Old Friend

Haelyn's POV

I could not move.

There he was, Alpha Roy. The man who had made my childhood worse than it should have been. The man who had never really seen me as his own child. After all, he had my mother beheaded so what the hell would I even mean to a man like him?

Alpha Roy looked more older than the last time I had seen him. His beard was fuller and seemed to have this gray hue attached. He looked more huge, and I took note of the way his body filled his clothes. There was still that ego that never seemed to wash itself clean. I wondered where his better half was.

He was having a discussion with Master Riven. I took two steps forward before I got sighted. Two elite guards approached me, completely cutting me off.

"Stop there," said one of them, his hand held out and the other on his blade.

I stopped but my eyes didn't leave Alpha Roy. I noticed they followed my gaze and turned back at me.

"Oh, you can look all you want but you probably won't get his seat," one of them said. "And we can't let you go further here. So turn around and head the other way."

There was a lot of bitterness in my heart. And if I could count it, then I didn't think I'd ever get to the last one. Seeing him standing so close brought back all those bad memories. Even the ones I had tried so hard to forget.

He was the reason I had been forced out of the palace. If the soldiers had kept me in that dungeon, I'd probably be his slave for the rest of my life. And what the hell would be my gain?

I'd grow up not as the Alpha's daughter, but as the Alpha's slave. That was touching but no one would care about it anyway.

The other guard who hadn't spoken a word began to pull his axe out. Noise erupted from behind me as some of the fighters from the mess hall came out. They caught Master Riven's attention and he promptly ushered Alpha Roy away. I had to watch him go without doing anything.

"Isn't that Alpha Roy?" someone asked.

"That's the man," someone confirmed.

I turned around and headed straight for the gate. It was still light enough to get to my hideout. They gave me a mark that bore the design of silver pack on my left arm: a howling wolf flanked by the crescent moon with three claws on it.

I didn't have any money on me so I decided to steal some, because I was pretty sure I would need it soon. With those guards, a bribe would go a long way in helping me. And I had a good feeling that other fighters would be looking to do same. It was only a matter of time before the corruption was full blown.

I avoided the street I had been to and entered a new one, this one filled with more people.

The traders here sold a lot of clothes and mats, handing from up to down which made it easy for someone like me to hide behind them and make my escape.

Silver Pack wasn't known for stealing. Alpha Roy had given his people some reason to feel safe, after making the other packs terrified of Silver Pack. So everyone carried their purses on their belts, completely lackadaisical and unconcerned.

I collided softly with a couple of them and stole three purses, each half filled, then headed straight for somewhere I could eat.

I ordered a meal of porridge which came with a cup of water, and dug in.

"You're back," announced a coarse voice.

I looked up and saw the face of a man I had never seen before. I mean, I was sure of it. Three long scars ran from his left cheek down to his neck. Wondered what sort of fight he had gotten himself into. Well, if he survived it, then he must be a warrior.

"Are you talking to me?" I wanted to know.

"As a matter of fact, I am."

"Who are you?" I asked.

He sat down on a chair put his hands on the table, interlocked his fingers, as if to prove that he wasn't trying to pose as a threat. All men were threats to me, whether they showed their empty hands or not.

"You don't remember me, do you?" he asked.

I looked at his face, covered with a hood. His eyes were orange and his jaw was shaven. If I had known someone like him in the palace sometime again, then I wouldn't have forgotten.

"Looks like you have me mistaken for someone else, sir."

"I never forget a face," he said, sounding so sure of himself.

"Neither do I and I have no idea who the hell you are."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you won't remember me. But one question, do you remember the faces of those you steal from?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, and began to eat faster. At least, I needed to finish what I spent money on before I escaped. Someone had finally caught me.

"I'm pretty sure that you do. I have been watching you."

"Sounds like you are a pervert that I need to get rid of," I challenged, locking eyes.

He smiled. "Oh, I don't do that."

"Maybe you were the one who sent those killers after me?"

"Maybe," he said.

I dropped my spoon and stopped eating. "Why would you do that?"

"You're in the wrong place and at the wrong time," he said.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean? You tell me where to be and when to be there?"

"I'm telling you that you are making a mistake going into the Alpha Trials. You won't survive it."

"I survived the first round of fighting, man."

"It will only get bloodier," he said, leaned forward and said sotto voce, "And even though you call me a man, you're no man."

My heart went pit-a-pat. "What?" I said.

"Well, I would never forget the face of the little girl I saved years ago from the dungeons."

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