Chapter 1: Be Prepared

Chapter 1: Be Prepared 

ALEX's POV

I shouldn't be here. 

I’ve been trying to shake the feeling from the moment we waltzed through those golden gates…

I can't.

No part of me feels comfortable surrounded by these walls. 

“Can we go back?” I murmur, gaze fixed on nothing in particular.

He turns, and through the corner of my eyes, I notice his jaws clench. A questioning glare lands on me, hard enough to make me flinch. 

“Why?” 

“I… I can’t do this Micah.”

“Again with this? It's just a party. I thought you said—”

“I know what I said…” I glance around and feel the stares of other masked guests judge my every move. “...but I really don't think I want to be here. Can we just go back? Please?”

“Is there a problem here?” someone steps towards us from inside the hall, unmasked and unimpressed. 

His scent is weak, like that of an omega. “We've got a lot of guests waiting, and you've been in line for quite a while now. Should I be concerned?” 

He tries his best to be respectful but it doesn't sound like it…

…Not to me, and definitely not to Micah. 

“The hell did you just say to me?” he tilts his head to the side.

“Micah, not right now” I try to touch his arm, but he brushes me off. 

“My apologies if that came off as rude. I didn't mean to—”

Before he can finish, Micah grabs him off the ground, fingers curled around his throat. 

“Do you have any idea who you're talking to, infidel?”

“Sir, I'm sorry” he struggles to breathe. “I was just… following orders.”

“Orders? You idiot!”

He ignores my silent pleas as well as the whispering guests behind us, and looks straight at the man handling the guest list. “And what the hell are you staring at?”

This one seems even more scared than his colleague being choked to death.

“N… nothing sir. We just need your name and that of your guest. We were given strict orders by the Lyc—”

“Like I give a shit.”

Ripping the mask off his face, he reveals his tightened lips and eyes red with fury. 

“Do I look like someone that'd come here uninvited?”

“Alpha Micah! I’m sorry for the—”

“Get out of my way” 

He pulls me by the arm, but before we can walk through, the same Omega that just escaped Micah's grip blocks the path… this time, a lot less confident.

“I'm sorry…” he avoids eye contact, “...but we're gonna need your guest's name as well.”

“You must have a death wish or something.”

“Orders sir. I'm just following orders.”

“How about I shove an order up your—”

“Alex. I’m Alex Heart” I step up and place myself between both men before Micah's clenched fists get involved. 

“Huh?” Both Omegas murmur in unison. 

The one blocking our path raises his gaze, revealing his widened eyes and tense muscles.

“You’re the… Winter Wolf of the Eastern Front” he mutters. Somehow, my reveal stirs an even deeper ruckus than Micah's stunt. 

“My sincerest apologies…” he bows out and steps out of our way, “...you can go through.”

“Not so fast you little—”

“Let's go” I pull Micah by the arm and head for the source of the golden lights and soft music further in.

“You should've let me handle that” he murmurs, half-enthralled by the overhead chandeliers casting reflections off glistening jewelry and warm lights. 

The entire room’s suffocated with regality. Unfortunately, I’m not in the mood to get caught up with glitz and glamour 

“Can we head towards the back? Maybe try to keep a low profile or sneak out if things get—”

“You know I can't do that” he replies, snapping out of the trance in moments. 

Turning to me, this time, I can't avoid his gaze.

“It’s only one night. Just one night, and then I promise you won't have to go through anything like this again.”

“But Micah—”

“Let's not argue about it, because I don't understand how you're comfortable fighting alongside me, but not in a party to celebrate the Clan’s success.”

“It's not like that, and you know it.”

I don't need to buttress the point, but I doubt he even cares enough to listen.

“Yo, Micah. Over here” an Alpha signals for him from the middle of the beaming hall, and he barely bats an eye before turning his back to me.

“You can head to the back if you want to. You can't leave.”

“But—”

“I don't want to speak about this again.”

With that, he walks off and into the night. 

I can't even get mad. 

We might be engaged, but we've always been cut from different cloths. 

Sucks to admit it, but something's never change.  

“Broken up already?” A voice cuts through my soliloquy and the culprit flings her hand over my shoulder. “What a shame” she smirks. 

I don't even need to peek through her mask. 

If her scent didn't already give her away, that sultry voice laced with thorns did the perfect job.

“Get your hand off me.”

“Come on, don't be like that” her smile grows. “I was hoping I'd get a hug. It's been forever since—”

“Get. Your hands. Off me. I won't ask again” 

The clarity in my voice is set in stone. She notices, but keeps the smile while pulling her hand back.

“It's good to see you too lil sis. Unfortunate how we're still keeping grudges. Aren't we grown ups now?”

Ignoring her, I move to side step her, but she cuts me off. 

“I'm actually surprised to see you here Alex. After what happened last time, I thought you'd take an extended hiatus from parties. Public gatherings in general. But let me guess… you thought this one would be a good idea since everyone's masked?”

“Get out of my way Adriana.”

“Do you intend on hiding behind that flimsy little thing for the rest of your life? It’s becoming embarrassing.”

My fists clench and in guilt-stricken fashion, she raises her arms and steps back.

“Now, now, there won't be any need for that. I'd hate to be another victim of Skyridge’s greatest warrior” she mocks. “The Clan just can't seem to stop singing your praises, and I've never been more proud of—”

“You can drop the act. I promise I hate you just as much.”

The statement lingers, and for once tonight, her perfect smile cracks. 

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here after what you did.”

“Again with this?”

“You can deny it all you want Alex, but I know the truth. And I haven't forgotten about promising to make you pay for it.”

“Truth?” I step closer. “A fire that killed every member of royal blood. A fire that scarred me beyond recognition. The same fire that burnt the house down to crisp, somehow left you unscathed? The longer I think about it, the less sense it makes. But if you believe I'd kill every last one of our family members and voluntarily choose to get scarred in the process… all to take our father's position in the pack. So be it.”

This time I walk passed her. She doesn't stop me…

…Until she speaks.

“It’d be a shame if Micah saw what you've been hiding under that mask all these years, don't you think?”

I peek back at her through the corner of my eyes and she does the same.

“I mean, if even family can stab one in the back, what's stopping fated mates?”

“Is that supposed to scare me?”

Of all responses, a hearty laugh was the last one I'd expected.

“You don't know the last thing about fear Alex, but that's fine” she walks over to me and stops right beside. “...tonight, I'll show you.”