Seeds of suspicion

5 years ago:

"Look who is here! Hello, princess of the Moon pack, contender for the Supreme Alpha! I am David Matthew, your born enemy; nice to meet you!" He spoke up with a grin as he extended his palm in front of her, expecting a tough handshake.

"Can you please step aside?" A sweet voice echoed in David's ears.

'Was this the same girl who had introduced herself in front of the class, then how had her voice changed in such a short duration?'

He was lost in the sweetness of her voice, forgetting the insult completely.

Henry stepped forward and whispered in his ears, "David, say something- everyone is looking at you."

His words- 'everyone is looking at you', triggered David's fear of not being capable enough to be good at everything, and he mistakenly used his Alpha voice, challenging all the Alphas to respond or to step into the arena for the fight.

"I said hello, can't you reciprocate it?" 

'Nora was still standing there, without reacting in any manner. She had never experienced any provocation due to the Alpha voice, which had caused her to question her own actual identity multiple times. Because all she had been told, was that all the betas and omegas submit themselves in front of the Alpha, and the Alphas begin to feel an intense urge to fight for domination, but she had never felt any of these emotions. For quite a while, she even used to doubt whether she was a wolf at all! Or perhaps, her mother had taken pity on a small human child she had found somewhere, and brought her home- that would at least explain why her father loathed the sight of her so vehemently. But after her first shift, she couldn't deny the fact that she was indeed a wolf- but the remaining questions had still lingered in her mind. And the same questions were casting a shadow of fear around her at this instant, of being caught.'

But before something could happen or even before anyone noticed that something was amiss, Ryan arrived, seemingly out of nowhere and stood in between them. Partially shielding her with his body, the alpha of the Orion pack addressed David casually so as to not make a scene, but the underlying threat was not difficult to spot.

"Oh! Of course I'd find you here, David; why are you bullying the new Alpha? I think she is a little startled due to not knowing the proper skills to fight back just yet, why don't you fight me instead?"

She noticed that the voice was indeed intimidating, but David still didn't show any reaction. Suddenly, an idea clicked in her mind and she found the perfect opportunity to escape from there.

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She was totally lost by now! It was indeed a bad idea to try to find a lifeless place after having narrowly escaped from the cafeteria.

After all those years, she was habituated to develop a liking for abandoned and lifeless places, where even light couldn't spread its arms and reach her.

'But now, she knew that it was time for her next class and she was missing, only Moon Goddess knew where.

There was more reason for her liking the dark and lifeless places- the places helped her establish contact with the Moon Goddess. She knew that no one in the twenty-first century was going to believe her, if she claimed that the Moon Goddess often talked to her, apart from rituals and festivals...just like a friend. She knew that everyone would accuse her of acting like the pure and innocent soul that she definitely wasn't, just like her father had.

His words echoed in her mind again as she recalled the way he had grimaced when she had told him about it, as a child.

"The Moon Goddess used to talk to great Alphas when no one was around, because they were the purest souls on the earth. But you? Don't even dare to take the name of our holy Moon Goddess from your filthy mouth." 

She was sad once again- why was she supposed to be this lonely, what was her fault- she had never chosen to be born this way. And not long after, she remembered all the questions she had asked from the Moon Goddess and the calming replies she had given her.'

A smile appeared on her face after remembering her last conversation with the Moon Goddess, when she noticed someone standing in the deserted corridor.

"Excuse me, brother!" She shouted, not knowing why she had addressed him such, but it was too late now anyway.

"Yes, sister!" The person turned, looking at her with a smile.

"Can you please tell me, how can I go back to class '1 B'?"

"You - you are an Alpha?" The person asked her, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"Unfortunately, yes!" She replied with a sigh, then added, "But how do you know?" 

The person chuckled, as he explained, "Because, class '1 B' is only for the Alphas and superior betas...and I was unable to detect the usual smell of betas from you, so I just connected the dots." He shrugged.

"Wow, you are so smart!" She exclaimed as her eyes glowed. 

'She couldn't discern the exact reason for her fascination, whether it was because this was her first interaction with someone that she had initiated, or because it was the first time someone was talking to her nicely, without knowing her identity.'

The person smiled again, "You are new here, aren't you? And also haven't interacted with anyone!"

"How-how, now how do you know this one as well?"

"Because you are asking me for directions, and you are calling me 'brother' and 'smart', both!"

"What do you mean? I get that you gathered that I am a new student, because of me asking for directions; but is there anything wrong in calling you 'brother' or 'smart'?

"Umm- yes! An alpha generally doesn't refer to a betas as 'brother'. And I am not reputed as good student here, instead I am known as bully and a bad student, so-"

"You are not a bully, no way. The only bully here is that stupid David Matthew!" She said, grinding her teeth.

"Hey kid! Sushhh! You know the fact that he could be the next alpha for the whole territory, we can't just take his name like this. Despite the fact that you are also an Alpha, we have to follow the rules and orders of the pack. Only the probable potential Alphas are allowed to call each other by names, apart from the people they explicitly allow- and here you are, cursing him! Look, I don't want you to get in trouble, so if somebody asks anything about this, which I am quite sure we would because this building has thousands of eyes and ears at every corner- just tell them it was me who cursed him. I will take care of the rest by myself! Okay?"

He completed his statement with a smile and put his hand on her head with affection.

"Why-why would you be doing this for me?" 

"Because you are the only family I have, or say, I just got!"

"What do you mean? Me, your family?!"  She was shocked and overwhelmed with the affection this person was giving her. It was a jarring experience for her to be the object of such love from anyone else, and was used to being scolded for everything she did.

"Oh, I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Hello, I am Myron Thomas, beta of Moon pack. My parents were killed in the fight many years ago, so until today, when you called me brother, I had no one else in this world to call my family, but now I have one." He smiled affectionately.

"You are considering me as your family because I called you 'brother'? Really?!" Her eyes glittered due to the water present in them. "Without even knowing my identity?" She continued.

"Does it even matter? You are my sister and my job is to protect you, that's it!"

She smiled again and was about to reply, when the guards arrived. They all bowed down apologetically and one of them spoke as he straightened up. "We are really sorry, Madame, for not guiding you through the routes."

"Madame? What is your identity after all, sister?" Myron asked, narrowing his eyes at the confusion.

"Sister!?"

The guards whispered among themselves and two of them quickly held him by his arms and dragged him backwards, saying, "How dare you call Madame your sister?"  "Have you forgotten your limits, you low-rank Beta? She is Nora Rovery, the next Alpha of the Moon pack and the potential Alpha of the whole Crescent territory!"

"Leave him, right now!"

Everyone present there, including Nora herself, had heard the anger in Nora's voice for the first time. The voice held authority, much more so than an Alpha's voice, which caused a shiver to travel through the bodies of everyone present there.

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