The Alpha King’s Hunt

Chapter 1

Valarie

I was rushing. It was hard to ignore the murmurs and laughter as I passed by, as well as the curious conversations; the laughter I knew was directed at me.

As a servant, I was at the bottom of the pack, and wasn’t helping my cause by stumbling barefoot through the walkways.

But my family only had one car and my mother had taken it to make deliveries.

Some females laughed openly, others only shot me annoyed glances as I knocked into them and hurried on down the sidewalk.

In my arms was a bundle of violets, freshly picked from a field just on the edge of town.

The Alpha’s family would settle for no less, and they shouldn’t have to.

After all, Princess Sophia was not only beautiful, but fair and kind.

She kept me on despite the town’s gossip about me and my family’s low position in the hierarchy.

“Excuse me,” I called out as I turned sideways to slip through a small gathering of people.

I glanced down an alley and could see bodies shifting. The messenger would be there, waiting. Waiting for Sophia—who should be dressed and ready by now but was waiting for the violets.

I reached the side door of the palace, and the guard gave me a disapproving look, but stepped aside.

“Valarie,” he greeted me in a tight voice. I took the back staircase, tight and narrow, and ran up it the same way I did every morning.

It was my job to wait on Sophia. Luckily, the princess wasn’t high maintenance. But she did wake early, which meant I had to rise before the sun to get here in time to dress and serve her.

Despite my low birth status in the pack, I did everything I could to make my parents proud.

No one could say I wasn’t timely and focused on my tasks.

Sophia was well respected, and her beauty was widely talked about in the Kingdom.

A large part of this had to do with my constant attention, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at me.

The princess and I couldn’t be more different. Sophia was petite with honey-colored hair and delicate features. Her looks were deceiving, as she was incredibly strong. But she was known more for making fair decisions when it came to her pack.

Sophia’s father had passed away only a few years prior, and the pack had voted to let Queen Moira step up in his place. She had taken a few different mates over the years, but she was the only Alpha.

Over the last year, Queen Moira had stepped back and let her daughter make more and more important decisions, knowing that this day would come.

And now I was late for what was almost definitely big news.

A messenger was waiting in the courtyard and Sophia wasn’t even dressed.

I slammed through the princess’s door, panting.

“There you are!” Sophia exclaimed. She was surrounded by three other women who pulled at and fluffed a lavender dress. It outlined her petite body beautifully and showed off all her best assets, including the toned muscles of her upper arms.

The other ladies glared at me, but the truth was, I was the quickest among them all. I was the only one who would have been able to return with the flowers so quickly.

I reached into the bundle and carefully took out an already woven violet headband, stepping forward and placing it gently on Sophia’s head, careful not to mess up the delicate braids pulling her locks back from her face.

Looking down at the princess, I couldn’t help feeling out of place, as I often did when others were around.

I practically towered over Sophia. Tall and lean; staying in shape meant wrestling and training with Sophia.

If anyone else in the pack knew what we did in private, there was no question I—and my family—would be punished for it.

But Sophia saw past my standing in the pack. She knew how valuable I was and kept her mouth shut when small things went wrong.

Like being late.

“Are they waiting, Val?” she asked instead, and I nodded.

“Out front. Your mother is there, I’m sure. But they’ll wait for you before they say what they came to say.”

“Of course they will,” Sophia said assuredly, smoothing her dress down her stomach. “Let’s go. Keeping them waiting any longer will make me look pretentious, and that’s the last thing I need if this is actually about the Hunt.”

I shot the three other ladies a look. One was a beta; the two others were omegas like me.

Their faces were twisted with jealousy, and I had to fight to hide a smirk as I followed Sophia out of the room.

We moved quickly through the halls and down into the foyer, where two guards opened the doors that led out into the courtyard.

Outside stood the Queen with her hands resting behind her back. Moira was an imposing woman, and one look at her made it clear why the pack had chosen to follow her instead of choosing another Alpha male.

Moira was as petite as her daughter but had dark hair and narrow eyes.

Her mouth was perpetually set in a straight line.

The messenger, although she hadn’t said anything to him yet, already looked intimated by the pack’s leader.

He stood close to the Benz that had brought him here, waiting with his head down and his hands trembling slightly.

“Princess Sophia,” one of the guards announced quietly.

The small crowd waiting at the outskirts of the courtyard shifted and murmured. Many of them smiled, happy to see their princess, especially when she looked so radiant. Sophia’s grace as she stepped forward was something for the pack to be proud of.

“Welcome, messenger,” she said in a voice as smooth as honey.

The trembling in the man’s hands stopped and he stood straighter, clearing his voice.

“Thank you, Princess,” he said, glancing at Moira. “And Your Majesty. It is an honor to be welcomed into your pack’s territory. I bring a message from the Kingdom and King Gabriel himself.”

Sophia practically glowed at this news.

The rest of the pack waited with bated breath. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Everyone knew what this was about. It had been two years. The messenger could only be coming to announce—

“The Hunt,” he said, bringing a letter forward and presenting it.

