The Alpha’s Challenge

The river still clung to me.

Hours later, the taste of it lingered on my tongue, bitter and metallic, like the echo of fear I couldn’t wash away. My skin smelled of pine and cold stone, but underneath it all was Kade—the Alpha’s heat, the press of his hand on my throat, the command that still echoed in my chest.

You’re mine in the water. You’re mine in the wild. And before long—you’ll be mine everywhere.

I wrapped my arms around myself as we moved deeper into the forest, branches slapping against my shoulders, roots biting into my bare feet. My clothes clung damp against my skin, each step a reminder that he’d forced me into the river, forced me to trust him when trust was the last thing I wanted to give.

And yet—I’d survived.

Not because of my strength. Because of him.

That truth burned worse than the cold.

Kade walked ahead, his stride unyielding, predatory grace in every step. The moon caught on his wet hair, silver threading through the dark strands. He didn’t glance back, not once, but I felt him watching me all the same. Always.

The forest thinned, and suddenly the trees fell away into a clearing. The air thickened with the musk of wolves.

My breath caught.

They were waiting for us.

Dozens of them, maybe more. Wolves in human form, men and women standing half-shadowed beneath the moonlight, their bodies painted in war marks, their eyes glowing gold, silver, and amber. The air trembled with the weight of their growls, low and rumbling, like a storm breaking on the horizon.

The pack.

Kade’s pack.

My stomach twisted into knots. Their attention locked on me immediately, sharp and cutting, like knives sliding beneath my skin. Some sneered openly, lips curling to bare teeth. Others tilted their heads, sniffing the air, their nostrils flaring with the scent of something they hated already.

The Alpha’s human. The outsider.

The girl who didn’t belong.

Kade stopped at the center of the clearing. His voice carried like thunder, deep and commanding.

“She stands with me.”

A ripple went through the crowd—anger, disbelief, hunger.

“She will take the trials,” he continued, his tone iron and fire. “And she will prove herself, or she will bleed.”

My blood ran cold.

Trials.

The word alone carried too much weight.

Kade turned, his gaze slicing into me. “The pack doesn’t bow for weakness. If you want to stand at my side, Lena, you’ll earn it.”

The pack roared as one, the sound shaking the trees, rattling through my bones. A chorus of wolves hungry for blood. Hungry for mine.

I staggered back a step, my pulse racing. “You never said—”

“I don’t need to say,” Kade cut in, his voice low, dangerous, burning through the noise. “This is what it means to be claimed by an Alpha. You’re not just mine—you’re theirs. And they’ll test you.”

My lips parted, air scraping my lungs. This wasn’t a choice. It was an execution dressed as a ritual.

One of the wolves, a tall man with scars across his chest, stepped forward, his grin sharp as a blade. “She’ll break in the first trial. Let me be the one to watch her fall.”

Another laughed, a woman with silver eyes. “No, she’ll run before it even begins.”

Snarls, laughter, teeth flashing in the dark.

Kade silenced them with a single growl. The sound shook the clearing, dropping the air into silence so heavy I couldn’t breathe. His eyes flared gold, burning like wildfire.

“She doesn’t run,” he said, his gaze locking on mine. “Do you?”

Every wolf turned toward me.

The forest, the pack, even the stars seemed to hold their breath.

Did I run?

My heart screamed yes. My pride whispered no. And somewhere, deep beneath it all, the bond pulsed like fire in my veins.

I lifted my chin, forcing steel into my voice. “I don’t run.”

The pack erupted again, this time with savage approval, their howls splitting the night sky.

Kade’s mouth curved, dark and satisfied. He stepped close enough that the crowd couldn’t hear, his words brushing against my ear like a brand.

“Then you’ll fight.”

The circle formed fast.

Wolves shifted into motion, peeling back from the clearing until I stood in the center, exposed, every gaze piercing into me. The air smelled of smoke and fur, blood and pine. My pulse thundered in my ears, too loud, too fast.

Kade didn’t move. He stood at the edge of the circle, golden eyes locked on me like a tether. His expression gave nothing away—no mercy, no softness, only the brutal certainty of a predator watching his prey.

One of the wolves stepped forward—the scarred man from before. His grin was wicked, his muscles coiled like springs beneath his skin.

“She won’t last,” he sneered. “I’ll tear the breath from her throat before the moon climbs higher.”

The pack rumbled in approval, their howls echoing. My knees wanted to buckle, but I forced them straight.

Kade’s voice cut through the noise. “First trial: the hunt.”

The scarred wolf’s grin widened.

“Run, Lena.”

The word slashed through me like a blade.

I froze. “What?”

Kade’s eyes burned brighter. “Run. And if you make it to the other side of the clearing before he brings you down, you live to face the next trial.”

The scarred wolf shifted before my eyes, bones snapping, fur tearing through his skin, body contorting into something monstrous and magnificent. His muzzle dripped with saliva, his golden eyes gleaming with hunger.

My breath caught.

The pack howled in unison, the sound rattling the night sky.

And then Kade’s voice thundered above it all.

“Run!”

My body lurched before my mind could catch up, legs pumping, breath ragged. The forest closed around me in a blur of shadows and silver light. My feet pounded the earth, snapping branches, kicking up dirt. Every instinct screamed at me to move faster, to not look back.

But I did.

The wolf was coming.

Fast. Too fast. His paws tore through the underbrush, his body low and lethal, eyes locked on me with deadly precision.

My lungs burned. My chest ached. But I pushed harder, dodging trees, stumbling over roots, scraping skin against bark. I couldn’t outpace him. I couldn’t outrun a wolf.

So I had to outthink him.

The bond pulsed, heat spreading through my veins, a rhythm not my own. I felt it—the echo of his hunger, the weight of his claws hitting the earth, the rush of his breath as he closed in. It wasn’t Kade’s bond I felt. It was the wolf chasing me.

I cut left at the last second, diving between two fallen logs. The wolf skidded, claws tearing into the dirt, snapping jaws inches from my ankle. I scrambled, pulling myself forward, crawling into a narrow gap where his bulk couldn’t follow.

His growl shook the air, vibrating through the wood, the sound of pure fury.

I pushed through, rolling into the clearing beyond, dirt and leaves sticking to my skin. My chest heaved, blood pounding in my ears.

There. The marker. A stone arch at the far end of the clearing, carved with runes that glowed faintly under the moonlight.

Safety.

I sprinted.

The wolf circled, faster now, snarling as he leapt for me.

I dove, throwing myself beneath the arch just as his body slammed into the ground behind me, claws raking through the dirt where I’d been.

The runes flared bright. The wolf snarled, stopping short as if struck by an invisible wall. He paced, furious, eyes locked on me through the barrier of the trial.

The pack roared approval, their howls shaking the trees.

I collapsed to my knees, gasping, my throat raw, sweat burning my eyes.

Kade appeared at the edge of the clearing. He didn’t clap. He didn’t praise. He simply watched, his golden eyes unreadable.

When the noise finally died, his voice carried through the air, low and merciless.

“One trial survived.”

My gaze snapped to his. My chest still heaved, but fire sparked in my veins.

And for the first time, I realized something dangerous.

I wasn’t running for survival anymore.

I was running to prove him wrong.