Marked By the Alpha

Leia's POV.

Oh my goddess!

This could not be happening!

Those words couldn't have left his mouth.

Standing amongst the crowd of onlookers, who were all gathered in the middle of the Alpha Square, I gaped in astonishment at the declaration. Even a little bit of terror if I was being entirely honest with myself. My eyes were rounded in shock when they settled on the man who rose above us, broad shoulders and massive muscles. Definitely the most gorgeous man to ever step foot in Shallow Valley, but it wasn't the beauty I was focused on today. It wasn't the crook of the wicked smile, the dimples that appeared when he did or the sexuality he exuded effortlessly.

It was his words.

The statement that he'd made to the entire pack at large, wanting them all to be in attendance for his announcement, that'd forever change my life.

“I mark you, Leia Rae Van Ize, as my mate.”

Lurching forward, jaw dropping slack, I tried to make sense of what had just happened. No, those words couldn't have just come out of his mouth. Christian could not have just declared to everyone that'd showed up for today's festivities—the rising of a new alpha—that he'd chosen me to be his mate. Me? Of all the females in town. No. Most definitely not.

I tried vehemently shaking my head to dislodge these thoughts from the forefront of my mind, in the hopes to come to some kind of understanding of what was happening. Surely, my overactive mind was getting the better of me today, confident that I'd simply misunderstood him. Yes, that had to be it. I wasn't the only Leia in town. He could've been talking about Leah Pensworth, the daughter of the previous Gamma, who was a pretty little filly and a strong wolf. Undoubtedly that's who he'd been talking about and for whatever reason my mind mentally filled in the rest of the name. Yes, that had to be it. I'd simply imagined those last words that came out of his mouth. It could be the only explanation for the day's events.

Visibly relaxing in the face of these assurances, I tried to hide the crimson blush of embarrassment that stained my cheeks. Thank the goddess no one else knew what I'd been thinking about at that moment. Because if the rest of the pack was aware of what was going on inside my head, and knew the thoughts inside my mind, I'd never live the humiliation down. All of them would quite happily make great efforts to taunt and ridicule me for the ridiculous notions that I could be thinking about. To mock me.

As if a man like Christian Knox would ever want someone like me. No male in the pack, in any pack in the kingdom, would be dumb enough to actually choose me as his mate. His life partner. A constant reminder I'd been faced with for as long as I can remember, everyone in Shallow Valley taunting me I'd spend my alone alone. Unloved. Unwanted. Never to know the simple pleasure of a mate bond or love of another. I'd die alone, a miserable old hag without a mate or children to fill the loneliness inside of my heart. Not even the companionship of a wolf to ease the pain.

Determined not to provide any of them the satisfaction of instilling these same thoughts on me further, I slowly slipped into the crowd. Keeping my head ducked down low in the hopes that none of them could see my face, I maneuvered through the swarm of people. I fully intended on escaping the pack ritual to head back to the house, so that I could begin working on the evening chores that awaited me. I didn't want to give my parents any further need to be dissatisfied with me, that would only serve to worsen my torment. Dissatisfaction meant punishment.

"Stop her!" a voice boomed.

Stop who? I wondered to myself. Was someone else—the one he'd really been talking about—trying to leave the square too? If so I could definitely relate. Still confident that he was talking about someone else, I continued on my merry way, unaware of my own unintentional crime. Only to suddenly be brought up short by the bare-chested man who came to stand in front of me then, muscular arms crossed his chest. “Don't even think about it, Leia!”

I lifted my head. "Huh?" I had no clue what he meant. What wasn't I supposed to be thinking about? All I'd been contemplating was how I'd prepare the chicken my mother demanded for the evening meal and how best to clean the floors. Surely, he wasn't meaning that.

"Go back," the man ordered.

"Why?" I wondered. I was so confused.

Obviously not wanting to leave my agreement to chance, a man came to stand on either side of me and latched a hand onto my arms. Though I knew both of them to be warriors, having seen them in passing over the years, I'd never really paid them much mind. We came from two very different stations, I was beneath their haughty titles and looking in their direction would've been a crime. Much to my shock I found myself being guided back the way that I'd come from, right to the center of the Alpha Square. My eyes widened further as the men guided me up the stages of the stage, wondering where these men could possibly lead me. Okay, I knew where the two of them were leading me, but I couldn't seem to figure out why.

