Sold To An Alpha

Mother Mary took a deep breath and slowly took the mask off her son's face. Her eyes fluttered as she gazed at its ugliness and pulled Adrik into a hug. "Everything will be fine." A scene from that faithful day flashed through her mind, and she let out a low growl. The scars do indeed remind one of that cursed day.

She placed the mask back on his face and tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear. "I do have a place I can take you to. Come with me." She stood up and began to walk out of her chamber, with Adrik following behind her.

Mother Mary grabbed his hand the moment they strolled out of the chamber, and her eyes darted from left to right. "I don't want us to be followed." She said to him, and Adrik nodded in response.

They secretly made it to the palace gate and sneaked out. Then they mounted their horses and hurriedly rode away from the palace.

They rode for at least thirty minutes before arriving at a huge forest that gave off a dark and eerie feeling. The horses neighed as though scared, and Adrik patted his horse's back to calm it down. He gazed into the distance, and a deep breath escaped from his nose.

He climbed down from the horse and walked up to stand beside Mother Mary. "You must not say anything when we get there, understand?" Mother Mary turned her head to glance at him and said.

"Yes." Adrik nodded, and Mother Mary grabbed his hand. She began to walk into the forest, their legs crushing tiny sticks of wood and dried leaves. Adrik's eyes darted around and he saw something that looked like fireflies swirling in a circle.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to get a closer look, but Mother Mary abruptly dragged him harshly and pulled him into a cave covered with leaves that came out of nowhere. A stone staircase that led to an unknown underground came into view, and without any hesitation, Mother Mary began to step down whilst still holding onto Adrik's hand.

They stepped down from the last staircase, and three passageways came into view. Mother Mary took a soft breath and walked through the left passageway with Adrik vigilantly following behind her.

When they reached the end of the passageway, a brownish old door came into view, and Mother Mary knocked on it, then patiently waited for the person inside to open the door for them.

Sounds of footsteps reverberated from within, and Adrik gazed at the door.

From a small hole in the wooden door, a gray eye peered at them, and next, the doorknob turned and the door was opened, revealing a young woman with curly white hair and the most beautiful face he had ever seen in his entire life. Her eyes were gray and a little bit larger, her nose perfectly pointed, and her plump lips were very red as if painted with blood.

A low sigh left Adrik's lips as he couldn't bring himself to take his eyes off her face.

"Calise." Mother Mary smiled at the young lady and bent to bow her head in respect. 

"Mother Mary, please..." The woman by the name of Calise grabbed Mary by the shoulder to stop her from bowing to her. "You always make me feel guilty when you do this."

Mother Mary chuckled softly and glanced at Adrik. "This is Adrik. He's like a son to me." She smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Ahh... nice to meet you." Calise turned to Adrik, who was staring at her with a lost look on his face and smiled at him.

Adrik blinked his eyes and nodded with a broad smile on his lips. "Nice to meet you too." He composed himself and proceeded to walk into the house with Mother Mary, as Calise gestured them in.

A huge compartment that was a little bit bright from a big candle, came into view. Tall wooden shelves filled with old books were in every corner of this underground room. Three shelves that were not as tall as the ones that had books on them were filled with bottles of potions of different colors.

On the stone ceiling were fireflies, or so it seemed to him, whirling in a circle. They were just like the ones he saw while they were coming to this cave.

Seeing all this, the first thing that came to his mind was that she was a witch. Without being told, just all this was enough to let him know.

Adrik walked beside Mother Mary, and they took a seat at a round table opposite Calise.

"Anything I can help you with?" Calise asked with a simple smile on her lips.

"Yes, there is." Mother Mary replied, and turned her head to glance at Adrik, seated beside her. "Take it off." She said to him, and Adrik nodded.

He took a deep breath and slowly removed the mask from his face, revealing his scars.

Calise's eyes fluttered, and she slowly reached out her hand to touch Adrik's face. Adrik's eyes blinked in bewilderment as her fingers traced his scars.

"A curse." Calise tilted her head to one side and retracted her hand. "A big one." She said this and turned to look at Mother Mary.

"Is there anything we can do about it? Any possible way to break it?" Mother Mary fiddled with her sweaty hands as she asked.

"May I know who cursed him?" Calise asked with no expression on her face.

Mother Mary took a deep breath and fluttered her eyes. "The moon goddess... It's kind of a long-"

"I will not be able to do anything about it," Calise answered straight and gazed at Mother Mary, whose lips were parted from being cut off before finishing her sentence. 

"Why can't you do anything about it?" Mother Mary asked, with a bit of displeasure on her face.

"The moon goddess is immortal. Why would I challenge her?" Calise answered in a low, yet cold tone.

"What do you mean by "challenge her"? We just need to know if-"

"Mother Mary, I believe that you are aware of this. We are supernatural beings, not immortals. We dare not go against them, nor dare we challenge them, else the world might cease to exist." Calise's brow creased in displeasure, and she abruptly stood up from the chair. "The immortals have no mercy, and neither are they wicked."

"Just like she said, the curse can only be broken by true acceptance, nothing else."

"I don't understand what she means by true acceptance." Mother Mary stood up from the chair and gazed at Calise with a pleading look on her face. "Just help us, please."

"I am sorry to disappoint you, Mother Mary, but I do not know, nor can I do anything about it." Calise turned around to stare at Mother Mary with a pessimistic smile on her face.

"Can't you do any of your potion stuff and-"

"Mother, let's go." Mother Mary slowly turned her head when she heard Adrik's words, and her eyes fluttered in confusion.

"Adrik-"

"She's right." Adrik stood up from the chair and took a deep breath. "It was useless for us to come here. We supernaturals can't go against the immortals. No need to worry; I have accepted my fate." Adrik smiled and turned to Calise. "Thank you for your time." He took a deep bow, and with a turn, he left the compartment and walked through the passageway, then out of the cave.

His face changed in pain, and he took off and began to run extraordinarily fast. His canine elongated, his fingers stretched out, and white furs began to emerge on his body as he tore off his clothes.

His bones cracked as he transformed into his wolf, and his four legs stormed the ground as he ran at a fast speed.

He jumped over fallen timbers and finally arrived at the edge of a mountain. He gazed out into the horizon that was already taken over by the darkness and raised his eyes to stare at the moon. A long, loud howl left his mouth, and he sat on his butt, then calmly gazed out into the distance. 'I have accepted my fate.' He said it in his heart and his gaze was raised to the moon.

...

Leia, who was listening to Adrik all along with a fallen jaw, fluttered her eyes and a deep breath escaped her nose. "True acceptance."

She repeated and raised her gazes to Adrik. "I am confused about something."

"What is it?" Adrik asked with a bit of sadness in his tone.

"If the curse could be broken by true acceptance, then why isn't it broken?" 

"I mean, you accepted yourself that way, and I did too, so... Why isn't it broken yet? " Leia gazed at him as though he might know why.

"I have no idea." Adrik shrugged and wrapped his arms around her waist, then dragged her to lie on him. He took a deep breath and smiled at her. "Let's forget about it. It doesn't matter to us, okay." He leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

Leia smiled against his lips and lightly bit him. He drew back and frowned his face in a bit of displeasure.

"We need to have breakfast. I am hungry." She pinched his cheek and stood up from the bathtub.

"Gluttonous little wife," Adrik said, and when she turned her head to glare at him, he raised his eyes and glanced at the ceiling, avoiding her deathly glare.