The Alpha and Her Match

t h r e e

“Where are we going exactly?” Dax asks in disbelief when he sees where we’re headed.

Seeing no point in hiding it, I smiled and pointed towards the tall flagpoles that shot up the sky. There were no black flags on them yet, but when the tournament begins, there will be a flag for each contender and it will only be brought down when they are killed.

Allegedly, there’s still supposed to be one black flag left to represent the winner who’s still alive, which is my mother, but it’s not there anymore. I have heard many say that it’s because she’s not truly alive… breathing but not really living.

I shake my head from such horrible thoughts. “The frozen forest where the tournament will be held.”

He shakes his head. “No. You know the rules. It’s not allowed. The only time we can go there is during the actual tournament.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me you don’t want to see it?”

Dax let out an indignant huff. “Of course I do.”

“Then let’s go.” It really wasn’t allowed but I was far too curious. Mostly because the place is believed to be cursed and anyone who goes there loses their mind. The real reason, I think, is because the journey itself can actually kill. The cold is unbearable— even for us who have only ever known the cold, the path is horribly perilous without the guards that are in constant contact with the pack who guide the way and it’s a very long way… so long that the wolves inside us stir and beg to be let out only for one to lose their humanity completely when they take over.

“Is this your way of disqualifying me from the tournament?” He teased me when we started our trek.

I turned to him, determined and firm. “Never. We’re doing it together or we’re not doing it all.”

“Even if I beat you?” Dax jokes, poking at my cheek. “And you become my Beta?”

“That’s a big if, but yes,” I answered with a roll of my eyes. There was no way I would be beaten for my mother’s position. But… if I somehow do lose, then I hope Dax wins. “Even when I am to be your Beta and you my Alpha. Now can we go?”

He stops and sighs, eyes glancing up at the daunting flagpoles ahead before turning back to the forest where we trained. “I suppose we’re here for a good time, not a long time.”

“A damn good time.” I confirmed with a laugh.

We continue to drink from our jugs of vodka, the burn of the liquor going down our body. It keeps us warm and fuzzy, taking away the terror that we actually felt from what we’re about to do. It’s been whispered about… this place, this horrible place that only true Alphas can ever walk out of. Time and time again, for countless generations, the Volkovs have proven that they are exactly these true Alphas. I can only hope and pray that I am capable of the same.

I don’t know how this place became so dreadful, for honestly, everything about it is wrong. The air that blows, the thickness of the snow, the chill that goes down my spine, the smell of death… the hope that just leaves my body even when I’m still far away from the frozen forest.

The wolf inside of me paces and paces and paces. My skin pulls and blurs, signaling the need for a shift. Already from this distance, the effects were starting.

Our wolves naturally want to take over whenever they feel danger nearby and in this place where there's nothing but danger, my insides are screaming to burst. Right now, I’m just glad we’re drunk enough to ignore our wolves calls, though I know we will not have the same luxury when we come back here for the tournament.

The closer we walked, the harder it was to breathe. It was the cold. The type of cold that seeped into my bones, my lungs, and into my very soul.

I have been constantly told that up here, in the north most parts of our land, my senses will be completely useless because of the intense freezing temperatures. And I have trained for this for several years, but even with that, I can still feel my body giving up. My eyes kept closing, my eyelashes frosting and the tip of my nose stinging.

Dax was standing right beside me and if not for my hand that he was holding, I wouldn’t even know he was there. When I turned, I couldn’t see him, only his purpling fingers clutching mine. I couldn’t even hear his breathing or anything that wasn’t the harsh winds.

It’s miserable here, all white and ice and death.

I think there’s a storm happening a mere feet away from where we were last— there was no storm there. What a maddening place. Such horror and I wasn’t even there yet.

We have walked for over an hour… the jugs of vodka we’re carrying are now frozen solid and are undrinkable. Our clothes, the ones worn for the beach and for our training, are ridiculous. I am starting to feel that this was a very bad decision.

