The Alpha's Prize

As morning approached, the sun began to engulf my room, causing me to let out a frustrated groan. Closing my eyes tightly, I pulled my blanket up and over my head in an attempt to shield myself from the blinding light.

I barely slept; my mind raced all night from everything that had happened the previous day. Thoughts of the battle surged through my brain, Mikael's death, the Dead pack retreating, but mostly I thought about Alpha Cain and our encounter. I thought about how attractive he was, how his closeness made me wet and caused tingles to shoot through my whole body. I thought about his words, his threats and especially how he had let me go, but not before telling me that we would meet again; what did he mean by that? Also, why did he want to propose a treaty? That was the biggest unanswered question.

Pushing aside my endless thoughts, I got up from the bed and headed for the bathroom. First, I took a nice long shower, washing everything away. I then got out, brushed my teeth and hair, then proceeded upstairs to join everyone for breakfast.

I entered the kitchen to find mom and Adela cooking breakfast; they noticed my presence and looked at me. “Good morning, sweetheart.” Mom said with a smile.

“Morning, mom,” I replied.

Adela just looked at me and gave me a half-smile. I could tell she was still feeling very emotional regarding yesterday's news; she has always been such a passionate person at times. I am the opposite. I nodded at her, then went into the dining room to join dad and Gunnar.

They were sitting at the table talking, but they ceased their conversation as soon as I entered and looked at me.

“Morning, dad, Gunnar,” I said in a grumbly tone. Gunnar, just looked at me and grunted; he is not a morning person, something we had in common.

“Good morning Freja, how did you sleep?” Dad questioned

I rubbed my face and inhaled a deep breath. “Ok, I guess.” That's an understatement, I thought to myself.

Dad didn't reply, just gave me a curt nod. Then, after a few moments of silence, dad broke the tension in the air and raised the subject that we all dreaded.

“Later today, we will hold Mikael's cremation; the sooner we can send him off, the better. I have spoken to a few warriors, and they are working on assembling his pyre; once it is finished, we will gather everyone at the river for the ceremony.”

The look on my father's face as he spoke was heartbreaking, I knew this was very hard for him, and it was taking everything in him to keep his composure.

Gunnar remained still, staring down at the table, unmoving and silent.

I looked at dad. “Is there anything that you need me to do?” I felt as though it was my obligation to help.

He cleared his throat. “Yes, could you help your mother and sister with preparing the food for after the ceremony, please? The whole pack will be there, so there are many mouths to feed.”

"Yes, of course, I can. Anything else?”

He sat there silent for a moment and then shook his head. Mom and Adela walked in with breakfast just then, which was perfect because I was starving.

We sat there enjoying our food; very few words were spoken between us, but it was still nice to just be with them. Except for Gunnar, he kept stealing my food, and I swear, I was two seconds away from biting his damn hand off and then smacking that grin off of his face with it. I love him but also hate that big buffoon.

After finishing breakfast, Gunnar and dad left to go to the main hall to prepare for Mikael's cremation. I helped mom and Adela clean everything up from breakfast and prepare the food for the after ceremony gathering. Dad had a few other pack members come to help with the food, which we were thankful for as we had so much to do and very little time left.

We worked together in the kitchen almost in complete silence; it was uncomfortable and made me want to run. It was lunchtime now, and we were close to being done, thank fuck! I needed out of this kitchen. As we continued to work away, we heard the front door open and close. We all whipped our heads towards the door only to see that dad and Gunnar were back.

I turned around, and dad came into the kitchen. “The funeral will begin at 3:00. Is everything ready?” He asked us.

"Almost dear, we just have a few more things to finish up, but we will be done by 3:00.” Mom informed him with a smile.

Dad nodded, placed a kiss on her forehead and left the kitchen. Gunnar remained in the room, standing there watching us, with a devious look on his face. He constantly snuck into the kitchen and stole food whenever mom was cooking

I looked at him with a brow raised. “Is there something you want, Gunnar?" I asked, suspicion lacing my tone.

He smiled like he was so innocent. “Nope, just....observing, yup, observing.” Gunnar nodded his head rapidly.

The man was definitely up to something; I continued working and kept a close eye on him. Finally, he stalked over to mom, lightly nodding his head, humming along, with his lips pursed out, acting as if he was just looking. Then, when mom turned to grab something, he snatched some of the cookies on the counter and bolted like a mad man.

