Alpha Of Darkness And The Half-Breed Healer

AUTHOR’S POV

Ezra ran down the stairs, chuckling at how it made him feel. It’s been a while since he had such childish moments to himself that it makes him feel free again. Most importantly, he was feeling very proud after coming across some posts of his sister and her artworks making waves around the world.

Ezra feels glad she was stubborn enough to follow through with her dreams and not listen to him, who was only venting from a place of emotions.

Standing by the foot of the stairs with his back turned, he held his phone, scrolling through it to dial Nia. Just then, Ezekiel and Daniella rushed down the stairs together, and it seemed they were arguing. Ezra stood still on the spot, not wanting to get himself involved.

“You can’t do this, Ezekiel. No matter what she did, she is still our daughter, and now she is pregnant. We need to help her.” Daniella wept.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Ezekiel yanked off her hand. “Don’t touch me. I told you, and I am sure Gemma also remembers my warning vividly. I said the moment all of this backfires, she would carry the cross on her own, and I would be damned to sacrifice my time and money to save someone as reckless and thoughtless as Gemma. She wanted the fame, and now she got it. What is so wrong with that? Everyone should be allowed to have fun when they want to. I already accepted that I don’t have any biological child, and it’s okay. I can always adopt. Moreover, I have my brother’s children to look after. They are more than enough.” 

Daniella pulled at her hair and hit her husband in the chest in frustration, falling to her knees. “Please, honey. I am begging you. I will lose my mind if we end up losing our only daughter. I promise to never ask for anything else once we sort this out. Please!”

“Stop embarrassing yourself, Daniella. You know how I am when I make up my mind. If nothing, Gemma took that part of me; she never goes back on her decision. I am also not going to bring down my pride for her sake. So, let’s do each other a favor and forget all this is happening. Let Gemma pay for her crimes. I don’t know where I went wrong to have birthed such a demon-infested girl. But then it’s all good. I have accepted my fate without complaint. Please excuse me.” He said, walking past his wife towards the front door.

Daniella punched at the nearest couch and looked around. When she saw Ezra, she ran to him. “please, Ezra. You are the new Beta. Please save your cousin. I know she hasn’t been very nice to you. All the same, getting locked up shouldn’t be the next thing to happen to her; help me, please.”

Ezra furrowed his brows in confusion. He has no idea what is going on. “It’s okay, aunt. Let me talk to Uncle first. Please excuse me.”

He escaped her quickly and went to find his uncle. Ezekiel was by his garden staring down at the night spice plant that he couldn’t get rid of on the land, no matter how many weed-killing chemicals he bought. It seems like for every attack, it comes down stronger. Ezekiel blinked back the tears that stained his eyes when he heard Ezra’s footsteps behind him.

“I often wake up at night and wonder what I did wrong. Did I hurt someone in my past life so badly that they couldn’t forgive me and thought the best revenge was to get through with my daughter? I reflect on the last two decades and check for any mistakes I must have made while nurturing her. Her mother and I went through hurdles to give birth to her. And now it feels like our greatest mistake. I feel too ashamed to face anyone in this pack. I have failed everyone.”

Ezra kicked at the grass. “why would you blame yourself for something like that, uncle? Children many times don’t reflect the personalities of their parents. They are beings with individual minds and would decide on what they want for themselves by themselves. It is not your fault, and you can’t take the blame no matter what. You raised Perry and I; we are a living testimony of the kind of parent you are.”

He turned around, “How about you admit that fear was why you both couldn’t act as you wanted? My Gemma enjoyed everything she wanted without restraint. That must have been my mistake.”

“Come on, uncle. Is it still not too late to change a situation that doesn’t seem befitting? We all have our reflection moments. Someday, Gemma might have that too. But I still don’t understand what is going on. Where is she?”

“Well, Gael found out the truth about what she did to the healer, and it also turns out that the pregnancy she claimed is Gael’s is actually for Zac, and I am still very much confused at that information. Anyway, the Alpha has locked her up; Zac was also her accomplice. I got the call from the head guard as he was concerned.”

