The Chosen Alpha | Read Free Preview

Read chapters 1–3 of The Chosen Alpha free. Unlock the full ebook when you are ready to keep going.

Chapter 1 — : Aazadi

Mikalya Carnell, a woman born into a cursed pack where women are nothing but birthing machines, became the first female alpha in the world. But to become the Alpha, she had to commit a crime that haunts her an eternity later. Now she’s a lone wolf, a rogue that has no place in the world. But she’s happy being left alone. But an Alpha can’t stay alone forever without forming a pack and inevitably, she begins drawing wolves to her.
Abhay Raichand is a photographer who meets this mysterious woman in the deserts of Gujarat and is instantly drawn to her. But whenever he is around her, he keeps thinking of wolves and a reoccurring dream of his impending death. However, despite the sense of danger, he cannot help but fall for the silver haired woman who had captivated his heart at first glance.
But when her secrets are finally revealed in a bloody battle against another shifter group…will he be able to accept her for who she is? Or will Mink forever be the lone Alpha without a mate by her side?
****
Chapter 1: Aazadi
Mink’s P.O.V
I wasn't dead. Not yet. But it sure felt like it.
When is a person supposed to die? I didn't know. I'm not literate. Women aren't supposed to be.
At least that's whathesays.
Is it when we stop breathing? I don’t know…because it felt like I had been holding my breath for years, afraid that they would hear me.
Is it when your heart stops beating? I don't know. Because mine stopped the moment I saw my partners set on fire in front of my own eyes. Their flesh melting from their bones…their screams echoing in the desert mercilessly for all to hear.
And no one came to help.
Mymotherhad been different. She'd cared for me. Fed me. Brushed my hair. Told me I was special. That the Goddess of Wolves had created me to destroy all those who torment us. I had believed her, just as I had believed in her stories of a beautiful world outside the confines of my door, which I wasn’t allowed to open…ever.
But I had made that mistake…I had opened that door…when I heard applauds and screams of what sounded to be a joyous occasion.
Little had I known that my world would turn upside down right at that moment…
"Jala dena sabko! Kisi ko mat chorna!"(Burn them all. Don't leave anyone alive!). She had screamed at me as the fire turned her fair skin black, made it bubble out blood."In rakshaso main se koi bhi jeene layak na hain!"(None of these demons deserve to live).
I hadn't answered. I couldn't. My throat had clogged, my mind had gone numb…and I had been restrained by those very monsters, my head held in their rough grip and my eyes pried open to watch the grotesque scene until the very end…
Buthe'dlaughed. Laughed so hard. While my mother...my father....were burnt to death, their bodies blackened skeletons that hung from metal poles in the middle of the pack. Their screams echoing through my mind even now, even after a day had passed.
But they had saved me…they had kept me in a cell and were now waiting. Waiting for the day I turn fourteen and become the pack’s next breeder.
A sound of bells broke me out of my thoughts.
It came closer, slowly yet steadily…accompanied by the familiar sound of something being dragged through the rough sand grains.
I peeked from behind the tent where I was hiding, waiting for an opportunity. Akhanjaar(a knife) was held tightly in my hand, a man's whitekurta(a top for men) hung from my thin body, my white hair hung loose over my face, camouflaging with the sands below.
I’d purposely rolled on the sand and dirt before I came into hiding. I'd prepared myself as such so that no one can distinguish between the sand and me. So no one would be able to suspect what was about to happen next.
The noise came closer and stopped in front ofhisdoor.
"Malik!" (Leader) One of them called out in his gruff, intoxicated voice.
I peeked further, but remained in the shadows so I wouldn’t get caught. The others were sleeping. Deeply.
