The Alpha's Favorite

Chapter 2

A few years ago, my life was very different.

My days were filled with rehearsals, while my nights were filled with bright lights, flashing cameras, beautiful classical music playing in the background which would always end with even more beautiful applause.

I would bow.

I would smile.

I would feel victorious and brilliant. I would feel like I was on top of the world.

Because in those days, I was.

For I have worked for this. For I have sacrificed for this. And I have given everything.

Absolutely everything.

And I’ve made it.

I’ve finally made it.

I felt it in the way that my heart would beat fast and the way my smile was wider. I felt it in the way life suddenly felt so much brighter and better.

I made it.

And I thought that no one would be able to take it from me.

No one except myself.

Ballet wasn’t just my life. It was all I was.

It wasn’t easy. Frankly, it was the hardest thing in the world, especially when my family didn’t have the finances to pursue it, and I was considered born without the natural talent, but that didn’t stop me. I knew that ballet was all I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

So I worked hard, believing hard work, passion and brute determination beat natural talent.

I was three when I first started and after a few years, I left school to train full time. My father poured everything we had for private lessons, for teachers we couldn’t afford, taking me to far away places we’ve never been for every class and competition, every extra learning experience with no regard for himself or his needs.

My parents did everything to achieve my dream, often sacrificing themselves for it, and it was worth it… until it wasn’t.

With one mistake, one injury, right as I made it, I lost it all.

I was ruined.

Overnight, I lost everything.

Everything changed. I honestly do not remember it, and maybe I should be grateful for that. One moment I was executing thirty two fouettés flawlessly without stopping, hearing the music and applause as I did them with ease.

Because it was easy.

I have trained my body to do so.

I’ve been doing it all my life, but somehow and someway, my vision darkened right as I made it to thirty two. That has never happened to me before, but my head swam nonetheless and my world darkened. The doctors say it was from exhaustion and overexertion.

And they were right.

The days leading up to the performance of my first principal role, it made me work harder than ever, and before I could understand what was happening… there were screams and when I opened my eyes next, I was in the hospital, and it was all over for me.

My body simply couldn’t hold itself up, my muscles relaxed when they shouldn’t, my bones snapped. I was apparently too overworked, and my body had given up just as I made it.

And just like that, my days are now filled with aches while I work in the bakery. My free time in the afternoons is spent sneaking in extra work like food delivery service and, in most cases, cleaning homes for the rich that used to cheer for me every Christmas during the favorite Nutcracker season.

And then my nights… oh my nights.

I find myself suddenly thrust into humiliation after humiliation. My dignity chipped away until I was all but crumbs.

And now, as if that wasn’t enough, there is a threat of death looming.

For both me and my family.

I expected Silas to kill me then, for that would have been easier, for that would have been more merciful than all the cruel promises he made, but he didn’t.

He let me go.

He let me walk away… all while smiling at me.

I’ve seen him shoot people for less, feed humans to his werewolves for minor inconveniences, but he let me go despite what I have done and that scares me even more.

Silas was not a man that forgets nor forgives.

He will hunt me.

He will strike when I least expect it.

And I’m defenseless.

My family is defenseless.

And he proudly told me that he knows everything about us.

It’s all my fault.

Again.

The manager of the nightclub takes me by the wrist and basically drags me to the back exit, leading to the alley where we throw away the trash... like me. The smell of garbage and sewage immediately hit me, but not even the smell or the sight of the dirty alley could make me shake off the fear that I felt.

I could almost taste my death.

I could almost see it.

Feel it.

“I’m sorry.” I find myself saying, though I stuttered, and my lips quivered with every word. My pride that I kept so tightly to my chest was long gone, leaving only desperation and fear. "I didn’t mean to. You have to believe me—“

If he was at all sorry for me, there was no sign of it on his face as his lips pursed together and his eyes narrowed. “Never come back here again, Lily.”

I could only swallow back the panic and the tears. For this was the same man that reassured me that Silas’ attention on me wouldn’t last. “But sir,”

“You’re on your own.” He shoves a wad of cash into my chest. “This is all I can do for you. Use this to move. Change your name. Run away and never show your face again. I know Silas. He will not let this go. He will not let you go.”

His eyes darkened, a ruinous history... of many years spent serving the monster flashing through his unblinking gaze.

“He means what he says. He is going to come after you and your family,” My manager tells me, his tone and face grave. “Death is coming for you.”

I looked down at the cash in my arms, crumpled and dirty. These were the bills he must have picked up from the floor tonight. “Please, I just,”

Another wave of panic washes through me at the horrible realization. Even if I used the money to run, my father is in debt with the hospital. He not only needs to be there to stay alive, but he also can’t leave because of his unpaid dues.

Truthfully, I wasn’t asking for money.

As pathetic as it was, I was begging for forgiveness.

Never mind that he touched me. Never mind if I felt violated and humiliated. Never mind me.

Because there’s no way I could leave. There’s no way we had the resources to simply run.

My lips parted, and I knew the answer before I even asked it. “Is there any way—“

“Answer that yourself, Lily. You’ve worked here long enough. Do you think there’s any way Silas would let this go?” He gritted his teeth at me. “He won’t. You know this. Stop delaying and go. Being with you here is already endangering me.”

It was hard to keep my lips from trembling. “You don’t understand.”

“I do. Your family. I heard they’re deadbeat and old. Leave them. They’ll only slow you down.” My manager urged, his eyes staring into mine. “Take my advice. Save yourself because Silas is not going to stop until you have nothing. Not even your breath. So leave. Think about yourself.”

Myself? If I thought about myself, I would never have worked here in the first place.

No.

Never. I could never leave.

I might not have the best relationship with my parents, but that is not an option.

“Thank you, manager.” I forced a smile, blinking away my tears. “But my parents aren’t deadbeat, and I will not be leaving them.”

It must have been pride at that moment. Whatever pride I had left.

Or maybe stupidity, but I pushed the money back to his chest and turned away.

“Stupid girl.” I hear him say and he’s right.

But at that point, I didn’t care anymore. There are worse things in life than being stupid. Plus, I’ve made it this far. I can figure out something else.

I hope.

Oh God, I hope.

I walked away, my lips pressed closed. Truthfully, I was scared. Truthfully, I was lost and hopeless.

There weren’t many options left for me. Short of sleeping with Silas and his men, which I will never do, for I have already lost every part of me… this one thing is all I had to keep.

As I headed home with my head down, the fear and panic settled into my heart while all around me this horrible part of the graffiti filled city was alive and bustling. It felt almost predatory— a pulsing, breathing entity where danger lurked in every shadow.

Waiting.

Watching.

The city breathed in neon and exhaled laughter and smoke, a restless rhythm that matched the growing tension in my chest.

My feet struggled with the slick ground… why it was so slick when it wasn’t raining was a different problem all together, but I didn’t mind it. Two years working in this neighborhood and I have lost the will to care about these things.

No more was the Prima Ballerina that put her nose up at every little thing. No more was the girl that wouldn’t be caught dead begging for anything.

In her place is a defeated and desperate girl, waiting for death.

Maybe I should have taken the money after all.

Maybe I—

Just then, a voice, low, familiar, and impossible, stops me in my tracks.

“Lily?”