I'm bleedin' out
So if the last thing that I do
Is bring you down
I'll bleed out for you
So I bare my skin and I count my sins
And I close my eyes and I take it in
I'm bleedin' out
I'm bleedin' out for you, for you
- Imagine Dragons
Alaric
I could feel the bright sun streaming onto my body.
I sat up, running a hand through my hair, as my eyes searched for my mate. I could feel her strong presence in the room but I could barely see her laying on the bed in a tangled heap of her limbs and the bedsheets.
The sweet smell of her scent and the smell of her heat were thick in the suffocating air. It was potent and mouthwatering, causing my wolf to stir within me. I could feel my sharp canines extending, the fur starting to sprout at the back of my neck. The beast within me wanted nothing more than to rip free and claim what was his.
I held back the urges that were pushing me to mate with her. It wasn't easy, as every time I breathed in, my nostrils filled with her sweet scent.
I stood up from the floor, popping my bones and joints into place, which was stiff from the uncomfortable position I had slept in. My legs had a mind of their own as I walked towards the bed where Valerie lay. She was passed out, her eyes closed, her body twisted in an awkward position with the sheets barely covering her upper body. Her chest was exposed to me, and out of respect, I pulled the sheet over her, concealing her delectable skin.
"Valerie," I whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed. I made sure not to sit too near her, but my fingertips itched to touch her. My hands ached to feel her soft skin, to caress the silkiness, and to feel the electrifying currents between us. I knew that as soon as I put my hands on her I wouldn't be able to control myself.
Valerie's breathing was shallow, the rise and fall of her chest weren't at a normal pace. She took a while to take a breath in, and she waited longer to exhale out.
"Hey, sweetheart," I said louder.
She didn't even stir.
"Valerie, wake up!"
"Valerie!" I yelled, placing my hand on her arm, tingles of electricity and heat shot through me. I began to shake her, my skin prickled with sparks at every fibre.
She wouldn't wake up, no matter how loud I shouted or how hard I shook her.
She wasn't asleep, she was unconscious.
Twenty minutes.
That was how long it took before a pack doctor came. My blood boiled under my skin, frustrated and angry at how long it had taken for the doctor to come. He had Valerie to an IV drip, keeping her hydrated, as well as a monitor to keep track of her heart rate.
"This is her second heat, is that correct Alpha," the doctor asked.
"Yes."
"The second one is always the worst but due to the nature of who she is mated to, it appears that she is physically drained. Was she alone last night?"
"No, I was with her, she was awake all through the night until around six this morning," I said.
"Alpha, are you s-"
I growled loudly, anger rushing through me, and the doctor shut his mouth instantly. "Of course, I'm fucking sure!"
"I meant no disrespect-"
"You are not the head doctor, why the hell did he not come? Instead, he sends a useless worm to do his job instead," I snarled out, feeling fur at the back of my neck start to sprout out.
"Alpha, please calm down," the doctor said, his hands raised up. "I just wanted to know if she was awake all night-"
"She was awake, I'm pretty sure the whole pack could hear her last night," Dean's voice said behind me. I turned around and glared at him.
"Get back downstairs!" I growled out.
He kept a firm face. "I wanted to see if she's alright-"
"Dean you need to get away now," I warned.
"I care about her too-"
"I don't care if you're her friend, her guard or my fucking delta! You get the hell away from my mate now!" My Alpha tone laced my words thickly. For a split second, it appeared that Dean was going to ignore an order, however, I watched as his eyes were no longer determined, he cowered down and obeyed, knowing that he had no choice but to listen.
"I'll be downstairs," he muttered, leaving as he bowed his head in respect.
The room was cleared, once the doctor was finished and it was just me and Valerie.
I sighed heavily, wondering how long she would be out for.
Two more days of heat was left, would she wake up before the days ended or would she sleep entirely through it?
"You're gonna be fine," I whispered to her, my hand was entwined with hers; electric currents coursing through me. "You'll wake up soon."
I just didn't know how long soon would be...
Valerie
As soon as my eyes opened, I knew I wasn't awake; I was still asleep. It was weird to know that you were still asleep but in a dream state of consciousness.
My surroundings were not familiar as I wasn't in my room, in fact, it didn't even look like I was in the present-day but yet at some point in the past, centuries into the past.
I sat up and took in my surroundings, I was in a small room that had an endless amount of wooden beams along with the ceiling. The room was pitch black and I could barely see anything, it felt dusty as if no one had cleaned in such a long time. As I stood up, my body felt drained and tired. I couldn't feel the constant burns and pains of heat. I was numb and cold.
As I blinked, black dots danced in my vision and it wasn't until I focused that I realised they weren't black dots but purple eyes.
I could hear indistinct whispering. The words and sounds all blurred together, each voice was different. Some were deep and low, and some were higher and nasally. Together, the voices sounded like a deafening mess.
