Rise of the Assassin (Child of an Alpha Series Book 1)

by Kaitlyn Taylor

  “No, but that’s how far you’ve taken this!” I shouted, losing my patience with him. “Levi would never rat either one of us out, but that’s how far you’ve pushed him. He doesn’t know what else to do. I’d probably be in the same position he is if I hadn’t just found out about this last night.”

  “Go, Luna,” he said again, expecting me to listen. He should know better than that.

  “Why? So, I can leave you here to pity yourself?” I mocked him. It probably wasn’t my best idea, but he didn’t respond to any of the other tactics I tried on him. “Is that what this is? Levi spends all his time training to be the next alpha and I spend most of my time training to save Medova as you say. Are you feeling left out? Is that seriously what you’re depressed about? Dad has been training you just as much as Levi and I.”

  “I’m the spare if something happens to Levi,” he corrected me. “It’s different and you know it.”

  “I can’t believe you’re moping around feeling sorry for yourself,” I laughed. “Do you think the girls and I are going to stop whatever’s coming on our own? War is more than just one person, Liam. You’re going to be needed just as much as Levi and I are. I honestly can’t believe you don’t see that.”

  “Are you done?” he asked, telling me to get out in a different way this time.

  “I am,” I answered. “We’ll talk about this again when you get your head out of your ass and realize that I’m going to need your help when it comes time to fight.”

  I stomped away, a burning sensation filling my chest as I held in my anger. I knew Liam felt like there wasn’t anything special about him by the way that he joked about it, but we were always quick to correct him. Just because he wasn’t the heir and didn’t have a prophecy about him didn’t mean he wasn’t part of this.

  Even though he upset me, I left his room more worried about him than I had when I’d first knocked on his door.

  I felt like I needed to tell someone about this, but who? I couldn’t tell my father because then Liam would get in trouble. My father wouldn’t mean for it to happen that way, but once his lecture started there was no stopping him. I couldn’t tell Levi; he would feel even more guilty than he already did. He thought he needed to protect the two of us, and finding out that Liam was feeling left out would make him think that he failed. I guess I could tell Declan, but what would he do about it? If Liam didn’t listen to Levi or me, then he definitely wasn’t going to listen to Declan. My mother was out of the question, no explanation needed. No need to bring her into this.

  I stomped the entire way to my room, throwing the door open, listening to the sound of the wall cracking. When I went to close the door, it took a little more force than there should’ve been. I poked my head around to see what was stopping the door from closing only to see the door handle sticking into the wall.

  Oh. I grabbed on to the door with both hands and started pulling until finally the handle left the wall. I went flying backwards, landing on my backside, watching the door close peacefully. There was nothing peaceful about the hole facing me though. I didn’t know where to start with fixing it.

  “Are you okay, Miss Luna?” Ivy’s voiced echoed through the room. “I heard a strange noise.”

  “Everything’s fine, Ivy,” I said as I pushed myself up off the floor. “I’m just getting myself into more trouble. Same as I do on any other day.”

  “Can I help you with anything?” she asked, staring at me as she tried to figure out how to make herself busy.

  I crossed the room and fell onto the couch. “Unless you can somehow stop my brother from drinking, my father from forcing me to go through with the binding ceremony, or Medova crashing down on my shoulders, then, no, you can’t help me.”

  “I can get you some tea,” she offered. She really wanted to help with something. With no other duties to attend to, most of the other staff could not wait to be dismissed.

  “I’m really okay. Thank you, Ivy.” I sighed as my eyes closed. They popped back open when I heard her moving around the room, dusting furniture that didn’t have any dust on it. “Did you enjoy the ball last night?”

  “I did,” she nodded. “I truly appreciate you letting me borrow your dress. I’ll get it back in your closet as soon as it’s clean.”

  “I’m not worried about it.” I shrugged it off. “As long as you had a good time.”

  “Do you have balls like that very often?” she asked, standing behind the couch opposite of me.

