THE ALPHA KING'S TRAILS
1499 Words
Dawn bled through the windows of the Luna suite. Silver light on black marble. Beautiful. Cold.
I hadn’t slept. Couldn’t. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Kade’s face when he rejected me. Heard his laugh. Felt mud hit my cheek.
And Darius’s claiming mark burned on my shoulder like it was trying to wake something up.
A soft knock. Then the doors opened before I could answer.
Servants filed in. All omegas. All bowing low. They carried trays, dresses, towels. The scent of warm bread and herbs filled the room.
“Good morning, Luna,” the eldest one said. She had gray streaks in her hair and kind eyes. “I’m Mara. Alpha Darius sent us. He said you’re to eat, bathe, and dress before trials begin.”
Luna. She called me Luna. Like it was already decided.
“I’m not—” I started.
“You are what the King claims,” Mara interrupted gently. She set a dress on the bed. Deep blue. Silver thread at the cuffs. Far too fine for an omega who slept in rags. “And Alpha Darius claims you. So we call you Luna.”
My throat closed. Twenty years of being called trash. Now Luna? Overnight?
The bathwater was steaming. Rose oil on the surface. I sank into it and almost cried from the heat. No one had ever drawn me a bath before. In the orphan house we washed in cold water from a bucket.
Mara scrubbed the mud from my cheek. Careful. Like I was breakable. “You’re safe here, child. The Alpha King doesn’t claim trash.”
I didn’t answer. Because I wasn’t sure if he claimed me out of duty. Or pity. Or something else.
When I stepped out, Mara helped me into the blue dress. It fit. Like it was made for me. The claiming mark peeked out at the shoulder, silver against pale skin.
“You have his eyes,” Mara whispered, fixing my hair. “That same gold. The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.”
The doors slammed open.
Darius.
Black pants. Black shirt. Sleeves rolled up to show forearms corded with muscle and scars. Gold eyes sharp. No smile.
The servants dropped to their knees instantly. “Alpha King.”
“Leave us,” he ordered.
They scurried out. Mara shot me one last look—reassuring, worried—then bowed and left.
Silence. Just me and him. The most powerful man in the wolf world. And me. The girl with no wolf.
“You ate?” he asked. No greeting. No soft words. Straight to business.
“I— not yet.”
He crossed the room in three strides. Grabbed an apple from the tray and held it out. “Then eat.”
I took it. Our fingers brushed. Heat shot up my arm from the claiming mark. I nearly dropped the fruit.
Darius didn’t pull away. He watched me bite into it. Watched my throat work as I swallowed.
“Good,” he said when I finished. “You’ll need strength.”
“For what?”
“For trials.” He turned to the window. Hands clasped behind his back. Alpha King looking at his kingdom. “Elders called a meeting. Dawn tomorrow. They want to see if you’re worth keeping alive.”
The apple turned to stone in my stomach.
“Trials?” I whispered. “What trials?”
“Three tests. One per day. By full moon.” He faced me again. Gold eyes serious. “Strength. Speed. Spirit. If you fail any, elders get what they want.”
My blood ran cold. “Which is?”
“Your death.” He said it flat. No sugar. Alphas didn’t lie. “Pack law says unshifted omegas over twenty are a curse. They’ll execute you on the full moon if your wolf doesn’t rise.”
Three days. I’d counted them last night. Now they had names: Strength. Speed. Spirit.
“I can’t pass those,” I said. Voice shaking. “I have no wolf. No strength. No speed. I’m broken.”
Darius crossed to me in two steps. Both hands on my shoulders. Not rough. Grounding. “You’re not broken. You’re dormant. And I don’t let what’s mine die.”
His thumb brushed my cheek. Same spot he wiped mud last night. The touch burned.
“First trial is tonight,” he said. “Strength. We start now.”
He led me out of the Luna suite. Down black stone halls. Past wolves who dropped to one knee. Past whispers that followed us like smoke.
