The Half-Blood (BOOK 1 OF THE HIDDEN KINGDOMS SERIE)

The King

Kings's Alaric POV

"It's time," Hado said.

"I'll be right there." Salla walked by my side until we reached the forest entrance, where the players would go hunting. Once again, she was overwhelming me with her constant attention. I tried to think about the different possibilities of how to make her understand where our relationship was not going to go. Maybe I'm a bastard for not making it clear to her in the first place. But I assumed she would know. Maybe tonight I'll explain to her.

 I've always thought this was an absurd and unfair game for women. So, when I became King, I first tried to wipe out The Hunt. But many of my packs were tied to the old ways, so I could only manage to alter it rather than eliminate it. 

After Hado had finished explaining how the game worked, he came to my tent to keep me informed of Darious's daughters. If the girls claimed they didn't consent, how did the signatures appear on the documents? 

I knew that Hado had suggested that they use spells to escape. I just hoped they wouldn't hurt anyone mortally because then, we'd have a problem. It wasn't a secret to anyone that I hate witches. They're the vilest beings I've ever met. You can never trust one because then you'll be damned.

The females were standing in a horizontal line near the entrance to the forest. I stood in front of them to welcome them. All but two of them bowed their heads in submission. I assumed they were Dariou's daughters.

One was the witch with a delicate face and slightly dark hair, and the second was the annoying one from last night, who was watching me now, with an angry expression. The woman of the pond had familiar-looking blue eyes. I remember telling her last night that she wasn't beautiful enough to tempt me. My gaze studied every part of her figure. Even though she was not as glamorous as Salla, I could not deny that perhaps, under the fabrics that covered her nakedness, some possible round curves and breasts were waiting to be explored.
She had a bold face that reflected wisdom. And her wavy hair, moved freely with every gentle breeze that blew. If I had to be honest with myself, I could not deny that this strange half-breed might have enough to tempt me. The more I looked at her, the more I became uneasy and tense for some strange reason.

As they all began to undress, my eyes were still on just one—the pond's half-blood. The daughter of Darious wasn't born a witch, but in the end, she was her father's daughter.

"Good luck to you all." I finally said, looking at the rest of them and standing behind them.

The sound of bones breaking drove me out of my thoughts. The wolf's coat of the half-blood  was grayish with white specks. She was a strong-looking wolf, standing on all fours with a domineering posture. When the horn sounded, the wolves ran out with all their strength.

Now all that was left was to wait.

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Nala's POV

I left Hado's tent furious because I felt powerless over what was happening. My family followed me, trying to keep up with my steps. When I arrived at the tent, I was exasperated with frustration, clutching at my hair.

"Nala, calm down a bit." my mom says, while my father cast his disguising conversation.

"How do you want me to calm down, Mom? Do you realize I have to run with this bunch of freaks? This trip was supposed to be about relaxing." I ended up practically screaming.

"Keep your voice down, Nala."

"Who could have done this to us? We signed nothing." I was pacing back and forth frantically.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," said my father.

"Father, how can you be so calm? Shouldn't you cast one of your spells and get us out of here?"

"Nala, I can't do that. Hado knows you're on the list, and I can't use magic to get around it. We're in his territory."

"But, he suggested using magic."

"But it's so that you don't get caught during the game."

"Dad, this is a nightmare, how are we supposed to escape those werewolves? I am not strong enough."

"Don't worry, Hado allowed us to use our tricks," he said, trying to appease my anger.

"We're going to lose. We don't know this place, dad. As much as I use my sense of smell and direction, these werewolves have been here before. They've probably hunted before."

My father closed his eyes, concentrating with his palms open and whispering " Toiravida terratoa crichi sola qi arbor e rivusma tabula"

A small map surfaced on his hand. It was yellow, like the pages of old books. Little symbols and lines tracing the shape of what appeared to be rivers, mountains, and trees were drawn in the center. The symbol of a well-drawn triangle indicated the camp.

"Whenever you need to go somewhere, ask the map to show you the way. Keep it with you, the map will show you the way out of the forest faster." Father looked at my sister and conjured up another spell for her.

"Maeve, you will be able to run fast like your sister. You two must stay together, Nala. You have the strength and agility of werewolves. It will be easier for you to fight them. Take this silver dagger for extreme cases." he pointed to Maeve. My father looked at me for a few seconds. His eyes reflected resignation. I noticed that his gaze passed from my eyes to my necklace. He said nothing. He just wished us good luck and hugged us tightly.

"Remember, you're Darious's daughters, no one can beat you. You're invincible."

When the time came, my sister and I headed to the entrance of the forest and joined the rest of the females. When I looked at who I had in front of me, I couldn't believe my eyes. It's him: The stranger of my dreams and the bastard of the pond.

All the women lowered their heads in respect for him. There was no doubt that he was none other than the Alpha King.

In the sunlight, I could see that he had a wide, sharp jaw. A scar started on the temple on the left side of his face and ended on his chin, part of which was hidden behind a scruffy beard, giving him an even wilder appearance. He was fierce and rough looking. This man could kill with his mere presence.

Why would I have been dreaming about him? It doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense.

"Good luck to you all," the bastard spoke with a powerful voice.

When I undressed, I felt all these eyes running through my body, surely the perverts were sharpening their teeth just by looking at the naked body of all of us. I felt eager for the moment when the damn horn was going to sound. I got into position, looked at my sister to make sure she was ready too.

"Nealie?" I called my wolf

"Nala"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, Nala, don't worry, we will win this."

I took a deep breath and began to turn into my wolf. I held back the moans of pain for every bone that was torn. After a few seconds, I was ready on all fours. The horn sounded, and we stormed out into the woods.