The Ruthless Alpha

Cassandra had only stepped into the Divine Bloodlust pack after driving for hours, so she didn't expect the alpha to ask her to spar and train first.

While she understood his intentions because that was exactly why she was here, the straightforwardness was a little hard for her to digest.

Then again, what could she expect from the beast of the werewolf world?

The weight of his cold and calculating gaze as it raked over her unsettled her as it lingered long enough to make her feel stripped beneath it.

“You're late,” His cold voice snapped her attention to his cold, hazel-amber eyes.

His expression was unyielding, but if he thought he could intimidate her easily, he was in the wrong. She wasn't here to let another alpha walk over her.

“I wasn't aware there was a time,” Cassandra said coolly, her chin lifted as she stared into his eyes, despite the dangerous vibes oozing from his body.

The man smirked.

He stepped forward, invading her personal space once again, making her heart skip a beat as he leaned.

Cassandra’s body froze. She wondered if he would do something obscene, but the man barely took the backpack from her shoulders and gave it to his beta.

“There's always a time when you are under me,” he said, looking at her intensely.

Cassandra's body stiffened. Was it just her, or did the phrasing indirectly indicate something she didn't want to say out loud?

She followed the man to the training grounds, observing his muscular back and ripped muscles.

The man hadn't smiled genuinely since they met her, nor did she expect him to. However, his words always held a tint of edginess and provocation that she couldn't pinpoint.

This reminded her…

“When handing your card to me, you said I would need it. What did that mean?” Cassandra asked.

She didn't know why, but after their meeting, she couldn't remove that thought from her head. The way he looked at her as if he knew, he was sure she would accept the offer.

“I have eyes, Miss Cassandra. I see things pretty well,” He said, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

Cassandra blushed in embarrassment. For some reason, it felt like he was mocking her for not seeing the deceit in her husband's actions.

It was normal to think so, too. Everything was happening before her, yet she let love and prejudice against her good and caring husband blind her.

Without another word, Alpha Joaquin walked to the centre of the training ground before barking an order.

“Circle,”

His voice was domineering, like that of a leader, and within seconds, seven trained she-wolves, a part of his internal security, circled them.

“Strip the extravagant clothing, Miss Cassandra. You are not here as a guest but a warrior,” The man said, and Cassandra nodded in understanding.

She took off her leather jacket.

“As strong as you are and are here to train my Gamma females, this session would also be a training for you. Your first lesson,–” Joaquin said, stepping outside the circle.

“Pain is the only truth, and I will teach you how to survive it,” he said before raising his hand and bringing it down to signal the start of the training.

What followed next was hours of gruelling sparring without any breaks. Cassandra’s legs trembled as every time she defeated the former groups of Gamma females, a new set of females would arrive to spar with her.

Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her vision blurred when a drop got into her eyes, earning her a hard blow in the abdomen that sent her a few metres away, her body falling to the ground as she barely suppressed her groans.

Joaquin watched her like a hawk watching its prey. His gaze was cold, yet unidentified emotions swirled in it, like a recognition, a call beyond expression.

Every time she stumbled, his body twitched, trying to catch her, help her, and fix the mess he had orchestrated, but he knew he shouldn’t.

After the seventh round, Cassandra’s body collapsed, her ribs aching terribly as her limbs trembled from the constant workout.

“Enough,” She groaned, chest heaving as she panted heavily.

Joaquin’s gaze softened for a split second before it hardened again.

“It’s not enough until I say it is.” He walked to her before crouching in front of her.

Cassandra raised her eyes, her gaze locking with his as she clenched her jaws, suppressing her urge to curse at him.

If she didn't know any better, she would've almost thought that he was punishing her for a sin that she didn't know.

“You are hurt,” Alpha Callisto said, touching the bluish mark on her shoulder.

‘No shit sherlock,’ Cassandra barely bit the snarky reply that was at the edge of the tongue while Kianna chuckled at her condition, making her anger worse.

Alpha Callisto’s touch lingered on her shoulder, a little too warm for someone who appeared so cold and calculative.

And then, his hand reached for the mark on her neck.

“You don't belong to him anymore,” his voice was barely above a whisper, enough to catch his attention.

He didn't specify who he was talking about. He didn't need to.

She knew he was talking about Caleb, the man who humiliated her, replaced her when she was at the epitome of her happiness, and discarded her and her dreams like she was nothing.

Cassandra was about to open her mouth and say she didn't need that bastard either when Joaquin interrupted her.

“You belong to yourself now. And if you want to survive in this world, for your dream, you'll have to become stronger than everyone who tried to break you,” He said before standing.

Cassandra understood the meaning behind his words.

She didn't aspire to throw Caleb away, only. Her dream was to rule the pack like a luna, which wouldn't be possible with her current abilities. After all, she won't have an Alpha by her side at that time anymore.

All her complaints about earlier dissolved into nothing, and she looked at the alpha in a new light.

His way of doing things was different, but it had a purpose.

___________

That evening, Cassandra's body ached like it was on fire. Her limbs felt overused, and she sat in the doctor's cabin, treating her wounds for quick recovery so she could spar the next day with the same ability.

Because of the wolf's absence, her healing had been lowered, and she had to rely on medicinal herbs to speed up the process.

Though her body was in pain, her heart had a sense of satisfaction. Despite the number of rounds, she hadn't broken, she hadn't begged for mercy.

Cassandra walked to the room allotted to her, which was strangely one of the two rooms on the third floor, and didn't waste time stripping.

She had been craving a bath from the moment she exited the training grounds.

She walked inside the bathroom, noticing the strange placement of the door right beside the bed, but that was the least of her concerns.

Standing under the warm stream of the water, she closed her eyes.

“In my pack, you smell like one of us or nothing at all.”

“You don't belong to him anymore.”

Alpha Callisto's deep voice echoed in her mind, and her cheeks turned red.

What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she thinking about that?

As she washed the dirt off her body, a gasp left her mouth when she suddenly felt an intense ache in her neck.

Her mark was hurting. And it only meant one thing.

Caleb was engaging in sexual activities with Harmony.

Tears welled in Cassandra's eyes, but before she could relent, a weird sound caught her attention.

It wasn't just any weird sound. It was the sound of the bathroom door opening from the other side, a door she had failed to notice.

She quickly grabbed the towel just in time to hide her private parts and walked behind the curtain of the shower, her pupils dilating when she saw Alpha Joaquin walking inside the bathroom.

She saw how his brows furrowed when he saw the water on the floor.

“These people can't do one thing right,” He grumbled under his breath and took off his shirt before taking off his pants.

However, just as his fingers hooked with the elastic of his shorts, he paused.

He lifted his head and sniffed the air.

“Ah,” a wince left Cassandra's mouth simultaneously, and Alpha Callisto's suspicion strengthened.

Without wasting a second, he walked to the shower area and removed the curtain that Cassandra held on to for dear life.

Due to the sudden jerk, her body fell forward, making her fall directly on Alpha Callisto, whose eyes widened as he lost his footing and fell on his butt, taking Cassandra with him.