IN THE ALPHA'S ASHES

SEVEN

I stood by the refreshment table in the massive pack hall, trying to make myself invisible. Around me, girls glided in glittering gowns, their masks hiding excited and greedy eyes. Everyone was talking, whispering, laughing nervously….buzzing like bees around an unseen hive.

And for me? I was already regretting everything.

'What am I doing here?' I mumbled to myself, grabbing a glass of punch. 'Pretending to be someone I'm not for a man I don't care about while hoping nobody realizes I'm the only girl here who doesn't even have a wolf. My God!! How did I allow Jas trick me into accepting to do this for her?'

'Aw, poor little charity case. You made it past the gates. Must be a pity invite. Even the nice mask you are wearing cannot hide your wretched Stench'

I didn't even need to look. That voice was acid and perfume all rolled into one.

'Dana,' I said, turning slowly. 'Terrible as ever. Did they run out of glue at the lash shop again or are those bats on your eyes intentional?'

Dana grinned. 'You are really growing some balls. You must think that mask makes you someone.'

'I think it makes me less likely to hurl when I look at your face.'

That did it.

Dana's smile turned icy. She lifted her glass slowly, and with the grace of a venomous swan, tipped it forward drenching my perfect dress in sticky, bright red punch.

Gasps rippled. Dana gasped too. 'Oops,' she said sweetly. 'Clumsy me.'

I stood there, drenched, blinking slowly. A small crowd had turned to watch.

My cheeks burned, but I forced a tight smile. I will not let her see how much pain and embarrassment I felt 'No worries,' I said. 'Must be hard balancing that giant ego and your lack of personality.'

Dana's jaw ticked, but I didn't give her time to fire back. I turned, chin up, and walked away.

I walked away like someone who wasn't bothered that her gorgeous dress was now drenched in punch but Inside me, I was screaming.

I slipped into one of the side rooms and slammed the door shut behind me. I grabbed a towel from a storage bin and tried blotting the stain from my dress, which now looked like it had survived a murder scene.

'Great,' I muttered. 'Sticky, stained, and socially executed in under ten minutes. New record Isabel. The whole thing is going so well'

I was halfway through wrangling the zipper to assess the damage when the sounds outside suddenly dimmed. The room beyond the door fell completely silent.

I paused.

Then a deep, powerful voice rang out….clear, commanding, and sending actual shivers down my spine.

'Ladies of the Silvermoon Pack. I present to you your Alpha.'

A heartbeat of silence.

Then the massive double doors creaked open and the air changed. Heavy. Charged. Like the room itself was holding its breath.

I peeked through a crack in the wooden door, just enough to see the man who walked in.

I forgot how to breathe.

The alpha's entrance was not just grand, it was domination. Every step he took claimed the space. His suit was black, tailored like sin. His hair, that dark tousled mess she'd seen earlier, framed a face carved by war and gods. His eyes..cold, sharp, and dangerous…..scanned the room like a hunter deciding which animal to strike first.

People bowed. Even the ones who didn't mean to.

My mouth went dry.

That was him. That was the man from the alcove. The one I spoke to anyhow without holding anything back. The one I called emotionally constipated, emotionally dead, and oh, goddess….Wolf Mafia Batman.

'No,' I whispered. 'No no no….'

What have I done? I looked everywhere at once thinking of what next to do. The answer was simple.

RUN!!!!! And so, I  bolted.

Moving fast and low, I ducked through the hallway, my heels clicking like traitors against the floor. I had to get out. I couldn't face him. What if he recognized me? What if he pointed and said, 'That one. That's the one who called me a teaspoon.'

I found an old storeroom near the edge of the hall and yanked it open. It had a window.

A small window.

But freedom was freedom.

I climbed onto an old wooden crate and shoved the window open, wiggling awkwardly as I tried to squeeze myself through.

That was the exact moment the door creaked open.

'Well. This is unexpected.'

I froze.

The voice. His voice.

I whipped around mid-wiggle, half stuck in the window like a badly timed escape artist, and came face to face with Alpha himself, the same person I was avoiding. Life's such a bitch sometimes.

'Oh, crap I'm so fucked!!!' I muttered.

The alpha folded his arms. 'Do you normally sneak out of parties through windows? Or is this just a dramatic exit gone wrong?'

I tried to play it cool. 'Oh, you know. Just getting some air. Upside-down. Through a window. It's really not a big deal you know'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Creative.'

I slid off the crate and straightened my dress, which still had punch stains on it. I looked like a crime scene.

He tilted his head like he was studying me and suddenly I picked an interest on the flower vase in the room. 'You're the girl from earlier.'

I didn't answer.

'The one who said I had the emotional range of a teaspoon.'

I still didn't answer.

'The one who accused me of being a sadistic prick with a god complex and unresolved trauma.'

Think Isabel think of something to say 'No, I have no idea of what you are talking about' I said quickly refusing to look at him.

'You mean you were not at the courtyard this evening?' he asked me.

'Yes, I believe you are mistaking me for someone else Alpha' I bowed 'Excuse me,' I said as I ran out of the door and out of the hall. I didn't stop running until I got home.

I shut the door immediately I got home still scared of the unknown, still scared of the man I just met.

For some reason, trouble always seems to follow me.