The Alpha's Lost Mate And His Secret Babies

FREYA

First there was this lingering pain.

Not the sharp, intense kind that made you want to cry. It was a deep, dull ache coming from the spot between my legs.

My breath caught in my throat. The knock that had woken me up seconds ago was repeated as I tore the sheets off my body.

The bloody sheets.

I placed a shaky finger on the red spot, brought it up to my eyes. It was blood, all right and had come from the most intimate part of me.

I could still taste the sour alcohol in my mouth. My head was banging like a sledgehammer was going through it and I was lying on a strange bed.

Had I been raped?

"Oh no no no no. Please no," I groaned, more than one tear slipping down my cheeks.

The knock came again. Only now it wasn't knocking but banging. The sound sent a stab of pain through my skull.

"Hey!" a female voice called from the other side of the door. "Answer me! Are you okay in there ma'am? Hello?"

"Yes," I said but the words came out just like a whisper.

Clearing my throat, I tried again. "Yes, I'm fine. I just need a minute."

There was silence, then the sound of retreating footsteps. My heart was slamming so hard in my ribs and it was hard to think. But think I did.

Last night, I had done something bad.

I had gotten drunk and then slept with a total stranger. The worst part? I had given him my virginity and couldn't even remember his face.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to remember everything. Almost immediately, flashes of last night came to me. I saw myself going into a club, ordering a drink then two, then three, then ten. At that point, I had lost count.

Getting piss faced drunk had been a way to forget the pain of yet another rejection. All the words in the letter of rejection from the Supernatural Shadow Academy was burned in my brain, especially the part where they had written,

Dear Freya Hunter, we regret to inform that we can't find a place for you...

"Freaking story of my life," I said to the empty room.

I had never fit in anywhere. The school had been my one plan of escape, of freedom. Now I couldn't even have that.

Angrily swiping at my eyes, I looked around the room and tried to find any traces of the man I had spent last night with. I found nothing, except there was an envelope lying on the glass table, illuminated by the early sunlight streaming in through the window.

Just then my phone beeped. A message from my stepmother, Greta, popped up on the screen. It was one sentence.

Get your ass down back home.

I rushed into the bathroom, took a quick shower, threw on my clothes and remembered the envelope at the last minute. I tore it open and felt my heart stop for an instant.

In the envelope was a thick wad of cash and a note.

Thank you for a pleasant night, it read. Here's a little gift for your troubles.

I stared at the money again.

A little gift?

Remembering Greta's nasty temper, I shoved the stranger's note to the back of my mind. In the corridor I wrapped a scarf around my face. This stupid night was my secret. I wanted to keep it that way.

***

I was in trouble.

Greta was sitting facing the front door and that was a bad thing.

"Hello," I said, trying not to sound guilty.

"What time is it, Freya?" she asked, her lips barely moving.

"S-seven a.m?"

"Yes. And you're just coming in home? Tell me, for how long have you been sleeping around?"

I rocked back on my heels before I could rein in my surprise. How could she have known about what I had done so fast?

Lie. I had to lie.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, hating the shake in my voice.

She drummed her fingers against the armrests of her chair. And scoffed. "So you're a liar as well as a slut. Nina saw you drinking at a club last night. She said you drank so much of alcohol and could barely walk. Do you deny it?"

"No mum. She can't because it's true."

We booked looked at the stairs where Nina had paused for effect. Her dress was beautiful. It set off her figure. It glittered and shimmered when she moved. I looked down at my own faded sweater. I had never had any good clothes since my father passed.

"So what do you have to say for yourself, sister?" Nina said with a laugh.

There was nothing to say. I stared at the floor and hoped this moment would pass. If I talked back or defended myself, it would be worse.

Greta heaved, her butt out of the chair. "Well, an offence requires a punishment, does it not? You're going to do all that laundry by hand. I don't want to see you anywhere near my washing machine. There."

I followed her pointing fingers. My heart sank when I saw the heap of clothes. I recognised some of Nina's clothes I had washed the day before.

Nina laughed. "I got them all dirtied up again for you, Freya. Enjoy."

I clenched my jaw and went for the laundry baskets. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing me break down.

"Oh wait," Greta drawled. She didn't speak again until I had turned to face her. "That's not all. You have to wash the dishes. All of them. Iron my clothes, mow the lawn..."

The list went on and on and on. Sadness pressed against my chest like a physical weight.

Once Greta was done reading me the riot act, I quickly got to work. Sometime that afternoon after I had finished with the laundry, I went to my room, opened my secret locker where I had kept the stranger's cash.

It was still intact.

I hurried out again when I heard Nina and her mother talking.

"The palace ball is this weekend, dear," Greta said. "I know you're going to be the belle of the ball. You'll have to wear your new diamond earrings-"

I slammed the kitchen door, cutting off their conversation. I suspected they were always having these conversations about the ball to torment me because I couldn't attend.

Exactly six and half hours later I finished with all my chores plus the new ones Greta had come up with a couple of hours ago.

I was dead on my feet but running late for my night shift at the bar.

"I'm off to work," I called out to Greta as I hurried out the door.

Greta ignored me.

Nina started saying something to her mum about the ball again but I was already off.

"You're late, Freya," Jaden, the bartender, said when I got to work. "Lots of customers waiting. Get a move on."

As I served drink after drink, I wondered how long it would take for a person to drop from exhaustion. I was slowly but surely getting there.

I was serving a group of customers at a table when it happened.

The colours, the voices in the room seemed to bleed out. My hands shook slightly. Something pulled me towards the door with the force of a powerful magnet.

I turned in that direction. I had no choice. Five men walked in. I had eyes for only one; tall, broad shouldered, with piercing dark eyes.

Alpha Ronon.

I recognized him. As the Alpha of the pack everyone knew him. But why was he suddenly in my memory of last night?

And why was my wolf stirring and dying to touch him?