Infernal

2.

"Valerie Shields, I order you to never shift into your wolf again!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, I felt my bones breaking and reshaping and as I shifted back into my human form all I could think about was that I never even got to see what my wolf looked like...

"Valerie eat your food!" I heard the sharp bark of the Alpha said.

His words brought me out of my thoughts. I nodded my head and picked up my fork, prodding a piece of broccoli with it, before slowly dipping in the gravy. I knew that the Alpha was watching me so quickly I placed the broccoli in my mouth and chewed. The food was tasteless, bland in my mouth. For weeks, I had been the same way, not been able to eat; constantly feeling anxious and sad. Why you may ask? Well, my parents had decided to ally with a neighbouring pack. For this alliance to go through, I had to marry the Alpha of the pack.

Alpha Zander Richards was a lively middle-aged man, who unfortunately had lost his mate years ago. Alpha Richards had no living heirs but what I couldn't understand was why my father was eager for me to marry him. Everyone in the pack knew that I could no longer shift and that was a sign that I would have weak pups and also that I wouldn't be a strong wolf even if I did shift one day. Since the age of sixteen Alpha Richards has paid me attention, he would often visit our pack and spend time with me. It was odd that an Alpha of his status would even associate himself with me but from what I could gather he liked the fact that I was into books and history. He liked having company himself and so did I. He didn't seem to mind the fact that I couldn't shift, it was as if it meant very little to him. It wasn't until six months of turning eighteen that there were rumours of Alpha Richards having a new mate and that he would be marrying her within in the year... that new mate just happened to be me.

I had come to realise that I was no more than a business transaction, worth nothing more and nothing less. I would soon leave this pack and live with Alpha Richards, perhaps that would be a better life; I couldn't help but think.

I paid no attention to the conversation between my eldest brother James and the Alpha; they usually talked about pack business whenever I was around. For them, it was easy to forget that I existed, for the Luna, it was slightly hard as she was always home just like me. My other two brothers were twins; Jared and Ryan, they often paid me no attention and the only time they talked to me was back when I used to do their pack studies homework for them; years had passed and now they were both training to be warriors for the pack.

"The demon Alpha will be attending the event also-"

"WHY?" My eldest brother shouted, I jumped at the sound of his voice; my heart beating slightly faster than usual. I hated any form of anger whether it was verbal or physical, it always made me feel fearful.

"Have you forgotten we need his approval for the alliance?" My father stated rhetorically, rolling his eyes. He was a very serious man who had patience the size of a fingernail, anyone who got on his bad side knew that they would be thrown into the pack dungeons; even for the smallest thing.

Everyone froze, the tension in the air was suffocating. Everyone knew who the demon Alpha was and what he stood for. Already this event and union were going to be very difficult, it was extremely rare that The Demon Alpha agreed to alliances... the last one had occurred more than a hundred years ago.

"He must allow it! We need the alliance!" James claimed loudly, slamming a fist down on the table. I flinched at the noise and hid behind my long raven hair, a hair colour no one else in the family had. "The old bastard's reign needs to end!"

It was clear that this pack hated the Demon Alpha. No one knew what he looked like, he kept to himself and often sent out Deltas to check on how the other packs were getting on and if they were adhering to the Demon Alpha's rules; known as The Code of the Alphas. The fact that he would be coming to a pack for the first time in over a century meant a huge deal to the Lycanthrope species.