Approaching the Arrogant Alpha novel Chapter 3

"You will have to wait while I fetch Alpha Baden," the judge doesn't wait for me to reply as she starts to make a call.

I turn around to look at my old pack, glancing up at me with hope in their eyes.

They hadn't been kind to me - I had been glad to get away from them.

But now I was their only hope of survival.

Maybe I could save all our lives - but first I had to insult Alpha Baden to do it.

The judge takes me aside to a balcony overlooking all of Half-Moon Academy. As I see blue sky overlooking the whole steep landscape of blue stone buildings, which were connected by many bridges and beautiful cobbled paths... I can see the beauty.

I had never been able to truly see it down on the surface, but up this high, the view was magnificent.

"Why did you want to speak with me privately?" I ask the judge, who leans back on the balcony while warmed by her furs.

"I will order a decree to have a more traditional law invoked. Your scholarship was well earned, I looked at the grades you got in high school. I will have Alpha Baden be your personal escort - as you are now an enemy of Pack Moon, to prove loyalty you must impress a member of the royal family. I'll give you six months. But once Alpha Baden comes up here - you must get him to stay. Do not insult his smell, please, Maia... just remind him of your scholarship. Be polite."

"What about the twenty members of my pack?" I ask.

"Imprisonment for half a year is the best I can do until Baden approves of you as an ally... then maybe you can save your pack's lives," the judge tells me, "That is not for you to worry about for now, however. I will speak with the Prime Alpha. He trusts me to speak the law - he respects my word even when it may seem he only respects his own instincts."

"I barely know the royal family," I reply, smirking, "No one ever really sees them. I guess they prefer to keep to themselves."

"That is none of your concern either," the judge speaks lightly but firmly, until she goes quiet as a set of wide spaced footsteps become louder and closer from the court room just behind us. With them comes that familiar spicy scent - completely overpowering. I sneeze uncontrollably and loudly before I've even turned around.

As the judge and I both turn, I can't help but feel happy and relieved that Alpha Baden bothered to come at all.

He doesn't look impressed.

"You want to speak with me, Maia?" Alpha Baden asks me, with pretend kindness.

"I wanted to -"

"You wanted - yes. You wanted to say something. Are you an Alpha again? Remind me" he states simply, barely able to make himself look at me while glancing into the sky instead.

Did he have to be so damn rude?

"I'm... I'm not... um-"

"Maia," the judge encourages me, "You requested to speak with him, go on."

"I achieved to gain a scholarship to come here," I answer, watching Alpha Baden slowly blink, disinterested.

"Okay... so? Nice chat - I'll leave a flower on your grave uh - what was your name again?" Baden asks.

Which yes, was an improvement.

"Follow me... Omega," he uses the term with absolute menace.

With that one insult I know my life is about to become hell for the next six months.

"Follow," the judge sighs, relaxed, "I'll handle your family, Maia."

I don't say anything as Alpha Baden slowly turns and stalks away, waiting for me to follow like a pup.

I hesitate but eventually I have to move to catch up with his long strides.

While the judge took care of my family... hopefully I could handle the secret son of the Prime Alpha.

I then can't help but think about his damn strong odour, which always affected me so intensely at first contact.

I'd need to invest in some boxes of tissues fire, before I considered anything else.

"Alpha Baden, please slow down," Corey, clearly the most confident Guardian, tries to keep pace with him as I struggle to even keep up with everyone's long strides. I jog to keep up with everyone's fast walking through the Academy grounds, buy I am still left somewhat behind.

I am so tempted to shift to my wolf - but that was something I did alone and not around others. I always felt so out of place, when my brunette hair, turned to a silver shade of grey with splotches of white. It was ugly and not uniform. Not to mention my wolf was a pitiful size - but I liked to fancy that my teeth were always sharper than most. After all, small wolves had to make up small statures with not just big barks, but bad bites.