The Alpha and the Exile

I grit my teeth, doing my best to ignore the burning pain as I lifted the dumbbells yet another time. I let out a breath as I slowly let them drop. I had done forty curls and had to do another ten before Michael would be satisfied or at least the closest I could get to satisfaction from him. He'd started my strength training three days ago, and it was brutal. With his arms crossed over his chest, he watched me with that ever present smirk on his face.

I'd love nothing more than to reach over and slap it off his face, but I'm pretty sure that once I finished these bicep curls, my arms would be useless for several hours. "Quit smirking or I'll throw this thing at you," I growled at him. "Somehow I doubt that," he said, his voice goading and teasing. "Come on, that's only fifty pounds. You should be able to do twice that much easily. Are you sure you're the luna here?"

"What would you know about Lunas? Got something you need to tell me?" I said as I painfully pulled the dumbbells up again. "And you're not so tough. You whine like a three-year-old because you have to sit for an hour and talk." I got the laugh from him I was looking for, but the sound of the door cut whatever reply he had.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," Mario said from where he stood at the door.

"No, not at all," I said quickly before Michael could say anything. I set down the dumbbells on a piece of nearby exercise equipment. My arms hung to my sides so that I wouldn't have to find out just yet if they were usable or not. "What's up?"

"I've found you're new fighting coach," Mario said, still standing in the doorway.

There was a twisted gleam in his eye, and he looked strangely smug as he said it. I knew right then and there whoever this person was, it was going to be bad. When he step into the room so the person behind him could walk in it took all I had to not scream 'Are you insane?' Mario in all his brilliance chose Flinn to teach me how to fight. I just stared at Mario then at Flinn, who looked equally smug as Mario. Did he not hear what happened to Koreyon?

"Well you're not an alpha, but you can at least fight right?" Michael said, apparently mocking Flinn and shoving in his face the reason I broke up with him.

Flinn's face darkened. "Yeah, I can fight," he replied back sharply.

"Perfect,” Michael said with what sounded like acceptance. My attention jerked towards him in shock. I'd totally expected him to refuse and more than likely get mad at Mario. However, before I could voice some kind of reply Michael said, "Well no time like the present. Let's see what you can do." With that, he gave me a little push and forcing me to take a step forward.

"Whoa, wait a minute," I said, planting my feet firmly into the ground. "Don't I get a say in this," I demanded, glaring at all three of them. "Nope," Michael said smugly.

Flinn gave me a half smile that held nothing friendly, while Mario almost smiled as he walked out of the room. He and I would have words later. "Don't go easy on her," Michael told him and with another shove he added, "Let's go Peaches!"

I shot Michael a dirty look, but as he recrossed his arms over his chest, it was obvious he found this all hilarious. With another scowl, I walked towards Flinn. He looked uncharacteristically smug for some reason. If there really was a moon goddess or any of that crap, she had a sick twisted sense of humor.

"I meant it when I said it, boy toy. Don't hold back," Michael called out. "Now come on let's go!"

He clapped his hands loudly startling me, and I might have let out a girl shriek of surprise when Flinn lunged at me. I dodged and managed to get into something resembling a fighting stance as Flinn turned to face me. There was a cocky satisfaction on his face as he straightened and walked towards me in a purposeful, yet slow pace. I felt my hackles rise with irritation at the underlying mocking at his pace. I can do this, I told myself and readied for his attack.

When he was about five feet from me, Flinn lunged with a hook intended for my side. I turned, grabbing his wrist and sticking out a foot, tripping him and sending him to the ground. I let out a satisfied breath as I bounced back away from him. Flinn got up with a dry scoff of laughter. "Not bad," he admitted, then came at me again.

We skittered around the room as we fought. I managed to get a few hits, but it didn't do a whole lot of good. From the previous exercise, my arms weren't at full strength and unfortunately Flinn's wiry frame kept me from doing any kind of harm to him. Most of his attacks I was able to dodge or block, but when he did get a hit, it was like being hit by a mac truck. I wasn't a fool. I knew this was a fight I wasn't going to win.

Michael had to know it too. So why did he push me to fight Flinn if he knew I'd lose? I grit my teeth as I dodged another swing from Flinn. I didn't want to lose. Anger and pride flushed through me and demanded I beat Flinn at whatever this twisted game he and Michael were playing. With a growl of determination, I rushed him, planning to catch him by surprise. Only that I didn't and by the time I realized it, it was too late to do anything about it.

With a fluid movement, full of graceful speed, Flinn dodged my attack and wrapped his arm around my neck, trapping me against him. I struggled to free myself, but his grip on me was tight. Flinn lowered his head towards my ear and made 'tsk tsk' sound. "You should've known better than that," he mocked and by the way he said it, I wasn't so sure he meant my sudden determined rush.

I didn't bother saying anything back. Instead, I tried to break his hold which only made him laugh a breathy laugh.

"Guess I'm not so weak after all huh?" he said in a quiet, dangerous whisper as his arm tightened around my neck cutting off my breath. "But you know what really gets me, Alice," he said, keeping his voice low. "Is that you chose him over me. Here I am in complete control of you," he went on. "Yet there he stands doing nothing. He's letting this happen."

