The Alpha King's Hunt

Chapter 12

Valarie

I was running again.

It felt good, the burst of energy, the focus on keeping my breathing even as I jumped a log and took a tight corner.

Sophia was somewhere behind me. I'd always been a better runner than she was, bested her in almost everything actually – but we never spoke of it. And I usually let her win.

But today I couldn't hold myself back the way I normally did. All of the tension from the last few days needed to come out and it would only happen if I let my wolf stretch. And oh, was it stretching.

My thighs burned as I jumped another mess of logs and the earth beneath my bare feet was damp and thick. We were in a pine grove at the southern edge of town. This is where the event would take place tomorrow, and Sophia and I were the only ones out here in the quiet forest.
It was obvious that the Alpha Pack was a bit more civilized than my Autumn Pack. Most people would have been impressed by this fact, but not me. I loved the woods. I loved the feeling of the wolf shivering under my skin as my legs stretched and arms pumped tight at my side, hands grabbing trunks, bark scraping over my palms as I corrected my trajectory.

My ears twitched and I could hear Sophia panting behind me.

Please let the other princesses be out of shape, I prayed, thinking that this course would most likely not be Sophia's strong suit. But she at least had the advantage of learning it before hand.

There was a sudden fork in the trail and my eyes darted from one path to the other. The one on the right was clearly well-traveled. I knew immediately that Sophia would go that way. But the one on the left tempted me, and the wolf inside shivered again, wanting to come out and play.

I went left.

It took only a moment of concentration to be sure that she'd gone right. I heard her stumble and bit back a grin. I loved Sophia, but it was good to know I had something on the beautiful princess.

For a moment my eyes closed and I smelled the scent of the pines around me. Heard the muffled sound of my feet hitting the earth.

And then there was another scent in the air.

My eyes shot open and I glanced around quickly, pace slowing to a controlled lope.

The trees were spaced evenly apart and I could see through the trunks another person running almost parallel to me. They drew me like a light and I stumbled, gasping.

"Damnit!"

The bright figure flashing through the trees was ahead of me now. I slowed to a walk and glanced down, where my ankle was bleeding from a good scrape. I couldn't hear Sophia anymore. But I could smell the pines, and over the sharp scent of their needles, water.

Gabriel

The pair had caught me off guard.

They must have come in off the main trail and made their way deeper into the woods, on the same path the princesses would be taking tomorrow for the course. Someone – that servant – must have figured out what was coming next and was taking advantage of a day of rest.

Clever, I thought, watching the two women run the trail.

Sophia was keeping up but was obviously working hard to do so. I glanced away from her petite form and watched Valarie instead.

Valarie.

She moved like a wolf. More wolf than woman, limbs long, branches catching at her wild hair as she overcame every log and turn in the path. I knew what trail I could take to catch up, to cut her off, just like I knew that the wolf in her would turn her down the less-used path.