Ezra blinked as he took in the information. That means if Gael has discovered the truth, he must be in a wreck with his emotions now. As much as he wants to sympathize with his uncle over the present state of his cousin, Ezra can only think of Gael. “Gael must be shattered.” He mumbled.

Ezekiel nodded in agreement. “He would be after realizing that the one he sent away is the sincere one. It would have him in a disruptive state of mind. I wish I could have told him the truth from the beginning. But he wouldn’t have believed me and thought I was trying to sabotage my daughter. It’s funny how crazy everything is right now. You both aren’t on good terms, but he would need you right now. If Gael is anything like his father, he would be a total mess as we speak, and the only one that can bring him out of it would be someone he trusts so much.”

“Why would he need me? It’s not like we have been close to friends in the last few months.”

“So, do you intend to watch him wither away?”

The question struck Ezra on a different level. He knows he will never be able to forgive himself if anything happens to Gael. Ezra cursed under his breath before he exhaled. “I should go to him, uncle. I will see you later.” He said quickly, rushing off.

Ezra kept imagining different scenarios as he drove down to the packhouse. Ezra picked up his pace after parking his car and headed to the study first, but Gael wasn’t there. That made his heart race; checking his chamber, he wasn’t there either. Ezra bites down on his lips anxiously. Just then, he asked one of the guards if he had seen the Alpha anywhere. Luckily, one remembered the room Gael was in.

Ezra made his way into the room only to meet bottles of liquor littering the floor.  He almost let out a sigh of relief until he saw Gael’s head hanging into the toilet bowl with his arms stretched out, looking lifeless. Ezra’s phone slipped from his hand as he yelled out in horror.

“Gael!”

***********************************

GAEL’S POV At the loud call of my name, I raised my head slowly to see Ezra looking down at me with fear written all over his face. He looked funny. “W… why do you look sad like you just found my dead body? Or am I dead?” I mumbled in a low tone.

Like a bat to a ball, he smacked my head from behind so hard I saw stars rolling over my head briefly. “You asshole, I thought you were dead.”

I struggled to get up, but I couldn’t. I have a cramped leg now. I have been here since yesterday, hoping to drink myself to death. “I also thought I would be dead. Your voice must have brought me back to life.” I joked dryly.

“You dickhead. Why were you sitting on the floor like that?”

“I felt the urge to puke, so to save myself the stench and the cleaners the stress, I went to sit near the bowl. I am a pathetic person. The least I can do is not mess up my environment.” I said weakly.

Ezra couldn’t hide the disgust on his face. “You are pathetic.” He said, dumping me into the couch while he sat on the bed after picking up the bottles.

“I am sure you must have heard what happened for you to show up here. You pity me, don’t you?” I teased drunkenly.

He scoffed, “What is there to pity? You are your destruction. I am only here to do my duty as the Beta?”

“And not my friend?” I pressed on.

“Can you just stop already? You need to get into the shower, eat well, and get a nice rest. The pack needs their Alpha to be in a sound mind to rule them.”

“I am sure they would prefer someone else far from me. What sort of Alpha treats everyone around him shabbily? You know Gemma was right. I do deserve everything that happened to me.”

“No, you don’t. Nobody deserves to be lied to and made a fool of.”

“Come on, don’t be too nice. How else do you think the goddess would have gotten back at me if not this? All through the years, I made the poor ladies sad, enjoying them for my comfort and not bothering about how they might be feeling. It has always been about me. When I thought I would escape my past, it caught up with me most unexpectedly. Because of my kind of person, I couldn’t trust Nia for a brief second and try to prove her innocence. We indeed see a reflection of ourselves in people we have affection for. I didn’t even wait for the day to end before jumping at Gemma. It’s no wonder she had me fooled. I never deserved Nia; the goddess wanted to teach me a lesson.”

