Alpha Talia's POV

"Oh he's going to suffer tonight" I mused to myself as I closed the door behind me.

Even though day three was coming to an end, there were still plenty of things I wanted to do with Little Claws. He wasn't like the other betas I've brought home in the past. He was, shall I say, unique. My mind travelled back to the words of different betas that I've shared this bed with.

"I'll do better I promise"

"You will regret this, my Alpha will kill you for this"

"I can do it, I'm ..."

It's sad that, they never knew this was never about satisfaction. Although satisfaction played a huge role, it's always been about the mating heat wave that occurred on the fifth day of the heat cycle. My body was still under the effects of the curse, and mating rituals usually appeared to result in fatalities.

My thoughts began to stray back to the beginning of everything.

-Two Years Ago –

"Out of all the wolves in the city, it had to be this fool" My mother snarled. Ryan skulked behind me and whimpered inaudibly. I was determined to protect the love of my life at any costs. I turned to face my witch mother first, then at my alpha wolf father. I was always locked up or subjected to my father's abuse. Someone who was supposed to be my protector used his power against me at night. I used to cry at night, wanting to be free of this suffering but after I met Ryan, a member of the Hylos Pack, the tears stopped.

Ryan was a beta who was mute but I always understood him. When Ryan and I got together, I was at last content. Because Ryan had come into my life, my father was incredibly irate. I had always assumed that my mother would stand by me, but whatever irked my father similarly irked her.

I was a hybrid but my witch powers was something I hadn't discovered at the time. Often times my mother would remind me to not engage with Ryan. But he was my chosen mate and I was content with my decision. I've always had the impression that my inner wolf hasn't fully awakened. But when I finally got on heat, Ryan and I would consummate our bond. My affection for him didn't waver even if it wasn't as intense as I had anticipated.

That is until the fifth day of the heat cycle. My body was sweltering under a powerful heat wave. My body felt frail, but there was electricity seeping through it, and I lost control. I was compelled to want Ryan. I desired to feel him inject me with his seeds. But our sexual encounter came to an end when I witnessed the sparkle leave his eyes and his heart cease.

I attempted to revive him. I made every effort I could to get him back. My forehead briefly had a dazzling silver crown's luster before it vanished.

I wasn't in tune with my powers as a half witch but I knew a hex when I saw one. I stormed into my mother's home in a fury of rage. My emotions overcame me. As wrath coursed through my body, my powers multiplied. I crushed my father into tiny pieces and everybody else who came near me in order to defend my mother. I saw blood, and I only wanted to see blood.

My mother's eyes were terrified as I questioned her spell. Maybe she was unaware that hexing a hybrid had come with consequences. I was more powerful than her.

"You can kill me now, but know that it will continue every heat cycle until you find your true mate. Every fifth day. The heat wave will not be easy, it'll be filled with all the pain you'd bear during your heat if you don't mate. And your mate might survive and might not survive during the ordeal." She smirked.

"Why?" I cried out. "I will not find anybody else!" I buried my face in my palms, realizing that I've just killed my father with my powers so heightened that it's unleashed a different kind of hell.

"Too bad then, because if you don't have a mate by the fifth day. You'll die instead. But you get five lives, so pick them wisely" I became even more incensed by her words. How dare she do this to her own child?

"Make it stop, take back the hex" I cried. "Bring back Ryan, please" My words didn't have any effect on her. She gave me a chilly stare while grinning triumphantly. There was no sadness seeing my father dead. She only wanted me to suffer. That's all she's ever wanted.

"It's unavoidable. Since you like to defy me so much, I decided it was time to teach you a lesson. And if you're thinking of killing me, you will never know how to reverse it" She lowered her arms and stared me without exhibiting any fear.

"I just killed that monster of a father, what makes you think, I won't kill you for this?" I screamed.

"Your father was a good until he brought a baby home and persuaded me to tolerate his adultery. You ruined him. Do you realize how difficult it was for me that he picked you over me?"

She may not have realized the true impact her remarks were having on me. My raging emotions served as fuel for my powers as they reached their height. Realization hit that I was not even her child to begin with.

"Then who . ." I managed to ask, whilst tears streamed down my face.

"Oh it was some witch from Falcon Valley. I told your father that he was allowed to keep you if he gave me permission to kill your mother. It was tough for him but alas he agreed to it"

"You both make me sick" I growled.

"We had an understanding" She spoke staring at the shattered flesh on the floor.

"Goodbye, mother" Although she wasn't my real mother, she was all I ever knew. It just took a fraction of a second for her pupils to dilate as my hands wrapped her heart, which was wrenched from her chest. Suddenly the surroundings changed, my senses became more acute, my eyes crimson and burning.

And I changed.

Now every full moon, I go searching for my mate. I've tried avoiding it, but the fifth day heat wave is so powerful, I die instead. However, I was getting tired of watching Beta's perish on my bed. I've become so numb that I didn't care how many betas it took to cure me of my curse.

I need to find my mate.

There was a slight knock on the door and it sprang open halting my thoughts.

His face peeked in innocently. There was something so different about him. Something so pure, that a part of me dreaded seeing him lifeless on my bed.