The Alpha Trials

I pushed a hand through my long hair and yawned loudly, causing my father to stare at me. "Surely, you can't be tired; you lie in till noon every morning!" He looked back at the TV and tutted at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm a growing woman, Dad. It's natural to be tired all the time. Besides, I only have a few weeks before I have to go back to school, so you best believe I'm going to sleep as much as I can." The only good thing about summer was the fact that we had no education for a month or so. I usually hated it because it was far too hot. It definitely didn't feel as good as it should when we shifted into our wolf forms. In the winter, however, it was amazing.

"Yeah, yeah." His hand flapped me away. "You shouldn't be growing anymore, Isabella, you've already reached 18 and your wolf is fully formed." For once he was right. My wolf grew a ton when I turned 17. It was more my human form I was hoping would grow; I was only five feet.

"A girl can dream..." I trailed off and got up from the sofa, stretching my legs. "I'm going to bed. Do you need anything?" He shook his head at me, and I nodded, walking away toward the staircase.

"Excuse me!" his loud voice called me back in, and I peered my head around the corner, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"What is it?" This usually was the part where he would ask me to get him a beer or tell me goodnight. Usually.

"You're forgetting something." He looked to the back of the room and into our kitchen, where my dirty plate laid still out on the table. "Clean your plate, you don't want Alpha Theo to come and steal you out of your bed tonight!" Chuckling, he turned his gaze back to the TV.

"I still can't believe you actually believe that crap." I shook my head at him before I walked through and grabbed my plate, washing it in the sink and drying it.

"I don't believe it at all, but it was a good story to tell when you were little and misbehaving. You used to be so scared of the notorious Alpha Theo." I laughed along with him and turned back towards the stairway.

"Yes, but now I know it's not true. Probably just an excuse teenage girls use to sneak out of the house." I left him downstairs and walked up to my room, chuckling and shaking my head.

It was genius if that was the case. Teenage girls, around the age of 19, would disappear from their rooms for days at a time—maybe even a week—but nobody worried because it happened so often. When they came back, they'd say Alpha Theo's guards stole them from their beds during the night and took them to some kind of hidden location in an attempt to find the pack's Luna.

The Luna was the Alpha's mate. They were basically made for one purpose and one purpose only: to serve their Alpha, in whatever way he desired or wished. I couldn't think of anything worse.

Because it was a strange way to find a new Luna, it had been given a strange nickname by the pack. We called it 'The Alpha Trials.'

Nobody I'd spoken to had ever laid eyes on Alpha Theo—or knew anything about him. Some said he kept his identity a secret so that he could walk among the pack without being recognised. Some said he died many years ago. But, personally, I didn't think he existed.

I walked over to my open window and gently pulled it shut before plaiting my hair in two Dutch braids that ran down my shoulder blades, getting myself ready to go to sleep. As I did every night, I stood in front of the mirror and inspected myself. It was a good way to build self-confidence. My dad was right when he said that I didn't need to grow anymore. My body was very curvy and looked 'womanly.' This was only enhanced by my olive skin, which made everything look even and toned. For the most part, I was happy with how I looked—my strong hips and supple breasts indicated that I would be good at carrying pups and starting a family of my own.

My hand flicked the light off, and I climbed into bed, closing my eyes and embracing sleep. I could faintly hear the hum of the TV downstairs, which was more comforting than annoying. Most girls my age dreamt about their mates, starting a family, bearing pups, and serving them, but I didn't believe in any of that. I wouldn't marry my mate out of obligation. I'd marry someone because I loved them—and if I didn't love anyone, then I was fine with being alone for the rest of my life.

I would settle for no less than my partner being absolutely smitten with me and everything that I did.

I rolled over, facing the wall, shuddering at the sudden cool air that ran down my spine. 'Did I not just shut the window?' I thought to myself before I heard the floorboards in my room creak. My blood ran cold, and I laid still, in complete shock, as something rustled about behind me.

I would've turned around if I wasn't afraid that it was someone with a weapon; instead, I pretended to be asleep. I could hear heavy breathing now, and before I could leap up and attack my intruder, a wet cloth covered in foul-smelling liquid was shoved over my mouth and nose.

A male's voice filled my ears, whispering five words that struck terror to my core:

"Alpha Theo is expecting you."

