of the woods, I hoped with all my might that this decision would lead both me and my unborn child to a better future. If it didn't, well, there's not much I could do about it.