Alpha Leo and the Heart of Fire novel Chapter 1

AZURA.

A toxic relationship is harmful for anyone, but it’s far worse when it’s a young girl who never even realised she had fallen into one.

I wish I could tell you how I bravely faced my dark past, how I was able to pull away from this nightmare of a relationship and move on, but I wasn’t able to. Instead, all the memories wrapped around me like a spider’s web.

I was never the child who couldn’t sleep at night because of her worries. I was always carefree, unbothered and wild. I loved to have fun, crush on the sexiest boys in my class or whatever hot Alpha crossed my path. I was the mischievous devil at home. My parents treated me like I was the most precious thing in the world, even though I was a child born in a way that was not normal.

They used to be the Alpha and Luna of the pack, now my older brother was the Alpha, but even they weren’t able to make everyone in the pack accept the birth of someone who was born in a way against the very laws of nature.

I should be dead, but I’m not.

I remembered when I was a child, I didn’t understand why I was disliked. Occasionally there were kids in the Pack whispering behind my back, but they didn’t dare to do anything to me because I was the daughter of their Alpha. Plus I was not someone to mess with, I always made anyone who tried to hurt me or those I loved, suffer.

However, there was one name that never left me. A name I first heard from a boy who was crying and running away: The Freak.

Freak? I wondered. It’s not true, I’m Azura Rayne Westwood, the youngest daughter of Alpha Elijah and Luna Scarlett. Their favourite.

But he said that’s what all his family called me, the Devil of the Westwoods, the freak that shouldn’t have been born.

I remember freezing, wondering why any adult would call me that? At seven years old, I couldn’t understand why I was so hated. Does everyone around me think of me the same way? Think I’m a freak that shouldn’t have been born?

I remember telling my parents about it, but the way they got angry confused me, what was it that they didn’t want me to know? I tried not to show how it affected me, sticking with a no-care attitude, but the word freak always stuck by me. I hated it.

Whether I like it or not, the childhood memories slowly faded away, the good and bad becoming a blur of mostly pleasant memories filled with my loved ones. But who doesn’t crave affection from others? I made that mistake when I fell in love with someone for the first time, someone I thought had demons similar to my own. Someone who would understand me.

But I was wrong, because this time, it won’t easily fade away. He has become a nightmare that I resent with every inch of my very being.

—-

The laughter rang in my ears but there was nothing merry about it, filled with malice and jeers.

“Go on!”

“Awe, what’s wrong, too much of a wimp?”

“You’re the boss’ woman, can’t do it? Too weak?”

I froze, standing between my boyfriend and his men. They were torturing someone who I didn’t even recognise in his wolf form, but what else was new, this was the usual for them. I tried to ignore his ways and his business. I tried to focus on the good in him instead. But today, they want me to have a try.

I didn’t want to do this, staring at the bloody mass on the ground. This was not what was meant to happen

“Just pull the trigger.” His voice was devoid of emotions, his cold green eyes met mine as he held the gun out to me.

“I… I’m not so sure about this, this wasn’t what you told me.” I replied calmly, despite the way my stomach was twisting with nerves.

“Not even for me, my little Pet?” He tilted his head, looking at me whilst the rest of his friends spurred me on.

“Please, come on, let’s forget this.” I tried to shrug it off, wrapping my arms around his neck and hoping he listened.

His scent filled my nose, mixed with the smell of cigarettes and drugs. His hands stroked my waist and I tried to remember the man I had fallen in love with.

Where was he gone?

“Forget what? Ahh, forget what he called you? Let me rephrase that, Baby Girl, you don’t want to be an outcast, do you? The outsider… The odd one out… The freak?”

I looked at the bloody wolf on the ground.

His words triggered me, making me yank away from his hold, my heart thumping as I snatched the weapon from his hand.

Freak.

He knew I hated that term, but it was my fault, I was the one stupid enough to tell him my darkest secrets.

“Fine.” I growled as I turned, pretending to do his bidding and raising the gun, I cocked it.

What do I do?

“Shoot him, Baby Girl.” His quiet voice, laced with a deadly warning, came from right behind me.

My hand shook as I stared at the whimpering wolf on the floor.

He was almost dead…

What should I do?

I am not going to do this, I am not a killer, but the urge to turn around and shoot my so-called boyfriend instead tempted me. I began to lower my weapon, the laughter fading as a tense silence fell.