I saw two ofhis big, burly men holding a girl by each arm in a brown dress. She looked unconscious, her head drooped and her legs dragging. A trail of blood on the sand behind her showed that she was bleeding from between her legs. Her face was hidden behind a curtain of her dark hair, but I could tell she was hardly a few years older than me.
"Kya hain?"(What is it?) Came a gruff, slurry voice as the door banged open.Hisvoice.
Rafael.
The leader of our pack. The strongest warrior of them all. Someone who thinks himself to be God.
He's the reason every woman in the village is a slave, a breeder. He says that women are birthing organs, their only duty was to cook and clean and satisfy the soldiers. And those who couldn’t birth anymore will have to die. He killed my parents for keeping me hidden till now…for keeping me away from his hungry eyes.
“Malik, she just gave birth to a choodi (girl)! Should we kill her too?” One of the men asked him.
Kill her too? The ominous sound reverberated through the air, creating a deafening echo in my skull.
“What’s the need? She’s dying anyway. Throw her out in the dunes; she’ll be buried under it by morning.” I held on to my Khanjaar tightly as Rafael’s slurred voice echoed through the quite village.
“Yes Malik!” The men echoed and dragged the woman away while Rafael came out of his tent, a green liquor bottle in hand and wearing only a loin cloth. I hid my face behind the tent and used my ears to listen to his movements. My wolf hadn't awakened yet, but I could hear better, and see and smell better than anyone in my pack, even the men.
I listened to Rafael’s movements in the sand, but then his feet turned towards me. I keep my body close to the ground and start backing away like a snake, using my hand to disturb my train in the sand in front of me. I heard Rafael turn the corner as I hid behind the tent. He stayed there for some time, as if sensing something amiss, but not realizing the implications. And then he moved back inside the tent, throwing the hara (green) bottle on the ground with a loud clanking noise.
I waited in that position for hours, I don’t know how many but I had to be patient. But then everything grew very quiet, except for the sound of night owls and the distant crickets. That was when I stood up. I was about to walk the other way, straight into the desert to regain my freedom, when a light coming from the front of the tent caught my eye.
I walk towards it slowly, my feet soundless on the sand. I found the bottle that Rafael had thrown on the ground. I pick it up and smell it and instantly, I remember the smell of this liquid that Rafael had poured on my parents before setting them on fire.
Suddenly, in the dead of the night, a plan hatches in my mind.
"Jala dena sabko! Kisi ko mat chorna!"
My mother’s desperate voice echoes in my ears, and her meaning becomes clear to me.
I take the bottle with me and pour some on the tent I’ve been hiding behind. I then remember another kind of water my mother used to store in our house, the one she used to cook food and burn lamps. And I know where they keep it in storage. So I seek out more bottles as the entire village sleeps, after a night of drinking and gambling as usual.
This water is blue and they use it to burn fire. So I pour it over as many tents as I can, and then take two rocks in my hand. Just like my mother taught me to, I hit them together to create a spark and throw them on the water and it catches fire. Suddenly, a wind blows through the desert, a strong wind.
Good. A storm is coming.
And as I watch, the fire spreads like a red and gold river, slowly engulfing the tents one by one.
I turn around and walk towards the fence of our village, as the fire keeps spreading behind me.
And then come the screams. Just like my mother and father had screamed…they scream as well. Cold and blood curdling.
Amid the screams, I hear the women chanting something, almost like a prayer. Only one word comes to my ears- aazadi (freedom)!
The men scream like women, terrified of the fate that had befallen them. This time, I laugh. I laugh so hard that I cry.
And then I run. I run as fast as I can until I reach the vast sands of the desert, endless and engulfing. Until there are no more screams.

