The Alpha King's Hunt

Chapter 29

Gabriel

The one thing I had to my advantage was that no one knew these woods like me.

Unfortunately, Caroline was cunning – her move of transforming last seemed to have been a ploy to stay by my side. And it had worked so far.

I tried to lose her jumping over a downed tree but she ducked under the trunk, yelping as her tail snagged on a branch. She huffed ahead quickly, keeping close, a tuft of hair missing now.

With a snarl I took a tight turn and hit a shallow stream. Just a few seconds behind I heard her splash through, and without hesitating, I made my next move – leaping up, digging my claws into the trunk of an oak, and settling quickly into the lower branches.

Wolves almost never climbed trees.

My father, who I ran with most of my childhood on full moon nights, had made fun of me often for it.

But why not climb trees as a wolf, when I climbed them as a boy? I thought.

It was a habit that stuck with me into adulthood. And now I was glad it was serving a purpose.

Balancing carefully on four paws I waited as Caroline darted below, her feet churning up the soft earth. It took a few minutes for her scent to slowly fade from the surroundings, and then I leapt down, landing silently on a bed of leaves.

The betas wouldn't be far behind.
Tradition allowed them to run with me and the competitors but they were supposed to give us space.

I shook my coat out before turning and following the stream in the other direction, a path that would lead back past where we'd started.

I shouldn't be doing this, I thought to myself, but continued on at a lope.

There was an undertone of guilt in my mind. I knew my mother needed me to pick a mate tonight. There was no other option. For my own safety, as well as hers, I'd have to choose one of the young women running out in the woods now. And probably fighting, from the sounds of it – far off I could hear snarling.

As I neared the area where the crowd and Queen would be waiting, I slunk off deeper into the forest, padding softly. I would go back. I just needed to run the uncertainty out of my system for now.

Tonight would be the night I chose a mate.

Tonight would be the night I was tied to this – ruling as Alpha. Being constantly scrutinized. Trapped in the rambling, spacious, gorgeous walls of the Kingdom.

A scent on the wind made me stop, paws dragging long ruts in the dirt. The moonlight broke through the treetops and I lifted my nose.

It was a wolf but I knew that scent.

I'd smelled it the night before on her, half-transformed. I'd smelled her the second she'd stepped into the garden.

Valarie was running flat out with her ears pressed back against her head. I hesitated only for a moment before running after her.

She was chasing a rabbit that darted out ahead of her, kicking up leaves and twigs in its panic. The wolf panted but I knew as soon as I was tailing her that she wasn't putting her all into the chase; this was just a game. The realization sent a thrill through me.

With one long bound I was up beside her and she glanced at me only briefly, ears coming up in confusion. Would she react like everyone else in the pack and stop, submit, grovel?

But no.

Valarie snarled out a happy sound and jerked sideways into me, knocking me off balance. When the surprise wore off I straightened out my stride again and sped up.