His arm tightened sending pain through my neck, and my vision grew spotty. Panic surged through me, but I fought to keep it down.

"He's letting me touch you and more importantly he's allowing you to be hurt, Alice. What the hell kind of mate is that? I would've never let any other man touch you and if they hurt you? I would've killed them. So tell me Peaches," he said the nickname with so much venom that it made me flinch. "Still think he's a better mate than me?"

His arm tightened around me, and I was pretty sure I felt something break. My head hurt and my thoughts grew foggy. A weak, helpless feeling washed over me as it seemed I was powerless to stop Flinn from doing whatever he wanted. The urge to give up, face the shame that I couldn't fight off Flinn and would be an utter disappointment to my family was so strong.

Anger flared in me hot and burning. I wasn't weak, and I was not a toy to be pushed around and played with by how people saw fit. Pure adrenaline flooded my veins and with a growl, I tapped into my wolf for an extra push of strength. I reached back, grabbing Flinn's hair by the handfuls, and pulled it all out. He made a pained cry and loosened his arm enough that I could turn to face him.

I jerked my knee as hard as I could, hitting him right in the sweet spot. Flinn promptly crumpled to the floor. I tried to tell him to go screw himself by at the attempt pain stabbed through my throat, and no sound came out. Instead, I glowered down at him and at Michael, before stomping out of the room. I didn't know where I was going, but I wanted to be away from them both. I was done with whatever games they were playing.

Instead of going to the medical wing, I decided to let whatever damage Flinn had done heal on its own and went to my room. I sat on the window seat, fighting the urge to cry. Flinn's words had hit a little too close to home. Why did Michael just stand there? Ignoring the fact he'd let Flinn hurt me, didn't he care that Flinn had been so close to me? Did he feel any possessive pull or anything else I had heard about or seen in other werewolf men with their mates?

I sighed as I leaned against the cool glass of the window. I was so exhausted. So tired of all the attempts to make me lose control, all the test, and most certainly all the games. I didn't understand how my family could deal with all of it. Did my dad have to deal with the constant tests and games? As I thought back, it didn't seem like it. Perhaps he had that alpha confidence to him, and they didn't dare do anything but give him their loyalty.

With another sigh, I hugged my legs to me and tried not to feel like a royal disappointment to him. I just had closed my eyes when I heard the door open. Irritation made me stiffen. Who dared come into my room without knocking? Could they not even give me that? I straightened and saw Michael closing the door behind him. "Go away," I scratched out, resisting the urge to wince at the sting of pain.

"I'm serious, Michael. I'm not in the mood," I told him when he walked towards me instead of doing as I asked.

"You okay?" He asked, surprising me.

"So now you care?" I didn't bother to hide the bitterness in my raspy voice. His expression hardened and if it wouldn't hurt I would've laughed. Oh now, he wanted to get offended. Spare me, please! Michael started to say something then stopped. He had taken a couple of deep breaths before he tried again. "I couldn't intervene," he said. "What? What do you mean you couldn't intervene?"

To my surprise he grabbed my legs, lifting them up then set them down on his lap. "You are his luna, Alice. Yet, he doesn't respect you. I saw it as soon as he walked into the room," Michael explained. "For all his bullshit about what a horrible mate I am and how much better he is, he didn't have the balls to lay down his pride for you and for your pack," he went on. His voice growing harder.

He turned to face me, his face cold and hard. "He had to be shut down, and I couldn't do it. If I got involved, his pride would've still held you as weak and mistaken for not choosing him. You had to do it. You had to break his pride." "That sounds horrible and makes me feel like a monster. Thanks," I said sourly, though I had to admit it. Flinn wanted to be my mate, yet he embarrassed me and worse, intentionally hurt me.

"You should thank me," Michael snapped, a hint of anger in his voice. "Pride is very dangerous. Above all things my dad was proud. Look what it lead him too."

My eyes widened a fraction, and I swallowed, ignoring the burn it caused. "Flinn wouldn't.." I started.

"Maybe, maybe not, but he did enough don't you think," Michael shot back. "You did him a favor. Breaking him out of his pride, you proved that to him you're the luna, and you deserve to be followed and respected. Now he can go sniff out some other girl and leave you alone," he added, and this time, I thought I heard a touch of jealousy.

Perhaps it made me petty, but that small hint jealousy pleased me. "I'm tired of proving myself. I keep doing it over and over. It's been six months since my dad died," I told him, though I wasn't sure why I told him that or added, "I thought when I found you it would all end."

Michael made a rude snort. "Come on. You can't be that crazy. I don't do the whole white knight thing. I'm the bad guy remember," he said, sounding as if he was only teasing then gave me a serious look. "You need to stop relying on people like Boy toy, the Beta, or anyone else to validate your claim as luna. Only when you believe it and are willing to fight for it yourself will they ever leave you alone."

"I do believe it," I started.

"No, you don't. Not really. I can see the doubt in your eyes," Michael replied. "I bet sometimes you even wonder if you should be luna. Trust me, it's all only five percent skill while ninety-five is attitude."

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