“So what now? You are just going to give up?”

I inhaled as the tears welled up in my eyes again. What response am I supposed to give? Ezra was right about me having a dark thought to bring the happy moments to an end. I never really believed that true love and affection existed. My father claimed my mother was the bane of his existence, yet he didn’t hesitate to cheat on her. I was too selfish to let Nia go from the beginning and admit my truth to her. I guess I did her a favor, helping her move on. I can only hope that she is fine wherever she finds herself.

Clearing my throat, I sat up. “Do…do you happen to know where Nia might be?” I stuttered.

Ezra cut me a glare; he didn’t even try to act discreetly about it. “That is a lot of guts from you. Have you forgotten that night so soon? If you have learned the truth, then you must know that Gemma had her intoxicated with night spice, and as the Alpha, I am sure you know what the most dangerous poisons are. You have no right to ask about her, and I am not sorry to say that. It would help if you forgot all about her now. Whatever you shared ended a long time ago. There is no way to rekindle it.” He stated firmly.

I swallowed in discomfort, feeling the words hit me differently. It is my new reality; the only thing I feel glad about is the fact that I didn’t get to love another person’s child as mine. I might murder in the end.

“I hope it’s not too late for us, though?”

He snickered, eyeballing me. “You make it sound like we are lovers.”

“Aren’t we, you bastard.” I retorted. “To think I have missed you so much.”

“Yeah, right.” He snickered.

I sighed with my head bowed. “I mean it, Ezra. I wanted us to resolve our differences, but my ego was always getting in the way, and I wanted to prove you wrong. The regrets are only beginning to set in slowly. I am not saying I will change overnight. But I want to be a better version of myself. I have probably lost the chance of getting a woman to love me like Nia did. Still, I want to be a better friend and Alpha. I won’t be able to do that without you next to me. I am so sorry for accusing you wrongly, then. Nothing came over me; I was only being my stupid self. I do deserve it, Gemma.” I huffed.

“Only someone like her can bring me to my knees. The player has gotten played, and I am ready to atone for my sins. I apologize once again, Ezra. I am so sorry. Please.”

I begged sincerely, feeling my throat itch. That is the longest word of apology I have ever said to anyone in my entire life. But with how things are going right now, I might be doing much of it since I have made up my mind not to die anytime soon. The best thing to do is to suck it up and learn to live.

Ezra sighed, “Do you know how painful it is to have an insensitive friend? Someone who doesn’t care much about what others say or feel and is more obsessed with himself. You had me feeling like trash that day. I often reflected on the things you said just in case they were true. However, I realized that you were an annoying pest, which triggered me even more. It made me wonder. Why is he doing this? I couldn’t understand it. At a point, I was glad you didn’t end up with Nia and got what you deserved by getting back with Gemma. I know I shouldn’t have thought that I was just angry. No matter what happens, no one deserves to be toyed with.”

“Karma was only at play. I saw it, but I refused to acknowledge it. Gemma was silently lethal, but it didn’t matter because I was getting everything I wanted. Maybe not everything in the literal sense. I should have known her forgiveness seemed too soon. But she had myself and Nia fooled; why didn’t you get drawn by her sudden change of heart?”

“That is because there are some things you are unaware of, like….” He paused halfway, shaking his head. “You don’t have to worry about that. It is nothing serious. Let’s forget about it.”

I squinted my eyes suspiciously but eventually gave up. There can’t be anything more surprising than the ones I have heard since yesterday. “it’s all good. I think I owe the council members an apology.”

“Yes, you owe them that big time,” Ezra hesitantly admitted.

“You just always have to hit the nail on the head, you annoying piece of shit!” I cursed.

“You are not remorseful if you curse out so freely like that.”

I let my tongue out at him. “Whatever! I need to run in the woods. My bones feel like they need some stretches.”

“I agree to that. A run and a good bath. You reek.”

I snort, inhaling deeply. I have no idea how the following days would go. But I am glad that I got my best friend back.