Unlock the full story →

Chapter 2 — The White Wolf

Mink’s P.O.V
The fresh gust of cold desert wind did nothing to soothe the ache inside my chest. Not when I could still hear them…the screams.
Smoke rose in the horizon, the light of the fire glowing a bright red-gold, as it illuminated the skies.
And then there were the screams…terrifyingly satisfying.
“Ma…d…”
Startled, I whipped around to find the source of the sound. It appeared to have been from somewhere near me, and yet, I couldn’t see anyone in the vicinity.
I strained my ears, but the wind was strong. It kept sending sand everywhere. I have to cover my eyes, my mouth and even then I could feel the fine grains on my tongue.
A storm was coming.
“Madat….” (Help)
There it was!
I close my eyes tightly and move forward, up a sand hill. It seemed to be coming from somewhere down the hill…
“Madat….”
I climb over the sand hill, as fast as I can, opening my eyes only when I can feel the direction of the wind shift. And then I see a woman below.
She was almost buried in the dune alive and yet, she kept trying to crawl forward. I could smell blood all around her. And suddenly, realization dawns on me that she is the woman that Rafael had ordered his men to throw out into the desert not long ago, hoping that she would be buried in the sand by morning.
I race down the hill towards her, the wind howling in my ears as I reach for her with my hands, closing my eyes once again as the wind picks up speed.
“I’m here!” I scream over the wind when I’m close to her and I feel her grabbing onto my hand.
“Madat!” Her voice is louder now, but at the same time I can feel her desperation as she grabs onto me. “Help my child! My daughter!”
I suddenly remember that she had given birth to a girl before she was thrown out. But how do I tell her that I burned the village? That her child might as well have been burned to the ground?
“My daughter! My baby!” The woman cries desperately, grabbing and pulling me closer to her. “Help my daughter! Help her! Please!”
“I burned village! Everyone’s dead!” I tell her, in a futile attempt to shake off her death grasp on me.
I try squinting my eyes and the woman’s face vaguely comes into focus. She has dark brown skin and dark eyes, but her face is covered in blood as are her hands. She grabs onto me harder, refusing to let go.
“Madat!” She screams again. “Save my child! Go back and save my child!”
“No!” I scream. “I won’t go back!”
“Save my child! Go back and save my child!” She screams at the top of her lungs, her voice becoming hoarse and grainy. But no matter how hard I try to escape, she hold onto me…just like how my mother had held onto me before she was pried away by the soldiers and set on fire…
I shake my head vehemently, and try to pull my hand away but now; her raw screams have turned into desperate cries of agony.
I was scared; I didn’t want to go back. I had just escaped them…I had just escaped those monsters…
Since yesterday, when Rafael had killed my mother and father, he had kept me in a tent where several young girls were kept…and the things that the soldiers did to those girls…NO! I couldn’t go back! NEVER!
“NO!” I scream. “They are monsters! I can’t go back!”
“I will die soon, child.” She begged, with every ounce of strength she had left. “I cannot save my daughter. She is innocent. She just came into this world! Save my child, please. Save my Ruksaar!”
Her words had my blood chilling in my veins. She was right, she was about to die soon. I could smell blood, everywhere.
As a girl who lost her mother not too long ago…how could I not save her child? How could I not grant her this dying wish?
Her Ruksaar…
"Jala dena sabko! Kisi ko mat chorna!"
My mother’s voice echoes in my mind and I feel torn between doing the right thing and escaping while I still could. I followed her dying wish then how can I not follow this woman’s dying wish? It was only fair…right?
