*Maddox*
Leo moves across the field of the stadium on the outskirts of my territory, the walls crawling with vines and smelling sharply of freshly cut grass. I stand with my arms crossed as Leo instructs a group of warriors who are setting up for the trials, watching their every move. Leo has fallen into his new role as one of my royal commanders without a hitch.
I’d thought about making him my Beta, or at least letting him compete for it. But Leo is young, and also grew up far outside the traditional way of things. His mother may have been a member of my kingdom, but his father was a rogue. Leo’s education on matters of state and title wouldn’t be on par with what the other men vying for the position would be bringing to the table.
Plus, I wanted to keep him as a warrior leader, a confidant, someone I could trust with the lives of my warriors and most importantly, my family.
I might be bringing on a new Beta, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t over the incredible breach of trust Seth inflicted on my pack. Even thinking of the word Beta stung, and would for a while.
“I really thought you’d throw your name into the ring for the position,” I say to Ben as he approaches, a huge folder in his hands. He is even younger than Leo but acts so mature, it’s hard for me to remember that sometimes. Much like his sister.
Ben tucks the folder under his arm and smiles at me in greeting, sighing deeply as he leans against the wall bordering the large, open field of grass. “Me becoming your Beta and continuing to live in your house would have meant my mother coming to live with us, too,” he sighs, opening the folder and pulling out a few documents. “I don’t think either you or Isla would have liked that very much. Besides, one of these days, school is going to start again, and I’m going to have to go finish it.”
“It would have made for a full house to have your mother here,” I reply with a smile, accepting the documents from him. “Well, this is interesting,” I say, thumbing through the paperwork. “The son of the Alpha of Canyon pack pulled out? Why?”
“He has a mate from another territory,” Ben replies, balancing the folder on his leg as he rifles through the paperwork. “They’re in the middle of a big family debacle over whether or not they’re going to be able to marry, from what I gathered. Their fathers are old enemies.”
“Ah, I see,” I say, looking down at the man’s profile.
“He apparently is going to run away into the woods with his mate and doesn’t want to be held down by a title while doing so, from what he said. I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.”
“Well, then there will be two–”
“Three, still.” Ben hands me another packet of paperwork, this one much thinner than the rest. “The son of the Alpha of River Run, the nephew of the Alpha of Snowfall Crest, although I believe it’s actually the Luna's nephew… their family tree is a tangled web. And… him.” Ben winces a bit as I look down at the thin packet of papers, the name at the top slicing through me like a heated blade.
“This has to be a joke.”
“He meets the requirements, unfortunately.”
Keenan, the son of the Alpha of Swollen Creek. I can still see his father’s eyes as he peered at Isaac in my arms the night that my child was born, the night that I thought I’d lost my wife forever. Alpha Boris had backed off upon seeing Isaac, but that didn’t make me like him any more for leading the attack on my home.
Now, there was a chance my Beta would be one of my main enemy's son. His only son.
“He’s a trained warrior–”
“An assassin, more like. I’ve heard of him, nothing good, either.”
“The laws around this kind of thing are set in stone, Maddox. I couldn’t tell him no.”
“I know,” I breathe, handing the papers back to him. The sons of my allied Alphas didn’t stand a chance against Keenan. Twenty-three, built like a brick wall, and trained in not only hand to hand, and sword to sword, combat… as well as the commander of the army supplied by his father. He was a force to be reckoned with in his human form, but as a wolf?
“The Alpha of Swollen Creek is up to something with this one,” I sigh, glancing at Ben. “I don’t like it.” I don’t have much of a choice in the matter. Beta Trials are ancient events, spanning back to a time when we spent more of our days as wolves rather than men. The tests were sacred, overseen by not only the Alpha, but back in a time when such things were believed, the prophets and maidens of the Goddess herself.
Now they were more like a silly game, a public spectacle of strength, brute force, and violence.
Had I only been an Alpha of a single territory, I could have chosen my Beta without such fanfare and ceremony. Normally, the Beta would come from a line of Betas, the position a birthright.
But I was the Alpha King. This decision was almost as important as choosing a Luna to rule alongside. Besides that, I would never take someone related to Seth.
“Well, we’re fucked,” I say. Ben snorts with mirth and closes the folder, sighing as he leans his weight into the wall.
“Maybe he’s all brawn, and no brain, and will fail the test you added to the trials.”
“I hope so. Otherwise, I might as well just call the man and offer him the position now instead of let him rip the other candidates to shreds over the next three days.”
Ben says nothing as he stares out over the field, but then he lets his breath out, his eyes clouding with concern. “What about Seth?”
“The execution, you mean?”
“Yeah… is that happening at the end of the trials, like planned?”
