JEOPARDY: The Cursed Soldier.

1. Kayla

July 2023.

Sonora Dungeon, California USA.

It was a typical Sunday Family breakfast.

Calm heartbeats accompanied the sound of clicking utensils and chewing. As father, mother, and daughter devoured their food in silence. Kayla's father, Anthony, had his eyes fixed on his plate while Kayla's mother, Lianna, roamed her eyes over everything but her husband as she chewed her food.

Kayla herself shifted her gaze between the silver wall and her food as she counted the seconds until the breakfast ended.

She was shoving a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth when she caught the unmistakable smell of fear and heard footsteps rushing their way.

A glance at her father told her they had noticed the same things and arrived at the same conclusion way before they had seen anything. With their gazes locked and a fire buzzing through their blood, they abruptly stood up, ready to deal with whatever problem ran their way.

Lianna frown at them, but before they could say a thing the door burst open.

"Commander!" Ethan, once a prisoner in Anthony's dungeon and now a zeta saluted and immediately added. "The Alpha is coming."

"What?" For the first time in their lives, all three of them -- father, mother, and daughter -- chorused in utter shock.

"The sentinels have spied the Alpha and her retinue driving this way," Ethan breathed out before adding in palpable terror. "What does this mean? Why is she coming here?"

Kayla's eyes flew to her father and she watched her father's jaw harden, followed by his eyes -- his tell for when he was uncertain, yet needed to appear sure. Kayla widened her stance, the posture of a ready soldier.

"I don't give a fuck why she is here," Lianna suddenly barked, her eyes blazing as she also stood up. "But I will be dead before that bitch enters my home."

Anthony's jaw hardened into a sharp stone. But he didn't look at his wife. His cold eyes stayed on Ethan. "Get into uniform and return to your post. Tell the others to do the same."

Ethan saluted and immediately left the room.

Anthony waited until the door shut again before he settled his eyes on Kayla. "Escort your mother to her room and lock her in. Within five minutes, I want you in uniform and assembled with the rest of the zetas, clear?"

Her father didn't even wait for her answer and marched right out of the room, every inch the Commander of the Sonora dungeon, the pit of death built by their Alpha for the most deadly pack criminals to oppress and punish them in the worst of ways for the rest of their lives.

Sonora was originally just a prison before the Alpha sent Anthony, one of his best epsilons (werewolf pack soldiers), to train some of these prisoners into Weapons -- epsilons who could be used in ways normal epsilons couldn't.

Lianna faced Kayla the moment Anthony left the room and folded her arms over her generous bosom. "You're not locking me up anywhere. And he is not letting that bitch one mile near you."

"Mama," Kayla beseeched, searching for the right words to use to execute her father's order. "This may be our home, but it's also our Alpha's prison. She has every right to be here -- "

"She is not my Alpha, nor is she yours. How many times have I told you that?" Lianna quipped, glaring softly at her daughter. "She may be your father's Alpha. But she sure as hell ain't mine. Which means she ain't yours either."

Kayla sighed. Her mama lived in her own world, a world that wasn't very realistic. A world without rules and stakes. Usually Kayla would sit with her mama and they'd live in that world for while.