Her Savior Alpha

Blue skies spread above me like a vast blanket. Mountain peaks lined the far distance. Birds chirped alongside the rustle of pine needles and branches. The slightly warm, breezy weather was a sharp contrast from the dark night before. Grunts and yells filled the air, as well as the sound of wooden blades batting against each other, plus snarls and animalistic rumbles.

I gripped the leather-bound handle in my right hand, its height aligned with my shoulder. Skin lightly damp from the brief warm-up I did before training, I kept a hard grip, trying to get the trajectory right. Boring a hole into my target - a sand-filled dummy that mimicked the vague shape of a human body - I flicked my wrist. The knife left my hand…and arched a centimeter over the dummy’s supposed to shoulder.

I let out a sigh, frustrated with my slowly-improving skill. Wiping my sweat-slicked hands on my worn-out leggings that wore under large, ill-fitting gym shorts, I lamented my lacking strength. With years of malnutrition and a body in a perpetual state of healing, I could never get to a point of gaining muscle. Of course, being sore and in pain on a daily basis didn’t make it any easier.

I looked around me, envying the other female pack members with the tight, lined abdomen and defined biceps and shapely quads.

Time was also a major obstacle. With all the ridiculous chores and tasks my family gave me, I rarely got a chance to eat, much less create a consistent training routine. Sometimes I felt like a real werewolf Cinderella…just without all the cute animals and pretty castles. I could’ve at least gotten ass-kicking moves.

I bit my lip, lost in thought as I prepared for my next throw. For most of the past five years, I felt this mistreatment was exactly what I deserved after destroying my parents’ lives and the lives of many. Yet, in a deep, dark corner in my heart, there was a part of me that resented it. Resented and felt furious about how my pack had turned their backs on me. Felt enraged at the dishonor to my ego. And I noticed this part of me slowly growing every day.

I’d always wished to become stronger, lighter, freer in my body. More recently, the pressure to do so has been at the front of my mind. I suspected it was because I was finishing up my seventeenth year and would meet my wolf soon. Once I turned for the first time, I would finally be more powerful than the pathetic girl I was now. But I needed to prepare, to hit the ground running. I never wanted anything for myself other than getting my parents back. Until now. I had been realizing more and more how much I wanted to taste the sweat on my tongue from pushing myself past my limits. I wanted to feel the victory of forcing others to respect me through my own will and prowess.

After last night, it seemed the desire had erupted within me. It all felt like a fever dream, retaliating at Dane like that. I still got hurt, but defending myself and letting my pent-off run free felt liberating. I felt like the wolf I was. Today, when I awoke, I had the unstoppable urge to start training now and no longer let anything get in my way.

Unfortunately, the burst of inspiration was fading with the reality of my skill. My actions last night felt even more unreal as I failed devastatingly at simple knife-throwing practice.

After the tenth attempt, I was all out of chances. The fallen knives rested in various locations on the ground surrounding the dummy. Everywhere but the dummy. Annoyed, I resisted the urge to groan. Maybe I was better off being the target for knife-throwing practice. Shaking my head at my inner dark humor, I stomped over to begin picking up the knives. Sitting on my haunches, I gathered them, taking the chance to survey the scene around me.

Thankfully, Reily was paired with someone else and was all the way at the edge of the training ground. Wearing a hoodie and joggers, he sparred with a larger guy with tan skin and bulking biceps in his t-shirt. Riely was a lot of things, but he really took training seriously - other than the other day. Even his girlfriend, who was always two steps away, didn’t seem to be around him. Still, the fact that he seemed less likely to bother me today was weird.

On that side of the training ground, every few meters, pack members sparred with partners. In one section, a group stood around with an open circle in the middle where two people faced off each other as humans. The group was made up of the not-yet turned learning the mechanics of hand-to-hand combat. After all, wolves aren’t just born knowing to fight the right way. One of the trainers stood, assessing their skills and weaknesses. At that moment, I realized one of the competitors fighting in the circle was Gina. Ah, so that’s why. Looks like only training could get her away from Riely.

I sat back on my haunches, the knives I’d collected in the crook of my arm. There still were other scattered, but I wanted to watch Gina; she’d never been a strong fighter. While I didn’t wish harm on people, I certainly wouldn’t complain if humiliation befell them. I might even get some well-needed glee out of it.

A small smile spread on my face - I couldn’t control it - as I watched her lithe form get thrown to the ground. Again. And again. And again. I snickered before moving on from the scene.

On the far right of the field, all the transformed wolves were training, especially those who had newly-turned. They often trained here at the beginning, to get used to their form. After they became more advanced, they went on practice hunts, runs, and more vicious spars in the forests. Many of them were in various stages of transformation, some panting and sweating after returning human, others swiping the air with their front claws to better control their movements. Going from two legs to four paws was pretty weird after all.