What was going on?

The warriors lead me straight across the expanse of the center of the stage, to the center where a large muscle-bound man stood. Less than three feet from him I was left there standing, to carefully preview the one before men beneath heavy-lidded eyes. Standing at a height that had to be around six foot six, black hair fell passed ears shaggily, those tresses fluttered on the wind. Beneath the parted hair that fell off to one side I was allowed to see the liquid blue eye that glowed brightly, I knew the other was just as fearsome. His face consisted of high cheekbones, an angular nose and a firm jaw, those were pure perfection from the standpoint of the females. Today he was dressed casually in a pair of black leather pants that encased tapered thighs and boots, though that was the extent of his wardrobe. Naked from a lean waist up, it allowed onlookers to preview broad shoulders, a chest defined by a six-pack and bulging arms. All of that raw sexuality was tanned a golden bronze, encased in tattoos that went from the neck all the way down.

“Hello Leia,” his husky timbre came.

Involuntarily I shivered in response to his voice washing over me, which even after all of these years still had the ability to affect me. Immediately I slammed a door on those thoughts before they took root, having put aside those wishful fantasies a long time ago. Stiffening as I allowed the anger of the past to fuel my present, I mutinously stared at the man that was posed before me. “What do you want, Mr. Knox?”

He snickered. “What happened to Christian?”

My usage of this man's first name went out the window six years ago, right along with the wishful fantasies and child of the young girl I'd been then. When my young heart was shattered into a million different pieces due to the cruelty and maliciousness of this very man. I refused to tell him that. Refused for him to know how much he'd heard me back then. “Just tell me what the hell you want, so that I can leave. I have responsibilities I must adhere to.”

Christian swaggered sexily—even in my anger I admitted that—towards where I stood, leaning forward so his mouth was near my ear. “You,” he whispered. Then spinning away from the one positioned before him, Christian moved towards the edge of the stage and faced the crowd. A large hand came down to clutch onto my smaller one, holding it up into the air for the whole pack to see. “I give you Leia Van Ize, my true mate and your future Luna.”

"W...What?" I stammered.

This time around there definitely wasn't no mistaking who the man was talking about, making his claims painfully clear to all. Myself included. He'd marked me. I felt the impact of his claim. Wolf or no, I felt the claws of his claim deep in the very pit of my soul, feeling the tethers of our heartstrings intertwining together as one. I'd been claimed by him. Christian Knox, the most powerful warrior to have been born to Shallow Valley in a thousand years, the future Alpha of Silver Fang, and my onetime tormentor, had marked me. I was to be his chosen mate and Luna.

My head spun dizzily at the reality of what'd just happened, unable to wrap my mind around this turn of events. If anyone had told me six years ago this would be the outcome of my life, then I'd have laughed in their faces and thought them crazy. Against my wishes I found myself slipping into the past, reliving the horror that'd shaped my present.

Leia's POV.

Life sucked. Big time.

I knew it better than most.

I had first-hand personal knowledge of that painful lesson after all. Proof that life was never pretty. That the fates were never nice. Life was unfair. My life was the perfect example of trauma that awaited a person, as if the goddess was playing some kind of cruel trick. On me.

My hands still on the pages of the journal that was opened up in front of me, freezing where I lay in the bay window of my bedroom. My mind wandered away from the words that I was writing on the pages to focus on the cruelty I called my life. And it'd been a constant torture chamber to be sure, for as long as I could remember pain, and hell were my only companions.

As a little girl, I'd always fought tirelessly to achieve the approval my parents desperately wanted for me. Striving to be the daughter my mother wanted, the kind of sister to be looked up to, someone worthy of my life. I never achieved it though. I'd never mastered the flawlessness that my sister Carmen did, nor the superiority of my brother Carson. My mother Renee was constantly reminding me what a failure I was, with neither the brains, beauty or stature.

I was a failure.

"Leia!"