The woman can sense the change of my heart as well, as I stop struggling against her grip and become calm.
“Go child! Please!” She rasps out, her voice giving out after her constant cries. “Save my child and the goddess will save you! May the goddess always be with you. Please save my baby.”
With that her hand fell on the sand limply and she coughed hard, blood coming out of her mouth. My legs shook as I stood and I was scared out of my mind. I did not want to go back, but I had to. I had to save Ruksaar. The woman gave me her ashirvaad (blessing), so I had to keep my word.
I patted her head with my hands. “Hang in there.” I told her before I started my journey back to hell.
The wind was strong and it pushed on my back, making me walk faster. I ran back to the village, hoping and praying to whatever goddess was up there, to save the little child. Everything had been burned, the fire still blazing brightly and there were no more screams.
The stench of roasted flesh was heavy in the air, so pungent that I had to cover my nose. They were all dead.
I started looking for Ruksaar in whatever was left, hoping to find any signs that she was still alive. She the only baby in village so I tried to look in the tent where all the children were kept. But Ruksaar was not there!
I tried to look everywhere, but the flames were hot and they scorched my hands. I couldn’t keep doing this…the child…she was dead…she had to be…
What will I tell her maa? Where will I look? I look everywhere but she wasn’t there! I was scared, so scared. The fire was everywhere. Everyone was dead. Of what I could see from the ashes, the people had been burned to skeletons, their skin black and sticky and pungent smelling.
I killed Ruksaar. What will I tell her maa?
But then, a vicious roar sounded from behind me and I jump up from the ground, whipping around to find none other than Rafael, standing only a few feet away from me. His wolf was black as night and his eyes dirty yellow. And he had a tiny child in his jaw, who was crying desperately.
Ruksaar!
She was alive! But Rafael had her.
But as soon as he saw me, he dropped Ruksaar on the sand and came after me. His teeth were big and sharp and he leapt over a burnt log, and tried to snap at my arm, but I moved out of his way just in time.
Ruksaar’s cries filled the night, and I wanted to take her and run, but Rafael blocked my way. His teeth were big and strong and he was very fast. Coming back was a mistake…I shouldn’t have listened, I should have run when I had the chance…but now, it was too late.
Rafael tried to bite me again but I fell to the ground and crawled under his legs. He was big enough that I could escape, trying to reach Ruksaar, but he spins around quickly and bites down hard on my shoulder.
I scream in pain.
Blood drips onto the sand, my clothes turning red as he bites harder, refusing to let go. My eyes blur with tears and I stretch my hand towards Ruksaar, but when he finally lets me go, I no longer have the strength to move.
Rafael finally let’s go of me and I fall onto the sad, the grains going into my eyes and making it difficult to see. Every part of my body hurts, especially my shoulder and there is nothing I can do but stay still.
As Rafael’s laughter fills the air, malicious and angry…I know he has transformed into his human form.
“I shouldn’t have waited to have you, little whore.” He spits. “I should’ve fucked you when I found out about you. I should’ve fucked you when I burnt your mother and father, should’ve fucked you in front of them.”
I cry in fear. I cry because I remember my mother and father as they took their last breath. I cry as my shoulder stings and blood drips onto the sand. But more than anything…I feel a sudden pain in my chest, as if it is about to burst out. Like something wants to come out of my chest.
