“I have Alpha blood, what do you mean by that?”
“I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you; your father will have to tell you the rest”
“Come on man, you can’t just drop a bombshell like that and leave me hanging”
“It’s not my place” he gulped down his drink “time to train” he clapped his hands and led me outside
“I think I was three years old the last time I was here” I said looking at the bright green immaculately manicured grass, the huge open field lead to the woods, in the middle of it sat a water fountain of a statue of a lady holding a water pitcher with water pouring out of it to the water at her feet, and the sound of water cascading down the river at the edge of the property hissed in the air
“You were five actually”
“Are you going to tell me how you know that?” he looked at me considering my words
“Tell you what” he tossed a pair of broad sticks to me “I’ll answer one question” he took off his jacket and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt and folded his sleeves “if you beat me” he smirked
“Deal” I followed his lead, taking my jacket off and folding my sleeves
“Ready” he smirked with the sticks in his hands as he assumed his fighting stance
“Ready” I pounced aiming for his face attacking on the right, he blocked it with his left the sticks creating a clapping sound in the air, I saw an opening on his left and took advantage of it, swinging as hard as I could aiming for the back of his head, his movement was as fast as lightning, he blocked my attack with his right hand, turned his back to me swung his leg behind mine elbowing me in the chest, and knocking me to the ground
“Fuck, you’re not playing around” I coughed picking myself up off the grass
“And you’re not taking this seriously”
“Trust me, I never do anything half-heartedly”
“In that case, we have a lot of work to do” I know that he is right, but his words still stung, I’ve always thought of myself as a strong and resilient person, but the past few days have taught me otherwise, let's just say humility has now become my closest companion
I charged at him, going right, and he blocked, I went left, and he blocked, I did a roundhouse kick and he ducked, jumped up and met me in the air punching me in the stomach making me roll down the grass
“Ugh” I groaned crashing into the base of the water fountain, I looked at the statue lady’s face and Ali’s beautiful face smiled back at me
“Taking a break already?” I turned and looked at Alpha Sobong and when I looked back the statue was back to normal ‘I will win this for you, Ali”
“No, just thinking of how great it will be once I knock you down on your ass” I got up and faced him, this time I started low sweeping his legs trying to knock him down, but he saw through that, he jumped, and hit me hard on the top of my head and everything went black
***
My eyes trickled open “are you alright” he breathed
“Yes” I groaned sitting up next to him “you are good” I got up and grabbed my sticks “again”
He chuckled and looked up at me “you really are crazy, okay you’ve earned it, ask me anything”
“Really?”
“You only get one, so use it wisely”
“Why did my family stop coming here?” he groaned and laid down on the grass supporting his head with his arms
“You had to pick that one” I sat next to him waiting patiently
“You didn’t stop coming…you moved”
“Moved, what do you mean?”
“That’s another question” he jumped to his feet and grabbed his sticks “ready to earn it?”
I jumped to my feet and grabbed my sticks, we trained for an hour and each time he bested me, seeing through all of my moves and sneak attacks, knocking me to the ground. I got up each time and barked “again”
‘I have to get stronger, there is only one way to get her back and that is to win her back, I must get stronger, be stronger dammit…’
“You need to push through the barrier” my wolf barked
“What do you mean?” I asked dropping my sticks
“Finally,” Alpha Sobong huffed crashing down on the grass, I looked at him and questioned him with my eyes “my work here is done, you’re finally ready to face your wolf now” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath
“How can I break through the barrier?” I asked my wolf
“When was the last time you turned” he barked “you can’t remember can you? Do you even know the colour of my coat?” I hung my head feeling the gravity of his words
“No wonder you lost her, you don’t even know who you are…why should I help you?”
“She’s your mate too”
“I lost her once, I can do it again; besides with you being so damned weak I might have to, I don’t know what I ever did to the goddess to be stuck with a pathetic little shit like you”
“Enough” I barked, turning to punch him “where the hell am I?” I hissed
“You finally broke through” I followed the voice to the right and I saw a reddish-brown fur coated wolf with black eyes standing in front of me
“Who are you?”
He shook his head
“Look around, you built this; this is your world”
I looked to the east, and it was filled with trees as far as the eye could see, I looked to the west, and the ocean crashed silently on the shore with the house from Jeju island that Caroline and I first stayed in as a newly married couple propped up on the beach
I turned south and saw a golden-brown wolf standing there looking back at me, “who is that?” I asked the first wolf; he growled in response snarling at me showing me his teeth, clearly annoyed with my questions
I looked north and saw Keng Enterprises standing tall, a faint hissing sound came from the distance, inching closer, the small hiss became a loud roar as trees started emerging all around me, replacing the ocean, the house, and the building, leaving the two wolves on either side of me
“How long will you live blind?” the first wolf barked
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” frustration laced in every word, and I could tell that he was just as frustrated as I was “stop talking in riddles and just tell me what I’m supposed to do”
“Let me show you instead” he growled as he pounced racing to the other wolf with his fangs out and claws protruded ready to attack
“Hey look out!” I shouted at the other wolf, danger was coming its way, but it was just sitting there like a lamp waiting to be slaughtered, the attacking wolf got closer, and a whimper came from the second wolf, it looked up at me and a flash of green shown in its eyes “Ali” I gasped
He got to her knocking her to the ground “you son of a bitch, I’ll kill you” I ran towards them, willing my body to turn but it didn't, he was hovering over her growling and showing his teeth, barking inches away from her face
“Get of her” I hurled my body against his knocking him down, I got on top of him trapping his front legs under my knees and he whimpered in pain, a rage came over me and I saw red, I punched him relentlessly on his muzzle, the more I punched the more he shrank, and the bigger my arms, legs and hands got.
My hands turned to paws and my fangs protruded, I clawed at the sand as the wolf disappeared completely in front of my eyes, and I stood on all fours in my wolf form
“Good, now go bring back the sunshine to this place” he growled in my head, I opened my eyes, and I was laying on the grass next to Alpha Sobong
“I take it you won” he said with his eyes still closed
“Yes, did you go through that as well?”
“No, what you just went through is a level not all of us are able to reach, like I said you are part of a select few”
“I don’t understand, you’re the Alpha…why?”
“let’s put your newfound skills to the test shall we” he went from totally relaxed on the grass to full attack mode standing in front of me with sticks in his hand
“Fine, but this time you answer all of my questions when I win, deal?”
“Trust me, if you win you’ll have all the answers you need”
He pounced, attacking to the right, I started to move for the block, but with my wolf and I in tune and as one I could see everything, all my senses were heightened, my reflexes became sharper.
He seemed to move in slow motion, and I could tell that he was faking to the right only to attack on the left, I shifted my body facing to the left, and when he faked right and started to attack on the left he exposed his chest to me, I struck him in the chest, and he flew across the yard, and I watched as he tumbled down the grass
He groaned and got to his feet, “okay, you’ve made your point, I lost fair and square, that’s quit a right hook you’ve got there” he hissed rubbing his chest, he patted me on the shoulder and walked past me towards the Lycan building, the alpha’s office.
“Hey, you still have to answer my questions” the door opened, and he stopped, grimacing in pain as he bowed “welcome Alpha” he groaned
“Alpha, is it another Alpha from another pack?” the Alpha stepped out from behind the threshold
“Dad?” I gasped as I saw who Alpha Sobong was talking to.