The Alpha's Prize
Chapter 1: The meeting

I laid there in the soft grass, staring up at the sky, watching as the clouds swirled around and thebirds soared with the wind. I groaned internally at my wounded pride.

"That was a bitch move, you know!" I said to my brother Gunnar.

My brother and I are currently having a one-on-one training session, as I want to up my game, butman, he can be challenging at times.

He looked down at me with a stern appearance and a tone to match his expression. "Yes, it was, butremember Freja, your opponents won't always fight fair. They will fight dirty and use whatever tacticthey can in order to take you out. So you need to be prepared for such moves, whether it's a bitchmove or not!"

I growled at him and rolled my eyes, even though as much as I hate to admit it, he was right. TheRogues are dirty fighters, and they don't care whether you are male or female; they will do whateverit takes to win the battle.

My brother stood there looming over me, with a cheeky smile plastered on his stupid face. Hekicked my boot with him, "Now get your ass up and let's try this again.”

I snarled at him. "Fine!"

I rose to my feet, eyeing my brother as he took his position. I studied his form and remembered hisprevious movements, but knowing Gunnar; he will probably change up his plan of attack, so he cansurprise me once again and kick my ass once again.

He looked at me with that playful look, a grin stretched across his face, as he raised his hands andmotioned them for me to come at him.

I took my position and let out a battle cry. I then charged towards him at full speed, Gunnar dodgedmy move, and with a swipe of his leg, he took me out, causing me to fall smacked down on my backonce again. Ugh!

I groaned loudly and craned my neck to look up at him. "You know, this isn't fair. Your namerepresents army! I don't stand a chance against you!" I whined.

He let out a chuckle, and as he was distracted, I took advantage of it for that split second. Then,rising to my feet, I barreled towards him. I put all my weight into it and knocked him to the ground.I threw my hands in the air and screamed at the top of my lungs, "VICTORY!" But my internal victorydance was short-lived as he grabbed my leg, causing me to fall to the ground beside him.

We laid there for a short while, chuckling and discussing other tactics before mother called us fordinner, and our faces fell.

Dinner with the family used to be exciting, something we all looked forward to after a long day. Itwas something we cherished as a family, where we would all gather together, smiles on our faces,and we would share the events that occurred throughout our day.

But now, it only meant we had a short time left before the sun went down and the rogues wouldreturn to battle us once again, just as they had been for the past week.

My name is Freja Forrester; I am the second-born child of Alpha Val Forrester and Luna RevnaForrester of the Harvest moon pack. My parents had three children, the oldest being my brotherGunnar, who is 6'6 and built like a shit brick house. I swear he works out more than he sleeps! Heand I resemble our father, Gunnar, more so than I, inheriting dad's golden eyes, short dark brownhair, sleek jaw line and intimidating stature. I am 5'7 long dark brown hair, medium build, lean andhazelnut eyes, with flecks of sapphire blue, my eyes being the one thing that set me apart fromthem. My sister, Adela, is the smallest of us and resembles our mother. She is 5'5, skinny, has shortgolden-brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

Our family has always been close with each other. However, my relationship with dad and Gunnarhas always been stronger than with mom or Adela.

My sister enjoyed the same things as our mother and had always been a quiet person, makingthings difficult when trying to replace common ground. We were different in our own ways, which put awall between us at times and made it difficult to get close to her. On the other hand, Gunnar and Ihave always had a good sibling relationship. He was more than just a big brother to me, he was myfriend, and I would do anything for him.

As Gunnar and I entered the house, my internal thoughts began to consume me. All I could think ofis "Would this be our last supper? Would I lose my family tonight? Would I make it home?" Ipondered over these thoughts every night at dinner time since the war was declared.

My pack had been facing an impasse with the Dead Pack for some time now. We all thought thatthings might take a turn for the better during negotiations between my father and the Alpha.However, we were so wrong; it felt like it wasn't enough for Alpha Cain, no matter my father'sproposition. Just saying his name made my blood boil with anger.

