The Alpha King and His Fated Protector

CHAPTER FIVE

ELINA

Although I knew that I needed the hours of sleep, I could not sleep more than half an hour at a time, because I kept waking up from time to time , tormented by the horrible nightmares that accumulated and were confused with each other, but that had something in common: the terror that they provoked in the depths of my being , a terror that I have tried to keep buried for my whole life in the hope that one day I would wake up and there would no longer be a trace of it; Yet, last night it felt more real than ever, almost as if I could pinpoint the exact spot where that terror was hiding in the middle of my chest , next to my heart, or maybe my stomach.

I woke up drenched in sweat and even more tired than when I went to bed at midnight after a last intensive training with Alpha Roger , in which he tried in vain to guess the reason behind my fierce determination to learn as much as I could in the shortest possible time , however, he could only get close enough to the truth to suggest that my desire to outperform myself every day was due to the hidden purpose of enrolling in the competition to move up in category , from being omega to being gamma, but I know that not even in his wildest dreams he could imagine that my intention was always to participate in the main competition of the festival, and be among the top ten places to enter the elite warrior group.

In the morning at breakfast, I had a hard time getting through the food as my stomach felt like it was tangled in a hundred knots , and my anxiety was visible to anyone with a functional pair of eyes, so my family soon realized my condition and it was not long until my mother began her interrogation, in which it was clear that they already suspected that I was doing something secretly from everyone , and although they refrained from asking me questions when I arrived with my injured back and chest after the rogue attack, this time everyone tried to get information out of me , including Elijah and Marcus, my older brothers, who don't usually meddle in anyone's business, which was a clear indicator that my attempts to keep my secret were already crumbling underneath the weight of the many lies I have told in the last months.

However, I could not tell them the truth because I knew they were going to try to stop me, after all, the competition is so dangerous that it is usual that at least one person dies at every blood moon festival.

The sound of the horns that indicated the start of the day at the festival, managed to give me an opportunity to flee to the questions of my family and take refuge in the already crowded tent of the infirmary , where I tried to occupy myself all the time to avoid the suspicious stares of my mother, although she was also very busy, since the day of the competitions was the worst for the medical staff, and from the first hour the festival had started with the omegas competitions wanting to rise to the position of gammas , where none managed to finish it, then came the gammas competition to ascend to the position of betas, with the surprise that a tall and muscular boy from the sapphire pack was the only one who managed to complete the competition and therefore ascends , among the cries of his mother and the cheerleaders of his pack.

The last competition before the lunch break, was the one where betas wanted to be promoted to alphas , however, none of the participants managed to advance as this is quite a difficult competition and full of dangerous obstacles, which caused serious injuries to two participating betas, and another ended up unconscious for a couple of hours.

After this competition I saw my alpha give me a disgruntled look , as if he were wondering why I did not participate in the first competition, as surely he had anticipated, and I suppose he must have convinced himself that I regretted it at the last minute because his expression of disappointment camouflaged with relief was quite clear in his face.

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When the lunch hour ended and the horns began to announce the early start of the main competition, my heart began to pound in my chest, and taking advantage of the uproar caused by the people rushing towards the grounds in front of the palace, where the competition would begin, I slipped around the back of the infirmary tent and donning a leather jacket with a wool hood, which I threw over my head to partially covering my face, I made my way to the small registration table where there was sitting a skinny teenager with big eyes and buck teeth, clearly, an omega, who offered me his pencil with a shaking hand.

And after I put my name on the sheet, he didn't have time to look at my name , as a blonde girl came running and snatched the paper from his hand in one swift movement, before returning to the main atrium where the new king stood with his mother, the beta, and his royal guard.

A few minutes later, the king's mother, Princess Agatha, rose from her seat with a haughty look and a forced smile, cleared her voice, and spoke loud and confidently:

“Welcome to the Blood Moon competition, this is the main competition of the festival, and it is very important because not only will the next warriors that will make up the elite group come from here, but the winner will automatically become part of the royal guard of my son , King Bastian Vark, an honor that only the seven best warriors in the kingdom can bear.

The competition will consist of three stations that measure the different agility that those who wish to be recognized as the best will need. The first is agility , they must overcome a series of obstacles that are specially designed to test the way they react to unexpected situations and how they act accordingly in the shortest possible time since only the first thirty who pass this section will be able to go to the next, in which they will find three riddles that will measure their intelligence and their ability to solve complex situations under pressure, likewise, time will be key, since only the first twenty will be able to go to the third and last section, for this they will have to transform completely on their wolf, and not only will they have to run to get to the final station of the competition , where we will know their strength, but once there, body to body combat will come in their wolf form until only ten of them are left standing.

There are no rules in this competition, just as there are not in real life, if you are careless it is likely that your opponent will take advantage of it to make you lose at any cost , and although we would prefer that all of you return with your packs at night, know that once the competition starts, your lives are at stake and you may not live to see another sunrise.

So without further ado, the names of the registered people will be read one by one , and each competitor will have to come forward as they go being named and waiting for the sound of the horn that kicks off the competition." Princess Agatha finishes her speech, and a wave of excited murmurs spreads across the grounds , as people begin to retreat back to make room for the competitors who begin to push their way to the front of the crowd as they wait for them to call their name to get into position at the starting line.

The list is long, at least fifty people from all seventeen packs of the kingdom, including some alphas, begin to line up in front of the crowd, who are talking animatedly and even cheering to their family and friends , however, the noise ceases when the announcer, the same blonde girl from before, reads my name and then looks back at the sheet with a confused expression crossing her face, the uproar stops and is replaced by murmurs of confusion, even in the main atrium the surprise is widespread , and I watch as the king scans the crowd until his eyes land on me and he looks surprised.

The blonde girl seems to be completely disgruntled, and although she reads and rereads the list, her eyes are still full of disbelief , so Princess Agatha stands up and snatching the sheet from her hands, just like the blonde did to the skinny boy earlier, she takes the microphone and says with a clenched jaw as her eyes scan the crowd just like her son did:

"Elina Bloodmoon," her voice strong and clear.

So, I leave the anonymity that the large crowd provided me, and taking off my hood, I take several steps forward until I align myself with the rest of the competitors, the first thing I see is the expression of horror from my parents and my brothers, then the smile of complicity from my alpha, who winks at me to encourage me, and I feel all eyes on me, but soon the expressions of astonishment turn into looks of disgust, and I feel my heart hammering in my ears because that is precisely how all my nightmares begin.

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