The Wicked Alpha's Star-Crossed Luna

2.3 | GLIMPSE OF HER

Ravi POV

I always enjoyed the days when I was the guest trainer for our pack’s warriors. It was something we had only been doing for about two years--it was a welcome change suggested by Serena, and we took the idea and hit the ground running. On guest days, the guest always gets to decide how the warriors train, and can even come up with different training for each group, but it was up to them to decide.

Mine were usually just a more intensive version of Delta Connor’s regimen; a six-mile run, followed by a series of core workouts and drilling combat forms over the course of two hours, and ending with over an hour of strength training. Every now and then, though, I switched it up a little by having all the warriors take part in a game or tournament.

It was all worth it to catch a glimpse of her.

“The match is over!” shouted Delta Connor, interrupting my thoughts.

I blinked. The battle between the second and third platoons had only just begun a few minutes prior. How could it already be done?

My eyes traveled across the field until I could find the teams in question. Those representing the second platoon stood proud with barely a scratch on them, their lieutenant shrugging off the easy victory. The third platoon’s team, however, all wore varied levels of expressionless masks, stealing glances off the field at their lieutenant.

Lieutenant Altair appeared neither angry or embarrassed, but merely somewhat disappointed. My wolf, Ute, stirred deep within me, alarm bells going off as Altair’s eyes darted swiftly over to Serena before resuming their gaze off into the distance.

What no one besides Beta Dione, Delta Connor, Epsilon Dakota, and I knew was that I suggested using an app to randomly select which platoons would battle which on a whim. Originally, Epsilon Dakota had considered having the first and third battle off the bat, and then the second and fourth, and then we would pit the winning teams against each other for one final fight. I didn’t like the idea of embarrassing our future alpha like that--we all knew how many of the warriors from other platoons looked down on her in spite of her dedication to her training. Going up against a team without a lieutenant and losing would have affirmed their false narrative that she was unfit to lead, while having her team beat theirs would make it seem as if we favored her and wanted her to have an “easy” win. Thus, I suggested the wheel app, and Altair’s team lost to a different platoon.

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that snake wanted to go up against Rena first? I griped internally, my overprotectiveness over her rising.

Ute bristled at the thought of harm coming to one of our dearest friends. That team of his wouldn’t have stood a chance… That bastard actually wanted to embarrass our alpha! Pathetic.

Yeah, but how would he have even known to choose his team with that in mind? I wondered, doubting my gut feeling. It’s not like he volunteered to go first or challenged the first platoon off rip--it was Dakota that suggested the match up.

Ute huffed. Then the epsilon has that pup in his ear more than we thought.

I did not respond, watching quietly as the teams for the second and third vacated the field, and the remaining squads took their places. I didn’t want to believe it, but it was seeming more likely that the Gliese family, of which the lieutenant was a part of, had more connections than we initially anticipated. Shortly after I was appointed as gamma, Alpha Sterling tasked me with keeping an eye on the Glieses, especially Altair, and keeping the peace while maintaining the cover of neutrality.

This covert mission was made necessary shortly after the debut of Serena’s wolf, the likes of which no one has ever seen before, and after Carina exhibited healing powers unlike any other shifter. Rumors circulated all throughout the pack--about Luna Celeste being part witch, and how her daughters were to be the downfall of our people. The alpha had chalked it up to his father trying to stir up trouble like always, except the rumors seemed to pop up in spaces the former alpha would never occupy. The school cafeteria, the omega quarters, in midday cafés and arcades. No matter how many times Alpha Sterling tried to snuff out such remarks toward his family, they continuously resurfaced. Like a rash, an annoying itch--and as with all rashes, he knew he couldn’t solve the issue by baring his claws and swiping across the infected area. That would only temporarily alleviate things on the surface, but the issues would remain deeper still.

That’s where I come in. As the gamma, I’m ranked high enough to garner respect, but low enough that most warriors and unranked wolves consider me one of the populace. Slowly but surely over the last three years, I’ve been able to undo some of the damage done by those rumors. It helped that Luna Celeste never let such biases get to her; she continued dutifully, a shining example of what it means to be the heart of the pack. Carina carried her mother’s grace and tact with her father’s passion and kindness, dispelling many biases others have had. Serena’s headstrong nature gave her an edge that warded many away, but she clawed her way up to a rank that made her platoon already see her as the alpha she would inevitably be.

The women of the Vespera family were strong in mind, body, and spirit--and as the Gamma, it was my sworn duty to protect the Luna and her daughters.

And those rumors? With some digging, I learned that most of them were starting by members of the Gliese family--most notably Lyra Gliese and her favorite son Altair.

“TEAMS READY?” Delta Connor hollered beside me. He was so loud that I had to fight the impulse to jump or curse under my breath.

“Ready!” Came the response from the two teams on the field. Tara had preemptively shifted into her charcoal-colored wolf; mostly black fur with warm brown paws. I c****d an eyebrow at the way she and Hector growled at one another, my eyes darting between the two of them and their respective lieutenants. What are they planning?

