The Alpha's Cursed Mate novel Chapter 4

"Son, tell me, what makes an alpha?" The man asked, crouched in front of his six-year-old son, the little boy's wrists in his grasp. The boy blinked a couple of times before shyly responding to his father's question.

"His strength and ability to step up when needed, his power and his ruthlessness. To be strong enough to mercilessly crush one's enemy, to show no fear."

"Very good, son. And what are you?"

"An alpha."

"And what would you do if any challenges you?"

"Slaughter."

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I swayed my chair from side to side, my leg crossed over the other and my mind was occupied with thoughts I couldn't pinpoint. I knew I was thinking, but what exactly I was pondering on is what I couldn't pinpoint, or even remember, though I was still thinking about it. It was a normal thing for me. It helped me think and at the same time, don't think. And spared my mind the agony of overthinking. With so much to do and barely enough time and energy to do it, not thinking and thinking was my best way to solve it.

The recent pack members gave me a new workload. The settlement of each new member: their new jobs, living arrangements, and the previous work I was yet to complete were too much to handle. If I had a mate, then she would have handled the new pack members, but I didn't, and never would. The pack issues were what I had to deal with all by myself. Working is stressful.

A gentle knock on my door had my brows furrowing with confusion and pausing my swaying. Since when did he knock? It meant he needed something from me. He pushed the door open, revealing his dishevelled medium ash blond hair and pouting face, definitely something.

"Alpha," I rolled my eyes, already knowing I would hate whatever he needed. "I…or… The Alpha of Shtylla e forcës sent an email, another peace loyalty nonsense,"

I chuckled, resuming my swaying. Just like Father said, fear is a powerful weapon to control kings. Over the years, I'd lived almost according to his lessons and rules, following similar procedures in the way he ran the pack and the neighbouring packs that had sworn their loyalty to him and then me. I never went looking for trouble like he did, that was something I considered ridiculous and a waste of energy. Instead, I went after those that challenged me and slaughtered those who angered me.

The two alphas went far with their arrogance, claiming the lives of five valuable pack members, one more valuable than the rest. In my anger, I did what I knew how to do best, I rained chaos on them and let their downfall act as a reminder to those who had forgotten how cruel I could be. The result of the fear was having alphas dump their responsibility on me, leaving their pack members for me to cater for or suffer, as long as they were promised safety from me. It was ridiculous, yet, I could never turn them down. Father repeatedly hammered it into my head that rejecting an alpha's token of defeat is a sign of weakness for me.

I am no weakling.

"How many pack members did this one offer this time?"

"His is quite different actually, better if I must say," he spoke, running his eyes around my office.

"Oh?"

"He offered the free passage of our men to search for their mates in his pack. Now, you know that is an offer one won't easily turn down." Which was true. Every alpha would agree. An alpha is also stronger by the number of its pack, so any chance to get more members and produce offspring was a good offer. It was safer, as they wouldn't need to fight for entrance, resulting in casualties like death and severe injuries. However, in this case, the offer was for him.