Chapter Fourteen :- Far From Home
1152 Words
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(Idris POV)
Alpha Training College was carved into the spine of the northern mountains stone towers rising from cliffs, banners snapping sharply in the wind, the scent of frost and iron lingering in the air.
It was not merely a school.
It was a forge.
Alphas.
Betas.
Gammas.
All heirs. All chosen. All sharpened into weapons for their packs.
It was magnificent.
It was merciless.
And it was not home.
---
The morning horn sounded before dawn.
By the time the sun crested the mountain ridges, we were already running in wolf form across uneven terrain snow biting into paws, lungs burning in the thin air.
“Again!” the instructor roared.
We shifted mid-stride, landing on two feet, immediately forced into combat drills.
Here, strength meant nothing without control.
Speed meant nothing without awareness.
Power without restraint was failure.
I was good.
Too good, they said.
But Alpha Training College did not reward natural ability. It hunted weakness.
During sparring, a Gamma from the Eastern Ridge pack lunged unexpectedly, aiming low. I anticipated too late a calculated hesitation instead of instinct.
His shoulder struck my ribs.
Pain exploded.
“Thinking instead of reacting,” the instructor barked. “An Alpha who hesitates buries his pack.”
The words settled heavily.
I did not hesitate in battle.
But lately… my mind wandered.
And that was dangerous.
From the edge of the ring, Saadun watched arms folded, expression sharp and analytical.
He didn’t clap.
He didn’t smirk.
He simply observed.
That was his way.
---
Weeks passed.
Strategy classes filled our afternoons territorial mapping, resource allocation, war simulations stretching long into evening. Betas trained alongside us in command structure. Gammas studied enforcement and defense coordination.
Rihab ( silver claws to be gamma), was good in defence, Saadun excelled in strategy the way I excelled in combat
He saw patterns others missed.
He saw people clearly.
Which meant he saw me.
One night, after drills, we sat on the stone balcony outside our shared quarters.
The mountains were silent except for distant howls echoing through valleys.
“You’re distracted,” he said calmly.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
I exhaled slowly. “It’s the transition.”
Saadun raised a brow. “No. It’s not.”
I didn’t respond.
He didn’t push.
That was the first time.
---
The name had begun to weave itself into my thoughts during meditation sessions.
In Alpha philosophy, Indra symbolized dominion over storm power balanced by discipline. The instructors used the metaphor often.
“An Alpha must master the storm within before commanding the storm without.”
But whenever they spoke of it, my mind betrayed me.
Because the storm I felt was not rage.
It was memory.
A quiet girl in an infirmary.
Smoke in her hair.
Her hands steady despite everything she had lost.
Leyla.
Her name echoed like prayer against my heart walls.
Why her?
I had rescued many.
I had seen countless broken faces.
Yet hers lingered.
During meditation, when we were instructed to clear our minds, I saw her eyes instead.
Not pleading.
Not grateful.
Just… unafraid.
It unsettled me.
---
It was nearly three months later when Saadun finally cornered me properly.
We had just finished a brutal endurance match mud-soaked, bruised, exhausted. Gammas limped off the field. Betas debated tactical errors even while bleeding.
Saadun tossed me a cloth.
“You’re going to tell me,” he said.
“Tell you what?”
“The truth.”
I wiped sweat from my face. “You’ll have to narrow it down.”
He smirked slightly. “You stare at nothing like a man who has either found religion… or a woman.”
I shot him a glare.
He laughed outright this time. “Ah. So it is a woman.”
“Drop it.”
He didn’t.
Not that day.
Not the next.
But over time, he continued with subtle jabs.
“Careful, Idris. If your mystery girl is imaginary, I cannot serve as Beta to a man in love with a ghost.”
“I am not in love with a ghost.”
“With what then?”
I had no answer.
And that was the problem.
---
The Confession happened late long after lights-out, when silence ruled the corridors.
Saadun was reviewing strategic notes by candlelight when I finally spoke.
“There is a girl.”
He didn’t look surprised.
“From Blood Moon?” he asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“The quiet one you carried out of the lower compound?”
I glanced at him sharply. “You noticed?”
“I notice everything.”
Of course he did.
“She didn’t cry,” I said slowly. “Didn’t beg. She held her brother like she was the shield instead of the survivor.”
Saadun listened without interruption.
“I keep thinking about her,” I admitted. “It makes no sense. She was just one among many.”
“What’s her name?”
The pause felt heavier than it should have.
“Leyla.”
He leaned back in his chair. “oh oh .”
“oh what?”
“You remember her name like it matters.”
I frowned.
Saadun’s teasing softened into seriousness the kind that reminded me why he was chosen to stand beside me one day.
“If she lingers in your thoughts,” he said carefully, “it is not weakness. It is instinct.”
“I don’t even know what she is to me.”
“Perhaps that is why it unsettles you.”
Silence stretched between us.
Saadun’s voice lowered.
“Listen to me as your future Beta, not your friend. If the Moon ties you to someone, denying it will not protect your pack. But neither will chasing shadows.”
I met his gaze.
“Become strong enough that if she reappears in your life, you stand as an Alpha not a confused boy haunted by memory.”
His lips curved faintly.
“And if she is not my mate?”
“Then you will have mastered yourself anyway.”
He rose, clapping my shoulder once.
“But if she is… I look forward to meeting the girl who has my Alpha losing focus during combat drills.”
I shoved him lightly.
He laughed.
For the first time since arriving, my chest felt lighter.
Not resolved.
But steadier.
---
That night, as I lay staring at the ceiling, I understood something quietly dangerous.
If fate was weaving threads, it was doing so patiently.
And I would not dishonor it by being unprepared.
So I trained harder.
I studied longer.
I sharpened myself into something worthy.
Because if Leyla ever stepped back into my life
I would be ready, but what about my mate, that thoughts made my heart ache, because my mind was starting to desire I don't find her, and Indra didn't correct me this time
- Writer