The purple eyes continued to stare at me, as the whispering got louder and louder until I could make out a few words.
"Learn his past!"
"Understand the man behind the beast!"
Those two phrases were chanted repeatedly in my head, and out loud.
It was agonising to hear such repetitiveness, I raised my hands to cover my ears; feeling as though they were about to bleed. My hands didn't block the voices, they still continued to project, getting louder and louder.
"LEARN HIS PAST!" One voice screamed.
"UNDERSTAND THE MAN BEHIND THE BEAST!"
"ALRIGHT!" I screamed out, unable to take any more of the repeated words. Suddenly the voices stopped chanting and I no longer saw multiple pairs of eyes staring at me, but one singular pair.
"Leave the room, Valerie, start the journey," it seemed that the singular pair of eyes was the voice behind the words. I watched as the eyes blinked and then faded away.
The room that I was in brightened up, and I could finally see my surroundings. A huge wooden door was in front of me, it slowly opened by itself; showing that a huge, green field lay beyond the door.
My feet moved and I ventured outside of the room, embracing the fresh greenery and clean air into my lungs. The sky was a bright blue and there wasn't a cloud in sight. As I looked around I could see the trees in the distance, and I could hear voices, but I couldn't tell where they were coming from.
I glanced down at myself, realising that I was barefoot and also dressed in a white dress that flowed down to my feet.
"You're definitely dreaming Valerie," I mumbled to myself.
I didn't even own a white dress that flowed to my feet, and it seemed that every time I had a dream I was always wearing white.
I didn't know where I was going, the surroundings did not look familiar, but as I kept on walking I saw something in the distance that resembled Regnum.
As I continued to walk, a huge gathering of people appeared before me. There couldn't have been more than a thousand men and women crowding around together. I was engulfed with feelings of excitement and happiness. All around me people talked and chattered excitedly as if their lives depended on something.. pr perhaps someone.
As I looked ahead, standing on the higher hilltop, a man with light brown hair and a woman with dark brown hair stood together. The man held up a baby for the huge gathering to see, and as my heart thumped hard in my chest, I knew that this baby was no other than my mate. I was witnessing Alaric's first presentation.
A presentation was an important event in which the Alpha and Luna of a pack would announce and show their newborn children. It would also give the Alpha and Luna the opportunity of seeing their pack's loyalty to their children.
"May we present, the first child of Alpha Ahren and Luna Emilia," a loud voice spoke. "This is Alaric."
Jeers and cheers filled my ears, as the pack applauded and showed their happiness for seeing the first child of the Alpha.
I watched at the beta and gamma presented themselves and swore loyalty to Alaric. This seemed like a typical act for wolves to do, but it was the first time I was ever seeing something that showed a sense of community and belonging.
Around me, people started to vanish and as I walked up to the Alpha and Luna who held Alaric safely, they too started to fade away. Just as they began to disappear, my eyes locked with Baby Alaric's own brown ones. I could tell that he was barely hours old but at that moment, Alaric's brown eyes twinkled and he showed me a sleepy smile, as he began to doze off and disappear.
I was left standing alone in the scene, my emotions were high but at the same time, I was also very confused.
"Keep going Valerie," the eerie voice whispered.
Just as the voice had commanded, I continued to walk.
I came to a halt as a specific amount of land resembled the training grounds in Regnum. It wasn't as lavish or as well built as it was currently. But even looking at it, it seemed to be more developed than the training grounds at the Shields' territory.
"How dare you!?" A voice suddenly roared, causing me to jump out of my own skin. My hand flew up to my chest, feeling as if my heart was about to jump out.
"You foolish boy!" The voice roared again and as I turned my head, I saw Alaric's father hovering over him. Alaric lay helpless on the ground, as he tried to calm his father down.
"I'll teach you a lesson, you'll never forget!"
I watched helplessly, as Alaric's father, Alpha Ahren, turned him around so that his face was pushed into the grass. His father held Hm down, as he produced a whip and raised it, bringing it down fast.
I flinched at the impact and at the sound as the whip came into contact with Alaric's bare back.
His father didn't hold back on any anger he was feeling, as he brought the whip down into Alaric multiple times.
Alaric didn't even cry no did he scream out in bloody murder as the whip came down violently on his exposed back.
When his father was finished, he threw the whip to the ground and spat on Alaric.
"The next time you act so foolish, you won't get off so easily!"
Alaric didn't move, his father glared down at his body before spitting on him, and then stalking away. He left his son, laying down in agony; his bare back bleeding out.
"Alaric!" I screamed out, holding up my dress as I ran to him.
Tears pooled in my eyes as I fell down on my knees in front of his body He lay on the ground, his back slashed and bleeding. The slashes were deep and looked extremely painful. Even though I could put my hand on him, I couldn't feel him. I couldn't feel the blood on his back, nor the inflamed heat of his skin. It was as if I was touching nothing.