Flying out of my seat at the sound of the voice ricocheting inside of the house, I raced out of my room. Running through the house as fast as my legs could carry me, not wanting to give anyone a reason to complain. My prolonged absence definitely wouldn't be approved, that was sure to get me disciplined by my mother. I shuddered at the thought of what that could mean, vividly remembering the pain of the last discipline I received from her.

"Yes, mother?," I answered her as I came down the main staircase of the house, jogging across to her in the living room.

Stephanie glanced up from the magazine she'd been peering down at, wheat-colored eyes narrowed on the girl before her. Her disdain was obvious. "We are to have guests for dinner, be sure to add the additional settings."

"How many should I add?" I wondered thoughtfully.

Her eyes narrowed. "Three," Mother promptly informed me, the sneer on her face said she wasn't pleased to have to tell me. As if she expected me to already know the answer. "The Knox's and their son will be joining us this evening."

"I will see to it," I promised her.

Stephanie leaned back against the couch, legs crossed elegantly, her eyes tracked the movement of the girl. Nails tapped out an insistent rhythm on her pant legs. "We are to have Chicken Carbonara for the evening, be sure to make a bountiful salad, and choose a delicate white wine."

As I listened to Mother outline her demands for the evening I simply nodded my head, acknowledging her demands. The last thing I wanted to do was give this woman further cause to grow angry with my chores of late. Though I was curious why she was going so far out of her way this time, when she never had before. What was really going on? I didn't dare ask and she didn't offer up an explanation.

She waved dismissively. "Go get started."

"Yes, mother," I promptly agreed. Then bobbing my head respectfully, I ducked out of the living room and headed towards the kitchen.

Better get started.

Inside of the kitchen I was placing all the necessary supplies for dinner out on the cabinet when I heard the laughter. Drawn to the window to inspect the cause of the noise, I bore witness to the scene playing outside. In the backyard near the pool Father installed last year, I saw two strapping young men lounging in the seats. Though both of them were considered gorgeous in female eyes, it was the darker of the two that gained my attention. Standing well over six feet tall, golden-hued skin and blue eyes that could melt the coldest of female hearts.

Christian Knox. Descended from one of the most ancient bloodlines in Shadow Valley, with one of the most powerful lineages. Though the Knox family was descended from one of the original twelve alpha bloodlines, they'd been the Alpha's Betas for close to five hundred years. All of them were capable of being alphas if the desire suited them, but for whatever reason the family was pleased to serve beneath one. As the eldest of the Knox brothers at eighteen, Christian was expected to ascend to be the next Beta.

Christian had been an integral part of the Van Ize household for as long as I can remember. My brother Carson was five when he'd been placed in the House of Arms, where all future warriors went upon their fifth year. As that year marked the first sign of their wolve's emergence, it also marked the beginning of their training. Carson was placed in the Black Guard group, where only four other students were ranked high enough to be considered for the position. Christian Knox was among them. From that day forward the two of them had been the best of friends, forever being attached at the hip.

Hence, his presence in the house.

"Whatcha looking at?" My sister Carmen sauntered into the kitchen spying me glancing out the window, curious what had gained my attention. Peeking out through the same panes of glass to see, her head tossed back in laughter as she caught on. "Oh goddess, this is delicious. You cannot be serious!"

I feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you mean."

Carmen wasn't the ignorant buffoon I wanted her to be, leaning in forward her voice dripped with venom. "A man like Christian Knox will never be interested in someone like you. You are nothing more than an ugly, fat cow, you'll be a disgrace to anyone that should ever be cursed as your lifemate."

I kept my head ducked low to keep any of them from seeming the glimmer of pain, having learned early on to mask my emotions from others. She'd only use it as ammunition to torture me. "Get real Carmen, he's our brother's best friend. Besides, I could never be interested in someone like him. If I'm ever mated, then I want it to be with someone that is kind and gentle, not an overbearing, cold-hearted brute who thinks strength and power make him something."

Hands shoved out at my back as I attempted to step around her, which caused me to crash into the edge of the counter. Carmen sneered down on me. "Who are you to look down on him like he's worthless? You are nothing, a nobody. An embarrassment this family is forced to endure."

