The Female Alpha They Cast Out

North Ridge was known for its fierce, tough wolves.I stood at the edge of the cliff, biting my lip. I didn't answer.He nodded. "I hope you have an answer the next time we meet."With that, he turned and jumped into the forest.He disappeared into the darkness. For a moment, I wondered if I'd imagined him because I wanted so badly to escape.The next day, I returned from the hunt covered in wounds. As usual, I went to claim the food I'd earned from my kill.My mouth watered when I saw the dark red wolfberries.Finn, an older Beta who had always been kind to me, was handing out food that day.He looked at me and sighed."Freya, I've heard what people have been saying about you lately."I looked up at him numbly, wondering where this was going."I know you've always been a good kid. Some people have gone too far. I know you're not like that."I was about to thank him when he continued, "But you're strong, Freya. Elsie is weak. You should take care of her. Be a good sister and let her ha

When I woke again, someone had cleaned the mud off my body. My leg had been treated and wrapped in bandages.Outside the tent, I heard my parents laughing and trying to please someone."Alpha Bjorn! Thank you for sending someone to treat her. But Freya is strong. She'll be fine in a few days. Her leg may be broken, but it's nothing serious!"Taking her to North Ridge is the best thing for her!"That was my father."Yes, yes," my mother quickly added. "But we couldn't possibly afford all the medicine you used on her."I forced my eyes open. Through the gap, I saw an old one-eyed man standing outside our door. Even without saying a word, he made everyone around him nervous.I had heard of him.North Ridge was bitterly cold, and its wolves were fierce. No other pack on the snowfield dared challenge them.I thought of the one-eyed wolf I'd met on the cliff during the last full-moon hunt. So he was North Ridge's Alpha.I listened as my parents, without even stopping to think, agreed to send

I returned to Frostfang with several trucks full of supplies, including fresh wolfberries and newly butchered beef."That road is terrible. If we hadn't cut down a few trees to clear the way, these trucks never would've made it through."Rune stretched and rolled his neck.The Frostfang wolves were waiting at the gate.Elsie was wrapped in that flashy, useless white fox stole. She was shivering from the cold, but she still made sure everyone could see her smooth, shiny fur.She didn't even look at me. Her eyes went straight to Rune."I'm Elsie," she said in a sweet, shaky voice. "Frostfang is running low on supplies. Could you help us carry some inside? My sister has a bad temper. If she said anything to upset you, please let me apologize for her."As she spoke, her knees gave out, and she tried to fall past me and straight into Rune's arms.The North Ridge warriors all stepped back at once, looking disgusted.Rune laughed. He didn't even look at Elsie. His eyes stayed on me. "Does the

That evening, trouble struck without warning.Erik refused to accept his banishment.He thought I had let him live only because I was afraid of looking cruel, so he came up with a plan.In the buffer zone, he cut Elsie's arm and spread Frostfang's special beast-luring scent around them.Erik grinned at my father. "We'll lure a few hyenas here and start screaming outside the gate. Freya will have to open it to save us. Then we'll force our way inside and refuse to leave. What can she do about it?"But they had underestimated how savage the beasts could become in the once-in-a-century cold.The scent didn't draw a few hyenas. It drew a thousand!Black bodies rushed down from the snowy peaks like a flood.Screams tore through the storm.Their little trick had turned into a fight for their lives.I looked down from the high wall.Elsie shoved our mother, who had been trying to protect her only moments ago, onto the ground.A hyena knocked my father down and tore a chunk from his thigh. Blo