One of the guards stepped forward to take it and walk it to Sophia, who didn’t open it, but stood holding it in both hands.

“The Hunt will begin in a few short days, and King Gabriel and his mother, Queen Evelyn, would be honored by your participation. Twelve other princesses will be joining you at Harmon’s Palace to partake in several tasks.

King Gabriel will judge the princesses based on their beauty, kindness, and strength as he seeks his future mate. ”

This time, a few people in the crowd actually did roll their eyes. This would be the fifth Hunt in ten years. King Gabriel had not deemed any previous princesses worthy to be his mate. It was unlikely he’d make a decision during this Blood Moon.

Queen Moira liked to remark that the reason was due to Sophia’s absence at the last Hunt. Their territory had been mourning the loss of their Alpha, and so Sophia had remained home during the Blood Moon.

In previous years, she had not been of age. This was the first Hunt she would be allowed to attend, and it was clear from the light blazing in her eyes that she was ready for the challenge.

“My daughter would be honored,” Queen Moira murmured, her voice like ice. The messenger immediately looked down once more, his smile waning.

“You can tell King Gabriel,” she continued, “that Princess Sophia will join the others in a few days’ time. We will prepare her for travel, and she will arrive at the Palace shortly.”

The messenger, instead of replying, only bowed.

Sophia nodded to him and turned, her gaze sweeping the pack as she smiled beautifully at them all. A small cheer began as she turned back toward the palace. I followed in her steps, eyes to the ground.

As soon as the door closed behind us, Sophia whipped the violet crown off her head and tossed it to the ground, where a servant rushed forward to pick it up.

“You heard Mother,” she said excitedly, grabbing the railing and racing up the stairs. “I’m going to the Kingdom! Finally, I have a chance to show those other brats that I deserve to be the Alpha Mate.”

I loped up the stairs easily, not even out of breath by the time we reached Sophia’s rooms. We entered and all it took was one glare to dismiss the other ladies.

Sophia skipped to her bed and let herself fall onto it, arms out at her sides.

“King Gabriel,” she sighed, rolling over and burying her face in the thick linens.

I dropped into a chair and rolled my eyes.

“King Gabriel,” I mimicked in a lovesick voice. “Lucky for you, we’ve been practicing for this. You should have no trouble with any of the tasks.”

“Or catching his eye,” Sophia teased, lowering one sleeve of the dress, and batting her eyelashes at me.

I snorted. “You have just as much experience as I do when it comes to that.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Actually, I do,” I insisted. “We practically grew up together, Sophia.”

The princess fixed her dress and sat down properly. “Alright, you’re right. But still. If the things I hear are true, it won’t take much to catch his eye.”

I wasn’t sure that was such a good thing. The entire Kingdom talked about King Gabriel, who had been King and lead Alpha over all other Alphas for a decade now. He was notorious for being serious, but insatiable when it came to women. And possibly even some men.

I closed my eyes and sighed. “You’ll have to tell me about it when you get back,” I said.

Sophia would be gone for an entire month, until the Blood Moon came to be full. That meant I would need to find other work while she was gone.

A pang of panic ran through me. My family were low down in the pack, my mother a seamstress and father a general handyman. He worked tirelessly at all jobs, whatever he could get, but we were always wanting.

My younger brother didn’t know how bad off we were.

In truth, myself and my parents did everything we could to keep him innocent of our status.

But the family had always struggled, and I’d been lucky to get a position as Sophia’s lady.

It brought in the highest income, but nothing to pull them out of the lower hierarchy.

Instead of getting decent wages, it was considered a privilege to be in the presence of royalty daily.

“What are you talking about?” Sophia asked, looking up from cleaning her nails. “You’re coming with me.”

My eyes shot open.

“What?” I almost shouted. “Me? You don’t want to bring Anna with you?”

Sophia scoffed. “My mother’s maid hasn’t had to dress her for years. You think Moira would trust anyone with her immaculate wardrobe? Anna sits around most of the day eating cookies and gossiping with the guards.”

I was half sitting up now.

“Are you sure?” I asked hesitantly. “There are so many other ladies—”

Sophia stood, sighing, and paced toward the window overlooking the town. “Don’t make me regret asking you, Val,” she threatened, but grinned. “Do you think you can manage it? It’ll be a lot of work—when there aren’t challenges, there are dinners and parties. I’ll have to look my best at all times.”

“Yes! You know I can,” I almost scoffed.

“Don’t get too full of yourself there.” But Sophia was still smiling. “We’ll only have a few days to get ready before we need to leave. Do you think your mother could repair a few dresses I want to bring? She’ll be compensated, of course.”

As Sophia rattled on, I had to fight back tears.

This was more than I could have asked for.

I nodded vaguely, barely taking in the conversation, instead imagining what my father would say when he found out I had the chance to go to the Kingdom.

It could only help our status. After all, we couldn’t get much lower than we already were.

“Can you help me with this?”

Sophia turned, reaching behind her back for the ties that would undo her dress. I moved toward her and undid them quickly, my mind already planning what I would need to pack and how to tell my parents.