The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

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I contemplate telling her the truth, or at least a version of it, but I don’t know if she’ll believe me.

I am half inclined on the bed, propped up by the pillows that Patrick placed behind me. Every attempt I make to stand is terribly agonizing, so I’ve given up on it. But right now, I wish I could get to my feet, cup Sophia’s face with my hands, and peer into her eyes. Why is the thread that binds us suddenly so cold? What is she feeling? What is making my mate so anxious?

“The North Alliance has its struggles,” I finally reveal, sighing heavily. “My pack, the Moonrise Wolf Pack, once ruled the North Alliance. The current head of the Alliance is Queen Karina. Instead of following the rules of leadership transfer, where a battle is requested with the reigning leader, she infiltrated my pack under the guise of friendship, drugged my parents, and after murdering them, initiated the slaughter of every adult who might pose a threat to her. I was very young then. She left only a few adults alive and was planning to destroy our entire pack and absorb the territory, but she couldn’t kill the children. Our kind abhors the murder of young ones. It would have been an unforgivable sin, even in the eyes of her own pack. What she decided to do instead was sell us off. But the idea of slavery is a human concept. Her own pack elders protested, and she had to give up the plan. I was forced to become the Alpha of my pack at the age of ten. I was nothing but her puppet. Our pack was never allowed to thrive, and a majority of our territory was seized.”

Sophia doesn’t interrupt me, but I see the shock in her eyes and the way her nails are digging into the side of her arm. Is she upset for me?

Now that I’ve begun, I may as well tell her everything. But even after two decades, it still feels fresh—the grief, the pain, the anger. I can still hear the screams of my people, smell their blood, and see their bodies. The way my mother rushed toward my father as Karina decapitated him. Her shouting at me to run, right before she suffered a similar fate.

All of it is etched in my memory forever.

“We weren’t the only ones Karina had her eyes on,” I say roughly. “The Alliance had eleven wolf packs; she stripped away the power of each one. Those who dared to voice dissent over her methods suffered. You asked me about the pups?” I lift my gaze to meet hers. “You’re right. You should know. Because those pups are the reason, one of the main reasons, why I cannot be with you.”

There’s a glimmer of emotion in her eyes, and she wraps her arms around herself tighter in a motion that breaks my heart.

“Karina sent her trusted people to each pack to act as nannies for the pups. I don’t know how it is here in the South, but when children are born to us, they are raised together by pack nannies until they are two years old. It is custom in the North Alliance to build strong bonds between the pups in this way. The Queen’s nannies were accompanied by soldiers for their protection—and to guard the pack nursery.”

I remember the distrust when those females and soldiers arrived, as well as the crippling fear that followed. “It started small, not letting the parents spend more than a couple of minutes with their pups. When one of the mothers protested, she was cut down on the spot. That was the moment the packs realized the threat these people posed. Karina used a witch to tie the lives of the pups to those of her nannies and soldiers. But it’s only one-way. If a pup dies, nobody is affected. But if one of her people dies, three pups perish. One of the packs retaliated, and they lost all their young ones as punishment. And as they grieved, the adults were killed by Karina’s soldiers.”

As I tell her about the pack that was made an example for the rest, my stomach churns. I still have not been able to process it. So many vulnerable innocents lost because of one woman’s thirst for power.

“So, she has been holding your pups hostage in an attempt to control your pack,” Sophia comments, clearly shaken.

I nod, unable to meet her gaze. There’s shame within me, guilt about not being able to protect my own people from the clutches of Queen Karina.

“We’re trying to figure out a way to break that magical link,” I explain, “but witches don’t meddle in other witches’ magic. So, you can see why I reject—”

“What does the Silver Wolf have to do with all of this? And who is the Silver Wolf?”

Sophia’s voice is slightly strange, but when I look at her, she is once again wearing the same mask that won’t let me see what she’s really thinking.

This is the part I am most worried about. I don’t know why, but I feel I can trust Sophia not to betray us. However, using my emotions to make a decision isn’t smart. I need to use logic, and logic dictates that she has no reason not to betray us if I tell her about the existence of the Silver Wolf.

It’s almost as if she can read my mind because she sighs, annoyed. “I have no reason to betray you, Alex. And I’m not interested in helping my own pack. Don’t think I have any misplaced sense of loyalty toward them. My goal is just to survive.”

Survive?

Her words stun me. What does she mean, she needs to survive? Surely her life cannot be that unbearable here…

She mistakes my silence for a refusal to speak, and she huffs. “Fine. Don’t tell me. But then don’t expect me to be forthcoming, either. You keep your secrets, and I’ll keep my dream about the Silver Wolf all to myself.”

She turns around, and I immediately call out, “Wait!”

She stops.

I hesitate. “The Silver Wolf is our last hope, Sophia.”

“Why?” She still has her back to me, but I hear the strange undertone in her voice.

“There’s a prophecy that whoever possesses the Silver Wolf will have access to her power. And I need that power to save my pack.”

“What kind of power?” This time, Sophia turns to look at me, her eyes carefully guarded.

I open my mouth and then pause.

I’m not really sure. There has been very little mention of past Silver Wolves in history books. Everything I do know is from the tidbits of information that my spies have managed to gather. If we had access to the records of the Central Alliance, it would be much easier. But the Central Alliance is closed off, and their terrain is so difficult to navigate that nobody dares go there.

I tell Sophia everything I know, which isn’t much. “It is said that the Silver Wolf has the ability to use magic. We need her to break the link between the nannies and the pups. And we need her power to overthrow Karina so I can reinstate my pack in its rightful place.”


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