  “Whenever there’s a birthday,” I told her. I hated that she was standing instead of sitting. I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable, but if I didn’t ask her to sit, then it was me who felt weird. The only way I’d be able to get her to sit on the couch would be if I demanded it, but that would make me feel bad for using force on her. “Why do you ask?”

  “You don’t seem to like the balls very much,” she observed. “I assumed it was because you went to these things all the time and they were now boring to you. It’s not my place to assume and I apologize for that.”

  “I do go to a lot of balls, so you assumed correctly,” I confirmed. “Between all the people in the alpha families, there’s at least two birthdays a month. If I had my way, I wouldn’t have a ball. I would just have a dinner with the alpha families.”

  “That’s what we did back in my village.” She smiled as she recalled her home. “Even after my mother died, my father would go into town the day before my birthday and get all the ingredients he needed to make my favorite soup, then we would have it for dinner the next day. Occasionally, he would invite our neighbors on the farm next to us, which was nice during the first few years of adjusting to my mother not being there to celebrate with us.”

  “It’s the simple things, right?” I asked, feeling like Ivy might be the only one in Medova who truly related to the thoughts I had in my head. I knew I was selfish and demanding, and definitely stubborn, but I craved the simplicity of things. I didn’t like complications, even if I was the one who caused them. If no one fought me on it, then there wouldn’t be a complication to begin with.

  “Yes, simple is good,” she agreed.

  “I’m sorry you’re here because your parents are gone,” I said. “But I’m really glad you’re here in the castle.”

  “I am too, Miss Luna,” she nodded. “I no longer felt alone when I started working here. I’ve seen firsthand just how wrong some of the villagers are about you and your family.”

  “What do they say?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “I shouldn’t have said that.” She covered her mouth as she realized she had just said something that should’ve been kept to herself. I didn’t mind at all that she said something. I wish more of the villagers did. My parents taught me early in my life that not everyone in vampire territory or Medova would like our family. They told me it wasn’t personal, just politics, but that never made sense to me. I’d spent my life sheltered, so I'd never actually heard anyone saying anything rude or show any kind of hatred towards us. Well, the councils had, but they don’t count. They didn’t exist in my head.

  I urged her to go on, after telling her nothing would happen to her for telling me about the things she heard other villagers say. I even went as far as to tell her none of the villagers would be harmed either. Why do people always think we’re going to hurt them? We weren’t a violent family if you didn’t count my brothers and I wrestling.

  “It’s nothing too terrible,” she said, choosing carefully how she would tell me the details. “I’ve heard villagers say … that your family doesn’t care about the people in the territory and that we go hungry while you feast every night. It’s things like that.”

  “Are the people going hungry?” I asked.

  “Some of them do,” she admitted. “But I don’t think that’s your family’s fault. I don’t think it’s right to blame you for the bad fortune that happens in other people’s lives.”

  “People need someone to blame for the everyday problems,” I told her. “My fa
mily is used to the finger being pointed at us. We try the best we can, but there’s only so much we can do.”

  “I wish the villagers could see the kindness you all have,” she said as her eyes sparkled when the sun hit them through the window. “I’ve interacted with everyone in your family and you all have been kinder and more generous than any villager I’ve ever encountered.”

  “Do you think if we were more active within the villages—you know, showing our faces and talking to the people more regularly—that they would see that we’re not the self-centered family they think we are?”

  I realized I had the perfect opportunity to change the villagers’ minds right in front of me. Ivy was one of the villagers. If anyone was going to know what they wanted to hear and see from us, it was going to be her.

  “I think that would be a great idea,” she said excitedly. “You could do a monthly visit to the villages just to check in and see how things are going or something like that. I think the people would like that. Even the ones who don’t think badly of you would love to have you in their presence. You saw the way they adored your family at the ball last night. Just think of how they would feel if you visited them where they live.”

