A Stolen Alpha’s Heart Novel – “Are you finally getting faster, Rue?” Blake shoots me a wry smile as I dodge his usually quicker fist. “Yeah, right,” I snort, trying to leap to the side in order to avoid his incoming kick. It lands behind my knee, his foot extending just enough to throw me off balance. I tumble forward with a hiss, palms hitting the ground hard, head jerking as I catch myself. “Get up,” he hisses, a sense of urgency in his tone. I can tell by the fear written on his face that we have caught the lead warriors’ attention. She has honed in on my weakness as if I had called for her attention with my own voice.
Her icy eyes follow me before she even steps closer. The weight of her disappointment clinging to the humid air as sweat rolls down my back. Celia, the warrior in charge of training the pack for battle, the elite fighter who fears no one and takes no excuses, has decided to watch our meager match. That means it’s either me or Blake getting punishment after this sparring match, and I’m still healing from the other day’s loss. I lunge forward, faking a right hook and catching Blake off guard as he absorbs my left uppercut to the chin.
He stumbles back, and I smirk. Shit, perhaps he was right; maybe I am getting faster. Blake shoves me away with a growl, forcing me back before he lurches at me and delivers two bone-quivering blows. I block the first with my arms, exposing my side where he buries his other fist before I can blink. His hits aren’t nearly as hard as they usually are, and from the silent judging coming from Celia’s direction, I can tell I’m not the only one to notice. Under normal circumstances it may be considered a favor, but for me, with who I am? He is sealing my fate with something far worse. “Do you think you are helping her get stronger by pulling your hits, Blake?” Her voice is flat. “No, ma’am,” Blake rushes out. “I just, well, she is still healing from yesterday’s training session, and I thought…” His eyes bounce between us, and then his gaze drops. “It’s not your job to think.
It’s above your pay grade. Your job is to train, to improve, and instead you are getting worse; she is making you worse.” “Sorry, ma’am.” “Don’t be sorry, be better.” She snaps out as she steps over, shoving him to the side. “If you pull your hits, your form is wrong, and you lose your strength.” She settles into her attacking position, glancing over to him with a bored expression. “Your back foot is in the wrong position every time you strike because you are holding back. Pushing off your back foot as you charge forward is half the strike here. It’s where the force comes from and yet, you allow yourself to perform it poorly. Allow me to demonstrate what I want to see.” Without warning, she is flying toward me, my eyes wide as I duck, struggling to throw myself out of her striking zone.
I trip and fumble back to my feet, putting distance between us, my heart in my throat as the others’ who are training stop and watch the spectacle. She throws herself toward me again, a twister of furious fists and kicks as I groan in pain, trusting my arms to block what they can in front of my face. Every hit feels like my bones will shatter into oblivion, my body literally shuddering with the force of each landed attack. “You both need to practice,” she grunts between strikes. Every blow becomes harder, less predictable, and more furious. “I have been,” the words barely make it out of my mouth before her knuckles connect with my upper cheek.
Pain burst through my face, my left eye instantly losing sight and my other seeing stars. My upper body twists, sending me to the side and hard onto the ground, forcing my head to smack into the compacted dirt pitch. I can’t help the gasp that escapes and the way I try to ready myself for more, trying to stand but stumble to the side and drop to my knees. “Get up” her words echo through the training center as I blink and shake my head, furiously trying to focus. It feels as if I am spinning faster with every passing second. “Celia…” a concerned voice whispers, but she shuts it up with a growl. “Do you back off your enemies?” She asks through clenched teeth, stalking me down, her anger so thick I can taste it. “No, ma’am” The words are barked out by everyone around us as arms pull me up and then deliver a blow to my stomach, stealing my breath away. “Fight back.” She urges, and I swing wildly, my vision waning and my chest wheezing. “You have no wolf to rely on, so you need to have the drive to fight back.
So fight back, Rue! Your life is on the line here; you can’t expect someone to risk their lives for the likes of your weak self.” I nod, unable to find the words, or her body as I launch toward her voice and spin about. I lick my lips, my chest blooming with embarrassed hatred. Not everything needs to be a lesson or about my lack of a wolf. I whirl around, only to hear her behind me. “Do something, you worthless omega! Prove you belong here!” she hisses. My spine creaks as she kicks me in the back, arms flying out and I stumble into a body that spins me, hopefully in her direction. “Fight your way out of this one, freak!” The words are uttered under their breath before they shove me back toward the monster, trying to teach me another of their ‘valuable’ life lessons. My mothers fingers grip my wrist, tugging me in as I struggle to break free.
Her grip tightens, my skin burning and my bones pressing together as a crack sounds a millisecond before the pain races through me. A garbled cry breaks free of my lips as my elbow dislocates. Tears spring to my eyes as I slip away, clutching my arm to my chest. “Mom, please…” I plead, tears stinging my eyes but she ignores me like she always does. Her footsteps come closer as I am shoved to the ground, my vision slowly coming back. “Fight back, damn it!” She screeches, rearing her foot back before her boot connects to my side, a deep thud echoing through me followed by the giving way of my lower two ribs. I lay there wheezing, inhaling the scent of sweat and dust, unable to move. “Celia, she’s had enough.” Blake pleads, and I hear a handful of warriors trying to reason with her. “She’s my daughter; I’ll decide what is enough. She needs to learn how to…” “Momma…” My voice is weak, my heart is hollow and my body broken. “Help me…” “I’m trying to,” she sneers in my ear before she smacks her lips together. “Get out of my sight.
Go find your father so he can fix you up.” And just like that she throws me away like the trash she thinks I am. Chapter 2 I cradle my arm to my chest, limping as each step sends a wave of pain through my side where my ribs are no doubt broken. It’s not a far walk to the hospital but if I went around the back, through the forest it would be faster. And then I could see Theo, my heart flutters at the thought of him as I bite my lip. Since my thirteenth birthday we have been nearly inseparable except for trainings and when he is doing future beta things.
And while we have never put a title to what we are, I know he feels the same way. Theo treats me like I am the only person in the world he sees. Which is saying a lot because being treated as an equal is unfathomable for someone like me, yet he has never made me feel like I was less than. The second I see his frame, back to me I can feel my cheeks heat up and I forget my pain, sneaking up to him. But there is no being sly with him as he whips around, and shoots me a smile that melts my insides. His neatly styled black hair gives him an angelic look that makes his porcelain perfect skin stand out and his cheek bones look like a gift from the heavens. My fingers begin to shake and his smile falters as a tickling spreads through my body from my chest. “Happy Birthday, Rue.” He whispers, a sadness on his face I can’t place. “You remembered?” I grin and he nods.