Adam's POV
My veins boiled with rage, I stalked towards the frozen pile before me.
They dared to touch what's mine. Mellisa is mine, and mine alone.
"I said, what the hell is going on here?" My loud voice echoes through the forest.
I approached them in seconds, my arms shooting out to throw the Beta and warrior for my mate when her arm held on to mine strongly.
"Don't you dare, Adam." Mellisa growls in my face.
Shock evident in my face.
"You dare to hurt them? I won't have it." She seethes.
"B…..but, why were they all over you like that?" I say regaining myself.
"The last time I checked I was mateless, ex-mate." Her face twists in irritation.
My face turned red in embarrassment, "Do what you want."
I walked away towards the old pack house where we were given. Why did she allow them all over her?
"You hurt mate, I told you to dig deeper then. We should never have banished her." My wolf, Darius says at the back of my mind.
"Can you not start with the blame game now?"
He chuckles darkly, "I will, you know I pleaded with you, something I never did before. Everything looked too surreal, now see the mess. Mate doesn't want us back."
Regret and pain surges through me, releasing a deep guttural growl in the forest.
"Beating yourself over it, won't help you."
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"So that you will know your mistakes, she didn't cause the death of the Alpha and Luna."
More pain shoots through my chest, "I don't want to talk about it."
"For how long will you keep running away from it, I know it hurts so badly but we need to heal."
"Let it be, Daruis. I'm done talking."
Daruis heaves a deep sigh, "I'll let it be, for now." He resigned from the back of my mind."
I walk to the little playground littered with kids all over. I sulk and sit on a long lonely garden bench.
"Hi Alpha," a cute girl with brown pigtails comes into view.
I force a smile on my face, "Hi sweetie, what's your name?"
"I'm Merida," She answers with a toothless grin.
"Hi, Merida. I'm Adam," I stretch an arm to shake her.
She tilts her head in confusion, "Not Alpha?"
A smile blooms on my face, "I'm Alpha Adam," I then take a glance around.
"Where are your parents?"
Her toothy smile turned sad, her eyes shone with tears.
"What's wrong Merida?" I ask in concern.
"Momma and Dadda are in the moon."
My eyes widened in surprise, they must have died during the attack.
I lift her to my laps and pull her close in an embrace.
I've been so cooped up with myself, distancing myself from everyone since the death of my parents.
"Alpha," a familiar voice, breaks our little moment.
My gaze falls on a young nanny in my pack Flora.
"Hello, Flora."
"I can see you've met our little ray of sunshine, Merida," the little girl giggles with glee.
"Yes I have and I would believe I made a new friend today."
A tiny gasp escapes Merida's little mouth, "I your friend?" She asks sweetly.
I look down at her with a smile, "Hopefully you want that."
"Yes, I'd love that, pinky promise?" She asks, stretching out her tiny pinky.
I lock mine with hers, "Pinky promise."
She gives me a sweet smile and runs off to her friends on the playground screaming, "I made friends with the Alpha!!!"
Other kids went round her, like some celebrity.
"Really? You are friends with him now?"
"Wow."
I finally turned away from the kids only to see Flora walking away.
"Flora," She turns towards me, "Yes, Alpha."
"Please have a sit, I have some questions for you."
"How did Merida lose her parents?"
"She lost them during the attack, they couldn't make it on time to the bunker."
"Who were her parents?"
"Peter was a pack doctor in training, and Mary a nanny like myself."
"They were trying to save others but got caught up in the heat, they weren't warriors so they couldn't fight back." She finished with a sad note.
I peered at her, "Mary was my friend, she didn't deserve what happened to her."
"Do you know how to fight?" I asked her with a side glance.
"No, Alpha. I may not be an Omega but I failed the strength test so I needed to be something else."
"I see," regret floods my senses. Maybe things would have turned out better if I wasn't so distant.
It would seem that most of my pack members were vulnerable because they couldn't fight.
"Do you want to learn to fight?" I asked in curiosity.
"I would love to, but it would remain a wish."
"It would seem that…."
"Adam!!!" Diana's screechy voice interrupts me.
I let out a breath in exasperation. How long can I keep up with this?
"What are you doing with this thing?" Diana says with a sneer.
"Not now, Diana," I answer, Flora gives her a look of disdain.
"You're an Alpha, you shouldn't be found with everyone." She says sassily tapping her foot on the ground.
"Diana," I warn.
"Don't shush me, Adam. Worse in front of her."
I held onto her arm and pulled her farther away from the playground.
"What do you think you're doing," I seeth.
"What I ought to do, Abigail told me about how you're frolicking with the little witch."
I roll my eyes, of course it would be one of her little minions that will run their mouths.
"Are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?"
"Look, Diana, this isn't love between us. It's an arrangement that I'm not even sure of anymore."
"Wait? Suddenly you're not sure, is it because of that thing you call, Alpha?"
My wolf pushes forward and a snarl leaves my mouth, "Don't you ever call mate that again."
Her face twists in irritation, "You're still into her. I always knew it."
"You didn't accept to mate with me immediately like other Alphas normally do, now it all makes sense."
I succeed in pushing Darius back before he says something he's not supposed to.
"Look, Diana. I have better things to do than deal with your tantrums."
I storm past her towards the pack house back door when her voice makes me still.
"You're mine, Adam, you've always been mine."
She moves closer to me and mutters, "And no one, I repeat, no one can take you away from me."
She stalks off, pushing past me.
"Trouble in paradise?" My Beta, Noah's voice echoes behind me.
I turned towards him in surprise, weirdly I didn't sense him.
"Hey man," He says with a glitter in his eyes.
I take a deep breath, "How long have you been there?" I was a bit embarrassed at my outburst earlier.
"Long enough," he answers, I pull some hair off my face.
"You're stressed, and you need a break." Noah says with an arm on my shoulder.
"I wish I could, the pack needs me right now."
"I know, but you're draining yourself out. You need us too."
"Noah, the smiles on the face of the pack members are fake, they're hurting."
"I know but we're here to help you. Stop holding everything in."
"I'm not, I'm fine man," I insist.
"You've always been stubborn."
"No, I'm not." I give him a glare.
"Yes you are, pig head."
"I'm still your Alpha, you know." I say with a grin. He knows just what to tell me to make me feel better.
"Don't pay mind to my sister's tantrums. I'm happy every time she leaves the house."
I laugh out so loud, bending over as he joins in.
"I'm happy you seem better, Adam." He says after our talk.
"Let's go in for a drink."
"To the bunker!!! We're under attack!!!" Melissa's voice shouts in my mind.