The Alpha’s Weakness

Ryker

Dinner was amazing, it usually is but tonight seemed to be a little more special. I was finally going to tell her how I felt. I know she wants to find out who her mate is, but I really needed to do this. My wolf Bear wholeheartedly agrees with me. Once she turns 18 next week I hope that we end up being mates. I am a year older than her so I had my wolf before her, but I never found my mate. So a little part of me hopes that she will be it. Mate bonds unfortunately can’t be recognized until both parties have their wolves. It’s frustrating to say the least.

Once we finished dinner, I helped do dishes and clean up. We sat down for the best dessert in the world at the counter and I slid over the counter to where she was sitting next to me. “Okay you can have it now.” I say with a smirk.

“Oh finally!” She says with a squeal before opening the box. Just as I thought, what she saw inside left her completely speechless. Inside was a silver chain with a full moon charm. Silhouetted on the charm is a howling wolf. When I saw it hanging in the jewelers; I knew I had to get it for her. She looks up with those beautiful hazel eyes as they start to fill with tears.

“I saw and I thought of you. With the full moon and everything… I thought it was fitting.” I stood up and put it on her. She turns around once I’m done and gives me a hug. I take a deep breath in and my nostrils fill with the smell of strawberries and cream. I felt that she fit perfectly into my arms. She may be on the smaller side, but that makes her even more perfect. Her long dark brown hair had natural red highlights that shine when the sun comes out. Her hazel eyes seemed to change color every time I looked into them. And her freckles that were speckled across her cheeks made them pop. She was nothing short of breathtaking to me.

I took her hand and we went to sit down on the couch. I was nervous, what if she didn’t feel the same way. I shook my head and told myself I’d never find out if I don’t make the first move. I held onto her hand as she leaned her head on my shoulder. I was definitely content. About half way through I paused the movie. As I’m about to confess my feelings for her, I turn and notice she’s fallen asleep on my shoulder.

“Well you bored her to death. Way to go Romeo”, my wolf growls inside my head.

“I didn’t bore her to death. She just relaxed and fell asleep. You know she finds our scent calming. If I wasn’t so nervous I probably would have fallen asleep as well.” I snap back

I put a block up before he can say anything else. I watched her sleep for a bit before picking her up and laying her on her bed softly. I head back downstairs after that. Once I got to my floor I couldn’t help but notice that my twin brother was still awake.

“Hey what are you still doing awake?” I ask him curiously. He smiles a little and looks at me.

“So did you finally tell her?” I roll my eyes at him. Of course he’s being nosy about it. “No, I didn't get the chance. She fell asleep before I could.” I sigh sadly. I don’t know when I will get another chance since tomorrow she will be busy with the trainees until her birthday. Before he can say more I head towards my room falling asleep quickly.

I meet up with Bella downstairs. I call her Bella since everyone else calls her by her full name. I called her Izzy once and I almost ended up without a head. So instead I call her Bella. I could tell her she was nervous. Everyone was. Hardly anyone talked in the dining area while we waited for the news. I sat down next to her. She was shaking her leg and picking at her eggs. I couldn’t help but smile when I noticed she was still wearing her necklace though.

“Everything is going to be fine. You don’t need to worry about anything.” I rub her shoulder to calm her down a little. She doesn’t say anything and just nods her head. Soon we all start making our way to the training building. She goes to her office while everyone heads to get changed in the lockers.

It was so quiet it was awkward and so I dressed as quickly as I could and got out of there to join some of the others. While we were waiting I had a small conversation with Bear.

“Do you think we will be picked?” I ask him.

“Well of course she is going to pick us. How could she not? We are made for this position. Literally” he says confidently.