I pointed my finger at him. “Aha, I knew it! Thief! Get back here.” I hollered at him.

Gunnar dashed out of the kitchen and out the back door, laughing like a maniac. But I was close on his heels; I ran up behind him and leapt onto his back.

“I knew you were going to do that, just observing my ass! Now give the cookies back.” I demanded and attempted to reach around him and snatch them back.

Before I knew it, he shoved the cookies in his mouth and groaned in satisfaction. I got down from his back, and he turned to face me with a massive smile on his face. I stared at him wide-eyed and mouth gaping.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You are such a pig!” I said, groaning at his behaviour.

He smiled at me with that shit-eating grin of his “Yea, maybe so, but it was worth it.” He laughed

I shook my head at him. “That's it! You are banned from the kitchen.” I declared.

Gunnar stared at me with shock. “That's not fair! You can't do that to me Freja, you're breaking my heart,” He said with a pouty face and clutched his hands to his chest.

"Don’t give me that look; you did this to yourself!” I huffed and crossed my arms.

His brows shot up in surprise. “Oh really, we will see about that.”

Gunnar then began to walk towards the house, no doubt to the kitchen. I started following him, trying to cut him off. “Oh, no, you don't.” I bellowed out.

He picked up his pace, laughing like the maniac that he is. Gunnar looked over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at me. “Catch me if you can, loser.”

I jumped on his back again, covering his eyes with my hands, in an attempt to stop him.

Gunnar then stopped, and his shoulders slumped. “Really? Have you forgotten that we are wolves, right? We have a superior sense of smell, so I don't really need my eyes.” He beamed proudly.

"Yea, but it distracted you.” I giggled.

He then reached up, gripped both of my hands together and held them together tightly before using his other hand to tickle me, knowing all too well that was my weakness.

A shriek of laughter rose from the depths of my belly. “No.....Gunnar......stop it......no more.” After a moment, I finally wiggled my way free, only to fall smackdown on the ground.

He looked down at me, roaring with laughter. I narrowed my eyes and gave him a, I'm going get you for that, kind of look, but before I could exact my revenge, dad came outside looking rather annoyed.

“Enough with the horseplay, the both of you, and get inside, now!” He boomed.

Gunnar straightened himself and looked towards dad. “Yes, sir.” He said quickly.

After dad went back inside, Gunnar turned to me and extended a hand to help me up, giving me a comforting smile.

I sighed. "How is he doing?” I asked.

Gunnar looked down at me, raising a brow. “How do you think?” He scoffed, “He lost his Beta, his friend, Freja. He won't admit it, but he is struggling to deal with it.” His face held a saddened expression with that last sentence.

I looked at the ground, knowing he was right and that I had asked a stupid question. I sighed heavily and continued inside.

After finishing up in the kitchen with mom, Adela and the others, we headed to the main hall to set everything up. We arrived at the hall, and it was packed already. Everyone was in mourning and crying; the atmosphere was beyond depressing. I noticed Erik standing in the crowd, speaking with his parents; he glanced in my direction and smiled. I smiled back at him and placed the food on the tables.

Once everything was prepared, we all headed towards the river to begin the funeral. On the edge of the river stood the pyre; it was breathtaking. The structure was built from oak wood logs, adorned with Gracie oak flowers and personal items were scattered all over that loved ones had placed. In the middle was Mikael, wrapped in a black blanket accented with gold stitching; it was beautiful, he was beautiful and was taken too soon.

Everyone gathered around as dad approached the pyre. He stood beside Mikael and glanced at him quickly before looking away; his features looked pained.

He then looked out at everyone gathered around. “Today, we are gathered here together, under unfortunate circumstances, to bid farewell to a dear husband, father, Beta and friend. Mikael was like no other man I've ever met in my lifetime; he was patient, kind, and fought with the strength and determination of a hundred warriors. But most of all, he cared for this pack. Mikael cared for every one of us. He will truly be missed but never forgotten.” Dad choked up a bit throughout his speech, but he kept it together as best as he could.