“THEN START ALREADY!” The delta cackled.

Tara sprinted forward and headed straight for Samson, the large red wolf. Carina and Francisco were hot on her tail, while Chan-Yeol, the werefox, was riding on her back with a hunting knife in hand and a feral look in his eyes. I stifled a sigh at the sight. Great, just what the pack needs--another Tara.

Lieutenant Micah Saros hesitated for only the briefest of breaths before jumping into action--literally, the man charged ahead, straight for Serena. Considering how completely unfazed she looked, I knew that meant that his reaction was well within the parameters of whatever plan she had cooked up. He had barely taken his second step before she had jumped back once, then again.

Within a second, Micah was standing right where Serena once stood, and the future alpha was sailing over his head, her claws digging into his shoulders. Using the momentum of her acrobatics, she pulled him into the air and over her head before slamming him onto the ground before she had even landed.

Then she touched down onto his back, hopping off and heading straight for Felix and Isaac, the two warriors from the fourth platoon that remained in their human forms for the battle at hand. Isaac, the younger of the two, seemed caught off guard by how quickly Serena had advanced on them, but Felix had always been a risk-taker.

Felix threw a knife at Serena, swiftly followed by two more. I was impressed by his effort; he knew that Serena would easily dodge the first knife by moving to either the left or the right, which would then put her in the path of either one of the other two. This gave Serena only two options: she could duck down, or jump over the blades.

What I had not expected was that she would elect a third, even riskier option--Serena, claws still elongated from her partial shift, simply barreled on ahead, slashing at the blades and narrowly avoiding cuts. Her eyes were locked on Isaac as she closed in on him, her face set in determination.

Isaac stumbled backward as she approached, thrown off by her offensive strategy. Felix, on the other hand, tossed one blade to his colleague and another several yards to his right, where his companions were battling in wolf form. Then he balled his hands into fists and put up his guard, prepared to fight.

Serena dropped down, avoiding a quick jab as she performed a leg sweep. Felix jumped to the right, avoiding what could have turned out to be a double sweep, only to fall into the future alpha’s trap. Serena was in front of him, jumping into the air and delivering a timely uppercut that connected with his chin and seemed to knock the wind out of his sails. Never one to underestimate her opponent, Serena followed that up with a flurry of blows across Felix’s upper body, eventually breaking his guard enough to deal some signature hits. By the time her shin connected with his face in a sick roundhouse, Felix was unsteady on his feet, so he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

As if fueled by the downfall of his comrade, Isaac lunged forward, brandishing a blade in one of his fists. He slashed wildly at Serena, forcing her to bob and weave as she backed away from her opponent. He advanced still, their eyes locked on the other as they continued their dance. I winced as his blade grazed her right cheek just before she dodged his fist, which whizzed by her left cheek. His movements were hasty, messy, a reflection of his waning patience.

That was about when I noticed that Serena’s movements weren’t sporadic; rather, she led Isaac away from the bodies of Micah and Felix, preventing him from rousing them from their unconscious states. They moved in a crescent shape, their half-circle route eventually leading them toward the battle between Hector and the rest of the first’s representatives.

Samson had shifted back, laying naked in the grass as his blood-covered hand tried to stop the sanguine liquid from pouring out of a gash in his side. One of his legs was noticeably broken, twisted at an off angle. By the teeth marks in it, I guessed my darling sister had a hand in that.

Hector wasn’t doing too much better; blood matted his gray fur from several cuts on his lupine form. Tara refused to relent, slashing, snapping, and snarling at her opponent. Whenever Hector managed to get close to her sides or tail, Chan-Yeol stabbed and sliced with his knife, foiling his attempts and further enraging the warrior. Francisco and Carina stood by dutifully, though the omega was more focused on defending the healer than aiding the others. Not that I could blame him, considering her value to the team.

Serena’s blue eyes glazed over, and my own widened. All the other members of her team (save for the fox) were mindlinking one another throughout the entirety of their fight, so there was no telling to whom she was relaying orders.

Suddenly, Hector set his sights on a different target. He bolted away from Tara, giving her and her passenger a wide berth as he made a beeline for Carina and Francisco. As if sensing this, Serena quickened her steps, all but sprinting backward in the direction of her twin sister. Tara raced toward them as well, and it seemed as if all the remaining combatants were about to take part in an outright brawl when Chan-Yeol leaped off of Tara’s back and onto Hector’s, burying his blade deep into his shoulder. The gray wolf roared in pain, his steps slowing as he busied himself with bucking the werefox off his back. Taking advantage, Carina and Francisco slashed at his chest and legs before scurrying out of Tara’s way. Right at that moment, Serena dealt a push kick to Isaac’s abdomen, slowing him down just long enough for her to spin around and leap into the air.

Tara shifted back into her human form, landing lithely on the balls of her feet where her lieutenant stood a moment prior. Startled by the change in target--and flustered by her nakedness, even though nudity was second nature to shifters--Isaac couldn’t recover in time to block Tara’s lightning-fast kicks and punches. Each hit packed the strength of a gamma wolf, delivered with the speed and decisiveness of one as well, so he barely lasted thirty seconds before my sister had put him on his ass.