“I haven’t decided,” I reply, hating every word. I was dragging my feet, keeping the man alive only because I couldn’t bring myself to kill a person I’d thought was my friend, despite what he did to my family. “But yes, I think. I think I have to do it then.”
I watch as Leo reaches into his pocket and pulls out a phone, pressing it to his ear. He looks up at me from across the field, his mouth moving but too far away for me and Ben to hear whatever he’s saying.
“I have to ask this,” Ben says after a moment. “But is he still going to hang?”
“Yes.”
“Traditionally speaking,” Ben begins as we watch Leo start to walk in our direction, “The newly chosen Beta would kill the old Beta in this instance, when the previous Beta was removed from the position because of an act of treachery.”
“These are archaic laws,” I reply through gritted teeth.
“There will be many, many packs in attendance, Alpha Maddox. Including the Alphas who stormed your castle not too long ago. There may be peace now because of the diamond, but everyone is going to be watching you, watching what you do, what decisions you make.”
I nod, knowing full well Ben is only trying to help me. He’s good at this kind of thing, the administrative aspect. He knows all the laws, the expectations, both new and old. It’s impressive for a boy of his age.
“Are you sure,” I begin with a little laugh, “that you don’t want to put yourself in the running?”
“Hell no,” he laughs, shaking his head. “Keenan would kill me instantly.”
“I’d like to offer you the position as royal advisor as soon as you graduate from high school, then, if it’s something you’re interested in. You don’t have to say yes now–” I kick off the wall as Leo closes in on us, his face drawn in a very serious expression that makes the young man look a decade older than he actually is. “But I need your answer soon.”
“I’ll think about it–”
“Alpha King,” Leo says, bowing his head. “I just got word that allied packs have begun arriving in town.”
“This is going to be an incredibly fun weekend,” Isla says, and the three of us men turn around to find her walking up to us. She smiles warmly in greeting as Leo bows his head to her as well. “I heard there’s even going to be a carnival in town. Is it true that the packs are setting up tents and camping out on the outskirts of the village?”
“Yeah,” Ben says, sighing heavily as he glances at me.
“Our warriors are going to be incredibly busy this weekend, you mean,” I say to Isla, looking her up and down. She looks absolutely radiant in a rich red dress that cinches around her waist and billows around her knees and calves. Her hair is pulled up in a bun with curls trailing over her forehead and cheeks as she squints into the sun.
“You’ll have your own warrior escorts during the events, Luna,” Leo adds.
“And I’m required to attend all of the events for the trials over the weekend?”
“Yes, of course. You and Isaac will both need to be in attendance,” I reply, roping an arm over her shoulders. “This is going to be a very… formal event, Luna.”
Isla makes a face, rolling her eyes as she glances between me and Ben. “So I have to wear a silly crown and parade myself around?”
“Yes,” Ben says, matter-of-factly. “This is the first public event where you and Maddox will be seen as the ruling Luna and Alpha King. All of the packs have been invited.”
Isla pales a bit, but she squares her shoulders.
“Why does Isaac need to be there?” she asks.
“You’re a unit,” Ben says, motioning to me and Isla. “He is the heir to the title, to your lands.”
“He’ll be safe,” Leo adds, nodding at Isla.
“There will be a party at the end of the trials for not only the new Beta but to dedicate our son to the Goddess, Isla, a naming ceremony.”
She sighs, glancing up at me before slumping her shoulders a bit. “Fine. He’s only a few weeks old, Maddox. This is going to be exhausting for him.”
“You’ll be awarded plenty of rest away from the events going on in the camps,” Ben assures her.
“And you’ll be staying in the castle during the weekend. Your escorts will take you to and from the trials every morning and night.”
Leo and Ben continue to fill Isla in on the events, which start tonight at dusk. Three days from now will be the end of the trials, with the final event taking place just before sunset on the full moon.
Three days from now, I'll have a new Beta.
I just pray to the Goddess it isn’t Keenan.
With my arm still roped over Isla’s shoulders, I turn the two of us and walk along the outside of the stadium. Isla points and asks about the equipment that’s been set up. There will be a race, several fights, and a series of tests that will take place before I choose the two men who will go through a final trial to become the royal Beta to the Alpha King.
“It’s… a fight to the death, traditionally,” I say. Isla looks up at me, shock blurring her features.
“Maddox–”
“You’ll be the one to decide on who makes it to the final round,” I continue, hating the way her face falls with each word.
“This is a lot,” she says, struggling to swallow.
“I know.”
We walk out of the stadium, the field beyond not speckled with white tents as what looks like hundreds, if not thousands, of people start setting up their camps.
“Are you bringing Poppy to the banquet tonight?” I ask as we stand at the entrance of the stadium overlooking the camps.
“No, I’m not,” she says, sighing. “I actually invited… Trinity.”