The Alpha King's Hunt

Chapter 2

Valarie

The next day, I slammed open the door of my family's house and stalked out across the fallow field that surrounded the small home. I could still hear my mother and father arguing inside; my mother, shouting and close to desperate.

"What is wrong with you Peter!? Haven't you heard what kind of person the King is! Do you really want our daughter joining a pack of women that he'll have at his beck and call?!"

I couldn't hear dad's voice. He was always quiet and steady, a tall and broad-shouldered man.

I passed Jason, my younger brother, as I headed away toward the house.

"Where are you going?" he called after me, stopping whatever it was he was doing – possibly taking apart and putting back together some machinery he had found laying around.

Jason was good with his hands, like our father, and had shown a sort of genius when it came to intricate machinery at a young age. I doted on him as much as our parents did, but right now I was furious.

I began to run, letting my body lengthen and focusing on the stretch of my muscles.

I had been a runner as long as I could remember. The lowest members of the pack – omegas – ran. Their ancestors had all run, all been involved in hunting, but as the packs settled into their territories and became more civilized, the running was left to lower levels of the hierarchy.

I knew it embarrassed my mother when I ran, but I just couldn't help it. It had to do with stress. And right now I had never felt more stressed, more pressure to make the right decision for my family.

If I went with Sophia to the Kingdom, I would have the opportunity to raise my family's status in the pack. But my mother was terrified that I would get taken advantage of. And I could understand that.

Not only was King Gabriel well known for seducing every woman he came across (and he would inevitably come across me as I tended to Sophia), but I didn't have any experience with the city. It was almost overwhelming to even think about.

"It isn't like our territory," my mother had scoffed. "You won't be out snaring rabbits or helping with the wash. Cities as big as the Kingdom are full of cut throats and men waiting to take advantage of women."

I had been confused by the bitterness in mom's voice and could tell by the way my father wouldn't look at me that there was some deeper story there. But with my mother raging, there was no way to approach the subject delicately. And I had only days to prepare.

Truthfully, my mother's reaction scared me – the thought of going to the Kingdom scared me almost as much as it excited me. But the stubbornness rose in me, as always. I was 21! I could handle myself, I had proven that countless times!

But I couldn't let my father, or Jason, see that small bit of doubt and fear that lived inside of me. They had both been so full of hope when I'd told the family at dinner what Sophia had offered.

I was still loping through the woods, skimming the edge of a stream that ran through our territory and connected to the next pack's. I could feel my muscles beginning to burn as I pushed myself. It was a delicious feeling that caused a low growl to form in my throat. The wolf wanted to come out, being so close to the full moon, but I fought it down.

I kept running until I reached the edge of our land, and then followed it, curving back toward the town and my family's home on the outskirts.

Nearby there was a small rise covered in wild apple trees that overlooked the town center. Sometimes I'd go there at night and look at all of the streetlights still on, the lights in windows, like constellations spread over winding back roads.