Bloodfallen; bride of alphas

Episode4

RUE

I picked my pen, ready to scribble words into my journal. But every attempt just left me hanging with one particular word. I tried on the first line, then the next, and the one after it, until every line of that page was filled with the word “how”.

How what? That’s what I didn’t know. I tore that sheet off and moved to the fireplace, hoping the warmth would give me some kind of comfort or relief…or better still, inspiration.

The ink kept popping in and out as I made several more attempts. Every sheet ended up just like the one before it, and I tore it off and tossed it into the fire.

Someone knocked on my door. Thrice.

“Come in,”

The door squeaked open, and Carlos strode in. He stood by the wall before shutting the door. His silence stole my attention away from my journal.

“Shouldn’t you be looking for your sister?”

“My father sent other wolves out. I’m sure they’ll find her,” he leaned off the wall, studying my surroundings. “What’s going on?”

“Your father wants me to choose between his claim for Shadowmere and LeBron.”

“And?” He lowered by my side, picking my journal and pen.

I shrugged. “He wants me to go against LeBron,”

“You knew one way or the other, that was coming. Didn’t you?”

“I…”

“There’s more to pack politics than what meets the eyes. And alpha Gray knows exactly what he’s doing. If my brother decides to stand against him, then so be it. As for you…I’m certain you’ll make the right choice,” he stopped scribbling on the page and handed me the book.

It was a stick drawing of a girl and boy holding hands under the moon, with a sketch of a very familiar tree. The sight of the tree forced a smile on my face.

“Is that us?”

He nodded, stealing a glance at the book before taking his feet. “The night you fell into the ocean and I tried to save you…”

“Then I ended up being the one who saved you,” I laughed.

Carlos scoffed, burying his head in shame. “We shall discuss my poor swimming skills another day. For now, I want to show you something. Come with me.”

*************

I followed Carlos through the keep, wondering why he was taking me through this part. He walked quickly, forcing me to gather my dress so I could keep up. We passed the courtyard and headed toward the eastern grounds.

The sound of metal striking metal grew louder with every step. When we turned the corner, I stopped. Dozens of werewolves were fighting across a training field, their swords flashing as they moved.

“I haven’t been here in two years,” I said, studying the misty arena.

“Every morning,” Carlos said. He picked two swords from a rack and handed one to me. “I come here to train. Sometimes in the evening. It keeps my off certain things,”

I stared at the weapon. “Carlos, I barely know how to use this. You of all people know”

“You know enough. Everything I taught you in your first few months here cannot have escaped your memory”

“You’d be surprised.”

His mouth curved. “Just Try.”

I rolled my eyes, but lifted the sword. He raised his own. “Strike On my signal.”

I moved first, not waiting for the so-called signal.

He blocked me easily. “Oh really? Surprise attacks now?”

I laughed. “You’re a big boy. You can handle it.”

I swung again, but he swayed away easily.

“Too wide.”

I frowned and tried again. This time, he stepped aside instead of blocking. “Watch my body, not the sword.”

I adjusted my stance.

“Better.” He commented.

He attacked. I blocked. He struck again, and I ducked.

“Good.”

Something inside me shifted. I attacked again. Our swords collided. Carlos stepped back. “Again.”

I moved faster this time. But he blocked every strike.

I struck from the left, then the right, remembering the little training I had received over the years. Carlos kept guiding me with his voice, and somehow my body began responding before my mind could think.

When our swords crashed together, I pushed harder against him. Carlos smiled.

“There you are.”

I attacked again. The training ground disappeared around me. I could hear only the clash of metal, my, and Carlos’s voice.

Everything was going smoothly until something inside my chest twisted. I froze. My fingers loosened around the sword.

“Rue?”

Pain exploded through my body. The sword dropped first, then my knees. My arms tightened painfully around my body as a scream seared through me. My bones cracked inside my shoulder. Then another c***k ran through my back.

“Rue!” Carlos dropped his sword and rushed toward me.

I grabbed my arms, trembling violently. My bones felt like they were breaking and rearranging themselves beneath my skin. Another sharp pain tore through me.

I looked at my hands. For one second, claws seemed to snap from my fingertips.

Carlos grabbed my shoulders. “Look at me!”

But I couldn’t. The world blurred. A strange voice filled my head, whispering words in rage. The voice inside me grew louder until it was all I could hear.

Then…everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, Carlos was holding me upright.

“Rue?”

I blinked.

“What happened?”

“You zoned out,”

I looked at my hands. They were normal. No claws, no blood. Nothing. The only thing that felt off was the pain in my bones. “I saw…I thought I saw…”

“Saw what?” He took my hands to examine nothing he knew of.

“Nothing. Nothing. I may have been wrong,”

The people in the arena were gathered, staring at us like we’d just fallen from space. Carlos helped me move out of where I was. “This was a bad idea. Let’s go inside inside”.

He got me into my room and helped me onto the bed.

“Stay here. I’m getting the healers.”

Before I could call him, he was out.

Silence filled the room the moment he left, save for the slow ticking of the clock.

I stared at my hands again, hoping I’d see something that would convince me that I’m not going crazy. But my fingers were normal. Likewise every other part of my body.

A strange presence filled the room right before the voice returned.

“We’ve been apart far too long,”

I jerked off the bed, scanning the room hurriedly. “Who’s there?”

“Of course you wouldn’t know what I sound like. Wait…is our hair this brown? Thought you inherited something as dark and pretty as your mothers,”

“What?” I stopped searching after realizing the voice wasn’t coming from the room. “You’re in my head?”

“Damn! No one told you?” She sighed. She sounded just like me, but with a naughty and petty tone. “I’m your wolf. Oroginally…you should be the one giving me a name. But seeing you know nothing about me, I’ll choose. I’ll call myself Veya,” the voice said. “Sounds pretty enough for both of us.”

I sat frozen on the bed, staring at the wall. “I have a wolf?”

“Obviously.” She sounded offended. “What did you think all those years of weakness were about?”

I swallowed hard. “I was told I was wolfless.”

“Well…surprise!”

The words hit harder than the pain in my bones.

Before I could ask anything else, memories rushed into my head. LeBron turning away from me at the altar. His disgust when he looked at my body. The nights he came to me only when he wanted something, then left without a word. Every insult, every rejection, every moment I had begged myself to believe there was still something between us.

Veya showed me all of it.

“Stop,” I whispered.

“You need to remember.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You need to.”

I tried to pull my own thoughts away from all she was showing me. If this is true…I mean…if Veya is my wolf and she’s awakened, that means the darkness in my family’s blood still lives through me.

How stupid was I to think I’d escaped that fate simply because I had no wolf?

“You want me to be honest?” Veya chimed. “Very stupid”

“Can you read my thoughts?”

“And feel your pain, yes. You made us suffer terribly all these years for a man who doesn’t regard us. I think it’s high time I started making the decisions,”

The door suddenly opened before I could respond.

I jerked, expecting Carlos and the healers as I pulled the duvet over my body. Instead, Alpha Gray walked in alone.

His eyes immediately found me on the bed. He looked at my pale face, then at my trembling hands.

“What happened? Carlos said you collapsed.”

“Yeah…I’m fine now,”

“Then tell me what happened.”

I stared at him for a moment. Something inside me had changed. Maybe it was Veya. Maybe it was the pain. Or maybe I was simply tired of making wrong decisions and being the weak one.

“I’ll stand with you to reclaim Shadowmere. Someone needs to teach LeBron what power truly looks like,”

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