If I couldn't feel Alaric that meant he couldn't feel or see me at all, but that didn't stop me from talking to him.
"You're going to be alright!" I hushed, knowing he couldn't hear or even see me.
A group of male wolves soon approached us, they stood in front of me blocking my view of Alaric.
"Take him to the infirmary!" One male spoke, and I stood up moving away, as the rest of the males hauled Alaric's limp body onto a woven made stretcher.
I made my way to Alaric's side, he lay down flat on his stomach, his chin was lifted up and his eyes were on me. He looked directly at me, his teary brown eyes were sharp and held such emotion and he gazed at me. It was as if all the pain suddenly vanished from his face, the colour on his cheeks seemed to brighten up.
"Are you an angel?" He suddenly asked in a shaky voice. I jumped at his words that were clearly directed at me and no one else. He was losing consciousness, as his eyes started to flutter shut.
Before I could even answer him, he was carried away from me, to the point that I couldn't see him being carried anymore.
"What is the point of this?" I mumbled to myself.
Al I had seen was Alaric as a baby and then the day Alaric got his scars on his back. I wasn't learning anything about him, all I was learning was that his father was possibly worse than my own father.
Just before I could take another step, the scene around me changed. It was no longer bright and sunny but now dark and stormy.
I walked back along the trail towards the pack land. The storm was following me as I walked, giving me enough time to get to where I wanted to be; but also threatening me that it would strike at any point.
I had no idea where I was walking to, the path before me was long and windy. I couldn't see what was ahead and when I looked behind me, there was nothing there as if all the trees and forests had disappeared.
As I walked flashes of scenes, appeared in front of me. Some of them were hard to make out, as they appeared and disappeared so quickly. I saw Alaric as a young boy along with a boy who seemed a few years. They ran and played together; it was as if these two boys were inseparable.
I couldn't tell if Alaric was related to this boy, or whether they were just good friends. The younger boy looked completely different to Alaric. The boy was scrawnier, his hair colour lighter than Alaric's and he had blue eyes. The boy was pale, whereas Alaric was tanned, even as a young boy.
"SONS!" A loud voice boomed, I turned my head to the direction of the voice and saw Alpha Ahren storming towards Alaric and the young boy.
"Yes, father?" The younger boy asked timidly.
That should answer your question Valerie, I thought to myself.
This little boy was Alaric's younger brother. They looked nothing alike, in fact, the boy looked a lot like Alpha Ahren, with light hair, blue eyes and a pale complexion... the complete opposite of Alaric.
"Alger, how many times must I tell you not to run off?" Alpha Ahren scolded the younger boy, bitterly.
"But father, I am with Alaric. I am safe-"
"Get back to the house now!" Alpha Ahren said, grabbing Alger by the shoulder and pushing him in the direction of the house.
Alger stumbled slightly, losing his footing at his father's unnecessary force. The young boy hurried back to the house, not even sparing a glance back at his father and Alaric.
I felt nervous as I turned my attention back to Alaric and his father.
"Do you not have better things to do, than run wild around the pack lands?"
"Do you not have better things to do than constantly tear Alger away from me?" Alaric retorted, he was shorter than his father, only reaching up to his shoulder. I couldn't tell how old Alaric was, but he seemed like he was around fourteen years old.
"You'll lead him down the wrong path, Alger is better off without you," Alpha Ahren spat at Alaric, before walking away.
The sunken look on Alaric's face was heartbreaking, I knew exactly how he felt. I had felt that same way, with my father's constant neglect and belittlement. Seeing how Alaric was treated by his own father, made sense as to why he was such a difficult character now.
I had a feeling that there was still so much for me to see and understand, but I couldn't help but want to wake up from this confusing dream that was entrapping me.
I had no choice but to continue to walk onwards, there was no going back only forwards. I was beginning to grow tired of the eerie voices that were demanding me to carry on. The voices were confusing and almost sinister. It felt wrong to listen to someone or something that you have never met or even seen in your life. It seemed I just had to listen to the voices, in order to wake up from the trapped dream.
As I walked on, the land around me changed slowly. Buildings and houses that were made of weaker materials, were now made of stronger materials. The forests around the pack land seemed to grow wilder, providing some coverage for the land.
A large house came into view, it was grand and well maintained, differing from the other houses that were adjacent to it. As I neared the building, I began to realise that this house was in the same location as Alaric's pack office that he had in the present day.
I couldn't help but wonder why had my path led to this location, what else was I going to be shown?
A shiver ran down my spine, and I breathed in deeply sensing that something was going to change and I had no idea whether it was for better or for worse.
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Hello!
I know it's been a while since I last uploaded to this story.
For those of you that are still reading, that honestly means a lot and I hope you continue to stick with this story.