Chapter 2: Banished Alpha

I woke suddenly to the sound of whispers just on the border of waking. My eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the faint rays of sunshine filtering through the trees. The clearing was still and quiet, darkened by the dense backdrop of canopy high above. I sat up slowly, still attempting to shimmy the tightness in my muscles from the night past.

Two wolves stood a few feet away, whispering in low tones, oblivious to the fact that I had woken.

"Do you think she even knows?" cried one, doubt twinkling in his dark eyes. "I mean, the alpha brought her here himself, I bet she don't know"

"Doubt it," said the other, throwing a glance my way. "It's not like he would've told her. And anyway, she's an outsider, maybe she was rejected by pack"

I tensed, keeping as still as I could. They were talking about me; for that reason, I would not show any sign of having overheard their words.

"She'll figure it out soon enough," the first wolf said. "No one has managed to stay here long without learning the truth about the Alpha."

"What truth?" I almost shouted, but bit my tongue, heart racing. Everyone became quiet as Kael's entrance turned the discussion into silence.

He looked at me with a strange expression in his eyes, cold, but curious, at best.

"Get up," he said flatly. "It's time for you to go."

I bristled, fighting back the pang in annoyance. "Go? I didn't agree to it."

Kael's glare was icy as he took slow measured steps toward me. "I never needed you to, that was not an order."

I met his stare unwaveringly and defied him. "Really? Why save me at all if you planned to throw me out?"

For the briefest moment, as if recalling an incident, regret was visible in his eyes before it was hidden again behind a cold mask of indifference.

"Because you were about to get yourself a nice death, and that would have been... inconvenient."

"Inconvenient?" I barely held back a grin in sheer disbelief. "You did not save me out of goodwill?!"

Amused by the conversation, everyone strictly maintains a distance, while some watched from the shades of the tree.

Kael smiled, a cold smile without amusement. "I have no heart left in this life that is cruelly draining me of it, cub."

Maybe it was because of the way he had said it, but I felt a shiver ran down my spine. I fought to regain same stand, round and confident. I would show him I was no ship an anchor could moor.

"I'm not leaving," I said, crossing my arms. "So you might as well get used to me."

Kael decided for a moment to drone his eyes into mine, as though weighing an option. His jaw clenched, and the tension I felt in his shoulders warned me he was angling for a ghost of reason within himself.

"Stubborn," he muttered under his breath. "Then fine. Stay for now. But you follow my rules, and there is no strange wandering off on your part!”,

“just as you wondered off your other pack", he mutters in his

I couldn't hold my anger. "I didn't wonder off my pack!, I'm on a quest! I bet you won't understand what that means"

“That's your business”,Kael's expression hardened but was controlled immediately “And you must mind the way you talk, if you want to stay longer”

“Your stay here is limited” he said with a note of finality.

Kael's countenance softens, at least for a heartbeat before he turned away. "Ren, show her around," he ordered one of the wolves. "And keep an eye on her. I don't want any more surprises."

Ren, a wiry wolf with sharp eyes and messy brown hair--I guessed was his name--stepped forward with a hurried nod toward me; looking at me with equal parts curiosity and suspicion, meticulously scrutinizing me.

"Come on, follow me... if that's what you want."

I nodded and fell in step beside him, back. Kael followed me with his gaze as I walked away, and for a moment, I felt a strange pang of... regret? As if I'd wanted him to keep arguing, wanted him to continue to express something behind that impenetrable coldness of his.

But he was already walking in another direction, mooning into the trees with his shoulders set in a manner that told me he wasn't in the mood for small talk--or perhaps for conversation, ever.

Ren led me around the camp, pointing out the central areas--a gathered place around a stone fire pit, a small shelter where they kept their food, and few huts scattered, all made from rough timber and leaves. It wasn't much, but they were enough to provide shelter and warmth.

"Not exactly homey," I remarked under my breath as I surveyed the modest setup. "But I guess it works so far."

Ren shrugged, his eyes draped nonchalantly over to me in sort of an amused manner. "We make do. You learn to live with less around here."

I could tell from the tone of his voice that this was not merely a camp for him. This was home, a refuge for those too troublesome to find a proper place. And judging by the scars on his face and the tormented look in his eyes, he had probably been through more than I could imagine.

"So... what is the deal with that Kael?" I made an effort to keep my tone casual. "I mean, I get that he's the alpha, but I feel like there's something deeper within than he being an alpha."

Ren shifted his eyes around to check sinister listening ears before bringing his voice even lower. "You really don't know, do you?"

I shook my head, my curiosity intensifying. "No. But I'd like to."

He hesitated, finally weighing the odds of telling me and then sighed heartily. "Kael used to be one of the stronger alphas in our kind. Respected, trusted... until he was banished by his council "

"What?" I whispered, hardly able to process the shock. "What are you saying?"

"Years ago," Ren explained, his voice tight with anger, "Kael’s half brother conspired with the council and accused Kael of treason. Allegedly, he had conspired with rogues to overthrow the pack leaders. But it was a setup-a way to get him out because they were really afraid of him."

"Afraid?" I echoed as my mind raced. "What could make them scared of him?"

"Because he was too damn strong and independent," Ren retorted with bitterness. "The council wanted a puppet they could control. And Kael...is not that type.

“Really” I asked surprisingly

“Well, let's just say he doesn't come under orders very easily,” he says trying to be confidential.

My mind reeled. Kael, betrayed by his own people? I was having a hard time believing it, but it now made sense; the coldness in his eyes, the distance between him and anyone else, it is exactly the same as my moms’. Inside him, there were wounds deeper than those which could be seen.

There was more from Ren, with a low murmur. "After his banishment, some followed him. Because we believed in him, knew he was innocent. So we became exiles, too. This is our home now, even if it's rough."

I stared at Ren, a strange mix of anger towards Kael and admiration. He had built something here, taken in wolves that had nowhere else to go. And he'd done it while carrying the burden of betrayal across his shoulders.

"Why didn't he tell me that?" I inquired, my voice little above a whisper.

"Kael doesn't easily trust," Ren said with a sigh. "And can you blame him? After all, he's been through..."

I kept my eyes cast down, guilt wracking my bones. I had judged Kael without knowing his story. I had not given thought to what he had endured. And now that I did... I didn't know what to think.

So Ren and I walked back toward the middle of camp, and I could see Kael watching us from a distance, the expression on his face unreadable. I was unable to shake off the thought that there were more secrets he kept, things that he was not ready to share yet.

One thing I knew for sure: I would not leave. Not yet. Not until I really knew who Kael was and why I was feeling such a strange, unexpected pull toward him.

I turned around to reply to Ren but noticed a silhouette moving between the trees behind him, a figure watching from the depths of the darkness. I squinted, trying to recognize who the person was, but before I could speak, the figure faded into the

blackness, leaving me feeling uneasy.

What other eyes did watch us in these woods? What did they want?