  “I think you’re on to something, Ivy.” I winked at her. “I’m going to discuss this with my father and get it set up. I appreciate you being honest with me. It makes it a lot easier to try and fix something when we know what the problem is.”

  “Thank you, Miss Luna,” she said graciously as she stood up. “For proving that you do care.”

  She walked away from me, rushing out of my room so she could get caught up on her daily duties. I loved that girl. I’d just met her, but there was something about her that was charming. Her positivity was annoying sometimes, but I needed some of that in my life. I hope she stuck around for a while.

  Chapter Six

  All I wanted was to take a nap, but there was no way I would get out of training after the effort my father put into it. Since we were all on lockdown until further notice, he arranged for our training session to be in the ballroom instead of outside. Never thought I’d be at a ball one day and then fighting the very next day in the same room, but the ballroom was the only room in the castle big enough for all of us to train since we had so many guests with us.

  When I walked downstairs, I saw the girls huddled in a circle just outside, waiting for me to join them before we all entered. They were quiet around me, but I could tell by the way they stared when they thought I wasn’t looking that they were dying to say something about last night. I sighed deeply, regretting what I was about to do next before I even did it.

  “What?” I asked. “Why are you guys staring at me like that?”

  They looked back at me with wide eyes, all of them focused on my face as if they were waiting for my seriousness to go away. They should know better by now.

  Kota spoke gently: “I think we’re all wondering how you’re doing? With what happened last night, we weren’t sure you would be here.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be here?” I questioned, glaring at all of them even though I was more focused on Kota since she was the one who spoke up. It was very out of character for her. I was surprised but also sort of impressed that she had grown a backbone.

  “I told you she wouldn’t think it was a big deal,” Juda said as she pushed through all of us so she could enter the ballroom.

  “How would you know that I didn’t think it was a big deal?” I yelled after her, my feet attempting to keep up with my mouth. “Have you been talking to my mother?”

  “Relax, Luna,” she told me. “The point is, you’re completely unharmed and still here with us. Why get mad over something that no longer matters?”

  “Are you making me feel guilty?” I took a step towards her when I recognized the guilt trip. She would speak as if it was fine, but what she was actually saying is they were worried about me and grateful that I wasn’t harmed. It was the same thing my mother said, which is why I thought they might’ve spoken to her in my absence.

  She didn’t answer me; she turned away to face the alphas. Normally we had a trainer, but I guess my father wasn’t letting anyone in the castle, so they were going to train with us. I wasn’t looking forward to this. They would get to see firsthand what the trainer typically had to deal with but didn’t have the power to stop. The alphas could stop us if they wanted, and most likely they would. They took training very seriously — and so did we — but sometimes we needed to laugh something off or not take things too seriously.

  I tried to hide in the back, hoping my father would focus on the guys instead of us. Our brothers were the best at hand-to-hand combat. No one in Medova could take them down except each other. Even the trainer didn’t want to deal with them, having us take turns with each other instead of sparring with us.

  Our fathers were probably the only ones who could defeat our brothers, but only because they’d mastered using their powers while fighting hand-to-hand at the same time. Our brothers could as well, but not at the level of the alphas. The alphas would play a whole different game if they decided to spar with our brothers.

  “Partner up,” Uncle Chris said as he threw down his shirt. I glanced around the room and realized all the men were shirtless, every single one of them showing off their abdominal muscles and ripped arms. I thanked the Spirits that no women from the village were in here. Sometimes, when my brothers and I were training outside, women would stand on the other side of the gate and watch us. I wasn’t stupid. I knew they were staring at my brothers.

  When I saw the guys partner up with each other, I realized that one of the girls or myself would have to spar with one of the alphas. I quickly grabbed Nova’s arm and pulled her over to me, choosing her as my partner. She wasn’t the best or the worst fighter of all of us, but she was the closest to me. It was a kill or be killed kind of situation, and I took advantage of the opportunity that was presented to me.