I try to voice it out to Dax but he doesn’t respond because he cannot hear. I can’t even hear what I just said if I even said anything. My lips are quivering too much.

Stupid.

We’re so stupid.

My pride is the only thing keeping me warm at this point.

Thank Goddess, there’s a lot of it.

The stiff, cold, frosty hand on mine tightens suddenly and that’s when I first notice that we’re right under the famous flagpoles. I don’t know how I missed it. It’s tall, bulky and the only thing that isn’t white or blue. The thick poles shoot up into the sky, touching the clouds.

Squinting, I looked and I looked but there was no black flag that showed my mother as the last winner and the current Alpha.

So the rumors were true.

Her flag is down.

“She’s alive, Anna.” Dax says, leaning towards my ear just so I could hear him over the roar of wind. “It’s just a flag. It’s been years. The flag must have just ripped off or something. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Breathing but not living.” I told him without looking away from the poles.

“Your mother is wonderful.” He tried again. “She’s the best Alpha there’s ever been.”

“But not happy.” With much effort, I tore my eyes away from the flag-less poles and stared ahead towards where the tournament would be held.

Dax sighs, his hand squeezing mine. “There are some things…”

I didn’t get to hear the rest of his sentence because I had zoned out, my eyes focusing on a strange shadow… a figure right at the entrance of the frozen forest.

“Anna? Are you listening to me?” Dax pokes at me but I swat at him.

There was something about this dark figure… something I couldn’t quite place but I knew as much that I had to see more. My wolf howled its warning when I took a step closer, cautioning me that this place was supposed to be abandoned and that no one should be here.

No one.

Yet there is someone.

And whoever that someone is… it’s shaking.

Dax finally takes notice of where or who I’m looking at and sucks in a breath. “A… a ghost!”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s have a closer look.”

“No. I knew this was a bad idea.” He says with a shake of his head. “People aren’t allowed to be here. It’s haunted.”

That is certainly what is said of this place and the atmosphere around here only confirms it. Yet, I still cannot look away. Something is calling me to walk closer… to see better. And it is only when I am near the entrance to the frozen forest do I see how the dark figure is hunched over a rock— no, a tombstone, and I start to see defined features of our ‘ghost’.

This is also the same time I sucked in a breath and took a few steps back because the defined features are from someone I am very familiar with.

In my panicked retreat, I bumped into Dax.

He must have seen how spooked I was because panic went through his face. “What is it? What did you see?”

“My… mother.” I whispered in confusion. “It was definitely her. I am sure of it even through the flurry of snow. But what is she doing here?”

“Guarding the one place we’re not allowed to go!” Dax tugs at my hand, pulling me towards him and away from the frozen forest. “Thankfully she hasn’t seen us.”

“No. She’s… crying.” I find myself being caught between wanting to run the other direction and comforting my obviously distraught mother.

“What?” He doesn’t believe me and looks towards where the hunched figure of my shaking and crying mother is.

“She’s crying next to a tombstone.” My chest feels tight and I don’t know what to do.

A gasp leaves Dax’s lips when he finally sees this and I know he’s as unnerved as I am at the sight of my usually emotionless mother crying her eyes out. “I don’t like this, Anna. Let’s go back. It feels rude to intrude on the Alpha while she’s… she’s like this.”

My feet refuse to move as questions fill my mind. “Whose grave is that?”

“Ours if we don’t leave now.” He nearly begged, looking between my mother and I.

“Dax, I’m serious.” I pushed, sounding desperate. “Why is she here? Why is there a grave here? Who died in that tournament and why is she visiting the tombstone? Does she do this often?”

“I’m serious too, Anna.” He gravely tells me. “We shouldn’t intrude on her right now.”

I swallowed, contemplating on his words before dropping my head and nodding. “You’re right.”

Dax brushes my messy hair back before cupping my dirty cheeks. “Come on. I think it’s time we went back home.”

With my thoughts still whirling about my mother, her tournament that clearly destroyed her and the tombstone, I quietly followed behind Dax, the cold completely forgotten.