I struggled in their grasp, kicking and trying to scream, but soon enough my eyelids drooped closed, my body felt heavier and heavier, and I slipped into a deep sleep.

I woke up on a cold hard floor spluttering and coughing in confusion, the room that I was in was dark, the only light flooding in from underneath what seemed like a doorway. My mind raced back to what seemed like a few minutes ago—the man, the cloth, the kidnapping...and Alpha Theo.

If I weren’t in some kind of torture chamber, I would have found some sort of humour in this—or thought it was my father playing a cruel prank on me—but instead, I was filled with fear and anxiety about what would happen next. Was this what they called the Alpha Trials? I had never imagined it to be even real, let alone actually be here.

“Hello?” My voice came out like a small whisper.

No reply. I strained to listen for any outside noise bout could only hear faint metal clanging in the distance. After waiting and waiting for something, someone to come and get me, or explain to me why I was here, the door unlocked and I sat up to attention, the light flooding in around a dark figure as it was pushed open. My hand instantly drew up to my face in anticipation and shock at the sudden change in lighting. I couldn’t tell who it was, just that they had a wooden clipboard in one hand and a tray in the other that held a glass of water, and some pills.

“Good morning” It was a woman’s voice but her face was concealed by a mask. She bent down and lay the tray next to me, motioning for me to drink the water. “Please, drink up. I imagine you will be thirsty.” I just stared back at her, saying nothing. “It’s not poisoned” She reasoned with me but I still wasn’t having any of it.

“You’ve already poisoned me once, why not again?” I spat at her and I could hear her tutting under the black mask that only showed her eyes and mouth.

“My dear, you will lose that attitude at once or you will be punished.” Her jet-black eyes bore into my soul, and I knew she was not screwing about. Some part of me wanted to laugh into her face, make a mockery of this whole satanic situation, but I kept my mouth closed for now.

I reached my hand out carefully and picked up the glass of water, smelling it. It seemed normal. My eyes flickered to the two small pills that sat at the side, they looked like painkillers but I was apprehensive, I cocked my eyebrow at her. “More poison?”

She growled slightly under her breath and bent down beside me. “Painkillers, are you going to take them yourself or will I need to force them down your throat? They will help with your sore head which I assume is already setting in, right?”

I swallowed hard before picking up the two pills in my hand and rolling them about in my palm, she was right, I was getting a headache, but it was all their fault, so why would they give me something to cure it? She urged me further and I nodded, resisting the urge to make a snarky comment at her before placing the pills in my mouth and chasing the down with the water.

“There” She smiled sickeningly before taking back the glass and tray. “Was that so hard?”

She placed them on a nearby table and stood above me with her clipboard and a pen in her hand, poised to take answers from me it seemed. “What’s your name?”

I wiped my mouth with my pyjama sleeve and sat back. “Isabella”

“Isabella what?” Her hand furiously scribbled on the paper.

“Isabella Short” I grimaced saying my last name, it was always something I was bullied for in school as a child because of my height, so I rarely used it now.

“Very well Isabella Short” She placed the clipboard under her arm and nodded at me. “You’re probably wondering why you are here?” I nodded slowly at her, still not quite sure what was happening exactly. “It’s an experiment that we do with all of the 18+ females in the pack once they reach maturity. You will be held here no matter if you like it or not, this is mandatory”

I breathed out and spoke in a whisper. “Alpha Trials...”

She snapped at me. “What was that? Speak up child”

“Nothing.” I shook my head, not wanting her to hear me call it that—she seemed scary.

“Very well. Someone will be in shortly to take your measurements and...other medical things.” She coughed slightly, which put me on edge. I had never had any medical procedures done before, and these sounded invasive. “Before I go, hold out your hand”

I anxiously stuck out my hand to her and she grabbed it, her fingers gripping around my wrist tightly and placing some kind of device to my wrist, clicking it in place. I winced as a sharp needle like feeling spread across the surface but faded quickly. When she pulled it away, I was left with a small watch-like strap that displayed a random array of numbers.

“What’s this?” I inspected it, realizing it was injected deep into my skin and couldn’t come off.

“It’s a tracker band, we use it to monitor blood pressure, heart rate, and other things” She grabbed the tray and glass and walked over to the door, leaving me sitting, still in my pyjamas, in confusion. “Someone will be with you soon” And with that, she was gone, leaving me all alone in the dark again.