What is happening? Will I die like tis? Am I dying?
But the pain increases and I cry louder, making Rafael laugh harder. He likes my pain. He always likes it when others are in pain.
I hate him. I hate him so much!
Suddenly, I feel him kick my back, digging his heels on my spine as the air whooshes out of my lungs. “Get up you whore!” He pulls me up by my hair and I cry out in pain.
Ruksaar’s cries get louder as well, as if she too can tell that our life is about to come to an end.
Finally, Rafael grabs my hair and pulls me up to face him. My feet dangle, and his grip on my neck tightens as he stares at me with eyes filled with hate. I struggle to breath, both past the pain of his grip, and the strange ache that sees to increase every second.
“You killed my pack, you bitch!” He screams at my face, his dirty yellow eyes now red. “I’ll make you pay for it all! I’ll fuck you! No, you came back for the child didn’t you? I’ll fuck her in front of you and then I’ll kill her! And then I’ll fuck you!”
He threw me to the ground roughly and I land on my shoulder as pain explodes through my body. And then he steps over me and moves towards the crying baby.
NO! I can’t let him hurt her! I can’t!
But how is he still alive? His body has burnt patches, but how is he still moving? Why didn’t he die when no one else survived?
Because he’s the Alpha.
A woman’s voice reverberates through my mind.
But there is no one here except for me, Rafael and that child. Then who is talking? Who is this woman?
Because he’s the Alpha.
The voice comes again and the pain in my chest increases. I press down on my chest as the pain becomes unbearable.
I know Rafael is Alpha! But I hate him! I hate him so much! He is going to hurt Ruksaar! He is going to kill her! He killed everyone! He will kill me too!
Yes. But you can kill him too.
How? I ask, trying to scream but no words come out. There is so much pain that I cannot talk.
How do I kill him? I want to kill him! He should die! I hate him! He’s dirty! How? He’s so strong! He is Alpha! How can I kill him?
How? How? How?
You can kill him…because you’re an Alpha too.
Suddenly, everything around me goes very quiet. The pain that had been unbearable, starts to feel good, like I’m free. Light dances in my vision and I can feel myself changing, that thing inside my chest finally finding its freedom.
And then…I burst.
When I finally open my eyes, I’m standing on all four legs, red hazed over my vision. Rafael in on the ground a few feet away, and Ruksaar has gone eerily quiet as well.
Anger bubbles inside me, wanting to rip Rafael to pieces before he can hurt the little girl. I open my mouth to scream, but instead, a terrifying roar escapes my lips and Rafael flinches back in terror.
“You bitch! You’re not supposed to change for another four years!” He stutters as he backs away from me, the color drained from his face. “How can you transform now? It’s not possible…”
Without wasting any more time, I close the distance between us and I bite down hard. Rafael screams and tries to flip me off of him, but I don’t let go. He fall on the ground crying out loud, and I take the opportunity to sink my teeth onto his head and jump off of him…taking his head with me.
When I look back, his body convulses on the ground as blood sprouts out from where his head should’ve been. I spit out his head and it lands on a burning tent and catches fire instantly.
Should’ve killed me when you had the chance. I think to myself, before I turn to the child and pick it up gently.
That night I leave Mouri, whatever was left of it, and I take Ruksaar with me. Everyone I know is gone. And I’ve killed Rafael and his cursed pack.
Now…I’m Mikalya Carnell…a woman with the blood of an Alpha. I was the very first female Alpha in the world.