Amidst them, a tall form with an unfamiliar head of soft, dusty blonde hair caught my eye. From here, I could see he was hovering over a young woman who seemed to be struggling to control her transformation.

In my attempt to protect myself, I knew most of my pack members. It was necessary in order to survive, and as someone living in the Alpha’s household, it was impossible that I didn’t get acquainted with everyone who hated me.

But the blond figure with a back rippling with muscles under his form-fitting black shirt didn’t look like anyone I knew - especially not someone of high position enough to be training another. Which is exactly what he was doing. He stood facing the young woman with brown hair in a ponytail, who seemed to be trying to breathe deeply and close her eyes to focus. Or at least, she tried. Mostly, she kept flickering her eyes open to look up at the young man guiding her. I wasn’t sure if she was blushing out of exertion or out of embarrassment.

I slowed in my actions, hand feeling the ground for the other knives. I felt around the packed sand, but didn’t pay attention. Because right at the moment, the unfamiliar man turned and gave me a full look at him.

With a face sculpted with high cheekbones and a chiseled jaw, I knew I’d never seen anyone so beautiful in the pack. His sandy hair rustled slightly in the breeze, falling over his forehead and his eyes - his eyes were a mesmerizing light brown, a detail I could only see because the sun hit them directly as his angle. With slightly tan even skin, he looked like a golden Adonis, his body tall, lean, and powerful. The man - he looked young, but certainly no longer a boy - moved on to two wolves who were struggling to wrestle with precision.

Realizing I had picked up all my knives, I grimaced. Break time was over. I returned to my station, unable to help myself from looking back at him.

Suddenly, something hard slammed into my side, and I barely balanced myself before I could fall on my tailbone. The object landed heavily on the ground with a thump. It was one of the sand-filled training dummies. Tracking my gaze to the direction it came from, I saw Gina, flushed and sweaty, curly hair in a bun. It looked like she’d just returned from the spar (and most likely an embarrassing admonishment from the trainer). She was ready to take out her sulking on someone else.

“Where have you been staring with your mouth open this whole time?” Gina taunted with a sickening smirk. Her glossy lips formed an ‘O’ as she feigned ignorance. “Don’t tell me!” She looked in the direction I’d been indeed staring at for the past few moments. “No way, is little Vera thinking she has a chance with the new mentor?”

I kicked the training dummy at my feet, ignoring the slight pain it gave my toes. The dummy flew and rolled over to Gina.

“You should shut up and start working before your trainer sees you slacking,” I muttered. She gave me a death glare, but picked up the dummy and began propping it up. I guessed even Gina could have a weak spot, I thought with satisfaction. Funnily enough, she wasn’t as vicious when Riely wasn’t in close proximity.

“You should quit drooling over him like a dog,” she called out, swinging at the dummy. Her tight lilac camisole complimented her caramel brown skin, and the black gym leggings showed off her curvy figure. “You might upset him with your dumb face.”

I ignored her, beginning to throw one knife after the other. Despite my werewolf strength, my arms lacked physical definition, so the few couple missed. Most people didn’t respect me anyway, so I didn’t care much about messing up in front of Gina. I didn’t have a shred of dignity left as the pack pariah.

“Why would I care about your words?” I said, feigning nonchalance. I pointed my next one at a higher trajectory, trying to hit the chest area. With a light swing of my wrist, the knife flew. Its blade sunk into the bottom abdomen. A wave of self-satisfaction rose over me. It didn’t hit where I intended, but it hit the dummy nonetheless. “You did just get beat up four times in the past half hour.” I clapped inside for my comeback. Rarely did I get a chance to get a word in, but I felt a little more risk-taking here, with more people around me.

Gina paused in her boxing, sending me a cold glare, breathing slightly hard from her fast pace. She might have gotten beaten up many times, but I would’ve been down in the first couple. Ignoring my jab, she bared her teeth in a rough smirk, “Wait. Don’t you know who he is?” Something about her voice made me think she knew a tidbit of information that would be bad news to me.

I cocked another knife, trying to do the same thing I did the first time. “Not interested.”

Oh, but I was. I wanted very much to know who the mysterious, gloriously attractive mentor was - and where the hell he’d been all my life.

Luckily, Gina couldn’t help but tell me anyway. “That’s Riely’s big brother,” the words burst out of her mouth like she couldn’t hold them in. Self-satisfaction exuded from her as she returned to her solo training session. “He goes on really long missions, comes back only a couple times a year. So you better watch yourself.”

The knife I threw right at that second would’ve been perfect had I not heard those words. Alas, the it veered off-kilter, missing the dummy completely, as I took in the information.

