The Alpha's Game

Prologue

March 7th, 2023

"Fuck!" I yelped, my legs splitting apart as my feet slid across the ice in opposite directions. I caught myself by using the railing to prevent my body from hitting the stairs and tumbling down them.

Upon hearing my yell, my brother, Brent, turned to look at me over his shoulder. I grinned innocently, nonchalantly stabilizing myself as if nothing happened.

"Please, don't be a klutz already, Ziena," he sighed in clear irritation. I scowled at him, opening my mouth to reply with not-so-nice words until he continued. "Don't start. Let's just bring in the rest of our belongings and meet with Alpha Kayden as requested. He has been expecting us in his office to officially welcome us back to the pack," he informed, turning forward and proceeding his way down the stairs.

I can't believe we're even moving back here.

The last time I seen that manwhore was when I was fourteen and he tried adding me onto the list of girls he's taken to bed.

He was a total scumbag then, I can't even imagine the body count he has now that we're adults and he took the Alpha position. Girls are probably dropping to his feet.

Rolling my eyes, I took the next step with a grumble under my breath. That's when my foot slid out from underneath me and I caught air time, shrieking loudly as my back slammed into the edging of the stairs and I went sledding down them, taking Brent out like a bowling pin.

"Sorry," I mumbled, hearing his groans and growls from next to me.

"Ziena!" He snarled, shoving my legs off him as he angrily moved to his feet with a death glare aimed down me. "Learn how to fucking walk on ice. If you haven't remembered, the winter's here are terrible."

"If we were made to walk on ice, don't you think the bottoms of our feet would have texture to create friction?" I asked, taking his extended hand and allowing him to pull me to my feet.

"Yeah, and that's why we wear shoes," he replied, shaking his head and walking the rest of the way to the car. He grabbed the rest of the bags and shut the door with his elbow.

The air was tense as he walked by and went up the stairs. I watched him struggle to open the door with a smug smile of satisfaction, frowning when he finally managed to open it and walked right in, pulling it closed with his foot and leaving me still standing at the bottom of the steps.

"If you were just going to grab the rest of the shit, then why did you let me walk all the way down these stairs for nothing?" I growled to myself, grabbing the railing and slowly making my way back up.

My foot found the step second to the top and once I lifted my other, it slid. My face hit the stairs, sliding all the way down on my stomach where I landed at the bottom exactly where I started.

A loud groan left my mouth and I laid there staring up at the darkening sky, contemplating my life choices before deciding to sit up and glare at the staircase.

"I will beat you," I vowed, hoisting myself up with tiny grunts. As soon as my hands left the ground, I slid and fell.

My head bounced off the ice and I snarled. "Fuck you!" I wailed, sitting upright and kicking the last step with my boot as hard as I could.

The ice cracked and I took a deep, calming breath, grabbing onto the railing and pulling myself to my feet with much struggle. I took another breath, then charged up the staircase.

Shockingly, I made it to the top and turned, fist bumping the air with a tiny victory dance. "Ha! I did it! Kiss my ass, winter!"

"What are you doing?"