FATED TO ALPHA HUNTER BY VENNEH LISAH

𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕:

Two days had passed, and I never thought I would be so excited for Arman not to be home. He had been driving me up the wall, constantly watching me and stuffing vitamins down my throat ever since it was confirmed I was pregnant.

Just a week had gone by, and Arman was already overbearing. He explained that one week in human pregnancy is equivalent to three or four weeks for Lycans, but if this was only a week, I dreaded to think what two weeks would bring. However, I was thrilled to know that Rina was coming back the next day. There was only so much to do around the castle, and Arman had forbidden me from helping with any tasks. I was bored out of my mind.

On this particular day, I woke up to find that he had gone somewhere. I felt a small relief not to have him breathing down my neck. However, he had assigned me a babysitter in the form of Junior. Junior was alright, a little crazy but definitely entertaining, and Desmond didn't seem to mind having him around either. My king returned late at night, and since he was going back to our former pack house and tired of staying at home, he agreed to take me along with him.

Once there, I stopped, staring up at the building I once called home. The place should be condemned, yet the kids all stopped as I stepped over the little brick fence. Most recognized me and rushed over, trying to touch me and pull me to play with them.

"Ania! Ania!" they called, trying to get my attention. Scovia, hearing the commotion, rushed out the front doors, looking somewhat frazzled. "Scovia!" I gasped before making my way through the kids. I smacked into the front of her as her arms wrapped around me.

"Oh, sweet girl," she gushed, hugging me tightly. Scovia was the only one who was nice to Rina and me. She held me at arm's length, checking me over. Her fingertips trailed over my shoulder, which was a little exposed.

The ends of the lash marks on my back poked out from the top. She smiled sadly, tears brimming in her eyes, and she sniffled.

"How's Rina?" she asked.

"She is okay," I told her, and she nodded and wiped her eyes.

"You look good, sweetie," she said, hugging me again. One of the kids tugged on my shirt, and I picked him up.

"Hey, boy," I beamed at him. He played with my hair, tugging on it gently.

"Where is Rina? She didn't come to visit us?" He pouted. He was seven years old and was missing his two front teeth. His hair was tied in a bun on his head.

"No, she couldn't come," I told him, and he nodded sadly. Scovia led us inside and turned the kettle on.

"Arman said you're in charge now?" I told her. She nodded, and I looked around the kitchen. It was the same. I started reaching for mugs and setting them out, and I could feel Arman watching me. Scovia fussed, telling me not to help her, but I shooed her away, telling her to sit. She sighed and sat down heavily in a chair.

"Yep. But the Alpha cut back rations again. This place is falling apart, and Dad is sick, so I am back and forth," she said.

"No one to help?" I asked.

"Mary comes over when I ask, but you know how she is. I swear I could run this pack better than those things, but the new alpha keeps saying he hasn't got the money to invest in this place. I checked his finances for him the other week, and he has gambled everything," Scovia told me, and I nodded, passing her and Arman a cup of tea. Mary was one of Lucy's friends, and she hated children, even her own.

"What's wrong with your father?" I asked her.

"Dementia. He needs a full-time caregiver now, but I can't manage it with this place, and my mom is just as bad, so she is no help, and I don't have the funds to pay for one," Scovia told me.

"I don't know how you girls kept up with all the chores here either," she said, shaking her head.

"We didn't have a choice," I told her, and she nodded.

"I'm sorry, Ania," she said.

"She is queen now, you use her title," Arman corrected her. Scovia could call me whatever she liked, but she nodded her head. She was the only person here who was actually nice and tried to help us, but she couldn't because Richie always had a soft spot for Mrs. Sydney, despite Scovia actually having Beta blood.

"Don't be, and it's not your fault," I said.

"I could have done more," she whispered. I shook my head when one kid came out and looked around. Trey started babbling. He had some disability that was never diagnosed because Richie and Lucy believed you could beat disobedience out of a child and saw speech impediment as disobedience.

He motioned toward his mouth, trying to speak, but it came out in grunts and growls. "I never know what he is trying to say," Scovia said as he squeezed his fists, shaking as he became frustrated, grumbling loudly.

