Hunting the Alpha: Bound by Fate

Right in the hallway was Peter lying on the floor, groaning loudly in pain.

"Peter, what happened?!"

Aria yelled and ran toward him. She held him in her arms, panic surging through her.

His body was hot, and he was breathing heavily.

"Ahh, shit," Aria cursed, thinking she should have just taken him to the healer this morning.

"My head," Peter groaned in pain. "It feels like it's about to break… ahh!"

"Don't worry; I'll take you to the healer," Aria carried him, but he suddenly let out a guttural scream that scared her.

All of a sudden, he stopped moving and passed out, his body growing limp in Aria's arms.

Her heart stopped for a moment, and she was motionless before she moved. She placed him back on the floor and pressed her ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat.

A faint thump echoed in her ear, and Aria sighed in relief, tears falling from her eyes.

He was alive.

"Thank you, Moon Goddess," she whispered.

If he had died, she didn't know what she would have done.

Probably followed him, as the pain of losing him would kill her.

Immediately, she picked him up and carried him to the car.

It was a ragged jeep that she barely used, except when she had to go a far distance, as diesel was quite costly.

Aria put him in the back seat and hurriedly got into the front. She took out the keys, put them in the ignition, and turned, but the car refused to start.

Again, no response.

Again, the same thing.

Aria hit the steering wheel with her fist in frustration. "Come on, please don't fail me now," she pleaded and tried once again.

Thankfully, the car responded, and she got on the road. She couldn't go to a regular hospital as they didn't understand werewolf biology, the concept of having a wolf, or anything not associated with the natural laws.

Her only option was to find a healer from the supernatural, but they were few and far between.

Most packs usually had one, but Aria was a loner, so that option was closed to her.

This left her with only one choice—Ralph Adoi.

He was the only one she could rely on, as he was also a loner. But he was also the scumbag who had ripped her off and assured her that Peter wouldn't need to come back for treatment.

"That fucking bastard," she gritted her teeth. "I'll fucking kill him."

She clenched the steering wheel and slammed her foot on the pedal, speeding up.

Her destination: Ralph's Clinic.

*

In an office, with dim light and cracked walls.

A bearded man sat behind a desk counting money, when all of a sudden the door was kicked open.

"What! Who's the fuck is that?" 

He had bodyguards protecting the place, so it was startling someone had entered his office in such a manner.

At first, he thought it was one of his enemies as he had made a lot, but when he saw Aria walking in, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, it's just you," Ralph said with a slow smile and slumped in his chair.

"Oh, It's just me?"

Aria repeated with a yell as she angrily strode towards him.

This made Ralph panic and he yelled.

"What the hell do you want?"

Aria didn't reply.

She reached his desk and casually shoved it to the side with one hand.

It glided to shatter as it hit the side wall.

With her shifter strength plus her rage, shoving the table aside was effortless.

Aria stood before Ralph who stared at her looking terrified. He tried his best not to gulp as her greenish eyes tore into him.

Aria then grabbed him by the collar, swept him up to his feet, and pinned him to the wall with force.

"You said he'd be fine," Aria growled, her wolf teeming on the edge.

Ralph immediately realized whom she was talking about and replied.

"I did, but only for a short while." "Short while, and you saw no reason to mention that before taking all my money?"

"That was what your money could afford, Missy, so I did just that."

"Bullshit!" Aria spat.

He did it, so she could keep bringing Peter back for another treatment, which meant more money in his pockets.

"So what are you going to do? Kill me? Don't be a fool. I'm a healer. There are a couple of packs I could join, and they'd all be willing to welcome me. But I chose to remain a loner to treat you pathetic bunch. I'm a fucking hero. I save people and bring them back from the brink of death…"

"You fill your pocket by scamming desperate people," she pressed her arm more firmly against his throat, but he only smiled chokedly.

"Of course…a man's gotta eat and pay his bills."

Aria scowled in disgust. She most certainly wasn't his only victim.

He'll purposefully give sloppy treatment, so that people keep coming back, forcing them to spend more.

But then even if people knew this, they still came back because he was the only healer available.

"Miss Wright, I've had countless desperate customers. What do you think will happen when everyone discovers you killed me? They'll come after you, followed by your brother, who doesn't have much time left."

Aria's eyes widened in shock on hearing Ralph's statement.

Her grip on his throat went lax.

"He doesn't have much time left? What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Yeah, you heard me right, and if you don't let go of me, you'll have to find another healer elsewhere," Ralph threatened.

"How long does he have?" Aria asked slowly.

"A month if I don't do anything about it," Ralph said.

He might be lying, but Aria had no other choice but to believe him.

