The fate of the Rejected Alpha

A NIGHT IN A WARM BED

What now? What should I do? Bloodstain wonders while from afar, in her lupine form, she watches the village illuminated by the night lamps.

The moon is at its highest peak, indicating that it is already midnight. Bloodstain returns to her human form and the cold wind hits her naked body hard, causing her to shudder. Keeping warm is easier when her body is full of fur. The young woman’s stomach snores and she crosses her arms in front of her belly.

The energy she spent crossing a country was too much, and her lack of proper food did not help at all. Her legs now not only tremble from the cold, but also from tiredness and malnutrition. Keeping herself upright is almost an impossible mission.

She concentrates all her forces on her legs and begins to move toward the village. When she gets very close to one of the houses, she sniffs the air and only smells a single human, a female human. With courage, she raises her hand and knocks several times on the door. After five minutes a lady unlocks and opens the dark wooden door.

For a few moments the woman states the young girl certain she’s hallucinating. She can’t believe what she’s seeing a woman, naked and full of scars, right in front of her, on her door steps. She rubs her tired eyes with the back of her hands.

“P-please, help m-me…” The forces disappear from Bloodstain’s body, the dizziness overwhelms her brain, her eyes blur and everything around her begins to spin. The seventy-year-old lady prevents her from falling to her knees on the ground.

“She’s so thin,” she talks to herself as she drags the young woman into her house and closes the door immediately afterwards.

The lady walks with Bloodstain leaning on her body to a wooden chair; she carefully sits the unconscious young woman and removes the girl’s arm from her neck. As she looks more carefully, her heart fills with pity.

What have they done to you, child? She thinks and goes to her room. She returned with a goat-skinned coat, the coat is already very old, it belonged to her late granddaughter; she died at only fifteen years old. The witches kidnapped her to perform a ritual and the wolves attacked them and killed all the girls.

The lady lifts the coat up to her nose and inhales the smell once more. Her granddaughter’s scent is no longer in it, only the odor of old clothes stored for a long time. She looks at the basket on the ground and picks a green dress.

They must fit, her body is so thin, she thinks as she leaves the room and returns to the living room.

Carefully, she runs the dress over the girl’s head and puts it on. Soon after she returns to her room and picks up some furs, puts them on the floor and picks up a pillow from her own bed.

She walks to another basket and picks up a sheet. After setting everything on the floor, she goes to the kitchen. Fortunately, she had just put a pot of soup on the fire. She puts some on a clay plate with a piece of bread and walks back to where the girl is still unconscious.

“Hey, wake up,” she says , touching the girl’s face, who still shows no reaction. “Wake up, girl.”

After two pats with a little more force, Bloodstain opens her eyes. Immediately, fear is present. In fright, she rises from the chair and looks around to realize she’s in a strange place.

The flash of what had happened a few hours ago invades her mind and then she’s crying, which leaves the lady even more preoccupied.

“Mm, hi,” she says, catching the girl’s attention.

Bloodstain looks at her with a frown. Her heart starts throbbing hard, she raises her hand and holds tightly the small bag stuck around her neck. The weight of the clothes on her body makes her look at herself and notice that she’s dressed in a simple, modest and very beautiful dress. A real luxury for those who are just used to old, torn rags.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t touch your belongings, girl,” the lady says gently with a small smile.

Bloodstain still spends a few seconds just watching the gray-haired, fair-skinned lady. She has strong traces of age across her face, her mouth only has a few teeth left. Then Bloodstain finally recognizes the smell of the soup and her stomach responds with a long noise.

“Don’t just stand there looking at me, child. Sit down.”

Bloodstain doesn’t say a word, just obeys and goes back to the chair as the lady gives her a plate.

“I… I can eat?” She asks surprised, her eyes still on the food on her hands.

Even though the food looks delicious, Bloodstain knows that’s not going to be enough for her. Human food doesn’t have the nutrients her body needs. Vegetables and fruits are not part of a healthy diet for the Lycan breed. They may eat that, sure, but it’ll never leave them satisfied, nor will it benefit their nourishment. The proteins they need, they only find in raw, fresh meat.

“Sure, I got it for you.”

The young woman’s stomach complains about the delay, and the lady just smiles.

“Better eat before it gets cold.”

Bloodstain didn’t know exactly how to eat that. She didn’t even know what it was in reality, all she knew was that it was food and the smell was delicious. But how should she eat it?

The lady notices her struggle and teaches her.

“Here’s the bread, dip it in the soup and put it in your mouth.”

And so she does. The bread is not tasty for a lycanthropic palate, but the hunger is so great that it is impossible to stop eating. The taste of the soup for her is watery, the pork is tasteless, but for someone who has only the habit of licking bones, that’s a feast.

In less than five minutes, the young woman ate all the bread and drank the soup directly from the plate, chewing the small pieces of pork. She smiles. Never before had she eaten like this, sitting, with a meal that was hers and not someone else’s leftovers.

“Thank you, it was delicious.”

Her stomach growls once more, and she knew it wouldn’t stop until she ate something with the right nutrients she needed. Her cheeks get warm and the lady smiles. She doesn’t know that the woman in front of her is a supernatural being. The lady goes back to the kitchen, picks up another loaf of bread and more soup, this time with more small pieces of pork.

Bloodstain accepts the plate, grateful. Even though it doesn’t taste good to her, that’s by far the best thing she has ever eaten in her life.

“What’s your name?” the lady asks, sitting in the chair facing the young woman.

Bloodstain finishes drinking the soup and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Bloodstain. You?

“How strange. Why did they give you this name, girl?”

Silence filled the room. If I tell her, will she be disgusted with me? It’s better to be silent, I don’t want her to look at me disgusted. I do not want to relive it ever again.

“All right, never mind. My name is Cynthia.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cynthia.”

“The pleasure it’s mine, dear.”

Dear. That was how Guila called her. Her heart knew that Guila was no longer in this world, neither she nor her mate. Once again, her eyes fill with tears, but she takes a deep breath and swallows the lump in her throat.

“Come lay down, I’ve made a bed for you. “Cynthia says and starts walking, Bloodstain following surprised.

“Here, I don’t have another bed, but I prepared this improvised one on the floor. I hope you….”

“Thank you so much!” Bloodstain quickly lies down on the bed and the first contact with something so warm and soft on her sore body makes her want to howl at the moon as a thank you.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Sleep well”

Cynthia blows out the candle and leaves everything in the dark. Bloodstain can still see everything clearly. For the first time ever her body will finally get a real rest. In a warm bed. Bloodstain picks up the sheet and curls up, the smile and tears flooding her eyes.

“Thank you, Guila and Brunno. You gave your lives for me… I promise I will not let it be in vain. I will survive and I will find my mate. And also, thank you, goddess. If I’m alive now I know it’s thanks to you. Please continue to protect me,” she prays in her mind. Her eyes close as the darkness embraces her.