Alphess: An Angel of Death

Discovery

I gave Titan a warning nip before leaping off of him and shifting back. My chest was heaving from the exertion of the fight, but blood roared in my ears. I was exhilarated and confused and proud all at the same time. I’d just somehow beaten the toughest wolf in my class without any formal fight training. And given the look of shame on Titan’s face when he shifted back, he knew it too.

“This isn’t over, Cromwell,” he snarled. “I went easy on you because you’re the bloody princess.”

I rolled my eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, Titan. But I beat you, and just remember that the next time you want to pick on someone. I will find you and I will beat you again.”

He scoffed, storming off to go lick his wounds. And by storm off, I mean he hobbled his way back into the estate. The bite I’d left on his leg was oozing blood and he’d have a limp for a day or two while it healed. I smirked to myself. I didn’t even have a scratch on me.

All of a sudden, a wet glob attached itself to my hip.

“Hayden! You saved me!” Ajax crowed.

I looked down at him, perplexed. “I didn’t save you, Ajax. I stood up to your bully for you.”

“You’re my hero,” he gushed, clearly not paying attention to what I was saying.

I grunted, gently disengaging him from my waist. “It was nothing. Now go get inside and get warm.”

He beamed and nodded, running inside. I watched him go before heading inside myself, going straight to the Cromwell wing and to my room for a shower. My mind was still reeling from the encounter. How had I known to fight like that? And what kind of power had come over me? My limbs still felt tingly from the buzzing that had powered every single one of my moves.

Unbeknownst to me, there had been a fourth person that saw the fight. None other than the General Keller Graves himself. He went straight to my parents to tell them the good news. Their daughter would be joining his elite training camp starting in the morning – the Goddess had gifted her with incredible battle prowess.

It took me years to realize it, but it wasn’t just “battle prowess” that the Moon Goddess had given to me. It was the heart and soul of a stone-cold killer. My gift was bloodlust.