The Rogue Alpha’s Claim

“I still refuse to believe you are a werewolf.” Ariel told Toby as they sat on one of the sofas in the living room. She was well aware of the pair of eyes boring holes into her skin, although now for a different reason, but she could care less.

“Why?” Toby asked; his voice drowned out as he took a gulp from the juice carton, and Ariel looked on, her face twitching in disgust.

She made a mental note to herself never to drink from any open carton.

“I don’t know; you are just so carefree and so friendly, quite unlike the people in this house, and honestly, I can’t even believe you are the war general of something.”

Toby shook his head, a tiny lip on his lips, but he was relieved that he wasn’t going to be pretending with her anymore. “It is called being a gamma, but yeah, I understand you. Being a wolf is just part of who I am, just like being a human. It doesn’t change anything about me.”

“Hmm.” Ariel nodded her head. If she was being honest, they weren’t so bad. If Toby was a werewolf and he could be himself, there was no reason she shouldn’t give him a chance. “How did all this even happen-the whole pack, Alpha, Beta, and all that stuff?”

“Kane should be the best person in a position to tell you.” Toby mused, and Ariel’s lips pursed in a pout.

“Well, he isn’t here, and I am dying to know. Do you guys fight for the position, or is it handled to you, and how did you even know who gets to be who?” With each question, Ariel was shifting out of her chair, her eyes wide as curiosity overtook her.

“I don’t even know the answer to all this.”

“Toby?” Ariel whined, jutting out her lips in a pout, but Toby took one look at her, and he was shaking his head.

“You know that look doesn’t work on me, right?” Ariel gave no reply; instead, she shifted inside her seat. “But I could get some books for you on werewolf history, and it should help you understand us better.”

“Really?” Ariel looked up at him, her eyes gleaming in excitement. “Thank you so much.”

“Yea. I will have to go now,” he glanced at his watch as he stood up. “I’ve got things to do.”

***

It wasn’t exactly easy, adjusting to the fact that all the people living in the mansion with her could potentially kill her, but as hours rolled into days, Ariel found her guard slowly dropping around them.

Each passing day only made her realize they were as much human as she was and nothing was going to change about that, and also because Toby had reassured her with any shadow of doubt that they were not cannibalistic.

Nor do they find any pleasure in eating her; that has put her weary heart to rest.

Ariel slung her gym mat over her arm, her eyes glued to her phone, as she made her way to the training room. Kane had been too busy to continue their training; it was left to her to pick up where she had started.

She should have listened to her instincts when they told her to run, but she held the door knob, pushing the door open.

The creaking of the door drew the attention of the occupant, and all 100 pairs of eyes were drawn to her. Okay, maybe they weren’t up to a hundred, but it felt like it.

“I’m sorry, I thought it was free.” She said this to the occupants of the room. Her eyes scanned their faces, noting that they were only women.

Ariel stood at the door, waiting for their response, but they barely paid her heed; instead, they all turned away and continued with what they were doing.

“Okay. Rude.” Ariel murmured under her breath, well aware of their sensitive ears, but she couldn’t care. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her weary heart, and she ventured into the lion’s den.

“Remember the instruction; you keep fighting until someone loses.” The woman in front, who she assumed was the instructor, said, and they all nodded their heads. “Good, now fight.”

She blew the whistle, and it all happened in a twinkling of an eye. The two contenders crashed into each other with a force that rivaled elephants in a fight, and she flinched, closing her eyes to escape the horrors.

But the loud cheers from the spectators had her eyes opening wide and her mouth hanging open.

Neither of the women had even acknowledged what was going on; instead, they were at it, rushing each other with such swiftness and agility that she had never known-a battle of fist and fury, and Ariel wondered if she had stumbled into a mad house.

If she thought that the females were soft, she was in the wrong because there was nothing soft about them-not in this moment.

It was bloody, with teeth flying off and the sickening sound of bones crunching, but she couldn’t peel her eyes off them, even though she was seconds away from fainting.

There was something beautiful about the violence that appealed to the animalistic nature in her.

Her hands flew to her mouth as one of the contenders grabbed her opponent’s arm, twisting it so much that the bones snapped from their hinges and protruded out of the skin. The white of the flesh had her swaying even as tiny beads of sweat clung to her forehead.

It was only then that the woman tapped out, too delirious in pain to even scream out.

The woman who had been moderating the fight came up and held the winner’s arm, raising it up even as the cheers got louder. “I proclaim Mabel the winner.” The screams got even louder and more crazy, and Ariel was sure she had entered a madhouse.

Her eyes found a trash can lying around, and she was running towards it, throwing up her breakfast like a missile. She had not eaten anything, and it was only stomach acid.

“Here.” A hand came to her vision, holding a bottle of water, and she grabbed it with greedy hands, gulping a mouthful and gargling it to get rid of the horrible aftertaste.

“Thank you.” Ariel straightened up to look at her helper, but the only thing she was drawn to was her blue-colored hair, chopped so low and haphazard that she was afraid a kid had been playing to dress up with her hair.

“I know it is horrible; I was trying out a new style, but unfortunately it wasn’t as I envisioned it.” The lady said, running her hands through her hair, a wistful expression in her eyes.

“I am sorry; I didn’t mean to.”

“I heard you have been training with the alpha. You can give it a shot.” The lady interrupted her, looking towards the fight arena.

“I don’t think I can call it training compared to this, but yeah, I have been practicing.”

“Then you should give it a try. We are all about inclusivity in the pack.” The woman pressed on, moving closer to her, her lips in a wide smile that was more creepy than nice.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I am not really sure.” Ariel glanced at the battle scene where a lady was getting pummeled, and she shook her head. “I don’t think I can take any of you.”

“It is fine. We have people that are on your level, and they would go easy on you. The purpose of this is to learn, not necessarily to get bloodied.” The screams reaching her were an indication that they were definitely getting bloodied, but when had she ever been reasonable?

“Alright.” The way the woman’s eyes lit up as Ariel agreed should be a telltale that it wasn’t going to end well, but she could be adamant about something.

“I am fucked; I am going to die.” The words were ringing in her head like an alarm clock, but her name was called up, and every thought of running away flew from her mind.

“Alright, fighters, take your position.” Ariel widened her stance as Kane had taught her, and she held up her fist. “Now fight.”

As the first punch landed squarely on her cheeks, whipping her head in the opposite direction, Ariel knew she had made a terrible decision.

***

“Kane.” Ariel called out weakly as she received another kick on her back. She was curled up, trying to protect her stomach, but the kicks continued, and in that unconscious state, she wondered why she had agreed in the first place. “Kane!”

She was giving up; she knew it. There was only so much a human body could take, and she had reached her limit.

Hell, she could see Kane riding towards her in a chariot, like her knight in shining armor, and she managed a small smile.

Ariel whined as her hands held her, cradling her to their bodies, and she shifted towards the familiar warmth, but the voice that thundered was anything but warm.

“Who did this to you?”