Trapped and Loved By Alpha Calle

Daphne

“I’m tired. Let’s stop by here for a while,” Reina pleaded to me.

My eyes wandered around as Reina and I rested at the base of a massive root system. Some of the trees around us withered, rising out of the earth to brush against the sky. Sunlight danced across fern fronds and glistened off of morning dew. Meanwhile, just meters away from us was a quiet crystal clear stream. The water flow had a perfect sequence as it rushed across the rough rocks.

“Can we just stay here forever?”

I shot Reina a small smile when I turned to her. She was beautiful. Her silky fur shone as if she rolled over a thousand silver glitters. “Of course, girl. Here in the forest, no one’s going to harm us both. No one will tell us what to do and what not to do. We are free to decide for ourselves. We’ll only do fun stuff—running, hunting, playing in the streams, and sleeping until the sun is high again.”

“Well, that’s fun.” She made a low whimper and snuggled against me.

I cuddled her back when the cold morning fog burrowed into my skin and at the same time, sent a shudder of movement through the branches of the birch trees.

“Um, Daphne ?”

“Yes, Reina?” I responded. My face was buried under her ear. She smelled of fresh grass and earth. The nerves in my system began to calm, and the beating of my worried heart returned to its normal rhythm.

“I don’t want to be separated from you ever again,” she moaned, making my heart sink.

“Not going to happen again. I’d rather die,” I mumbled, my hand reaching up, brushing the fluffy hair from the back of her head. “You and I are like twins with a single soul. We’re always counting on each other.”

“Sure thing,” she said. “I love you, Daphne .”

“I love you too,” I whispered. “Um, Reina. There’s something I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Why can’t I shift? Why are you staying out of my body? Aren't we all meant to exist as a single being?”

She did nothing but cuddle up to my neck in return. Her tiny whimper was unaccompanied by any words.

***

“ Daphne, wake up! Wake up!”

As I opened my eyes, I gasped sharply and the strong urge to cough made me sit up. I touched my neck because it hurt like it had been knotted by a thick rope. That was the moment I remembered I was attacked. Still a bit disoriented, I looked up at the person who was rubbing my back.

“B-Beta Degen?” My eyes grew wide, noticing his bruised face. But he seemed not affected by his wounds, even the blood dripping from the side of his face. I couldn’t help but feel dead worried about him, though. “You’re hurt.”

“This is nothing. Just a little scratch,” he said in a rough tone, his brows contracting when his eyes lowered to my neck. When he pressed the area beneath my ear, he clenched his teeth when I groaned in pain.

“Ouch! That hurts!”

“I have no idea who Alpha Calle killed first—you for disobeying your Alpha’s orders or Gary for nearly murdering you.”

My senses had been slowly brought back to life when he mentioned Alpha Calle. I was about to utter a word when a disturbing and thunder-like growl sliced through the air. When I cocked my head over my shoulder, my heart hammered in my chest at the sight of two massive werewolves growling at each other. One of them had a gray coat with a reddish line of fur down its spine. The other wolf had a fiery auburn coat, with a rich copper mass across his back. I was certain that the latter was Alpha Calle. From that moment I’d seen him in wolf form, it seemed like he was the only beautiful thing that I could recognize.

“Can you walk? If you have any broken bones, I’ll just carry you,” Beta Degen said.

He was about to scope me from the ground when I protested. “I am capable of standing up, even running!”

“Don’t dare run,” he warned in a low tone.

I rolled my eyes and focused on the two wolves instead as I finally got to my balance. Then I noticed that we were not the only people around. The men who were witnessing the tension had huge builds like Beta Degen, all looked intimidating as they shot cautious stares at the gray wolf. They might be the warriors of their pack.

‘Something was wrong around here,’ I thought and gazed up at Beta Degen. “What’s going on? Why are you not helping the Alpha? Or anyone from the Warriors? Are they just going to watch them?”

Beta Degen shook his head. He looked calm, but the way his eyes glued on the two Alphas, he seemed very troubled. I could feel his tension in the way his large hand wrapped around my wrist. He might have known I would run from him when I got the chance. “Alpha Gary came to challenge Alpha Calle in a duel.”

“A-a duel?”

I couldn’t help but recall what my brother, Jaime, had told me about challenging an Alpha. He’d said the moment a challenge was issued, they couldn't turn it down to protect their pride and maintain the respect of the pack members toward them. When the challenger killed the Alpha, it would make them the new Alpha of his pack.

The gray wolf groaned something, making Alpha Calle snap his head up, baring his teeth. Then Alpha Gary turned his direction to me, locking his brown stares into mine as if I was his prey. My throat closed. It looked like the subject of their chat before they went to a fight was none other than me.

I glanced up at Beta Degen. “What are they speaking about?” It was frustrating that I couldn’t catch all of their conversations. I guess the Alpha only picked words that he wanted to say directly to anyone within his pack members—like how he spoke to me in his wolf form that day in the woods.

Beta Degen’s jaw tightened. “Alpha Gary says he wants the pack… and you.”

“M-me?”