I reached into the fruit bowl, looking for an apple that wasn't squishy. I cleaned it on my shirt and passed it to him. "Apple," I told her. Rina and I had learned that distinct noises meant certain things to him. He babbled excitedly and took it, rushing off.

"Apple," she said with a sigh, and I sipped my tea and nodded.

"He likes the crunching noise they make, and he hates cornflakes, so don't give him those. He has a meltdown; Trey doesn't like the texture," I told her, and she quickly jumped up and grabbed a notepad from the fridge. She jotted it down, and I told her a few more noises he makes and what they mean.

"Man, I wish you and Rina could stay here a while to show me," she said. Arman shook his head instantly, and I don't think I could even if he let me. There are too many bad memories here, and I knew this place would give me nightmares when I went home.

"I have to take Dad for brain scans next week. I'm hoping the new Alpha will come over like he said. He said he would watch them for me," she sighed.

"Brian, what did you have to give to do that?" I asked, and she blushed, clearly unhappy about it. I clicked my tongue, already knowing the answer.

"No one else?" I asked her, and I could only imagine what she had to do to get him over to watch all these kids.

"We can try to help find you some assistance," Arman offered, and she looked at him hopefully.

"Please. No one is willing to help, and I have my exams coming up," she said.

"You're back to studying accounting?" I asked her.

"Trying when I get a chance," she said. I smiled sadly before placing my cup in the sink and nodded, knowing we would have to leave soon.

"Do you mind if I look around?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"Of course not, but upstairs is a little messy," she said. I walked back to the main hall and entered the living room. I saw the kids huddled around the small box TV in the corner.

"How many kids are here now?" I asked her.

"121," she answered. I sighed, looking around. The place was falling apart, and suddenly I wished I could take them with me. Scovia couldn't take care of them by herself, and this place was falling apart. I swallowed and climbed the steps to the upper floor while Scovia tried to settle the kids who were becoming rowdy with the approaching afternoon tea.

I checked all the rooms to find them dusty, the beds unmade, and clothes piled on the floors. "What are you doing?" Arman asked, following me around.

"You don't have to follow," I told him. I didn't know why I had come up here, yet a wave of dread filled me as I stopped at the stairs leading to the attic. That had been mine and Rina's room. How often were we forced to crawl up those stairs after our lashings or to do our chores? It felt like a lifetime ago, yet also like yesterday—everything was still so fresh.

Arman touched my arm, and I jumped, snapped out of my memories. "Are you alright?" he asked, glancing at Junior and Travis. He nodded towards the stairs, and they descended. "I'm fine," I told him, blinking back tears. He looked like he wanted to say something, but I gripped the broken banister and forced myself to climb the steps. The door handle jiggled in my hand as I pushed it open.

"Why did you want to come up here?" Arman asked, scanning the small space. It remained unchanged, everything left untouched. There was a filthy mattress we used to share, a small dirt-covered window, and a bedside dresser. That was all. I approached the dresser and opened the top drawer. Inside, I found a spaghetti necklace that one of the kids had made for us and an old tunic. I held it up and examined it. We had hated those dresses and the stupid peasant skirts she made us wear.

"Ania?" Arman whispered behind me.

"It's mine and Rina's room," I told him. My voice sounded distant, even to my own ears.

Anger boiled in my veins as I peered around the small, tight space she kept us in. The other side was used for storage and had a cupboard that Richie and Lucy would lock us in.

"My queen, are you alright?" Arman asked, and I glanced at him. He was turning the wooden chair that sat in the corner. Suppressed memories came back about why that chair was up here. We had broken a similar one trying to get the Christmas stuff out of storage. Lucy made us hold the darn thing above our heads, saying we needed to know the weight of the burden she carried, having to look after us.

Most would think it was just a chair, but both of us holding two legs each above our heads for hours, we learned that even the lightest things become heavy after hours. Each time we would drop it, she would hit the back of our legs with her cane.

Seeing Arman move it, the sound of it screeching along the floor made rage burn through me. I growled, snatching the chair from him, and Arman jumped, startled, as I tossed it at the little window. Glass rained down everywhere as I stalked toward the chair. Yet my focus was solely on destroying the darn thing, as if destroying it would erase the memory. Erase Rina's cries as her knees buckled from the cane. I picked it back up and started smashing it into the floor, breaking it into pieces, the wood splintering off with each strike against the floor that shook under my feet, until Arman grabbed my arms.

