The Virgin Alpha

~TRAGER'S POV~

***

What's the best advice given to a person in a bad situation? What is the wisest, most heart–felt and most gutting truth given to any person trapped in a prison they can't escape from?

Run away. Run away. Run away.

Two fucking words but the weight it holds is enough to break the backs of camels and shatter the souls of every mortal who's ever heard them.

Run away. Run away. Run away.

If it was so easy for us to run away then we wouldn't need advice from those ignorant of what we go through every day.

If it was so easy to run away then I wouldn't be sitting in a familiar darkness watching the silhouette of a woman approach me with slow, seductive steps.

My heart against the bony prison in my chest and rugged breaths fell from my lips as drops of sweat ran down my skin like cement.

I knew nothing about her. Nothing about who she is or how she became a tenant in my head for as long as I can remember.

But that didn't stop me from admiring her long legs, from getting lost in the citrus scent that filled my nostrils with each second she grew closer, from adoring her bland, ashen skin that brought life to the colorful darkness.

She's everything and nothing at the same time. She's an enigma. She's a sinful, horrid dream and an unchanging reality. She's the boulder that holds me under water and the anchor that keeps me afloat. She's faceless, she's a fragment of my imagination.

And yet…she's the only woman I desire. The only woman I can desire.

***

The sound of the door crashing into the wall pulled me out of the only lustful thoughts I could ever have and the miniature feeling of euphoria faded as my eyes lifted till it met the scowl on my father's lips.

This should be wonderful.

“I need to talk to you, Trager,” he spoke in a clipped tone and his scowl deepened with each second that passed between us.

“It's nice to see you too, father. And yes I'm doing fine, thank you for asking.”

“I'm serious, Trager.”

“I never knew you had it in you to joke,” his eyes narrowed and we both fell into an ominous silence till I got bored and spoke in a neutral tone.

“So what do I owe this lovely, unexpected visit?”

“Like I said before, I'm here to talk to you,” my father waltzed into my office as though he walked into his own room and sat on the seat before me.

All I had to do was look into his eyes and I could already see the script of this conversation brewing in his head. I already know how it's going to go. I know because we had it more than a million times.

“I want to talk to you about your strength as Alpha of this pack.”

Here we go.

“Father, I have been the Alpha for 5 years. I have enough strength to—”

“Then prove it! Prove that you are the strong, powerful Alpha you say you are!” My father all but yelled at me with an anger I've known for as long as I can remember and a sigh left my lips before I spoke.

“I have proven my strength not just to every Alpha in the country but every member of the Axex pack to you as well.”

“Well, Vivienne didn't seem to think so did she?”

My wolf let out a sorrow-filled howl from and white hot pain washed over me till I almost shoved my hand into my chest and pulled my heart out.

And there it is. The strategy that made Marley Vance one of the most feared Alphas this country has ever seen. It wasn't in his strength or his ability to lead. It wasn't his impeccable battle strategy.

It was his unique gift of finding people's weakness and using it against them. He has done this to anyone and everyone and it seems I, his own flesh and blood is no exception.

Because he just brought up the only woman I've ever loved. The only woman I have ever proposed to. The only woman to reject my love because of the one part of me I couldn't give her.

My body.

“Vivienne doesn't matter. She hasn't mattered since she left so I see no reason why you would use her to compare to my strengths when I have done everything right. The pack respects and adores me.”

“But they would love you more if you had a woman to rule beside you.”

“Having a woman by my side or ruling alone shouldn't be a criteria for strength. I have proven that I am capable of keeping the pack in good form and besides our pack members respect and worship the ground I walk on.”

“If that's the case then why are there rumors going round the pack about you not being able to mate?”

Silence fell over my lips as my father asked me a question I have tried getting the answer to for the past two weeks.

“I don't…”

“You don't know? I wasn't expecting you to know,” a satisfied smirk sat on his lips and a dark look glimmered in his green eyes as he stood to his feet and walked towards the door.

But just as his fingers grazed the handle of the door, he stilled then turned to me with narrowed, dark eyes and a sadistic smirk on his lips.

“I'm counting on you to get your issues in check, Trager. Or I'm just going to have to find someone who will be better at your job.”

He pulled the door open and shut it behind him, leaving me with nothing but the introspective nature of my thoughts and the anger that brewed at the depths of my soul.

I'm just going to have to find someone who will be better at your job.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist as his words aligned themselves with the thoughts of my head till thought flashed before my eyes.

I have to stop the rumors.

I have to stop the rumors questioning my ability to take a woman and make her my companion for the night. Rumors that wonder if I have felt desire for any woman in my 28 years of being alive. Rumors that wonder if I would ever be seen with a woman by my side.

Rumors that are actually true. But not for long.