The Curse Of The Alpha

6

Word Count: 2124

~Meara

I stare across the table, chewing on my dry toast. It's all I can manage to stomach this morning.

"Sleep well?" Sire asks lightly.

I blink lazily. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how odd this situation is. My mate is sitting before me, a completely stranger.

"Strangely, yes," I respond quietly.

It's not as if I could have left. Not only do I have no idea where I am, but Sire has made it clear that his ability to track me beyond my comprehension.

"I'm glad you're eating.

"You made this?" I look over the spread. I picked the lightest food possible. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.

He stretches. I try not to allow my gaze to wander over his muscled arms for too long. "Of course not. My magic feels better situated in my body now."

I curl my nose up, dropping my slice of toast onto the plate. "Weird."

"If this manor does not please you, mate, then I can arrange better accommodation." Concern flickers across his face. He seems to be expressing more emotion, although his stoicism is still unnerving.

How he plans to find better accommodation when the world he knows has changed so much is not a question I can be bothered asking for clarification on.

"Well, I want to go home," I tell him promptly.

I could avoid the point to be polite, but my comfortability is waning. Sire is not a man anyone should trust themselves around for very long.

He doesn't blink. "Home where?"

"My home. Where I lived before you...came back to life, or whatever that was," I mutter, shuddering at the thought of him entombed in that cold, black water.

"I never died. I was stuck in a perpetual state of existence due to that spell," he tells me. He says it as if it isn't absolutely horrifying to think about.

"Again. Weird."

"If you insist, we can live in this home of yours," Sire concedes.

My eyes widen. "No. It's my home. You can stay there."

I'm not sure someone like Sire belongs in my mortal existence. My cabin is too mundane, and he is far too otherworldly. Not to mention it's impossible for him to slot comfortably into my life, and I don't think I want him to.

"We would be separate." He doesn't sound like he completely understands.

"I had a life before you, Sire. I have a job, friends and..." I break off, stopping myself from admitting what I know Sire doesn't want to head.

"And?"

I swallow tightly. I'm going to regret this. "And a boyfriend."

Sire's expression falls, looking utterly blank for a long second before his gaze darkens. A flicker of fear ignites within me. Who knows how volatile a powerful Alpha may be.

"You love him?" He questions.

"I did. Until I found him in bed with someone else...I'm trying to forgive him," I mutter.

When I say it out loud I sound stupid. Hazel has already tried to knock some sense into me, but this split from him has been harder than I thought. I know I shouldn't forgive him, but I can't see my life without him right now.

The storm in his eyes only intensifies. "Why?"

"We have been together for a long time. I felt like I was just throwing away my life just because of one mistake," I explain sheepishly.