After dad said his piece, Mikael's mate, Sarah, approached the pyre, tears streaming down her face. She looked to my dad with a half-smile; he kissed her on the cheek and then handed her the torch. Pack tradition was that the deceased's mate light the pyre and send them off to the next life. As she approached the pyre, more tears flowed down her face; it was clear that she was hesitant to continue because she knew this was goodbye and who could blame her? No one wanted to do this; no one wanted to say goodbye to the love of their life.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and brought the torch down, lighting the pyre on fire. She stumbled back and clasped a hand to her mouth; dad came to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder and took the torch. Dad and Gunnar then pushed the pyre into the river sending Mikael off to rest and be with the Moon Goddess, Selene.

We stood in silence, watching as the flames consumed Mikael's body as he drifted down the river. Finally, after a few moments of silence, dad came forward, getting everyone's attention once again. “Now that we have sent Mikael to rest, we will now proceed into the main hall to celebrate his life.” Everyone slowly began to retreat back to the hall. Erik came to my side and gripped my hand as I started walking. He smiled at me, and I gave him a half-smile; I just didn't feel like genuinely smiling at that moment.

It had been a few hours now, and everyone seemed to be lighting up; people were laughing a little and smiling, reminiscing all the good things about Mikael and the good memories that he gave us. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a warrior approach dad and whisper something in his ear. His face went still, and anger was evident on his features. Finally, he got up and stormed away, with the warrior at his side.

I looked at Gunnar, who was watching as well. “Gunnar, What's going on?” I asked him.

His gaze remained on dad, and he just shook his head. “I don’t know, but I'll find out.” He then quickly got up and followed in the direction that dad left.

Hours passed by, and everyone was beginning to leave the hall to go back home. Mom, Adela and I started to clean things up, and Erik stayed to lend a hand. Thankfully, it didn't take us long to get everything cleaned up, and before I knew it, we were finally back at home.

Shortly after arriving back at the house, we were in the kitchen putting things away when we heard the front door burst open with a crash. We peered out of the kitchen to see dad stomping into the house, fury emanating off him; he didn't even glance at us; he just continued into his office and slammed the door shut, causing us to jump a little.

Gunnar entered the house a moment after, with a grim and infuriating look on his face. We all rushed out of the kitchen towards Gunnar, all of us wondering what the hell was going on.

Mom was the first to speak. “What is going on? What is the matter with your father?” She questioned.

Gunnars gaze locked with moms. “Alpha Cain was here.” He said through gritted teeth.

Everyone's eyes widened, and shock consumed us.

I raised a brow. “Ok, and? What did he say? What does he want?" I asked, becoming impatient; I needed to know, we all did.

He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “He came here to discuss the treaty, to discuss what he wants in return for ending the war.” His nostrils were flaring, and his chest was heaving now. Something was wrong, and I could feel it.

“S0.....what does he want?” Mom asked hesitantly.

I could tell that he didn’t want to tell us and struggled very hard to stay calm. His remorse-filled eyes then focused on me. “He wants you, Freja.”

My eyes went impossibly wide, and a shudder of fear took hold of me, I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"What! Please tell me that is not true?” Mom asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

Erik stepped in front of me. “No fucking way, he’s not getting her,” Erik said growling.

“That is not your decision Erik, you will stand down and remember your position,” Gunnar said with ferocity.

Adela just started crying and remained silent.

A million things were going through my mind; I didn't know what to do or what to say. Why did Alpha Cain want me? I couldn't go with him. I had heard the stories, he would use me, torture me and then.....no this can't happen, I won't let it and neither would dad, right?

I spun on my feet and headed towards dad's office without wasting another second. Before I could reach for the door handle, Gunnar gripped my elbow. “Freja, I don't think that is a good idea right now.” He said sternly.

I scoffed at him, yanked my arm from his hold and proceeded into the office. My mouth opened to say something but abruptly closed as I entered the room. I stood there taking in the sight before me; dad sat in his chair with his head resting in his hands while tightly gripping his hair. His office was trashed, things were shattered into pieces, and papers littered the floor. He was hurting; that much was clear. I shook my head and cleared my throat to get his attention.

"Dad, please tell me this is a joke?” I asked him calmly, not wanting to upset him further.

He slowly raised his head and looked at me; his eyes were pitch black, fury radiating off of him in waves. “No, this is not a joke, Freja.”

My brows scrunched together, anger building inside of me. “Why does Cain even want me?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

Dad closed his eyes. “He says that you are his mate.” He replied through gritted teeth.