“She can’t do it.”
“He’s wasting time.”
“The bloodline ends here.”
Darius heard it all. His power rolled off him in waves until the whispers died. But he didn’t look at them. Only at me.
We reached the training yard. Sand underfoot. Wooden dummies lined up. Wolves sparring in the distance. And at the edge—Selena.
Beta’s daughter. Perfect she-wolf. Kade’s new mate.
She wore red. Tight. Smirking. The moment she saw me, her scent turned sour with jealousy.
“So the trash followed him home,” she said loud enough for everyone to hear. “How pathetic.”
Darius didn’t slow down. Didn’t even glance at her. “Rafe.”
His Beta stepped forward. Sword at his hip. “Alpha.”
“Setup the stones,” Darius ordered. “Lifting trial.”
Rafe nodded. Warriors rolled out three granite stones. Small. Medium. Massive. The biggest one needed three wolves to lift.
Selena laughed. “You’re going to make the wolf-less omega lift stone? She’ll break her back before she lifts her own weight.”
Darius finally looked at her. Gold eyes went cold. “Speak to my mate again and you’ll lose your tongue, Selena.”
She flinched. Bowed her head. But the smirk stayed.
Darius turned to me. “Rule is simple. Lift the small stone. Hold it for ten seconds. That’s pass.”
My hands shook. The small stone was still heavier than anything I’d ever lifted. In the orphan house I carried water buckets. Not granite.
“I can’t,” I whispered.
“You can,” Darius said. He crouched behind me. Didn’t touch me. Just his presence at my back, solid and warm. “I’m not asking you to be strong today. I’m asking you to try.”
The whole yard watched. Wolves. Warriors. Servants. All waiting for me to fail. For Darius to look stupid for claiming me.
I stepped forward. Hands on the small stone. Cold. Rough.
I pulled.
Nothing. It didn’t even shift.
Laughter broke out. Selena’s was loudest.
“Again,” Darius said. Voice low. Only for me. “Don’t pull with your arms. Pull with your anger. Pull with twenty years of them calling you broken.”
Tears stung my eyes. I grabbed the stone again. Thought of Kade’s laugh. Thought of mud on my cheek. Thought of being called trash every day for twenty years.
I screamed and pulled.
The stone shifted. An inch. Then two.
My muscles burned. My arms shook. The claiming mark on my shoulder flared hot like fire.
“Hold,” Darius commanded.
I held it. Ten seconds felt like ten years. My vision blurred. Then the stone hit the sand with a thud.
Silence.
Then Darius’s voice, cold and final: “She passed.”
Whispers again. But different now. Shocked.
Selena stepped forward, fury in her eyes. “That was luck! Let me try the medium one. If I can lift it and she can’t, elders will see—”
“You’re not being tested,” Darius cut her off. He stepped in front of me, blocking Selena from view. “She is. And she passed.”
“But she’s—”
“She’s mine,” Darius said. Final. Deadly quiet. “Touch her again with your words and I’ll forget you’re the Beta’s daughter.”
Selena went pale and retreated.
Darius turned back to me. His hand came up to my face. Thumb wiped sweat from my brow. Gentle. Like I was precious.
“You did it,” he murmured. Only I could hear. “One trial down. Two to go.”
My arms were shaking. My chest heaved. But for the first time in twenty years… I hadn’t failed. Not completely.
“Why are you helping me?” I whispered. “If I die tomorrow, you lose nothing.”
Darius’s gold eyes burned. He leaned down until his forehead touched mine. Alpha scent overwhelming. Cedarwood. Storm.
“Because you’re not going to die,” he said. Voice rough. “Because the Goddess didn’t save you for twenty years just to let you break on a stone. Because you’re mine, Aria. And I don’t lose what’s mine.”
Behind him, Selena watched with hate in her eyes. And in the distance, the moon was rising. Getting closer.
Two trials left. Two days left.
Speed. Spirit.
Then live. Or die.
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- Writer