"For that I am sorry," was my response. I knew better than to talk back. Sister or not, anything else would've been a sign of disobedience and would get me disciplined for talking out of turn.

"See that you are," Carmen laughed mockingly.

Picking myself up off the floor when Carmen vacated the kitchen, I winced at pain stinging my left side. Lifting up the hem of the shapeless shirt I wore, I couldn't miss the evidence of the blood leaking down my side. It seemed that I'd cut myself pretty badly when Carmen shoved me right into the counter, that would definitely need to be mended soon. I knew better than to try now. Dropping my shirt back into place I focused on getting dinner started, to keep from further inciting anger.

My mother's primarily. Stephanie Hilton Van Ize would be livid if I was even a minute late with dinner, no mind the reason. In her view, nothing was more important than keeping to the strictures of society. Definitely not the daughter she'd been forced to endure these last years, one she most definitely despised.

So preoccupied with my thoughts of the moment, I didn't hear the sound of the sliding glass door coming open. "Get me a drink," a deep husky timbre washed over me, causing shivers of apprehension to slither down my spine.

I glanced up. "Christian," I gasped.

Christian rolled his eyes heavenward at the response he'd received, clearly uncaring about my reaction. He plopped down on one of the stools on the bar, waiting for his demands to be answered by the girl. "Get me a drink now, cow. Or do you intend on being a further embarrassment to your family?"

Snapped to attention at the insult I received from him, I immediately ducked my head away from him in shame. Rather than responding, I stepped away from the counter, opening the fridge I scanned the contents. Reaching for one of the drinks in the back of the fridge, a juice for athletes of today, I set it down on the counter. "There you go, Christian."

He didn't reach for it. "I'm waiting."

Aware he wouldn't dare strain himself to get it himself, not when he had someone he could order around to do it for himself. Christian had taken great pleasure in torturing me for years, constantly treating me like his own personal slave. Though in the beginning he'd simply been mean and cruel, in the last year or so he'd gotten a sick thrill out of ordering me around. Sighing wearily I stepped around the corner of the counter and reaching for the drink, I set it in front of him.

Still, he remained immobile.

Oh my goddess, he was such a jerk. It was a good thing the man was so damned handsome, as surely no one would put up with him otherwise. Submitting to the demands of the man, I again reached for the bottle of juice and twisted open the cap. Placing the cap down on the counter in front of him, I then moved around to his left side, extending the bottle. "Here you go, Christian. Just the way you like it."

"About damned time," Christian grumbled beneath his breath, then snatched away the bottle of juice I extended out to him. Then taking a drink of juice I'd given to him, he wore a thoughtful expression that soon turned snide. In the next moment, the bottle was lifted over the top of my head, and he poured the contents onto my head. "I hate cherry. As you damn well know."

Gasping as the sticky liquid was poured out over my head, dripping down my long hair and staining my clothes. I was shocked as I felt the juice seeping into the threadbare shit that I wore, unable to believe it. Then again, Christian was a jerk. "I'll get you a different flavor then," I gritted out between clenched teeth, biting back my desire to snap back at the man for his actions. Damn liar! Cherry was his favorite flavor. Of course, I knew that. There was very little I didn't know about him. Christian simply had used the option to torture me, as seemed like his favorite pastime of late.

Snatching a blue raspberry juice from the back of the fridge, that was his second favorite flavor. Stomping back to where he was sitting, I cracked open the lid and extended the bottle out to him. "I hope this is more to your liking."

Christian slowly climbed up to his feet, a satisfied smirk lifting up the corner of his face, his eyes gleaming in pleasure. "You're very accommodating. If it weren't for the fact of you being a fat cow and face made of butter, then you'd have made the perfect little breeder."

I closed my eyes to fight against the ire that boiled to the surface, struggling to keep in the snappy retort. All I wanted to do was lash out at him for his cruel treatment towards me, to show them I wasn't a stepping stone. Of course, I didn't. I couldn't. Because no matter what Christian did, how cruel and inhumane his antics against me could be, I couldn't say a word.