He’s right. My dad is the KIng’s best friend and also one of the generals. It runs in my blood. Soon everyone is sitting on the floor waiting for Bella. She comes out in a pair of black leggings, teal sports bra, and her hair is tied back into a high ponytail. I growl as one of the guys shoves my shoulder. He laughs along with a few others. “Hey Ryker you have a thing of drool dripping off of your chin” Levi whispers to me jokingly. I roll my eyes and we all die down once she stands in front of us to make announcements. She must be planning on participating at some point today otherwise she wouldn’t be in her workout uniform.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, we have a big day today. First things first, we will go out to the track and run a mile for conditioning. Then after that we will have a sparring session. I have all of your partners already listed on this clipboard, most of you are with the same partner as last weekend. I wasn’t satisfied with how things were last week so we are going to try again. I will give demonstrations if needed. Any questions before we head out?” She asks. When nobody says anything we all head out to the gym. Bella grabs her phone and headphones before we leave.

We all start running in a few groups. Bella puts her headphones in and takes off. She’s definitely a quick runner. Most can’t keep up with her so when we do conditioning she runs off by herself. She will typically be done a lap earlier than all of us. Not that we mind. Once we’ve completed our mile we head inside grabbing the mats sparring. I’m with Daniel, one of the more stronger and mature pack members. He’s a good challenge for me and he always keeps me on my toes.

We’re all doing well when we hear Bella call from the middle of the gym. Once we gather around, we realize what she is about to do. She is about to call the four candidates. She looks nervous as she grips her clipboard tightly. I catch her eyes and I give her a reassuring nod and a small smile. She returns it back with a small smile before looking away.

“Alright everyone gather round. You’ve all done well and I hope you all are proud of yourself. This decision I can promise you I didn’t make lightly. It was incredibly hard to just choose four. If I could, I would have chosen about ten of you.” At this point everyone gives a small chuckle and relaxes just a little bit. She continues once it quiets back down again. “The four that I have picked will be team captains for the game ‘King and Queens’. The object of the game is for your team to get past another team's turf and take as many members as you can. Once two of the teams are eliminated, you must anoint a king and a queen.

“They will then strategize together on how to defeat the other king and queen. Each team member that is caught will be dragged outside of the forest and brought to me. The jailer. Each member that is stuck in ‘prison’ must go one on one with me if you would like to get out and rejoin the game.”

At this there are a few groans. No one could ever get passed Bella. They could try all they wanted but she was just way too good. Even their wolf forms couldn’t take her.

“Wolf forms are allowed. There will be no killing. Anything else is fair game. The first team to end up catching the other team’s king and queen will be the winners. Teams have been chosen already and you will find that all teams have been separated evenly between numbers and strengths. Any questions?

“Okay now the four that have been picked are… Rachel, Dennis, Hillary, and finally Ryker.” There is a round of applause and cheers as I’m patted on the shoulder. I’m honestly surprised she picked me and at the same time I’m not. We soon split off into our teams and head towards the forest to play the game. Bella stands at the ready on the edge as we all head in. After ten minutes of strategic meetings we hear Bella blow a whistle to mark the start.

An hour and a half later, my team ends up winning. Once we are dismissed from training and everyone is in the locker rooms, I go to her office and sit in her chair, waiting for her to come back. I can’t help but smile at the pictures of us on her desk. Her new necklace hangs from one to keep it safely away from damage during training. Her door opens up and I jump a little.

“Where is Princess Isabella?” He asks. It takes me a second to answer that I didn’t have a clue. I’ve never seen this man in my life, and something about him instantly makes my wolf growl in my head. He smells like a rogue, but looks perfectly healthy. Rogues put of this incredible stink that can make a wolf cringe immediately; but unlike most rouges that were practically skin and bones, he was healthy as a horse. Something wasn’t right.

“May I ask who you might be?’ I ask cautiously.

“When you see her, tell her that Frankie needs to meet her at 7 o’clock sharp. Also tell her it's an urgent matter.” Without another word he leaves for the back door that heads straight towards the forest

Who was Frankie? Was this a guy she was seeing in secret? Surely not… Right?

“I don’t know who this guy is but I don’t trust him.” My wolf comments.

“I don’t know either, should we relay the message back to her? The guy didn’t really seem to be as urgent as he says he is”

“No, I think we should wait to see what is going on first.”

I agree, until I find who this Frankie is and why he wants to meet with Bella, she isn’t going to find out that this guy paid her a visit. Call me the jealous type. But I can’t have her running off to somewhere right before she turns 18. Especially if it is by herself.