As much as she wanted to rip out his throat, she still needed him to treat Peter, and that pissed her off.

Aria bit her lower lip before she reluctantly let go of him, dropping him to the ground.

Ralph stood upright with his hand massaging his neck, and then he straightened his clothes.

"You should be thankful that I'm not refusing to heal your brother after the scene you just caused." He said, and sat on his chair, crossing his legs.

"Now, let's get down to business. I'm not healing the kid without getting paid."

"How much do you want? To heal him permanently?" Aria asked, still irritated. She had no choice but to play along.

"10000$," he grinned.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Aria growled, her brow furrowed.

"I kid you not, it's the price for assaulting me, destroying my desk, and also the high amount of energy I'm going to expend. Healing the kid's sickness will drain me for days, and I won't be able to work during those times, which means no money earned, a big loss for me. So there will be no negotiations… A hundred thousand."

"Is money the only thing you think of?" Aria asked, but Ralph simply shrugged.

"One million?"

Aria frowned, she paid 10 thousand dollars the last time, but now she had to pay ten times that amount.

She didn't even have more than 10k with her at the moment.

While she was pondering.

Several burly men walked into the office looking battered.

These were Ralph's bodyguards.

"Are you okay, boss?" One of them asked and gave Aria a look of wariness, with a hint of embarrassment.

"You useless pieces of shit!" Ralph yelled and they all looked downwards in shame.

They were embarrassed they got beat up by a lady half their size.

He then sighed and turned towards Aria.

"I'll cut the cost in half if you work for me. You can make up for the rest with your salary, and, of course, other services."

Ralph said, giving Aria a lustful look, but a glare from her dissuaded him real quick.

There was no way she would become a slave to such a scumbag.

"I'll bring your money soon."

"I'll be expecting you then," Ralph said with a grin as he watched Aria turn away, but then she suddenly stopped.

"I brought Peter here, so give him enough treatment to ease his pain before I return with the money,"

"I told you, you need to pay before I heal--"

Before Ralph could finish, Aria released her aura which made everyone in the room freeze with fright.

"If he dies before I come back, then consider your life forfeit. All of you in this room."

Cold sweat trickled down Ralph's face as Aria's eyes glowed wolf, and he nodded to Aria's order.

She then walked away, and everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief.

Ralph was dazed, he couldn't believe he had toyed with someone so scary.

He had met all kinds of people in his line of work, so he knew or rather felt it in his bone that Aria was definitely someone not to be messed around with.

She had the aura of a killer, and that couldn't be formed by killing just one or two people, but a dozen above.

Ralph gulped, he had barely escaped death.

If it wasn't for her brother, she would have easily killed him.

Though he would rather not treat the kid at all, if he wasn't going to be paid.

But with that threat, he had no option.

'Just enough, so he doesn't die, but not enough to recover.'

Sure, he could do that. It was his specialty.

"Boss, are you alright?" one of his bodyguards asked, but Ralph stood up sharply and slapped him in the face.

"You fucking bastards can't even do your job properly. All of you are fired, get out of my sight."

Aria brushed Peter's hair as he lay on the clinic bed, still unconscious.

"Don't worry Peter, I'll be back soon, I promise."

She kissed his forehead before walking out of the clinic.

It was raining, but Aria walked right into the downpour to her car. Inside, she let out a heavy sigh as she clutched the steering wheel.

How the hell was she going to get such a huge amount?

She couldn't stand seeing her brother in pain any longer; the thought of him dying hurt more than the pain she felt when she found out the death of her target had led to the loss of an entire pack.

Then she had made a promise, to quit the life of an assassin and live a normal life.

And Peter was the reason she had achieved that goal.

But if he wasn't here, what was the point?

Her life had no meaning without him.

He was her motivation for waking up every morning and going to work, striving to make something for herself, to mean something to someone.

"I'm sorry," Aria said, apologizing to the soul's innocent life that haunted and steeled herself for the decision she was about to make.

She took out an old GSM phone and dialed a number, and from the other end, a familiar voice could be heard.

It was that of the cloaked agent. "Great to hear from you. So soon at that."

"The job, it comes with a high pay, doesn't it?" Aria asked.

"Of course, 1 million dollars to be specific," the agent stated.

1 million?

That was more than what she needed to treat Peter.

And with the rest, she could make Peter's life much easier and live an easy life.

"Send me info on the target," "Does this mean you're finally returning after 3 years, Ghost-huntress?" Aria sighed, she hadn't heard that nickname in years.

"Yes," Aria said. "I'll be expecting from you. Preferably soon," She ended the call and sighed loudly as if she'd been holding her breath.

There she'd done it, started it, and would now have to see it through.

After three years, she was going to have to kill someone.