My stomach plummeted to my knees. Why in the world did he want me? What if the gray wolf whom they called Alpha Gary won? For as long as I remembered, he was in the process of killing me before I passed out. Anxiety throbbed inside me as that disturbing thought streamed inside my head.

‘I have to trust Alpha Calle.’ I could tell that he was stronger than the other Alpha even though he looked younger.

Time seemed to slow as the gray wolf pounced, galloping toward Alpha Calle on strong paws. His shoulder muscles rippled as he narrowed the space between them. And then he pulled back his jaws, revealing those rows of sharp teeth.

Alpha Calle, on the other hand, charged him with a dangerous growl. His red coat was like a raging flame as he soared over the gray wolf to dodge its sharp grasp. He landed behind him only to be attacked again with the other wolf’s claws. This time, the ashen beast was aiming for his neck.

“No!”

I was about to step forward when Beta Degen yanked me closer. “I need to get you back in the house, Daphne,” Beta Degen gritted. “That’s your Alpha’s order.”

“I don’t want to hide there and lose my mind while I know the threat is around!” I yelled, pulling my arm from his grasp.

“You’re just as stubborn as you look like, aren’t you?” he huffed, his nose crinkled. “Good thing I’m no longer the one to train you after this whole mess is done. Better off dealing with my well-disciplined warriors than you.”

I frowned. “What do you mean you’re not training me anymore?”

My question was left hanging in the charged air when thunderous roars rolled around like an earthquake. I turned my attention back to the duel with a gasp upon seeing Alpha Calle having a vicious locked battle with the gray wolf. The two beasts trundled across the ground.

The second wolf was forced to the ground by Alpha Calle, who also snapped his jaws in its face. I held back a scream as I braced myself for him to rip Alpha Gary's face off. The wolf's shoulders were bitten by Alpha Calle when he knelt to do so. The gray one screamed in agony and hatred as blood poured from the wound until his body finally gave way and he fell to the ground unconscious.

‘Is… is the fight finally over?’

Our Alpha stepped back, growling, his teeth bared and tail twitching. Then he turned in my direction, but his gaze was on Beta Degen.

Beta Degen nodded as though he just got orders from Alpha Calle’s wolf form.

“What did he say?” I asked impatiently.

“He wants Gary to be imprisoned in the darkest dungeon,” he said and gave me a hard gaze. “You see, not everything's about you.”

I grimaced a hint of embarrassment pricked inside my chest. ‘He has a point. How stupid of me to expect that I’m the priority of this pack.’

Still, in wolf form, Alpha Calle ambled towards us, his amber eyes wide as they met mine. I held my hand to my chest. I wasn’t sure if the thudding in my chest was because of my tension during the duel or the fact that he chose to approach me first after a triumphant fight. Anyhow, I was relieved that he won and was alive—that even though he showered me with a sermon for breaking his orders, I would carry it with no hard feelings.

I was about to give him a small smile when I noticed that the gray wolf stirred from afar. And before the warriors realized it, he was sprinting just before Alpha Calle.

“Watch out!”

Alpha Calle paused. Estimating the attack, the wolf Gary would be already breaking Alpha Calle's bones before he could even spin in the direction of the threat. Beta Degen also roared, screaming at him that the gray wolf was behind him.

Maybe it was the panic that was fueling me… or the adrenaline pumping through my body that made me move in a way I didn’t expect. Because in just a flash of light, I found myself standing right in front of the charging wolf.

“Stop!” I squeaked.

Gary’s brown eyes widened in surprise. But his pace didn’t seem to hold up when I showed up out of nowhere to block him from advancing to Alpha Calle. His speed only accelerated.

I froze in horror, watching the huge gray wolf sprinting as he locked his irises toward me as though I was his favorite food. My misty gaze spotted those sharp claws, I felt dead already just by imagining them piercing through my body.

‘Is this my end?’

I still had a lot of dreams that needed to come true. I aspired to complete my education to have a respectable profession, just like everybody. I yearned to have my wolf back most of all. Though I had no idea how to search for a way to get her back. Without my wolf, I had nothing. I also didn't want to pass away without her.

“Help!” I sank to my knees, wrapping my arms around my nape. My eyes shut, waiting for death to claim me.

Just as I was preparing to be sliced in two when I heard a thud in front of me. Slowly, I raised my face, and my eyes widened as Alpha Calle continued to bang the gray wolf to the ground like a dead log. He was already in a human form when he wrapped his long arms around the beast’s neck, his muscles contracted as he tightened his grip. Shortly, the sound of bone breaking cracked through the stilled air, and its tongue hung after an agonizing howl.

Alpha Calle glared at me, the huge wolf still inside his arms. “How did you move that f*cking fast, huh?” he asked, panting. “And why the hell did you have to do that? Do you want to die?”

My lips were trembling when I parted them. But before I could even utter a word, I was startled as a huge flame engulfed the gray wolf. I wanted to think that my eyes were only deceiving me. But I was too close to witnessing what happened.

‘How did he do it?’

The fire started from his hands. And he didn’t let go of the wolf as the flame continued to devour it until it became fine ashes.