Kai and Kyle walked back into the clearing about thirty minutes after leaving. Before Kai walked back up to the stage, Kyle caught him and leaned down to whisper into his ear.

“Be careful. Alexander has real world experience fighting. You need to end the fight quickly if you can.”

Kai just nodded, patting the Beta on the arm before continuing to walk towards the stage. The Elders were once again whispering to each other, but as soon as Kai reached the spot he was supposed to they immediately quieted down.

“You had a successful second trial. Beating one of our best warriors in a one-on-one fight is an accomplishment, so congratulations.” Alexander started out. He looked at Kai with a blank face. “The last trial will be a one-on-one fight but in your wolf form. Usually, the trial goer will face off against our Beta, but seeing as how that is a conflict due to your relationship with Kyle and the fact that you have expressed an interest in challenging someone, I as Alpha will respect your wish and allow you to challenge another pack member. As long as that pack member agrees, they will be the one you will fight. Is that agreeable?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“So Kia, who do you challenge to face off against in the final trial?”

“I, Kai Polenov, challenge Alpha Alexander Moon of the Crescent Moon Pack to be my opponent for the final trial.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, all twelve of the Elders started talking amongst themselves. Most were sharing words of shock, while others expressed that they thought Kai was being disrespectful. The Elder closest to Alexander’s left side turned to the Alpha.

“Alexander, do not entertain this idea!  This Omega should know better than to challenge an Alpha in his own pack.”

“Silence.” Alexander spoke up and immediately all twelve of the Elder’s settled down. “Kai and I have talked about this prior to the trials and have come to an agreement.” He paused looking at Kai. “I, Alexander Moon, Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack accept the challenge.”

Alexander then stood up, jumping from the raised platform of the stage and walked over to the Omega. 

“I hope you know what you are doing.” He said before walking away towards one side of the clearing, preparing himself for the transformation from human to wolf.

Kai just smirked and gave a little wink to the Elder’s before walking towards the other side of the clearing, doing a few stretches before stopping and turning towards Alexander who was already in his wolf form. The Alpha was huge, standing nearly as tall as Kai even on all fours. The Omega couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the animal that stood snarling across from him. His blonde fur perfectly matched Alexander’s hair in human form and his dazzling blue eyes still sent shivers down Kai’s back. 

Alexander let out a low growl and snapped his jaws at the Omega, waiting for him to transform. Instead, Kai just stood in place, raising his right arm and flicking his fingers in a manner that suggested that he was ready to start. The Alpha growled again, this time more aggressively, warning Kai to transform, but the human just shrugged.

“Show me what you got Alpha.”

At that, Alexander leaped forward towards Kai making short work of the distance between them. When he got around ten feet away, the Alpha jumped the remaining distance, aiming his sharp jaws towards the Omega’s throat. Kai did not move. He was waiting for a sign and just before the Alpha was going to land his mark he got what he was looking for. 

Alexander hesitated for the briefest moment. Kai did not change into his wolf form and was seemingly giving up before him. The Omega was just standing there not moving and Alexander did not want to just hurt him in an unfair attack. 

Unknowingly, the wolf had stepped right into a trap. Kai expected Alexander to hesitate and taking advantage of the situation, he sidestepped the large wolf, grabbing the Alpha’s lower jaw and quickly pulled it down. The speed and velocity of the jump worked against Alexander as Kai used the momentum to flip the Alpha onto his back. Before the wolf could even process what had happened, Kai took two fingers and swiftly jabbed Alexander in the neck. He was paralyzed for a few moments and the last thing he saw before he passed out was the smirk on the Omega’s face. 

***

Alexander walked through the open entry way of the pack house, the doors had been busted through and were now laying, in pieces on the blood soaked ground. The once brown floors were now a deep maroon and the white walls were covered in a crimson red. The lifeless bodies of pack members and rogues were scattered all around him. 

Walking forward, the young wolf came upon a heart wrenching sight. The bodies of his father and mother were at the foot of the stairs, their hands extended towards each other but not quite making contact. They had died trying to physically connect the bond that held them together. Tears streamed down Alexander’s face and the world around him seemed to shrink down into a black darkness as he fell to his knees in between them. Reaching out, he took his mother’s hand and kissed it before placing it into his fathers, forming the physical connection that they had failed to make moments before their lives were taken.

