Playing The Alphas

Lizard Alpha Kayden’s POV

I sat in my private chamber and I stared at the small leather pouch in my hands. The leather was worn and soft and it had been with me for months. It had carried my hopes and my dreams and my future. But now, when I opened it, I found only four syringes. Two were missing.

My blood turned cold.

I emptied the pouch onto the table and I counted them again. Four. Only four. I had started with six. I had been so careful. I had kept them locked away and hidden and guarded. But someone had taken two of them.

Someone had betrayed me.

My claws extended and I felt the familiar rage building inside my chest. I wanted to destroy something. I wanted to tear apart the walls and the furniture and the person who had stolen from me.

I called for Korvus.

He arrived quickly and his face was pale and his hands were trembling. He bowed low and he did not meet my eyes.

"You called for me, my Alpha?" he asked.

I held up the pouch and I shook it and the syringes clinked together. "Where are the other two?" I asked.

Korvus’s eyes darted toward the pouch and then away. "I do not understand, my Alpha. There were six. I gave you six."

"You gave me six. Now there are four. Where are the other two?"

Korvus stammered and he looked at the floor and he looked at the walls and he looked anywhere but at me. "They must have been lost during the forest attack, my Alpha. The were-foxes were fast and there was chaos and I must have dropped them."

I stood up and I walked toward him and he backed away until his shoulders hit the wall. I reached out and I grabbed him by the throat and I pinned him against the stone. His eyes went wide and his hands clawed at my wrist.

"You are lying to me," I said. "I can smell it on you. I can see it in your eyes. You are hiding something."

"I am not, my Alpha. I swear to you. I would never betray you."

"Then where are my syringes?"

"I do not know!"

I tightened my grip and his face turned red and his breath came in short, ragged gasps. "You are going to tell me the truth," I said. "Or I am going to squeeze the life out of you."

Korvus gasped and he choked and he begged for mercy. "Please, my Alpha. Please. I did not take them. I swear to you. I would never steal from you."

"Then who did?"

His eyes darted toward the door and he was afraid and he knew something. He knew who had taken them. He was protecting someone.

"Tell me," I said.

"I... I do not know for certain, my Alpha. But there have been whispers. Rumors. Some of the scouts have been acting strange. Secretive."

"Names."

"Renn. Threx. They have been meeting in the forest at night. They have been talking to someone. I do not know who."

I released him and he collapsed to the floor and he gasped for air. I stood over him and I looked down at him with cold eyes.

"Find out who," I said. "Find out where the syringes are. And bring them back to me. Or I will skin you alive and I will hang your scales from my throne."

Korvus scrambled to his feet and he bowed and he fled from the room.

I stood alone in my chamber and I looked at the four remaining syringes. My hope was slipping away. My future was being stolen. And I would not let that happen.

I walked to the window and I looked out at the camp below. The fires were burning low and the guards were patrolling and everyone was going about their business like nothing was wrong. But something was very wrong. Someone in my own camp had betrayed me.

I thought about the syringes and I thought about the blood and I thought about everything I had sacrificed to get to this point. I had killed and I had bargained and I had bled for that blood. I had risked everything for the chance to be human again. And now it was being stolen from me.

My hands shook with rage and I wanted to find the traitor and I wanted to make them pay. I wanted to tear them apart with my bare claws and I wanted to watch the light fade from their eyes.

But I could not do that. Not yet. Not until I knew who it was.

I thought about Renn and Threx. They had been with me for years. They had fought for me and they had bled for me and they had sworn loyalty to me. But loyalty could be bought. Loyalty could be broken. Loyalty could be a lie.

I thought about the night when Vera had given them the syringes. I remembered the way Renn’s eyes had glittered with greed. I remembered the way Threx’s hands had trembled with nervousness. I should have known then. I should have seen it coming.

But I had been blind. I had been too focused on the cure and too focused on my own hopes and too focused on the future to see the danger that was right in front of me.

I heard a noise outside my chamber.

I turned and I saw a shadow moving past the door. It was quick and silent and it disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.

I followed it.

I moved through the palace and my footsteps were silent and my eyes were scanning every corner and every shadow. The corridors were empty and the torches were flickering and the air was cold and still.

I reached the outer door and I stepped outside and I saw a trail of footprints leading toward the forest.

The footprints were familiar.

They belonged to someone I trusted.

I stared at the footprints and I felt my fury rising like a tide. Someone had been stealing from me. Someone had been betraying me. Someone was going to pay.

I followed the trail into the forest and I disappeared into the darkness.

The trees closed in around me and the moonlight filtered through the leaves and the shadows danced and twisted. I moved quickly and silently and I kept my eyes on the footprints.

They led to a clearing. I stopped and I hid behind a tree and I watched.

Two figures stood in the clearing. One of them was Renn. The other was a hooded figure that I did not recognize.

Renn handed the hooded figure a pouch. The pouch clinked. It sounded like glass.

My blood ran cold.

Renn had the syringes. Renn had been selling them.

I stepped out of the shadows and I confronted them both.

"Renn," I said. "What are you doing?"

Renn spun around and his face went white. "My Alpha. I... I can explain."

"Then explain."

Renn opened his mouth but no words came out. He was too scared. He was too caught.

The hooded figure turned and I saw the face beneath the hood.

My heart stopped.

It was Threx.

Threx smiled and he said, "You should not have followed us, Kayden."

I felt my fury explode. "You," I said. "You were the one. You have been stealing from me."

Threx shrugged. "You were never going to find the cure. You were never going to be human. You are a fool, Kayden. A desperate, pathetic fool."

I lunged at him. My claws were extended and my fangs were bared and I was going to kill him.

But the hooded figure stepped between us. They raised their hand and I felt a force push me back. I stumbled and I fell and I looked up and I saw the figure lowering their hood.

It was someone I never expected.

Someone I had trusted with my life.