Althea: The Female Alpha

Althea knew what she had to do when she heard the screeching screaming from outside. Her dad had told her not to come outside, to stay hidden. But she could not follow her dad’s command anymore, for she knew that it was time for her to fight.

So, she stepped towards the large window, slamming against the glass window that shattered like pieces of diamond against the sunlight. She was in the air, jumping from three stories high and landing smoothly on her feet, one knee slightly touching the ground. It had been weeks since she had followed her dad’s command and waited patiently in her room, locked away from what was happening outside while her dear parents and warriors fought to protect her and the pack.

As soon as the rouges saw her, they started making their way to her as well. The air around her howled. She stood there with a deadly aura. Without a hesitation, she struck every single rouge to their death, making her way to where she could smell her dear mother.

After what felt like ages, she could see her mother fighting three rouges at once. Even though they lacked the muscle that other pack warriors would usually have, she could see that they were strong.

But she knew that her mom was stronger. She could not be easily defeated, but that didn’t mean Althea could not help her mother.

After Althea made sure that there was no rouge on her way to her mom, she ran her way towards her mother and took one of the taller rouges by his neck by surprise and snapped it without blinking an eyelid. She stood back-to-back with her mom.

When her mom realised that Althea had left her room, where she would have been safe for a few more days, she growled in anger. How could she just put herself in danger?

But Althea was already here, and they could use some help, she thought. “We are going to talk about this later,” her mom said through her gritted teeth. “But for now, we are in war. Do not lose focus.” With that said, she focused back on bringing her opponent to the ground and snapping the rouge’s neck with a swift motion. Althea did the same and turned to hug her mother. Her mother gave her a kiss on her forehead and took a deep breath in before letting her go.

“Mom—” Althea was cut off shortly because everything happened so quickly. Her mother’s expression changed to that of horror as she turned to Althea while hugging her so that she was facing whatever was coming in Althea’s way. She groaned as pain radiated through her body from the sharp dagger that was sent flying by the rouges.

It was not just any dagger; it was shining bright red like it was sucking the life out of her mother. As soon as it pierced her, it shone brighter and then vanished into red dust.

Her mother soon started to slip off of Althea’s arm, but Althea grabbed her mother’s now weak body and sat on the ground with her mom’s body in her small arms. Horror on her face, she started to whisper, “No, no, no…”

There were three figures at the far end of the left side of the trees. Their faces were hidden by the shadows of the trees. They knew that the goddess would not let a child get hurt, but little did they know that the child was her own.

As soon as they saw the goddess fall down, they knew that her mate would be weak now. They already knew that they had won. So, without a moment's hesitation, they made their way out of Red Healer territory.

She could hear her mother’s raspy breath as her eyes fluttered, trying to keep them open. “My dear, sweet child,” she whispered.

“Shhh. It’s ok. Everything is okay. You are safe.” Althea didn’t realise that she was shuddering as she continued to say no.

“You must protect the werewolf world. Reunite them, for they have forgotten that they are all but one. You are stronger than you think…more powerful.” Her mother’s breath was raspy, but she still continued. “Destiny has great plans for you, my dear. You will rule with great people beside you—” She took another short, painful breath. “You are the daughter of the goddess herself. Do not live for revenge, for they don’t seek the truth. Punish only those that deserve it. My death should not blind you but be a path for future.” Tears slipped from her eyes.

At this point, Althea had tears flowing down her chin. “I’m sorry, Mom. I promise I'll get stronger. I'll do as you say, so please, stay with me,” Althea whispered, raising her mom’s hand to her face so that it was cupping her face. Her mom gave her a weak smile, then looked right in her eyes.

“I love you, my baby girl. My time on this land is coming to an end. But remember I’ll be watching over you,” she said, slowly taking short breaths in between every word she said. She turned her head to where her mate was still fighting rogues, unaware of the situation. Her voice now barely above whisper, she said, “I love you, Rand. I always have. I always will. I’ll wait for you on the other side…” She knew that he would hear her. She took one last breath and went limp, her hand on Althea’s face falling to her side as she closed her eyes.

Rand knew that his mate was hurt, but he could not get away from the rouges to get to his mate.

Then, he felt that she was gone. The pain of losing a mate was so unbearable that he lost focus for a while, and that was all the rouges needed. They took this chance to slash a silver knife across his chest.

He growled in pain from both losing his mate and the freshly opened skin on his chest. Without a warning, another rogue pulled out a knife and stabbed it through his heart. Rand slowlye slowly fell to the ground with a loud thud and a growl. But that did not seem to stop the rouges from attacking.