A sudden growl brought Alexander back into reality. It had come from somewhere above him and before he could take action he heard the commotion of two wolves fighting. Quickly getting to his feet he ran up the stairs and towards the noises. It didn’t take him long to figure out where the fight was happening and he picked up his pace, running straight for the room that he shared with his wife and newborn baby. 

As quickly as the commotion had started, it stopped and Alexander’s heart sank even farther into the newly found darkness. Finally making it to the room, Alexander entered to find his wife on the floor at the foot of their bed, clutching a bloody bundle of blankets. Elizabeth looked up, noticing Alexander.

“I didn’t make it in time… I didn’t make it in time… I didn’t make it time…” she repeated over and over again, each time rocking back and forth with the bloody mass still clutched in her arms.

“Where is he?” Alexander said through gritted teeth. The only response he got from his wife was more rocking and repeated words before she slowly looked up at him, her eyes glazed over and pointed towards the room where their newborn babies nursery was. He quickly walked over, peering into the room. The Rogue King's body lay in a pool of his own blood, a single golden arrow sticking out of the grizzly man’s limp head.

***

Alexander jerked awake, sitting up and hyperventilating. Looking around, he noticed that he was in his room and slowly he calmed down and caught his breath.

“Having that dream again?” said a voice beside him.

He looked over towards the voice to find Kyle sitting in an armchair beside his bed. Ignoring the Beta’s question, he asked his own.

“What happened?”

Kyle chuckled before responding, “Kai sure did a number on you.”

“I hesitated… Otherwise I probably would have killed him.”

“Sure, Alex. If that’s what you have to tell yourself, then sure.”

“Where is he now?”

“At home.”

“Is he prepared for the Elder meeting tomorrow?”

“Umm… yeah about that. We had to move the meeting until you woke up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Alex… how do I say this? You have been in a coma-like state for a few days now. Kai might have pinched a nerve a little harder than he expected.” 

“WHAT?” Alexander shouted. He threw off the blanket that was covering him and tried to get up only to fall face first onto the ground.

“Careful! You haven’t walked in days and your body is still getting over the paralysis.” Kyle said, standing up and walking over towards the Alpha to help him to his feet. Leaning on Kyle, Alex noticed that his feet felt like jelly.

“God for such a small person, Kai sure does pack a punch… Hell he was impressive in all three of his trials. I know he is a Golden Arrow, but where the hell did he learn to fight like that?”

Kyle chuckled a little, helping the Alpha to sit back down on the bed before answering his question. “Kai has been training since he was a kid. His father was a hard-ass, making him train non-stop until he could handle himself. Hell, Alex, Kai used to beat me up when we were kids and I was almost twice his size. Plus, the Order’s training is intense. Kai couldn’t tell me everything, but sometimes when Mandy and I would visit him he would tell stories to my kids. At first I thought they were just fabricated tales, but the more I would listen the more I came to realize that they were stories from when he was in training and on missions.”

Alexander nodded before asking, “why didn’t you tell me you were visiting him?”

Kyle sighed before answering. “Alex, he went through a really rough time after you rejected him and not only because he almost went completely rogue. He..” Kyle paused and thought carefully before continuing. “He became involved with someone and it didn’t work out. That is one of the reasons why he joined the Order. Something happened a few years after that. I am not sure exactly what happened, but one day I got a letter from him mentioning you. He basically wanted me to never mention him to you. He said that it was important that we kept our visits together a secret. The letter was vague but full of urgency and I kept it a secret.”

“The person he was involved with, is that the person that he married?” Alex asked, but did not get a response. He looked up at the Beta, who had a blank look on his face like he was deep in thought.. “Kyle?”

“Ah, yeah sorry… umm… that is something that you are going to have to ask him.”

“Fine, then I will go talk to him.” Alex responded before trying to get up again, only to be stopped by Kyle.

“Tomorrow Alex, rest for now. Tomorrow you can talk to Kai.”