Crimson Heart

1| The Outsider

~Alexei~

"FUCK!" 

Shattered pieces of the mirror fell to the sink and the concrete countertop as I stared at my reflection, hoping for something, anything to come out of what I thought was anger. But there was only the numb feeling that took over, no burning sensation, no crazed emotional state. Just a slight pain in my knuckles and a bit of blood on the sink to show for what I hoped would become a feeling for something, anything. 

But the same numbness that continues to torture me ties down my very soul and holds me down with its dark weighted cloud. 

I stare at the boy in the mirror and barely recognize his face. The fifteen-year-old staring back at me held a deep-set frown beneath his wet ruffled jet black hair. His dark brown eyes held tiny flecks of crimson that blurred themselves into the dark of his iris. 

I let out a long sigh and dug into the sink, throwing away the larger pieces in the bin while washing the rest down the sink along with the blood of my knuckles. The cool drops of water from the shower still dripping down my back as I did my best to hide what I had done.

"Alexei? Are you okay?" My foster mother Rene knocked on my bathroom door and I hummed to myself. Patting the blood dry with my towel. 

"Yes, I uh, just took a quick shower before the ferry out," I tell her and I know she suspects more but never bothers asking or double-checking. 

"Okay hon, King Mason wants to meet with you before you leave so do you have everything packed? Need help with anything?" She asked and I drew a towel around my waist as I walked across the cool tile floor to the door. 

"I know, I'm ready I'm just going to give it a once over before leaving," I tell her and I hear her slight sigh. 

I hold nothing against Rene. After she lost her husband and daughter in the terrorist attack on the Kailea castle, I was placed in her care. Even though my own father, Damian Crimson, the ex-alpha of the Crimson pack was the one who led the attack, she never held it against me. 

At the end of this coming school year, when I retake control as the rightful alpha of my pack, I'll make sure I pay her back for the time and effort she put into making sure I was never mistreated again. 

Once I'm sure she's gone, I slide back into my bedroom. It wasn't anything extravagant like all the other alpha's have, but Alpha Mason Kailea wanted it that way. I have everything I need to survive and Rene to look after me, that's it. 

Next to the single large rolling black trunk on my bed marked with my name, I already laid out my school uniform. I throw on the white dress shirt, tucking it into my black pressed slacks, push up my already tied navy blue tie, and lastly stare at the colored blazer. 

It was navy blue, because at school it symbolized which pack house I belonged to. 

On the island of Kailea, to which I have the pleasure of living, there are four separate, distinguished packs. 

The house of Forester, who represent in emerald green, contributes to the construction on the island and preservation of its forest. The house of Lotus specializes in witchcraft and healing, often wearing a rich purple. 

The house of Crimson provided well-trained soldiers to guard the packhouses and the island itself from invasion, they wore a deep shade of burgundy and held great pride in their soldier heritage. Currently with a Kailea elder temporarily taking my place since I was five years old until I was of age to retake my position.