We had all been dreading war being declared between the packs because we knew we wouldn't win,we knew his resources were far more vast than ours, his warriors were ruthless and mad, his packwas also twice the size of ours, but even with all that in mind, we refused to back down and buryour heads in the dirt.

But we also expected this outcome, as it felt like Alpha Cain was just playing with us and giving usfalse hope, something he was known for doing. So, we have been training all day in skin and fur, werecruited anyone capable of fighting in our pack in hopes of having a better chance, but we knewthat we were still royally fucked!

Even in our wolf forms, it still didn't give us much of an upper hand. My brother's wolf, next to myfather's, was the biggest in the pack. Both were black wolves, vast and ferocious, but my dad's wolfhad grey patches within his fur. That was the only thing that set them apart.

My wolf was one of the few things that I loved about myself. She was beautiful in my mind, large,muscular, snow-white fur with hints of grey all over and silver eyes. She was my prized possession!Dinner had been quiet, we were all depleted, mentally and physically, and there wasn't much else tosay to each other. So, as dusk approached, we gathered our gear, said our goodbyes to mom andAdela, and made our way to the edge of the forest.

We began to gear up and prepare ourselves for the fight ahead. I dreaded what was to come butdidn't let my fear show. I grabbed out my trusty bow and wolfsbane-filled arrows and began toclimb a tree.

My father and brother were against my request to fight, but I ensured them that I could do this andwanted to fight for my family and fellow pack members. So they reluctantly agreed when Isuggested perching myself in a tree, kind of like a sniper and taking rogues out with my bow. I toldthem about the wolfsbane arrow tips that Erik and I had designed; it took us a long time to finallyperfect them, but we did it. These arrow tips can kill most wolves; it depends on the size and rank;the bigger they are, the harder they are to take out.

As I ascended the tree, I peered down at my father, who gave me a reassuring nod and thensauntered off to take his place.

I found the perfect spot to sit and took my position. Then, looking out at my surroundings, I beganto prepare myself mentally for the fight ahead.

It was well past dusk now, and there was no sign of the Dead pack. We knew it was a possibledistraction to confuse us so that we would let our guards down, but we knew better.

I sat there, taking in my surroundings, when I saw a rogue slowly creeping towards one of ourwarriors out of the corner of my eye. I let out the signal, and that's when it began.

The rogues rushed around us with full force; I began taking them out one by one, our pack foughtwith as much strength and courage as they could conjure up. The copper smell of blood filled theair and pooled on the ground beneath me; blood-curdling screams flooded my ears from everydirection.

As I readied myself to fire another arrow, I noticed multiple rogues were ambushing Gunnar. I knowhe is a ruthless, strong fighter, especially when he was in his wolf form, but he was slowly becomingoutnumbered at that moment.

Without further hesitation, I leapt down from the tree, firing arrows left, right, and center at thenumerous rogues surrounding him. As I came closer to him, I dropped my bow, began to discardmy clothes and shifted into my wolf, lunging at the rival wolves, shredding them to pieces andfighting alongside my brother.

As the odds began to turn in our favour, the rogues started to retreat. Gunnar then mind linked withme, and he was furious!

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING, FREJA!" He boomed at me.

My wolf snarled at him, "SAVING YOUR ASS." I yelled back at him.

He huffed. "I didn't need your help! I had it under control. Now get your ass back up that tree,where you are supposed to be."

I reluctantly shifted back into my human form with a loud chuff, threw on my clothes, and grabbedmy bow.

I began to jog back to the tree when I heard a noise come from my left. I stopped dead in my tracksand listened to everything that surrounded me.

I continued to listen and scan the area when I heard a male voice. "Well, well, what do we havehere."

I looked around, searching for who the voice belonged to, but couldn't see anyone.