Unlock the full story →

Chapter 3 — Wanderer

Mikalya’s P.O.V
For nearly a century I'd roamed this Earth, wandering through different lands, watching time fly past. People changed, empires rose and fell, India gained its independence, new generations were born and the older ones died out. An endless cycle of life and death that seems to stretch on for eternity.
But even though the world around me had changed so much, I was still trapped in that cold winter night from a century ago when a young girl had to not only grow up overnight, but do something that no child of fourteen should ever have to dream about.
A cold night painted in deep, dark red that even the darkness couldn't hide. Screams so loud and painful that it echoed throughout the lands. And then....silence.
What had hurt more than the screams was the endless silence. Silence now buried under thousands of layers of sand.
No one remembers Mouri anymore, as if it never existed. The pack that I had been born into had liked to travel, liked to kill entire packs and take over their land, only to leave it in ruins a few days later when all the previous packs income had been spent on alcohol and their women had given birth to the next generation.
If there was one thing I was thankful for, it was the fact that my pack had had no more children during the time I’d burnt it to the ground. Only boys in their late teens who had taken pleasure in raping their own sisters. They had deserved what had come their way and so much more.
Today, I once again stood in the same land that had once been my version of Hell. But when I looked ahead now, I could no longer see torment and death, but a small, thriving village that was now a tourist spot. I saw several women in colorful ghagra-choli’s (an Indian dress worn mainly in Gujarat and Rajasthan) with wide smiles on their faces as they led the other tourists to their shops where they sold such similar dresses, hand woven bed sheets and dolls made of clay or straws.
It was a land filled with color and prosperity and hope. Something I never thought I would witness.
When Rafael had been Alpha, he’d treated women like disposable dolls, not letting them wear anything other than torn rags, but he’d mostly kept them naked and let the men do as they please. He had insulted the very foundation of our world. To humiliate women in a land where the people call our country "Matribhumi" (mother land), a land where Goddesses Durga ( Mother Goddess), Kali (Death Goddess), Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge), Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth and prosperity), Annapurna (Goddess who provides us food), etc. are considered mothers, Goddesses who are worshiped every day; his crimes had been unforgiveable. But as I’d learnt soon after, he wasn’t the only one.
Not just humans, but the world of shifters is dominated by males. Females are still only fit to work in the kitchen and give birth to their children. Although now I see several women getting educated, taking up jobs and running their families with capable hands, they still do not have as much freedom as men.
But who am I to speculate? I’m just a lone wanderer who keeps roaming throughout India, not staying in one location for more than ten years so that the humans don’t start questioning why I don’t age. I’ve worked odd jobs at several cities and villages and have managed to make a fortune for myself, but the saddest part is, I don’t have any family to spend that money on.
Oh, who am I kidding? I don’t have family alright, but I have someone who has tagged along with me through the years, never once leaving my side.
Ruksaar. The only other survivor from Mouri.
She had been extremely excited to visit her birthplace but as soon as she had gotten on the plane, the hot steward had grabbed her attention. That was why, at present, I was standing in this small town that had once been Mouri and Ruksaar was in her hotel room with said hot steward, fornicating.
It’s not like I’m a virgin. Wolves are sexual creatures just like most shifters, so I’ve had my fair share of lovers that have sometimes lasted up to a couple of years, but we also have mates. And we can only have children with our mates. Unfortunately, I’ve never once found a mate in my one hundred and twenty six years of existence; and frankly, I don’t plan to find him either.
And to think that Mother Nature, or as some call her-the Moon Goddess, had burdened us with not one but several mates to choose from…it caused a shudder to run down my spine. But with Ruksaar, it was different. She preferred one night stands she could discard the next day.
I don’t know if my habits had rubbed off on her or vice-versa, but we were both wanderers, lone wolves who choose not to find a permanent partner.
“Sorry,” I spoke to the sand, where I’d burned the remains of Ruksaar’s mother before scattering her ashes into the wind. “You’re probably regretting sending her off with me.”
But no one answered and I knew that Ruksaar’s mother hadn’t had a choice. It was either I save her daughter from the scorching flames or let her die along with everyone else in the village. And I’d decided to keep her with me rather than abandon her at an orphanage. After all, she was pack; she was blood.
“I thought we were here on a vacation!” I turned to find Ruksaar wobbling over a dune, trying to cross over to me without getting sand in her shoes. “Why are you brooding in broad daylight?”
“Sorry, I haven’t mugged up the brooding manual yet.” I shrugged as I debated entering the village or turning back and heading back to our hotel. “That was awfully quick.”
“Trust me, you don’t even know the definition of ‘quick’ just yet.” Ruksaar huffed as she came to a stand next to me. “If only he had spent half as much time pleasing me as I had spent walking through this blasted sand…”
Her long black hair hung in loose curls to her waist and she was wearing a ghagra-choli in bright green mixed with blue. Her skin was dusky; almost like milk chocolate and her big almond shaped dark brown eyes looked around with interest. After all, this was where she was born.
She had no memories of that night, of course. That’s why I didn’t see her feel particularly interested in this place. But this land was etched in my memory forever, just like the night we had managed to escape. And it was a memory I would hold close to my heart until the day I died.
“Come on, jiji,” Ruksaar linked her hand through mine and began dragging me towards the village. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat something spicy.”
“Everything here is spicy.” I told her, remembering one of the dishes my mother used to feed me. Both Rajasthan and Gujarat were known for their spicy food, as well as their unique culture and ancient castles. But we weren’t here for sightseeing. My purpose was different.
Hand in hand, we both set foot into the land that had never welcomed women with the pride and joy we deserved, but with fear and anguish.
As old memories swirled, I crushed them down with sheer strength of will. The past was in the past. I would not let it ruin the future. Ruksaar deserved as much, no matter how old she was.
So I took small strides and walked beside her, hoping that this time, I would finally be free of the awful memories of my past.

Finished the preview?

Unlock the full ebook now and continue the story right away. Get instant access after purchase — no shipping, no waiting. Delivered as PDF and EPUB for reading on phone, tablet, or desktop.

👉 Unlock the Full Story — The Chosen Alpha ($7.99)