The Alphas prize

Erik towered over me, and his lip twitched upwards in disgust as his eyes held darkness to them. I dug my hands into the cool earth and backed away from him, but the further I got, the closer he came. Finally, I tried to get up from the ground, and Erik kicked me back down with his boot.

I stilled, deciding to stay where I was and instead propped myself up onto my elbows. “What the fuck, Erik?” My tone's anger and the hurt of his betrayal only grew.

His upper lip curled into a snarl as he narrowed his eyes. “That cure is coming with me.” He growled out, his tone deep and demanding.

I snorted and then gave him a deadpan stare. “Over my dead body.” Even though I was shitting my pants right now, as he had an advantage over me, I refused to let him take what was rightfully mine. I had earned this cure and gave up a piece of myself in the process, just to get it.

Erik stepped closer, his feet on either side of my legs now, trapping me in my place, before stopping and sniffing the air. His expression was overtaken with confusion and then repugnance. “You gave up your wolf for that fucking cure, didn’t you? For that piece of shit, Cain.” Erik hollered, his body now shaking with anger.

I opened my mouth to respond, but he didn’t give me a chance. “How could you? Why do you want to save that fucking monster? You’ve been told the same stories as I; the things he has done are cruel and inhumane. He attacked our pack, our families, he killed Mikael and yet, you still want to save him.” His face turned red as he ridiculed me for my actions.

I pushed myself up, getting into more of a sitting position and scowled at him. “Yes, I do, and you are right; Cain is a monster, but at least he doesn’t deny it. Cain doesn’t hide his true self; he is honest and loyal, unlike you, Erik. You were my friend; I loved and trusted you; now look at you. You say he is a monster, so what does that make you?” I asked in a grave and contemptuous tone.

Erik’s eyes turned black, his expression furious now, and a low growl rumbled from him as he bent down to sit on my stomach. I raised my arms and tried to smack him, attempting to get him off me, but he gripped my wrists together and pinned them above my head, putting a halt to my useless attacks.

Erik leaned down, our faces now mere inches away from one another. “I am nothing like him, and if you can’t see Cain for who he truly is, then I guess I have no choice but to kill you too.” His voice was low and deadly, sending shivers down my spine.

I twisted under him, mustering up every ounce of willpower I had within me to get free from the man I thought I once knew so well. Erik and I were childhood friends; we did everything together; we were once so close. Now, I didn’t recognize the person trying to take my life, all because I chose another over him.

My attempt to get free was abruptly halted as Erik’s other hand came crashing down around my neck, squeezing my windpipe to the point where I thought he would crush it. The air was slipping from my lungs, and I gasped to breathe. Unfortunately, my hands were still held firmly above my head, rendering me useless and unable to fight him back.

Erik’s hold around my neck tightened, and he grinned down at me as he watched the life drain from my eyes. Then, just when I thought all was over and I was going to die, Erik was harshly thrown off me, sending him flying through the air. I lay there, coughing and gasping for air, finally able to breathe again. I had known that Gunnar was close by and that he would come to save me, but to my surprise, when I looked up, the hand that was extended out to me belonged to none other than Eve.

My brows furrowed in udder confusion as I stared into the eyes of the person who had just saved my life, the very same person who I thought hated me with a passion and also tried to destroy my life at one point in time. I shook my head and grabbed her hand, allowing Eve to help me up to my feet. I brushed the dirt and debris from my body before looking up at her. “Thank you.” I said, confusion in my tone, “Why did you save me? I thought you despised me and wanted me gone?” I asked curiously.

Eve sucked in a deep breath. “I do hate you, and I do want you gone. However, I know that Cain will always choose you over me no matter what I do or what I say because he loves you. I also heard about what happened to Cain.” She closed her eyes, and her features were overcome with grief. Eve opened her eyes again and straightened herself, masking her emotions now. “I know you have the cure, and I still love Cain. So, if saving you means saving him, then I’ll do whatever it takes. I won’t let him die, especially knowing I could’ve done something to prevent that.” So she told me, her words filled with honesty and loyalty.

willing to put aside her feelings for me in order to save the one we both loved. But, unfortunately, before I was given a chance to say anything else to her, Erik suddenly barreled

stupid fucking bitch.”

quickly grabbed hold of the world's heaviest fucking rock and yanked it out of the earth. My grasp on the boulder was slipping, barely able to hold onto it, but with as much strength as I could muster, I bashed Erik over the

we bolted away from an unconscious Erik, heading in the opposite direction. However, Erik came up from behind me, gripping my hair and tossed me into a tree, face first. He stalked towards me, a dangerous look in his eyes, but before he could reach

he glared between Eve and me. Eve’s head whipped in my direction. “Run, Freja.” She

he caught her by the wrist and spun her around, Eve’s

disbelief that Erik had just so easily taken her life. Erik stood there, staring down at Eve’s body for a moment before his gaze turned to

around and started to run in the opposite direction,

from me, Freja. Especially, being a weak and

an instant. He grabbed hold of

off my oxygen, as he rested his lips against my ear. “You better hope the moon goddess will have mercy on your soul for fucking that monster of a

tightened around my neck, and things were starting to go black. However, I refused to die, not today and not by his hand. I

causing him to release me. He stumbled backwards and clutched his stomach, but that only lasted for a second before he stood to his full height again, glaring daggers at me. I looked around the ground and spotted a large, fallen tree branch. I hurriedly picked up the branch and swung it at him furiously.

from the ground. Gunnar stood there, black eyes and snarling viciously, as he held Erik by the throat off the ground. Although Erik squirmed in Gunnar’s hold, trying to get free, little did he know, his time was up. Gunnar tightened his

stood there, staring between Gunnar and Erik, a little shocked that Gunnar had taken

finally over but saddened that so many people died as a result, and I had lost two people who were once so dear to me. But, aside from everything, I was grateful that Gunnar was still by my side, fighting with me and supporting my decisions, even though

my arms tightly around him. Gunnar embraced me in his hold, exhaling heavily. “Are you ok?” He asked with

am fine. Just glad you showed up when you did.” And I was, although I wished he had

down at Erik’s body. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. I should’ve just stayed with you and never left you alone if I hadn’t shown up when I did….” I didn’t let him finish as I put my hand up,

“Gunnar, you are here now, and that’s all that matters. Not everything is predictable, shit happens, and you can’t always prevent it.” I told him reassuringly, trying to ease his

himself for letting this happen. Gunnar glanced around before fixing his

“Who’s that?” He asked with curiosity while pointing

“That’s Eve; she tried to save me, but….” I