She is Alpha

Do you feel it too?

After Ben told us about the prize, I looked to other rouges; I think I was the only one who wasn't thrilled about the border check. Leia was delighted; she wanted to explore other parts of this pack. She tries to prove to herself and me that she is good again and I can trust her. I knew I could. But we need a lot of practice. Leia is my wolf, we are together, and we only have each other. - No, we will have a whole new pack if we try hard enough. - Leia said to me. She is so young, she doesn't know my old pack, my dad. She only knew him, but as fast as I got his image in my head, I swapped it away. Since we were here, Leia doesn't ask about him anymore, and I wanted it to stay like that. It was too painful, and it was too late to think about that. That was another life, and we needed to start to make a new one together.

After instructions from Ben, I looked for other rouges. We are five together and started this training almost at the same time. Everyone looked excited; we never got an assignment based on a competition and with a prize at the end. It was the first time in weeks one of us could get out of the rouge village.

The first assignment is a test. Our knowledge of packs history and hierarchy. We had that lesson in the first week when we started our training.

We all started to walk together to the classroom that was in the training station. I usually choose my spot in the last row. I'm not too fond of company. Anyone who tries to sit next to me gets my stare and says- get the f*** away. Usually, it works, but not on George.

He always sits next to me, looks at my dissatisfied face, and simply smiles; it does not affect him. He is a little bit older than me, and he came from another pack, so he wasn't a rouge, not technically. He just wanted to join this pack because he wanted to be a warrior. And why not be a warrior in one of the best packs in the world? He saw a great opportunity and went with it. He is different than the rest of us. He had never felt hunger or was afraid of his life. He had a choice and chose it. I looked at him again. He was the only one of us who felt comfortable here; the rest of us sometimes looked like animals in a cage just waiting to get attacked. I saw him putting his fingers through his hair, his arm muscles flex when he did that, he had muscles, but he wasn't bulky. His face was a little boyish-like but with a chiseled jawline and straight nose. His blond hair ended right above his shoulders. Leia sometimes joked that he is a Greek sculpture. And I said to her that usually, those sculptures miss a limp or half a face. I didn't notice that I was still looking at him, and he smiled at me. I just rolled my eyes and started to look straight and locked eyes with Ben; his gaze was heated, and it gave me chills. I noticed in the corner of my eye that George saw that too. He wasn't smiling anymore.

The Rouge girl, who was sitting in the first row, had her hand raised. She always had a question. Ben said - Yes, Christina?- but never stopped looking at me. Christina was my age, but she was a real rouge. She is tall and a little bit skinny for her age, like all rouges. Christina has dark black curly hair. By her ponytail, I can see that she has a tough time with them. They were unsubmissive almost as much as her brother, who was sitting next to her. A dark, tall, and bulky guy, Alex never smiled, never showed any emotions, never talked to anyone except to his sister, and when trainers called him, his answers were short, mostly yes or no. But it always felt like he could kill someone just because he wanted to. I like him. He never annoys me. Leia called them Oreos, like cookies, because they were always together.

Ben finally looked away from me because he couldn't concentrate on Christina's question. I could finally breathe normally again. He tried to explain to her something that I didn't have any interest in either. I know every answer to her question because I already learned that in school, and my dad taught me the rest. But I get it, not everyone in this room is as lucky as George and me; all of them are rouges, I am just pretending.

My eyes wandered to the last rouge in the classroom. She is sitting in the second row. I could only see her strawberry blond hair in a high ponytail, but I knew she was looking at Ben, while he was still explaining Christina her question. She liked him. Isabella was beautiful, and she had dark blue eyes, a small ladylike nose, and full lips, and she smiled a lot. I could see that she tried a lot to do everything right and wanted to fit in. She has become friends with George, but she always puts a little distance between her and any man. I don't know her story, but I could sense that it has some dark notes. Leia called her the Dark twist. As I thought that, she turned around, locked eyes with George, and pointed her head to Christina's side, rolled her eyes, and smiled; George laughed at that, and I punched him. Isabella turned around, facing the front, and was unsuccessfully trying not to laugh. George acted as if he was hurt by that and put his hand on his stomach where I punched him. I just shook my head and said - Behave-.

Ben finally understood and explained to Christina her complex question. We were ready to take a test. That was an easy one. I completed all twenty questions in ten minutes, the same as George, and we both went out of class at almost the same time.

