ALPHA MARCELLUS STORM

"Mars, buddy, you need to calm down." Dalton pleaded with him as he jogged to keep up with the Alpha wolf, having chased him all the way from the pack house to the training field but with no luck. "You can't train in this state."

"Why the fuck not?" Marcellus roared loudly as he finally came a stop at the edge of the field, swivelling around to face his friend and Beta, a rage-filled look in his eyes. "Why the fuck can't I train?"

Dalton gulped at the sheer rage and it took all that he had not to turn around and run for his life, genuinely afraid that he would have his head knocked off his shoulders; best friend or not.

"There's clearly something bothering you." The Beta wolf answered in a small voice as he bowed his head and stared down at the ground, not able to stand a chance with the intense power radiating off Marcellus, working almost as if like a forcefield. "Why don't we go back to your office and talk about it? It might help to get it all off your chest."

Marcellus growled again but instead of taking a swing at Dalton like his wolf was demanding that he do, he swivelled around again and continued marching toward the field where all the warriors had halted in their training to watch the exchange between the Alpha and Beta wolves.

"What the fuck are you all looking at?" He growled, making sure he glanced all around the field at every single warrior. "Haven't you got some training to be doing? Or are you all just going to be twiddling your thumbs today?"

Not a single wolf dared speak and instead, they all swiftly returned to their training, pretending as if they weren't shit scared of the short-tempered Alpha that looked like he was going to blow at any moment now, all of them hoping that they didn't get stuck in the crossfire.

When a firm hand landed on his shoulder from behind, Marcellus turned his head to glare at the offending limb, a low growl passing his lips.

"Is this something to do with the human?"

"You want to say that again? So, what if she's fucking human! Why does that matter?" He roared loudly, not caring of who was looking or listening as he shrugged of Dalton's hand, unable to hear any more of it. "And just for the record, she has nothing to do with anything. In fact, nothing is wrong with me at all so just leave it!"

Thankfully this time, Dalton decided to take heed to his words but instead of returning to the pack house, he decided to do some training of his own. When Marcellus noticed this, a frustrated groan passed his lips and he purposely made his way over to the other side of the field, not wanting to listen to the voice of reason anymore.

Needing something to train all his energy and anger on, Marcellus worked his way through all of the warriors that dared go up against him. While he usually loved the challenge and was more than happy that his pack members were ambitious and willing to try even though it was a known fact that they didn't stand much of a chance against an Alpha, especially one strong as Marcellus however now, it just spurred him on further.

Even after winning his tenth match against one of his best warriors, Marcellus hadn't broken a sweat and instead of growing tired or lacking energy, he was starting to grow more frustrated at the lack of a challenge that the wolves posed up against him even though all he wanted was for something to distract him from the mess that was his mate situation.

Ten wolves soon turned into twenty and after that, he had quickly made his way through half the warriors, still not breaking a sweat or even breathing heavily. However, before he could continue winning every battle, Dalton was quick to put a stop to it all.

"What the fuck are you all looking at?" His eyes flashed a deep gold as he roared loudly, saliva dripping down the sides of his mouth as his canines poked through, unable to control himself as he half shifted, his wolf rising to the surface.

"Scram!"

"You need to calm down, Mars!" Dalton screamed at him at the top of his lungs, the training field now completely deserted as all the warriors had scrambled away at his command, none of them daring to stick around and face the wrath of the Alpha.

"Who are you to tell me to calm down?" Marcellus spat, his eyes still a deep shade of gold as he marched forward and bent his head to glower down at the Beta wolf, the tone used on him flicking on a switch inside of him.

"I'm your Beta!"

"And I'm your Alpha!" He leaned down further and pressed his forehead against Dalton's, almost as if trying to drill the message into his head.

"And so that's why it's my duty to tell you when you're out of fucking control!"

"Out of control? You think I'm out of control?" Marcellus chuckled quietly as he took a step back, something dark glinting in his eyes. "I'll show you out of fucking control!"

Another roar sounded from him as he reared his head back, this time fully shifting into his wolf but only a few seconds later, returning back to his human form, hunched over onto the ground, slowly lifting his head to gaze up at his Beta wolf.

"You need to leave!"

Her words echoed in his ears, almost as if triggered the moment Dalton spoke those words.

"You need to leave."

"You heard me...you need to leave."

"Don't fucking tell me to leave!" Marcellus roared before his wolf forcibly shifted and instead of pouncing on his Beta that had been on his case the entire time, he turned around and ran off into the forest at full speed, needing to burn off all this energy and pent-up anger which if it was not taken care of properly, could cause some serious damage.

Marcellus wasn't sure how long he had been running or how far he had come, but when his lungs started to burn and his legs started aching from running so hard, he only pushed himself further until finally, he found himself on neutral territory.

When he had left the training field earlier, it had just turned past lunch but now, it had started to get dark, the sun currently having just set.

Since we're here, we might as well pay Anastasia a little visit.

No. Marcellus denied, shaking his wolfish head as he purposely turned his back on neutral territory and began walking out of neutral territory. Don't you remember? She doesn't want to see us. She's basically rejected us.

Well, she hasn't rejected us yet so we still have a chance to fix things. We can still make things right. His wolf insisted, trying to persuade his human to turn around and head toward his mate instead of away from her.

