UNTAMED: THE ALPHA

Everything within Eros' sight was on fire. Bright red flames engulfed every surface, until all he could see was fire. Heat licked his skin, yet he knew that this wouldn't hurt him, this calamity wouldn't hurt him, it just left him reeling with discomfort.

Eros looked to his left and watched people being burned in this sea of fire and was able to see very clearly how their skin and flesh melted when the fire reached them. Their screams and cries were akin to a white noise in his mind.

But the most bothersome thing about all of this was the fact that he felt empty.

Eros didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for them. He watched all of this like a movie that was being played, something that you knew was not real, but in this case, all of this was real. Their cries pierced his ears and he could feel the heat of the fire on his skin.

Or, at least that was what he thought, until a moment later he felt someone touching his body and an incredulous amount of anger rose within him, as he didn't want to be touched, he felt like this touch pissed him off greatly, for unknown reasons.

Therefore, without a second thought, or even checking on who had come to him, his claws emerged and he attacked the person, who was daring enough to make skin to skin contact with him.

His fangs bared and he was ready for a battle, only to realize the burning city disappeared from his sight as the cries and screams from all the people ceased down into a single cry from the one person before his eyes.

Eros shook his head and the great amount of anger from earlier dissipated in a blink of an eye, as if that feeling had never been there in the first place.

How could that happen?

And now, Eros needed to come to terms that all of the heartbreaking scenes that he saw just a moment ago were just part of a dream. That was a mere dream.

However, what he had done was real, his attack was real and it was Emily that ended up receiving the brunt of his wrath.

It took Eros a few seconds longer to be able to gather his thoughts and put everything together and the second thing that snapped him back to reality after hearing Emily's cries, was the smell of her blood.

"Emily!" Eros immediately rushed to her and tried to comfort her, but he realized there was no amount of words that could make her stop crying when she bled like this.

His heart was pounding so hard when he scooped her trembling body and rushed out of the door. They needed to find the healer and make sure that Emily was fine.

Eros had never felt so guilty like how he did right now. He didn't know why he lost his control and hurt Emily. Why he couldn't stop himself and realize it was her, who had touched him.

It was out of character for him to sleep that deep and didn't even realize that Emily was nearby.

Usually, no, most of the time, he would be aware of her presence, she was the only person that was so close to him, who could offer him some peace of mind whenever he needed it. Even in his sleep, he would know that it was Emily who approached him.

But, what happened now? How could he not be aware of that at all?

Eros gritted his teeth, as he ran faster down corridor after corridor to reach the gamma's bedroom. The healer was his mate and at this hour, she would be with him.

"COLTON, OPEN THE DOOR!" Eros kicked the door harshly, he was tempted to tear it down, but then the last shred of his conscience told him to not do that. "ARIANA! I NEED YOUR HELP!"

Eros shouted from outside of the door frantically, when all he could smell was Emily's blood and all he could hear was her cries.

Please… please… he didn't want to hurt her… she was the last person that he wanted to hurt.

It never crossed Eros' mind that he would lay a finger on her, let alone hurt her like this…

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Gael and his little family ended up camping on the beach. He had his men prepare this for them, while those hellhound shifters stayed inside the car, taking turns to watch the situation, to prevent them from falling victim to any sudden attack that possibly could come to them.

It was a high risk vacation to say the least, but Gael made it happen for Lise and his daughter, while Vanesha… she just came with them, because she had nothing to do. It was kind of an obligation for her to play family with them…

There were two tents that they built, one for Gael and Lise and the other was for River and Vanesha.

"Vanesha…" River called her name, as she poked her shoulder, because she had her back against her. "Sleeping already?"

"Hm," Vanesha mumbled, but her eyes were wide open, she didn't feel sleepy at all. Her mind was elsewhere. She didn't feel like she was actually in this place, as if this was not the place that she wanted to be. She didn't like to be here.

"Are you sleeping?" River asked her again, but Vanesha chose to not say anything, pretending that she was sleeping, so River could stop talking to her.

Vanesha was not in the mood to talk or even listen to her. She had listened to her enough for the past few years, trying to engage with her in order to take this girl out of the facility, now she wanted her peace.

Yet, despite that, River kept talking to her in a hushed voice. She was used to talking to her about everything and what she felt, so it became a habit for River to vocalize her thoughts to Vanesha.

"I feel very happy today," River said. "I think this is the happiest moment in my life. I have my mother, my father, and my sister with me…" By sister, of course, it was Vanesha whom River meant. "Have you ever felt this happy? I finally have my family and no one will hurt me again because my father will protect us…"

Vanesha tuned out the rest of River's ramblings about how she felt right now, because once again, her mind wandered to the past…

To the moment when she met with Sol for the first time.

She was thirteen years old and it was two years after Nikolai left her to join the organization's new sub, The Delta. No, to put it right, the government took her only family away from her, leaving her in the orphanage, which was controlled by the government as well, for people like her.

They were called puny children. The children, who were left to the system because their families died during the catastrophe or had no one left to take care of them.

Vanesha suffered greatly those two years, as she was bullied relentlessly by the other children. She stayed in that orphanage for another few months before she finally met Gael.

Gael noticed her, he remembered her from their first meet and took care of her, therefore, Vanesha would always be grateful for him.

However, she would never forget her first encounter with Sol.

She was only a clueless thirteen years old girl, who had suffered so much, like most of the children, because supernatural creatures were wreaking havoc in the old capital city.

But, that was the day when Vanesha felt kindness for the first time and it came from him.

That day it was raining so hard, even when it was supposed to be a clear sky day, the sun couldn't be seen through the cloudy sky.

However, two mean girls, who were two years older than Vanesha, locked her out of the building, let her drench under the rain.

You would find a bully everywhere, even though you were not luckier than the ones that bullied you. Those kinds of people could only find solace, if they knew there was someone else beneath them. That was a messed up way of thinking…

On that day, Vanesha roamed around the streets aimlessly. Hungry and cold were the prominent feelings that she felt, until someone came to her and shared his umbrella with her.

Vanesha remembered clearly what Sol said that time.

'Are you hungry?'

That was the first thing that he asked her, instead of wanting to know why a young girl was soaking in that kind of bad rain.

Vanesha nodded and without saying anything, Sol took her to a nearby restaurant, as he let her eat anything that she wanted from the menu.

He said nothing and not even asked her name. He only stared through the window, at the rain outside, contemplating, as if he was in deep thought.

Vanesha didn't know what he was thinking about at that time, but surely enough, she could guess it now. It must be about Lise…

The only woman that would never leave his mind was Lise, River's mother.

Vanesha knew it was absurd for her to have those kinds of feelings for a man that was twice her age. She thought that was only a splitting moment of weakness because she was grateful for what he had done for her, but the next thing that she knew was; she wanted him.

Even now, Vanesha was not able to get rid of him from her mind.

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*Read my new book: KISSED BY THE DARK ALPHA*

Alpha Micah Donovan's second chance mate.