I aimed my bow, ready to fire, and my eyes roamed the trees around me. Then, behind me, I heard afaint chuckle. "What do you think you are going to do with that?" They questioned with amusement.I remained silent, listening for footsteps and looking for a figure in the shadows, but there wasnothing and no one. Then, as I stood there, my heart began to beat out of my chest. I tried to slow itdown by taking slow breaths, but it felt like my heart rate only picked up in speed.

Behind me, I heard another noise and then the same deep, gruff voice "I can hear your heartbeating erratically, love, are you afraid? Because you should be." He said in a calm yet eerie tone.

I turned around, looking for the man that belonged to the voice, but again he wasn't there.Moments passed by, and things were silent now. I almost thought he was gone for a second, but Iwas wrong!

I was taken by surprise when my bow was ripped from my hands, and I was slammed into a tree. Alarge, rough hand wrapped firmly around my throat while the other held my hands together andpinned them above my head against the rough bark.

At first, the impact from my head colliding with the tree made everything blurry, but I blinkedrapidly, and the face that was mere inches from mine came into view. He was a tall man who stoodat least a foot taller than I.

He had the most vivid and intriguing green eyes, short, wavy black hair, with hints of gold in it, thatshined from the moonlight. He had high cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and plump lips. This man wasso handsome and intimidating; he made my core tingle.

As he held me against the tree, my heart rate peaked immensely, but I did everything I could toremain calm and not show any emotions, as I knew he would use that against me. I scanned theman's face, looking for any visible emotions, and the only ones I picked up were confusion, thensurprise, but he quickly masked those emotions, hiding them under that dark facade. But why washe surprised? The man's features turned cold and angry now.

He looked deep into my eyes, and a grin spread across his features, “Arent you a brave little wolfout here fighting with the big leagues. Shouldn't you be at home, like a good little bitch.”

Even though that comment made me want to tear his face off, I maintained a blank look and didn'tanswer him.

He raised a brow. “What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?” The man said with a mischievoussmile.

He continued to observe me with those hypnotizing green eyes, searching for emotion. His eyesbegan roaming all over my face, then slowly wandered down my body, which only intensified thetingling sensation between my legs.

His grin became impossibly wider, “Let me introduce myself, love. I am Alpha Cain of the Deadpack.” At that, my eyes widened in surprise and also in fear.

My father and our elders told tales of Alpha Cain, how ruthless he was, that he killed his father andmother just to gain power, that his heart was not made of flesh and blood but made from the fierypits of hell itself.

Fear began to creep up my spine, my breathing became erratic, and my heart pounded within mychest.

His eyes bore into mine. “There's the fear I was looking for.” He then let out a hair-raising chuckle.

I mustered up what courage I had left and asked, “What do you want?" He bent down a little,bringing his face even closer to my own and cocked his head to the side. Cain's soft lips brushedagainst my ear, sending a shiver up my spine and whispered, “To instill fear within you and to makeyou squirm beneath my hold.” I squeezed my eyes, fearing what his words truly meant, and all Icould think was, I am going to die.

An ear-splitting howl sounded, catching both our attention. Cain whipped his head in the directionof the roar and remained still, staring into the woods for a second, before turning his attention backto me.

His eyes sparkled, and he grinned. “Until we meet again, love.” He then let me go, backed awayfrom me and shifted into his wolf. A massive yet beautiful black wolf, his fur glistened under thelight of the moon, it looked so silky smooth, with hints of silver in it, his eyes were a bright anddeadly yellow.

His wolf turned towards me and snarled, which caused me to back myself into the tree even further.I closed my eyes, and after a few seconds, I opened them, only to realize I was alone and he wasgone.

I let out a shuddering breath and collapsed onto the mossy forest floor. As I sat there, I tried tothink of what in the hell had just happened. From the stories I was told as a child, Alpha Cain neverlet anyone go, and he sure as shit had never let anyone survive his wrath during a war. So why me?Why did I feel slightly attracted to him? The proximity of his face to mine made me want to ravishhim, his lips were so close to mine, and for a second, I prayed he would close that distance anddominate me. So what the hell is wrong with me? Especially when he was threatening me.