"Hey, shh, shh," he said, glancing down at the chair leg in my hand. He took it from me. "Give it to me, love. You are pregnant; you could hurt yourself or the pup," he said softly, before he took it from me. My hands shook as I caught my breath, and Arman cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. His eyes watched my face as I tried to gather myself. Yet this place, it was like I never left it. Some part of me would always be trapped in this place.

"I hate this place! I hate her! I hate him! I hate what they did to us!" I cried, bursting into tears. I hated this place, hated everything about it, hated that one place could haunt and stain so much of my heart and soul, like it was screaming out to me, telling me it would always hold me here and I would never escape it. The floodgates opened as if I had been holding everything in for too long.

"They ruined us," I sobbed.

"No, love. They ruined nothing. And you're safe now. Richie is dead. He can't hurt you anymore. This place is just a place," he said, hugging me. I buried my face in his chest, feeling like an idiot. It was just a chair. I broke a perfectly good chair. I inhaled his scent, letting it calm me before I chuckled, knowing how many whippings I would get if Lucy heard me crying. Arman probably thought I had lost my darn mind, and even I questioned that possibility. I sniffled, feeling stupid and childish.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and I nodded, wiping my face and glancing around the small space and the broken chair. I needed to leave. I couldn't stay in there any longer. It hurt too much, and I wanted out, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. I rushed down the steps needing air, feeling like the walls were closing in around me and that I was going to wake up at any moment and everything had been a dream, and I was really stuck there still. Arman chased after me, and I rushed through the kitchen and burst into the living room, headed for the front door. But the faces of the children made my feet halt. Travis and Junior looked over at us, alarmed, and Arman nearly ran into the back of me as I stopped.

Little eyes peered back at me, and Scovia stared, also startled. "Ania, dear, are you okay?" she asked, but I shook my head. I was not okay, but as I glanced around this dump, I was no longer trapped there. But all the children were. I looked at Arman in desperation. He seemed to understand what I wasn't asking out loud.

"No!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening. I tilted my head to the side, but he folded his arms across his chest and shook his head.

"I'm asking! Please," I told him, and his lips parted as he glanced around at the children.

"No! What are we going to do with all these kids?" he hissed at me, but I ignored him and turned to Scovia.

"Call the bus park and find a driver," I told her, and she seemed confused.

"You want a bus?" she asked.

"Yes. Maybe two. I am taking them with me," I told her, and she gasped, rushing over to me.

"You want to take all the children?" she asked, glancing at Arman behind me, who was fuming.

"Yes. So call the bus park. I want a bus here now," I told her, turning to face Arman. He growled but nodded to her, and she rushed off.

"Are you insane?" he asked, and I looked at the children.

"Either I stay, or they come," I told him.

"What are we going to do with all of them?" he asked.

"Some of the Lycan families might take them in," Travis offered, and I nodded.

"And where do you think I am going to put them?" he asked.

"The castle is big enough," I told him.

"Ania!" he growled.

"No! You said I am running things here, and I say they are coming. Now get on board, my King, or get out of my way," I told him. He growled.

"Yes, I said that, but I didn't think you were going to bring an entire pack house back with us!"

"Fine. You tell them then. Say no to them, Arman," I told him, motioning toward the kids. He swallowed and glanced at their little faces, and I smirked, knowing very well he wouldn't or couldn't utter those words. He pressed his lips into a tight line.

"Fine!" he growled, and Junior chuckled.

"Come on, kids. Uncle Junior is helping you bust out of this crap box! Come on, let's go!" Junior said, waving to all the kids to follow him. They glanced around at each other and looked at Arman, unsure. He sighed and shook his head.

"Go on then. Follow Uncle Junior!" he said, motioning for them to follow him. The kids didn't need to be told twice and rushed after an excitable Junior and Travis. I laughed, following them.

"Where to, my Queen?" Junior called.

"The town square. There is a bus stop," I told him. Scovia rushed out on the phone, telling the driver to come to the town square.

"You're lucky I love you," Arman growled, grabbing my hand. I laughed before racing after the kids and tugging Arman along with me.