JUNE
"MISS JUNE FALLOWS, YOU HAVE PASSED THE TEST AND WILL NOW ENTER THE SELECTION AS CONTESTANT NUMBER 14."
My throat dried, and I swallowed hard. "What?"
"Get your things ready, say your good byes. By tomorrow, a car will be here to pick you. Do you understand?"
"No," The words escaped my lips in a panicked hiss as I sunk into the cushion. "I'm not going to play some stupid game where the price is the Lycan king." I glanced at Alpha Roger as if he'll give me some back up. "I'd rather die than marry someone who isn't my mate."
The corner of the woman's lips lifted up in a half smile. "Unfortunately, you do not have a choice in the matter. It is either you attend, or your life will be forfeit."
I gritted my teeth as invisible walls closed in on me. Alpha Roger placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it in a show of support. "You have to go, June." He said quietly. 'Participate in the trials and make us proud. You don't have to win. You being there will bring us recognition and you might even be retained at the Lycan King's courts. You get to live a good life instead of… this."
I heard the pain in his voice as he spoke. After the death of my parents when I was five, Alpha Roger was all I knew. He was the only family I had, although I saw him more like a brother than a father figure. Still, I could not refute the truth of his words, still it hurt me.
I shrugged his hands off me, I was never someone to give up too fast, submit too easily. He knew that and I could see his big eyes pleading with me not to do anything stupid.
I fix him my own glare of unspoken accusations.
"Are you done making a spectacle?" the woman asked. "As I said, a driver will be here to pick you tomorrow, so get your things ready. One of the women here will stay to escort you on your journey."
I glanced at Alpha Roger but all he did was shrug. I blew out a breath. I was really going, wasn't i? But Alpha Roger was right. I did not have to win. I will go there, play their stupid game and do whatever it took to convince them that I was not a good candidate and get them to send me back home.
Pressing my lips together, I nodded and began to walk to my room. Thankfully, they gave me a whole day to pack and say my goodbyes which was quite generous of them. After shutting my door behind me, I sighed, my gaze swept over the familiar items. Noting here meant anything to me.
I'd always thought of moving. Traveling around the world so I tried not to own a lot of personal things. Maybe that was a good thing. A photo of my mom and dad sat on the dresser. I walked over to it and picked it up gently. They looked happy in this photo.
Mom was beautiful, a few years older than me and heavily pregnant. Her red hair glistened in the sun and her olive skin looked like it was glowing. I took after my mother in many aspects save for the eyes and lips. I had my father's emerald eyes and cupid bow lips.
I held the photo frame to my chest as if I'll hear their voice by doing so. If they were here now, they'll probably be proud of me or maybe not. I was quite young when they died, I did not have a chance to know what they were like but I was sure they loved me.
I packed first. Grabbing a bag, I threw in a bunch of clothes, a hairbrush, and a few other things. Every other thing I cherished was on my person. I peeled the photo out of the frame then folded it neatly and placed it in my front pocket.
That was all I had to pack. Now, all that was left was saying my goodbyes but I had no one to say goodbye to. The other pack members were not as close to me as Alpha Roger was. They barely tolerated my presence in the settlement.
I sighed, it was not my fault that I got bored easily and always needed some sort of entertainment even if those adventures will either hurt me or destroy some of their properties. Or sometimes, both.
They wanted me out of their hair as much as I wanted to leave this tiny place. For a moment, I felt the thrill of traveling somewhere new race through me. my life experiences were few – except for the few adventures I went to and Alpha Roger never let me cross the pack borders.
If this invitation had not come, that was a rule I was planning to break.
I crashed into bed. The women would have left by now or maybe retired to Alpha Roger's office to talk some more.
I have no idea when I slept off but when I woke up, Alpha Roger was in my room. He did that sometimes – coming into my room quietly and not waking me. he'd just sit there and watch me sleep or do whatever work he had at hand.
He smiled when he saw me looking at him. My heart broke for him. He was still a child. A few years older than me but he carried so much responsibility even if his pack constituted of less than a hundred werewolves.
He abandoned the chair he'd been sitting on to sit beside me on the bed. "You know I will miss you when you leave. You and your trouble. Now I will have to worry about what new trouble you will cause there."
I frowned and pinched my cheeks just to keep the tears gathering in my eyes from falling. "I can't believe you are letting this happen. Just when I was about to break one rule, they come along and demand I leave here, it's not fair."
Alpha Roger pulled me into hug. His scent washed over me and I inhaled deeply, securing it in my memories. I will be without friends in the foreseeable future, I will need this memory to remind me of the one person who could actually tolerate me.
"Life is fair." He said. "I hate that you have to leave but maybe it's for the best. This palce was always too small to hold you."
I pulled back to frown up at him and cross my arms, trying my best to battle the fear creeping along my skin. "Whoever told you I did not like this place?"
He laughed. "Here me out. You are stubborn, determined and more talented than anyone. They never really recognized and appreciated your intelligence." He lifted his hand to trace his finger along my cheek.
"But I know you better than they do. Your parents will be proud of the woman you have become."
I rolled my eyes. If I turned my face, he would have known I was trying to hide the tears. "So now I'm leaving and you chose it as the best time to tell me I'm not an inconsiderate, selfish brat who loves to wreck destruction?"
"Ha. You summed up yourself pretty nicely. I'm glad you did not need me to do it for you." He smiled as I smacked his arm. "But really. I want you to go there and learn as much as you can from them and if possible, win that contest. But I know your wild heart does not want that. but give yourself a chance, will you?"