While others were trying to remember the correct answers, we had some free time. As George went out of the classroom, he tried to start a conversation. I just walked away. I didn't want to chit-chat. I knew that the next assignment would be combat skills, hand-to-hand combat, and I needed to stretch my torso. My back was still a little bit sore from the trauma I got three weeks ago. While I stretched, George just came near me, sat on the grass, and took a little bag of potato chips out of his pocket.

He eats them so loudly, and he was looking at me and smiling. He knows he is annoying me. At one point, I just couldn't, and I shouted in frustration - Can you just not do it here? I am trying to stretch my body.- And he just answered with his mouth full - This is my kind of stretching.- And he smiled with his mouth full of chips. I just laugh. He was such an i***t, but I was slightly jealous of him because it was his choice to be there. He is free. And it was refreshing to be around someone like that.

Then he continued - How is your back? Is it held yet? - he asked without chewing, so it seemed to interest him. - It is getting better. I can almost change without any pain. And I am not getting that tired so fast, so I can kick your ass- I said the last part with a big smile; I was touching my toes with my hands so I couldn't see his face. I was interested in why he didn't have some rude comment on that statement. I looked at him, and what I saw shocked me. He looked right behind me; his eyes were wide open, and he had a chip in his hand that was halfway to his mouth. -He actually looked like a Greek sculpture.- I thought. When I stood up and looked in the direction where George was staring, I met his vibrant green eyes that I knew so well. I saw Ben in the classroom doorway; behind him was the Oreos, and the Dark twist was trying to see why the doors were blocked.

But all I could see was Ben and the angry face he gave to George -If a look could kill.- Leia said. I was speechless. I could not understand his gaze, then his eyes locked with mine, and his softened. At that point, the Dark twist got through the Oreos and bumped into Ben's shoulder. -I am so sorry, sir!- she gasped, only then he looked away from me. -What is his problem?- George said between chips and got up from the grass. -After ten minutes, we will have combat, be ready!- Ben said and went to the trainer's house. I could see that his hands were in fists.

After the test, combat, and orientation, trainers put a board on the stadium's fence; there were our names; George and I were tight, and after us was Alex, the Dark twist, and Christina. While we were around the board, Ben and another trainer came to us. His name is Kaj. He is tall and big, Alex compared to him looked small and -Ladylike- Leia added.

As I was smirking at her joke, Kaj looked at me with his blue eyes and blond hair, and his nose was a little bit crooked; maybe it was because he is the trainer for hand-to-hand combat and said. -As I see, we have no winners here, but we have a prize! So we will decide who will go to the board check tonight very quickly. Combat.-

-Of course- George smirked. - In your wolf form..- Kaj continued.

Leia and I froze. - Last time we did it, we almost...- Leia couldn't end the sentence. -Died.- I said. -We almost died.- I simply added.

-But our back still hurts while we are in our wolf form.- Leia was so scared. -I know, but we can't back down now. We are going to do this. - I tried to calm her. But we both know that she hasn't been in control in wolf form since that night, and I am too weak to fight and win this.

Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation from my hand throughout my whole body. I looked at my hand, and Ben's arm is holding it. -Are you okay?- Ben looked at me. I took my hand out of his as if his touch had burned me. I saw his face. I knew he felt the same sparkle as me. He walked away from me without saying a word. -How can it be happening? - I asked, confused, to Leia. -I don't know, it can't be; he is not our mate. - I rolled my eyes at her last sentence as if I didn't know this.

-Maia!- Kaj yield -Are you ready?-

-Yes! - I said back, as I was looking at Ben as he walked away. -Okay, I have given you a minute to change and be back here in your wolf form!-I started to run to my regular changing bush at the beginning of the woods. I took off all my clothes and started to change. We had to hurry up, so it was excruciating because of my recently broken ribs and back injuries. I let slip an inhuman roar because of the pain, and my vision got blurry.

As I ran back to the stadium, I saw everyone looking at me. My big black wolf was as big as George's grey one. Usually, man's wolves are more extensive than us, but we are high in rank. That is why they were more significant than women's. Both wolves took the positions, and Kaj explained the rules.

The wolf who pins another one to the ground for more than 10 seconds is the winner. There is no biting till blood and no killing, so no throat grip, as Kaj said that George's wolf showed us his teeth. - He wants to win- Leia said worriedly.

-I will be in control- I told her, and I felt that she got calmer. I waved my head to understand the rules. Wolfs usually use telepathy to connect to each other, but rouges don't have a pack, so we couldn't connect like that if we weren't members of a pack. It was a big ceremony when Alpha himself came into this circle.

I was standing against this big grey wolf, and for the first time, my only assignment was not to kill him. As I thought of that, I saw him on a jump as Kaj said - Go!-.