- Beginning her journey

Rochelle

I sat inside a jeep and refused to look at my mother as we pulled away. I glanced at the huge man taking up most of the backseat next to me wondering who he was. His face was hardened in a way that I’ve never seen before and couldn’t help but wonder what could make anyone look like that. My journey is just beginning, and I know that being a warrior is the only thing I have left, the only thing that matters, the only thing that will make me happy.

The man that sat next to me on the journey eyed me suspiciously, “how old are you?”

My eyes narrowed at him, “17, why?”

He shook his head, “no wolf yet and you’re coming now, you know we don’t care if you have a wolf or not, the training is going to be as if you do.”

“That’s not an issue for me, I’ll have my wolf on Tuesday to be exact, plan on throwing me a party now,” I scoffed.

His brow arched, “not at all, you probably won’t make it to Tuesday, if you make it an hour I’ll be impressed.”

A smug smirk curved on my lips, “get ready to be impressed then,” I turned my head from him.

The driver chuckled and the man next to me grunted, “something funny up there, Ralph.”

Ralph replied, “nothing at all, Alpha Christen.” My body stiffened on its own as the realization hit me, this guy sitting next to me is an Alpha. I turned involuntarily as my eyes widened and my mouth went slack, staring at him.

He narrowed his eyes at me, “what, why do you look like that now? Haven’t you ever seen an Alpha before?”

Nodding my head slowly, “of course I have, just didn’t think the Alpha himself would come to pick up recruits that’s all.” Nice save, maybe he’ll forget about what I already said.

His lips were in a tight line, “why the sudden change in attitude, just because now you know who you’re sitting here with, not so quick to be smug and arrogant.” Then he added as his eyes ran up and down me, “not like you have much to be smug or arrogant about, but here you are.”

My head bowed as I took in my own form, my head tilted towards him, “don’t judge a book by its cover, it’s the words inside that matter, all that glitters isn’t gold now is it, Alpha Christen.” Amusement flitted in his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. I gulped at the sudden fear that now tightened my throat.

He nodded slowly, “true, but all words are not worth reading, and gold has many levels of value,” he turned his head to the window, “you’ll see.” We traveled about 4 hours in total silence, when we stopped in the middle of nowhere. I went to get out and the Alpha turned to me, “no one told you to get out, we’re just filling up with gas, we still have another 4 hours to go, sit still.”

I glared at him, “can I stretch my legs for a minute or is that against the rules?” I wasn’t trying to be a smartass or difficult, but I’m not used to sitting this long and my legs and ass were falling asleep.

He grunted, “there are times you’ll need to sit and wait longer than this trip and already you can’t take it, not impressed yet pup.” He pulled out his phone and began typing on it. I couldn’t stop the huff that escaped my lips as I crossed my arms over my chest and glared out the front windshield. He shook his head, “still got that attitude and now you don’t care if you show it off to me, good to know.” All the air left my body, leaving me feeling deflated as he raised his phone to his ear, “hello sweetheart, how’s your day going so far?”

My eyes went wide at the way his tone and demeanor changed in an instant, I looked over at him and couldn’t help but admire his face. His black as night hair, his chiseled facial features, sharp nose, high cheekbones, and then a smile curved on his lips, a brilliant one, showing all his white teeth. “I’m happy you’re having a great day, I’ll see you soon.” He hung up and it all vanished into thin air as the jeep revved to life and began to move.

Entering the compound was more like entering a military base in the human world as I looked around the area until the jeep finally stopped. I looked over at Alpha Christen, “is it okay if I get out now,” yea I was being an asshole, but I didn’t care.

He didn’t respond, he just moved and got out, leaving me sitting there. Ralph chuckled, “go on, get out or he’ll make an example of you any second as being lazy.”

My eyes went wide at him as I moved off the seat and stood, pulling my duffle bag and backpack out, slinging both over my shoulders and took a step, both my legs and ass were all pins and needles, and it was difficult to walk as they woke up. I gritted my teeth as each step was now torture, his voice rang out, “form 3 rows, move it.”

I fumbled into the back row at the end and dropped my stuff to the ground, it landed with a thud. His head snapped towards me and a glint flashed in his eyes, “no one told you to lower your gear, pick it back up.” He stared at all of us as he paced and bellowed out, “this is not a vacation, you chose to be here, chose to defend with honor, you will listen, you will obey each and every command, the only words that will come out of your mouths will be, YES, SIR, is that understood.” A shiver ran down my spine as he spoke to all of us, but the words yes sir almost made me giddy. I tried to stop the heat that was rising in my cheeks because I had no idea why that was happening, I’m not shy so why blush, especially now. His words continued as he paced in front of us, “you will be assigned sleeping quarters,” he looked around and sighed, “you will eat, sleep and work to achieve the goals you set for yourself, then if you really want to stay, you will complete the goals that we set for you.”

He stopped right in front of me, “if you make it through the 2-week probationary period, that is not a guarantee that you will be chosen to stay,” he leaned down staring at me eye-to-eye, “the ultimate decision is mine.”