When Tara had shifted in midair, so had Serena, her pearl-white wolf meeting Hector head-on. She was nearly half a head taller than him, wasting no time in smacking one of her paws against his head. Hector appeared just as disoriented by the shift in opponents as Isaac, and he stumbled backward in an effort to get away lifting his chin slightly in the process.

That was all the opening she needed. Never one for mercy, Serena tackled Hector to the ground, her teeth wrapped around his throat as she let out a menacing snarl that made some of the watching warriors pale at the sound. Hector’s only response was a pitiful, pleading whimper.

“The match is over!” shouted Delta Connor, his tone matching the astonishment on his face.

I shared a look with Beta Dione, noting the shocked expression he wore. Then he turned his phone to face me, and my jaw dropped. Serena’s team had dominated the battle, taking out a team of our pack’s best warriors in less than three minutes.

“Which was faster--?” I asked, the rest of my inquiry lodged in my throat.

The beta didn’t need clarification; he knew exactly what I meant. “One minute and sixteen seconds. They beat the fourth one minute and sixteen seconds faster than it took for the second to beat the third.” He then lowered his phone and pursed his lips, his next words permeating my mind: And we both know that Altair’s guys didn’t even try.

I gave him an almost imperceptible nod. They obviously threw the match on purpose, but I can’t figure out why. The only reason I can think of is that he was expecting his team to be matched up against hers in the very first match, that way he could either beat her team and humiliate her--or lose against her team and undermine her leadership by claiming she doesn’t deserve to move forward after beating such easy opponents.

Dione’s earthy eyes darkened as they flitted over to Epsilon Dakota, still in wolf form. I see. Do you think Dakota suggested that match-up knowing what Altair was allegedly planning?

I stifled a sigh and grinned at my sister, who was strutting toward us wearing nothing but her oversized tank top, which she must have tossed aside before shifting and ripping the rest of her clothes. She was chatting animatedly with Chan-Yeol, Micah, and Isaac, who were walking with her, though the fox was just listening silently while the other three gabbed over the events of the fight. Carina was healing Samson, who no doubt experienced the worst of the injuries, while Francisco stood by dutifully.

Felix and a naked Serena helped Hector hobble over to the healer. Once Hector was set down on the grass awaiting his turn, Felix pulled his shirt over his head and handed it to Serena, who tried to turn it down but took the article of clothing after his insistence. I couldn’t hear what they said, but based on the cocky smirk spread across his face and the discomfort that was clear on hers, I could only imagine how inappropriate Felix was being.

Ute growled in my mind. He dares annoy our alpha? Let me out! I’ll bite his head off!

I took another deep breath, willing my wolf to stand down. Chill, Ute. Rena is an adult, she can stick up for herself. If she doesn’t want to deal with his advances, then she’ll tell him off.

I’m surprised by how calm you are, he mused, finally settling down. You’ve always been overprotective of little alpha, to the point of scaring males away from even speaking to her when you were both attending school. It wasn’t even that long ago that you admitted you’ve had strong feelings for her for years. What changed?

My eyes found Serena again. Even clad in just a too-large t-shirt, she was a beauty. Her white hair, still braided, shone various colors in the early morning sun. Her blue eyes, like sparkling sapphires, watched on as the warriors were healed, overseeing the process and waiting to assist at the drop of a hat. Her arms were folded beneath her breasts, highlighting how slender and muscular she was all over. From her slim arms and thin waist to her firm rear and thick thighs and athletic calves.

Serena was amazing--strong, smart, and stunning to look at--but she was not the one for me. Because she’s not my mate.

Ute huffed. You don’t know that, Rav. We won’t know until her twenty-first birthmoon.

No, we won’t know the identity of our mate until her twenty-first birthmoon, I corrected. There are twelve full moons a year--only twelve chances every year for us to meet our mate for the first time. That leaves at least ten more chances for us to meet her before Serena even comes of age.

And if you don’t? Ute posited. What if Serena is our mate?

And what if she isn’t?! I clapped back. What if she finds her mate that very day, and we’re left all alone with these stupid old feelings?

My wolf was quiet for only a moment. Is that what’s bothering you? You’re afraid to watch her be happy with someone else?

It’s--no! I let out another heavy breath and lowered my gaze to the ground. I really hated when Ute got like this. No, I’m not afraid to see her be happy with someone else. If there’s a man who could actually make her happy, then I won’t take issue with that.

I could almost see my wolf’s ears perk up in my mind. “Could actually”? What the f**k does that mean? She’s capable of happiness, and you’re capable of providing it.

Just forget it! This conversation is going nowhere. I seethed internally. Serena isn’t my mate, and I refuse to pursue her. End of story.

Whatever you say, man, sighed Ute. No shame in going from a gamma to a lunar.

Then he retired to the back of my mind, his final words making me pause.