The Alpha's Challenge

The whispers are louder today. I can't walk ten steps without catching one. Suspicious glances are thrown at me.

“Did you hear?”

“An omega was seen in the woods, moving like a shadow.”

“That can't be."

“Something's not right about her.”

I keep my face straight and my heart beat steady. They are talking about me. The air in Black ridge is thick with suspicion and I can feel it clinging to my skin like camp fog. My movements are being judged; the way I carry a tray, the way I slip through corridors, even the way I breathe. It's all understand scrutiny because I slipped last night and someone saw something.

By mid-morning, there's a howl, sharp and commanding. It rolls over the pack like thunder. My grip tightens around the knife I'm holding but I quickly relax it in case someone is watching. It's a call for a gathering. 

I follow the other omegas out and we join the tide of wolves making their way to the open ground near the northern cliffs. 

Alpha Caden stands at the center, cloaked in black, silver edges glint on the crest of his shoulders. His gaze sweeps over us like a sharp blade, steady and cutting.

“There's a traitor among us,” his voice is calm. Too calm.

The silence that follows is suffocating. My heart stutters and my lungs squeeze. It's getting hard to breathe.

He pauses then adds softly, “But they are not one of us.”

He doesn't look at me. Not directly anyway but I can feel it. I don't hear anything else he says, my mind runs with a million thoughts per second.

Later in the day, I don't wait for the moon to rise. The moment the sun dips behind the trees, I return to my room, moving like a ghost.

I pack quickly, not that I have much to take. Just my boots, the worn cloak Mira gave me and a handful of coins I've been taking from the clothes of wolves I've been washing. I hid them behind a broken table that is leaning against the wall near my mat. No one ever encroaches another person space.

My fingers tremble as I lace my boots and my eyes burn with suppressed tears.

I hate it. I hate that I'm afraid again, that I'm back to running.

The door pushes open and I freeze. They are supposed to be on their way to the training ground now. If I weren’t panicking so much, I would have heard her. How could have let my self slip once again.

“Selene?” Mira calls.

It’s too late for me to hide them behind the broken table now. Her eyes falls on the cloak which I used to wrap around my clothes then me. She closes the door quietly behind her.

“What are you running from?” her voice is gentle but it cuts deeper than any growl.

I can't answer, not because I don't trust her but because I don't trust myself. If I speak, I might shatter.

She moves closer, her eyes never leaving mine. “I know you're the wolf in the woods, but I also know you're not here to hurt anyone. You would have done that a long time ago since you came if that was what you wanted.”

I stare at her wide-eyed.

“Our Alpha won't attack unless you attack first. You and I know that whoever or whatever you are hiding from can't get you here in Blackridge. So why do you want to run back to danger? Or do you wanna keep running forever?”

Her words slam into me because she's right. I've been running for so long, I don't know what stillness feels like anymore. No long know what it means to choose something beside survival. 

I let the bag drop to the floor.

As the sun rises the next day, I walk into the training yard when the warriors are warming up. Conversation breaks mid sentence and everyone turns to stare at the audacity of an omega stepping right into the sparring circle.

“I will spar,” I say my voice steady.

Caden is there, leaning against the fence like the yard is his throne. He doesn't even look the least bit surprised.

“You?” His voice is low but it carries, cutting through the morning air. “You want to step into the circle?”

“Yes.”

His raises an eyebrow at me. “When I said training. This wasn't what I meant. You spar with the other Omegas not here.”

“I know, Alpha.” But I make no effort to leave.

His smile is slow and sharp. “Ryken,” he calls, not looking away from me. “Teach her what happens to those who want to be more.”

Ryken suddenly looks like a pup that has gotten a rare treat. He eagerly steps into the circle.

We face each other. Ryken grin was all teeth. “Dont worry. I will go easy on you, little Omega.”

“If you go easy on me,” I say. “You will lose faster.”

Ryken's face goes red as the warriors roar with laughter. I'm not able to savor it for long as someone blows a whistle.

Ryken lunges, fast and brutal but I'm quicker. I pivot and his fist slices through the air. The shock on his face was almost worth the fist. Almost.

“Damn!” someone whistles.

I can feel Caden's gaze on me, hot and searing.

Ryken's comes for me again, harder this time, aiming low and high. I dodge and  block, letting muscle memory guide me. My body moves like it remembers a life no one here has seen.

When Ryken's fist finally grazed my jaw, I didn't stumble. I smiled.

“That's enough” Caden command across the training ground.

Ryken whirls around, wide eyed. “But we are just...”

Caden stares at him head on and Ryken is forced to lower his eyes. “I said that's enough.”

I'm still catching my breath when he comes to stand at the edge of the circle. I walk over to him.

“You fight like someone who's forgotten they are supposed to lose,” he says.

“Maybe I never learned that lesson.”

His gaze is steady, unreadable. “Then I will just have to be the one to teach you.”

He walks away before I can answer but I can feel the challenge in every step he takes.

And I knew I've just stepped into a different kind of danger.