Us?

You didn't think I'd really let you go through this alone, did you?

I love you, even when you're so annoying sometimes.

The feeling is mutual, you stupid human. The beast chuckled wolfishly. And go easy on Dalton when you see him next, okay? He's the best Beta you could ever ask for, and even better friend.

Marcellus sighed as he finally gave in and did a one-eighty in direction, not needing to force himself as he had been wanting to see his mate the moment that she packed up her stuff and left the pack house nearly two weeks ago.

And what a dreadful two weeks it had been.

He had never realised it before but life without a mate was nothing short of depressing. On more than one occasion, Marcellus had found himself on the verge of a breakdown, feeling as if he was unable to go on without her even though she was completely fine. Just angry with him.

Except she was so much more than just angry at him, and all for good reason, too.

It was almost as if Marcellus hadn't known what a good thing he had, even though him and Anastasia had never officially been together. All his fault, of course.

More than the cloud of depression and darkness that threatened to swallow him whole, Marcellus was so angry and disappointed with himself. Every allegation that she had thrown at him and accused him of was nothing short of the truth. Even though he had denied it before, he now had his eyes open and couldn't believe that he had judged her without even knowing her, that he had thought himself worthy of a mate better than her; as if there could possibly be someone better suited for him than Anastasia Mulberry and vice versa.

Marcellus had allowed his pain to rule him which led to many, many bad decisions however, that was all still down to him. If only he had been honest with her from the very beginning and asked her all the questions that he had wondered instead of just assuming the answers, things could have been so much more different today.

More than just letting himself down, Marcellus had hurt her feelings and that was something that he was confident he would never be able to forgive himself for.

Marcellus had never thought that he would be the type of wolf that would ever be able to hurt his mate even unintentionally, except everything that he had done was intentional and purposely, only able to realise his mistakes once it was too late to rectify them and by that time, Anastasia had figured it all out already.

While both him and his wolf were very impressed that she had managed to unveil what he had worked so hard to keep secret, highly appreciative and in awe of her brains, he was disappointed and angry at himself that, that was what it had, had to come to.

He was disappointed that she had needed to figure it all out and hold him accountable for him to truly realise the weight of his mistakes and how they not only affected him, but her, also.

Marcellus had failed her and no matter how much he tried to sugar coat it, there was no sweeping up that simple fact under the rug. He had done wrong by his mate but before he could finally come clean and attempt to make things right with her, she had already pulled the plug.

Now, all he wanted now was to make it up to her, but he wasn't even sure if that was possible anymore.

An estranged sigh passed his lips at the thought and he pushed himself to continue walking forward even though every fibre in his being willed for himself to turn around and head back to the pack, scared that if she were to see him, she would turn him away.

That would absolutely break his heart and Marcellus would have no one but himself to blame.

Once he reached the top of her street and spied her house in the distance, Marcellus shifted into his human and continued work, uncaring of the fact that he was naked in neutral territory filled with humans. However, it helped that it was now fully dark and there wasn't anyone roaming the streets to catch sight of him in such a state. Not that he had anything to be ashamed about.

It was only when he came to a stop in front of her house that Marcellus finally exhaled, already feeling so much better now that she was near however, there was still the simple fact she still didn't want anything to do with him.

However, his mood quickly changed as he spied a second vehicle in her drive, this one a mechanics van which he recognised, having used their services once before in the past when he had experienced some car trouble outside of the pack.

After taking one step forward, his body froze and his eyes widened in a mix of shock, fear and immense anger.

Kill the rogue! His wolf demanded as he sniffed the air and scented out the lone wolf, one which he hadn't been made aware of would be on neutral territory even though it bordered his pack. Kill the rogue before he hurts our mate!

Marcellus didn't hold back the growl, but was quick to cut off the fierce sound and instead, stormed around the side of the house to get to the bottom of things; desperately needing answers.

Standing around the side of the house and gazing in through the gap in the curtains of the kitchen window – just like last time except then he had been in his wolf form – Marcellus could hardly believe his eyes.

Watching the rogue wolf – albeit on neutral territory and seeming pretty harmless, especially since he had brought her flowers and a bottle of champagne, both of which were displayed on the dining table that the both of them were sat around – interact with his mate, the both of them laughing and joking around over a lovely meal – again, courtesy of this very thoughtful rogue– Marcellus had never felt so betrayed in his life.

Unfortunately, once again, he had no one but himself to blame.

If he hadn't treated her so horribly and lied constantly to her, perhaps it would have been them enjoying a glass of champagne over dinner instead of this strange wolf who was clearly trying to make a move on his mate.

Marcellus gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at the thought, forcing himself to continue watching them despite how painful it was for him.

When the rogue reached across the table to place his hand over hers and his mate tensed, Marcellus braced himself, ready to spring into action. However, when she relaxed after a few moments and didn't push his hand away, Marcellus had seen enough and knew that he could no longer stand back and do nothing while she actively tried to move on from him.

Unable to hold back the burst of jealousy that threatened to burn him alive from the inside, Marcellus walked up to her front door and slammed his fist against it. Naked and all.

-

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Layla Knight

08.11.2020