The Alpha's secret

ALICIA POV SIX YEARS AGO It was that time of the year again, where boys pretended to be men in order to win the favor of Alpha Derek, the feared and highly respected alpha of the southern pack, an opportunity to showcase your strength and skills they call it, well I call it dumb, risking your life to become the Alpha’s right-hand man is just down right stupid. Each contestant is faced with different opponents where it is everyone for themselves. You have to strive among your peers, pinning them down and keeping them unconscious enough to be disqualified, and then the winner will have a one-on-one combat with the current right-hand man of the Alpha. Lucas has been holding on to the position for as long as I can remember. No one had the wit, strength and agility like him, but that has never stopped other men. If anything, they see it as an opportunity to show their skills but always end up failing like the rest. I walked past the long queue of boys lining up to collect the form and fill out whatever absurd questions that were given to them. It was no use. I mean why ask them meaningless questions when it all boils down to battling with one another? I looked up to see teenagers grinning excitedly and scoffed before leaving the school hall. They cannot be gullible enough to think they stood a chance against a strong omega like Lucas? Or were they really that delusional? I was almost at the door when a voice caught my attention, making me stop on my track. Surely it cannot be him ! Brian would not be so dumb as to put down his ……… Yet there he was, in between other guys in our class, smiling as he was explaining something I couldn't comprehend.I walked towards him, ignoring the whole crowd in the hall as I shouted at the top of my lungs.“ What the hell are you doing in the queue”. This drew a lot of attention as the hall became quiet, and the whole crowd stared at me like I was insane, but I couldn't care less, I was trying to stop a friend from making a senseless decision in the name of ego. Brian walked out of the line and took my hand, dragging me out of the hall into the school field before glaring at me, his blue eyes almost piercing into my soul. "You had no right to have such a scene in the hall, it was uncalled-for.” Maybe he was right, the display in the hall was unnecessary, but I was too out of focus to care. Brian, Karen and I have been best friends since we were little. We always had each other's backs no matter what and, right now, Brian was about to make a mistake by joining the tournament. “ I admit I was a bit dramatic in the hall, but you were in the freaking line about to collect the form for the tournament. Was I not supposed to care about that?” “I would have appreciated it if you did that”, Brian murmured, but not before it got past me,I looked at him to see his anger had subsided, which was one of the many traits I loved about him. He couldn't hold a grudge for too long. “Does Karen know ?” I said. The question made Brian look down at the grass. He averted his gaze everywhere other than my face, which gave me the answer to the question I asked. It broke my heart to see he would rather tell Karen than me about something so important. “Why didn't you tell me? I know I might have been against the idea,” he raised his eyebrows before responding “ clearly”. That just pissed me off the most, making me lightly smack his arm, initiating a response from him. "Ouch! What was that for? “He said as he glared at me. “For not keeping me informed about a big decision such as this, but you should know I would always have you back when push comes to shove. I really would have understood if you wanted to go so badly, no matter what crazy reason it might have been.” “I never meant to make you feel excluded or left out in any way, it's just ………..I know how much you hate the tournament and what it stands for, and I didn't want you to feel disheartened about my decision to join, it isn't some sort of peer pressure or a means to show off, I put in so much thought and decided to go for it, so I need your support”. Brian's voice wavered, and I knew he was scared even though he was trying his hardest not to show it, he was. I held on to his hands, facing him. That seemed to calm his nerves a bit,“On no account are you supposed to hold back your feelings and actions because of me, so what if I hate the tournament? I love you enough to get over that and support you. We are the three musketeers, remember.I would hold a poster and scream out your name in the crowd. You are my best friend, and you mean a lot to me. Always keep that in mind, okay you dummy”. I proceeded to give him a hug. We left the field, walking slowly towards the hall. “So when is the big day,” I asked Brian. “I have no idea, the Alpha likes to keep all the contestants out of the loop till an impromptu date is given”. “That must be hard, you must be tense and anxious.” “Yeah, that is a burden I would have to bear on my own”. “Are your parents aware of your decision?” “My mum and dad would physically kill me if they found out. That is why you must never tell them.” “Okay, my lips are sealed”. I used my hands to imitate my lips getting sealed. We both moved in silence before an important question occurred to me,“ You never told me why ?” a ball rolled off to our side. I looked and saw a guy running towards us to get the ball, the other players waiting impatiently for the ball. Why, what ? Brian asked, kicking the ball towards the guy's direction. He caught it in time with his feet and waved at us in gratitude. “Why did you decide to apply for the tournament?” Brian blushed at the question. I had never seen him blush not once. “That is a secret I would never tell”.