  Juda ended up partnered with my father. I felt sorry for her; he was quicker. As a vampire, he had speed that the giants would never come close to having. I only hoped my father’s hands were fast enough to block her punches, because her physical strength was stronger than any vampire ever possessed. I was still betting on speed over strength, but one never knew.

  The guys were already talking shit, acting tough as if they didn’t do this every day. Odds were, they’d all get a win at least once, but they were acting like it would be the end of Medova if one of them lost. I don’t know what it would be, but going off of past events, their training sessions ended up damaging something.

  A few years ago, the alphas took the heirs out to the forest to train one day when we were in giant territory. Juno, Uncle Chris’ heir, threw Kory, Uncle Alex’s heir, a little too angrily at the base of the mountain range. No one ever thought he would’ve thrown Kory hard enough to do any damage, but the second Kory’s back hit the wall, they heard a crack. Shortly afterwards, a piece of the mountain broke off and landed directly where Kory had been standing. If he hadn’t moved, he wouldn’t be here right now. This is, of course, hearsay, since I wasn’t there to see it; however, the guys and our fathers all told the same story down to the very last detail, so I think it happened exactly how they said it happened.

  I figured I could speak for everyone in the ballroom, and maybe even the castle, if I said I would prefer for the castle to stay standing.

  The guys were taking soft jabs at each other, messing around before they had to be serious. The alphas weren’t watching them, but the second Uncle Ben saw them he put a stop to it, telling them to save it for when the sparring started. At this rate, we’d never start, but the alphas continued to talk amongst themselves, taking their sweet time. I tried to listen in, but Uncle Alex used his magic to block what they were saying. Normally, that would upset me, but I was actually rather impressed that he’d learned from last night.

  “Are you still mad at me?” I asked Juda when she refused to look at me.

  “Do y
ou still not care that we were worried about you?” she countered.

  “I don’t understand why you’re so upset,” I told her. “When you found out about it, I was in the castle perfectly safe from whoever did this. Why were you worried about something that had already happened but turned out okay?”

  “Most people are traumatized when they’re kidnapped, Luna,” she said, glaring dramatically at me. “We all thought that maybe it scared you that a stranger knocked you out and moved your body. It would’ve scared anyone else.”

  “I’m sorry,” I told her. “I didn’t realize you were all so bothered by this. If I would’ve known I would’ve found you sooner and made sure you knew I was okay.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Juda said just as the alphas spread out throughout the ballroom, my father walking towards us. “Are we both over it?”

  “Yes,” I told her, smiling to let her know that everything was okay on my end. She smiled in her return, giving me the same message.

  I squared myself up to Nova, squatting down slightly in my fight pose, when the alphas signaled for us to ready ourselves. Nova did the same, her expression angrier than it had been a few seconds ago. Uncle Alex raised his arm, getting our attention, and when he dropped it down the sparring began. Nova and I circled each other as we both waited for the first move. I didn’t want to throw the first punch because I didn’t want to give away my plan, but she seemed to be doing the same thing.

  “Are you girls going to dance or spar?” Uncle Chris asked as he walked by, shaking his head as he kept his eye on us. I didn’t hesitate to whip my arm forward, my fist blocked by Nova’s arm. Uncle Chris nodded, appearing satisfied by our attempt. I threw a few combination punches that Nova deflected, and when she got a few hits in I took advantage of her obvious footwork. She was off balance, the perfect opportunity to drop her.

  I let her get a few more punches in, blocking them or ducking out of the way, giving myself more time to plan my move. Just when I decided to act, everything started to move in slow motion. Her arm pulled back behind her head, her face angry as she commanded her body to use all the strength she had. She started to move forward; I moved to block the hit, sliding it out of the way so that her body would move to where I needed it to be. Without any hesitation, I crouched and whipped my leg behind her knees, sending her to the ground. Before she could decide her next move, I wrapped one arm around her neck and with my free arm, held her dominant arm behind her back.