Althea looked in the direction of her father to see him fall to the ground as she screamed, “Noooo” at the top of her lungs, making everyone stop to see what was going on.

Time seemed to have stopped for Althea as she looked at both her parents lying on the ground. She knew that both her parents had left her. If only she was stronger, Althea thought. If only she had more power, she could have protected them. If only…

Then, an aura so strong radiated from her. The air around her howled like never before. Her midnight black hair turned silver and danced with the wind, and her eyes glowed white. The small girl’s body radiated so much power. All the werewolves there, be they pack warrior or rouge, could smell her power and dominance—and, above all, the anger and sorrow from the tiny little girl who was crouching by her mother’s now limp body.

When Althea raised her head high enough, everybody saw that her eyes were now silvery white, which made everyone shudder in fear. She gave the rogues a deadly look, her face showing none of the vulnerability of a little girl who had just lost both her parents.

Before anyone could move, Althea tore through the rouges’ chests and pulled their hearts out one by one in what seemed like the blink of an eye. No one was able to keep up with what she was doing until she stood by the last rouge. She pulled his heart out, and he slowly tilted sideways and fell to the ground with a thud. Everyone was so shocked; it was only seconds before that she had been crouching with her dead mother in her arms.

But now, Althea looked like a goddess of death as she squeezed the heart that was in her hand until it burst and splattered everywhere. Althea looked crazy, her little body now covered in blood, her hair and eyes still silvery white, her face hard with anger. She held power in her little body, which made all the pack warriors kneel down in submission.

“Alpha,” their voices boomed.

6 years later…

Althea waited with two other warriors, Lydia and Katie, at a bar in a small village somewhere in North America. Althea looked at the clock that hung on the plastered wall of the bar. Five more minutes until her other warrior should arrive with the news.

Since her parents’ death, she had been looking for the pack that had persuaded those rogues to attack her own when she was eleven. She wanted to find the organizers and know the reasons behind the attack so she could punish them accordingly. She hated them but was not going to go berserk because her mother had taught her to do the right thing. And killing them without knowing the reason would not be right. Even though they had murdered her parents.

Althea had sent trackers to find the rouges as soon as she organized a funeral for her parents and all the brave souls that died along with her parents. About a year ago, one of the trackers, Ashton, had gotten a lead on the rouges that had attacked their pack. She wanted to question them, but when she found the rogues, they took their own lives rather than spill the truth.

So she decided to come to America and leave her pack duties to her Beta Ash and Gamma Liam. They were two of the only people she could trust with everything, partly because neither of them would dare to cross the line. And unlike other Alphas, Althea didn’t like to be questioned. She was known to be cruel and cold-hearted; she had not smiled since the rouge attack.

The bar door opened, and in came the three brothers. Seth, who was tall with lean muscles, brown hair, and eyes that almost looked black, headed the group and was followed by brown-haired, brown-eyed, and muscular Jack. Warren, with similar dark brown hair and hazel brown eyes, was the last to walk in. They were all very good looking and caught the attention of the ladies as they walked through the bar. But they looked away when the brothers sat beside the three equally stunning ladies in the bar, jealousy clear in their eyes.

“Spill,” Althea mind linked when her warriors made their way to the table where Althea, Lydia, and Katie were sitting, her gaze deadly. She had made sure that there were no other werewolves before she, Lydia, and Katie entered the bar. They couldn’t risk being overheard.

“Alpha,” replied Warren through the mind link as he started shaking his head before bowing, suggesting that the warriors had found no clues in their search of the packs nearby. At this, Althea gave a low growl but sat quietly for a moment.

“Lydia, Katie.” She looked at the two girls. “Head back to the pack. Tell Ash it will take some time for me to go back. If there’s any news, tell him to contact either Warren, Jack, or Seth. You will leave tonight.” Then, she turned to the three boys. “You three head further north. See if you find any clues—”

“Alpha, we can’t leave you alone—” Jack interrupted, making Althea furious. Her almost black eyes turned dangerously black. She took on a stern face, and a low growl escaped her lips.

“Never. Ever. Interrupt. Me. AGAIN!” She sent a chill down Jack’s body with her mind-linked words.

Her back bent so that she was now leaning forward, close to where Jack was sitting, with her elbows on her knees and fingers clasped together, knuckles turning white. The wolves could smell dominance from her—not strong enough to put off the humans sitting around them, but enough for them to keep their eyes down and heads low.

“Head back home if you don’t find any clues even after a month. I’m going to look around a little more before I head home.” With that, she dismissed everyone.