Loving The Cursed Alpha

Isabella's POV

Just beyond the great river, somewhere along the boarder land of the Blood Moon Pack, lived the man of misfortune. Many referred to him as a cursed man and he was rumored to live a cursed life. He was a lone werewolf who came once every month to visit the Alpha. Not many knew what they spoke about during his visits and no one really cared.

Not many knew his name and those who did preferred not to utter it. To them, it was forbidden and anyone who did could end up with the same ill fate that befell his former associates.

It is said that the cursed werewolf was a bloodthirsty beast that was very different from every other werewolf. Rumors have it that he cannot shift so he maintains his wolf form, feasting on anyone who got too close.

I didn't know this man, but I had heard many rumors about him even from my own pack. I pleadingly looked at the men who had brought me here. I really wished they would have a change of heart and take me back home. But being the merciless men that they were, they ignored my silent pleas and left me by my new mate's doorstep.

A shiver ran down my spine and I concluded that my life was over. I had already suffered so much with the hope that marriage would be my saving grace. But what fate is worse than being married off to a cursed man?

*********

Thud!

Came the collision of a fist against my chin. I tried to swallow immediately with great difficulty to be sure that my jaw wasn't broken. I was sure that my face was already a bleeding mess but that was the least of my worries. I couldn't feel my ribs and I wasn't sure where I was feeling this excruciating pain.

Elaina did not let me catch my breath as she dragged me by the collar and yelled something in my face. I didn't respond and like a ragdoll, I was tossed to the other corner of the room and my hair hit the floor with a slap. I groaned at the throbbing pain in my head, feeling like I would pass out any minute.

"Are you going to refuse Max now or do I have to kill you first?" Elaina barked as she angrily marched towards me.

I knew that the beating was not going to end until I lost consciousness and even if that happened, Elaina would revive me and continue hitting me till I gave in. I had to beg. Struggling, I scrambled to my knees and then begged her to stop it already.

"Please, I beg you Elaina," I managed to choke out the words with teary eyes. "You have been robbing me of everything since I was a child. Can't I have just him? He's my mate!"

"Shut up, you tramp!" Elaina yelled as she pulled me up. She already had her hand balled into a fist and just as I predicted, that fist landed on my nose.

Dizzy, I fell to the ground. My head was spinning and I felt something wet trickling down my nose. I knew it was blood and I quickly wiped it off with the back of my hand before crawling over to Elaina again. I held her feet and continued to beg her because my life really depended on this.

"Please Elaina," I cried. Not that my tears would change anything but crying was the only thing I could do at the moment.

"You're pathetic," Elaina spat before shaking me off in disgust. "Max has been courting me and you know it. He is the Alpha heir. Don't you understand, Isabella? Why do you think he would want you? You're ugly, skinny and urrg... The sight of you is repulsive. You are not fit to be his bride."

"Please," I continued to beg with my face buried to the floor.

"What if Max rejects you?" Elaina asked and that made me raise my head to look at her. That was very possible. I knew that Max loved Elaina even though I was his mate. It was possible for him to reject me and once that happens, no one would want me. I would be doomed to live in this house forever, unmarried and untitled.

The thought made me freeze and Elaina seemed to notice because she crouched and I saw a triumphant smirk on her face. She pushed my hair behind my ear and began to give me reasons why Max wouldn't want to be with someone like me. I knew she had a point but I couldn't just give up. Marrying Max was my ticket out of this house and to a better life.

"Stop trying Elaina," I said as I managed to meet her gaze. "I would only back down if Max rejects me."

"Okay then," Elaina said as she pushed my head back before rising to her feet. "Wait here, I'll bring your mate to personally reject you."

Having said that, she scampered away and I managed to sit up, wincing in pain. It wasn't the first time I was being bullied by Elaina but this felt more painful. She had always taken whatever would make me happy and now... I couldn't let her have Max as well.

I managed to drag myself to a corner of the room and curled up there. My body was in so much pain and I needed to see a doctor, but what if Max came and I was away? I then decided that I was going to wait for them.

My wolf pitied me. I could feel it and I just laughed at myself. Elaina was right. I was pathetic. My wolf tried to convince me to go see a doctor but I decided to be stubborn. I was going to wait for Elaina to bring Max. Seeing that I wouldn't budge, my wolf tried to heal me and I slowly began to feel better.

I wasn't always like this. I wasn't always this pathetic little werewolf that anyone could just bully. My name is Isabella and my father is Paul Dillon, a beta wolf of the Black Lake Pack. I was an only child and a darling of my father. After my mother's death, I was still a happy child. It was when father decided to give me another mother that my life became a living hell.

I didn't mind when father made the decision to remarry. He had explained that I was going to have a mother to care for me and a sister with whom I could play with. I was just a child so the idea of having a sister made me happy. I wish I had known better. It was this sister that tormented me each day since we began living together.

Elaina and her mother, Martha, took turns in hitting me whenever they got upset about something. I became a servant in my own father's house. I did all the chores. I was subjected to cook, clean, wash, run errands and do everything to please them. I was always at their beck and call.

My step mother, Martha, always gave her daughter whatever was meant for me and Elaina believed it was her right. I couldn't fight them so I could only pray for a Cinderella miracle.

I always looked forward to my eighteenth birthday. It was the day my mate was supposed to come for me and save me from this hellish life. Unfortunately, my mate turned out to be Elaina's suitor, Max. How crueler could mother fate be? And now, Elaina also wanted him for herself.

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep as I was roughly kicked awake by Elaina. I sprang to my feet immediately and ran my fingers through my hair, thinking that Max would walk in any minute but he didn't. He didn't come with Elaina and I smiled brightly, believing that Max didn't reject me.

"He accepted me, didn't he?" I beamed. "He's going to marry me, right? I can be with Max now, can't I?"

I was so consumed by my happiness that I failed to notice the mocking smile on Elaina's face. It was when she laughed and took out her phone that I suspected that something was amiss.

"You poor thing," Elaina laughed. "Isabella, Max didn't come because he is disgusted by you. He asked me to pass a message across. He said he doesn't like you and you don't deserve him".

"Why would I believe you?" I questioned her. Max was not present to defend what she had just said so for all I knew, Elaina probably made this all up.

"Watch this," she simply said as she played a video on her phone.

I grabbed the phone from her and with a broken heart, I watched Max hug Elaina before telling her that he didn't want me. Like Elaina said, Max was saying that I was too skinny and was nothing compared to her. I didn't bother to watch till the end as I already got the answer I needed. With shaky hands, I returned the phone and Elaina collected it from me.

"Believe me yet? Are you going to refuse him now?" She asked with a smirk but I ignored her. My only hope had forsaken me and subjected me to a life of misery. Clearly, that was Max in the video. Well, if he didn't want me, I didn't want him either, I declared bitterly in my heart.

Right there and then, I also rejected Max. Doing that made my heart bleed but I didn't want to wait for him to reject me publicly. I had to do it first before he did to save the little pride I had left. Elaina made me reject Max aloud before she laughed in my face.

"I recorded that," she said. "For future sake."

I sat back on floor, too wrapped up in my own grief that Elaina's voice now sounded distant. Hugging my knees, I buried my face in between them, ready to mourn my fate.