“Oh,” the sound left my lips in a small whoosh of breath. No wonder Gina was oh-so-happy to share the details with me. She knew that I was Riely’s number one enemy, the person he waged war against daily. If he hated me, then there was no doubt that his older brother felt the same as well. Maybe even loathed me, considering he was older and had more time with his parents who died because of me. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d been away to avoid seeing me, the person who ruined his life. Perhaps he knew the second he saw me, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from wrapping his hands around my neck.

I refocused on my task. The day seemed markedly more dreary then before with no daydreaming thoughts to entertain me.

By afternoon, the training ground had cleared a little, with pack members going to grab lunch or complete their duties. The organized sparring group had disbanded, and the new wolves (when everyone finally transformed successfully) ended their session with a few laps around the grounds. Even Gina had left, a towel draped around her neck. She made sure to bump into my shoulder as she passed by. I saw no trace of Riely or any of his goons, which was all the better. I could focus on my training for once.

After realizing that having my heads in the clouds only led to disappointment, I doubled down. I put the knives back in the armory and secured my hair in a high ponytail. Then, I faced my training dummy with the brutality of a revenge-hungry Lycan, ready to destroy her enemies. Punching and swiping at the dummy felt good, even if it did tire me out quickly. I knew I had to work on my endurance, and this was a good cardio, strength-building, and combat-training workout all at once. It helped to imagine myself facing Beartown’s warriors or coyotes. Or even Riely.

Thinking about them made me strike with a vengeance. Unfrotaintely, my fist slipped and accidentally hit the underlying wooden part peeking through the exterior, and I cried out in pain. My knuckles throbbed red.

“Fighting takes a lot more control of your limbs,” a smooth-as-honey, masculine voice said softly. I jerked around to find the last person I expected. “Even against an immovable object.”

The new mentor stood before me, his height making me tilt my head up. From up close, he was even more gorgeous. I drank in his cut-from-marble features: the smooth planes of his face, his aristocratic nose, his slightly arched, fine brows and the pale thick lashes overlooking butterscotch eyes that glowed in golden rings. His long sleeves were pushed halfway up his arms, and he wore shorts over training tights; all black.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to speak, he stuck out his hand. “I’m Clive. I noticed you could use some extra help so I came over. I don’t have much to do for the rest of the day, so I hope this is all right.” His eyes felt like they were touching my soul as they gazed directly at me, a warm smile inching up his cheek. Dimples appeared.

I slowly put my smaller, paler hand in his, awestruck. “Oh, no, of course. Uh...thank you. I mean, I’m...” I wondered if should say my name. Didn’t he understand who I was? Surely Riely must have told him.

“Vera, right?

So he knew who I was. “Yep, that’s me. Nice to meet you.”

“I noticed you’ve been practicing your sparring. Do you mind if I watch you demonstrate for a second?” He crossed his arms over his chest, not in an intimidating way. Gulping, I nodded.

Turning back to the dummy, I started throwing punches. It felt ridiculous to do with someone staring at me. I thought more about my movements and couldn’t do it naturally. After a few moments that felt quick, he stopped me.

“It looks like you’re fighting without a strategy.”

I cocked my head in confusion. “Why would I need a strategy with something that doesn’t move?”

He chuckled. “Well, you want to have some plans in mind before you head into real battle. You can map it out and practice on the dummy first. Here, I’ll show you.”

I thought he would step forward to hit the dummy himself, but instead he came up behind me. Taking a hold of my right wrist, his large hand enveloping it, he raised my elbow a bit. “Keep your elbows at shoulder-height. Ideally, your upper body is lowered so that you can protect your abdomen.” He pulled my elbow back and slowly pressed it to the dummy, between the head and the chest. “Start by hitting the most vulnerable areas. Then, with your other hand,” he paused to take my other arm in his grip and punch the dummy below, in the stomach. “You take the opportunity to hit your opponent’s blind spot, while they protect the neck. Make sense?”

My head felt like it would explode; I was blushing so hard I was certain he could feel waves of heat radiating off me. His solid chest barely skimmed my back, but when it did, it felt like fire igniting. My stomach flipped over. And his scent - it was so familiar, like cedarwood and rain. Where had I smelled it before?

Realizing I had to respond, I nodded, maybe for a bit too long.

He stepped back, and said, “Now, if you were to practice the simple, two-step strategy hundreds of times on the dummy, the next time you fight a real person, it will come to you automatically.”

I turned to him, wanting to get something off my chest. “Why are you helping me?”

Raising a hand to scratch the back of his neck, he looked away. “I’m actually the one will took your to the medical hall after.... my brother and his friends did that to you. I want to say that I’m sorry for his actions, and I don’t condone them. In fact, I want to help you train and be able to look out for yourself. Your father saved me, after all.”

My mouth fell open at the admission. I wasn’t sure what to be shocked about. “I-I appreciate it. I don’t know what to say. Sure, if you have time, I’d love to accept your help.”

A grin lit up his entire, handsome face. “Well, then Vera, meet me here tomorrow, noon on the dot.”