FATED TO ALPHA HUNTER BY VENNEH LISAH

𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕:

An hour had passed before I heard a knock on the door. I looked towards it and heard the handle twist, but it didn't open.

"My Queen?" Travis called out from the other side of the door. I worried my lip between my teeth as I got to my feet and walked over to the door. I twisted the lock and cracked it open to peer out.

"Zara has asked you to come down so you can have afternoon tea. The King doesn't trust anyone to bring your food to you, so you will sit with Zara," Travis told me, and I nodded, slipping out the door. I followed behind him as he led me towards the kitchens. Once I stepped in, Zara made some sandwiches and smiled warmly at me before wiping her hands on her blue apron.

"I've got everything out. You can see it's all sealed," she said, pointing to the jams and spreads, and I nodded before grabbing a butter knife. Zara handed Travis a salad sandwich while I made myself a jam one.

"I know the jam is probably not what you had in mind, but Arman doesn't want you eating anything unless he or Dwight prepared it," Zara told me, and I nodded before taking a bite of my sandwich. I started packing the spread and bread away while Zara fussed that I shouldn't be cleaning. I ignored her before we all stood in awkward silence. Zara kept glancing at Travis and so did I after what Desmond told me. He must have noticed the tension because he swallowed down a bite of the sandwich Zara made.

"What? Do I have food on my face?" he asked. I shook my head and turned my attention to Zara, who also seemed a little tense.

"Would you mind helping me with something outside, Your Majesty?" Zara asked. Smiling, I nodded. Anything was better than wasting away in the room.

"The King wants you to remain in your room," Travis said with a shrug.

"I will handle the King. He has no reason to worry," Zara chimed in before I could say anything.

"Yeah, I told Gary that when I took over from Desmond. It's not like she can drive out of here to go after her friend," Travis chuckled. Zara's eyebrows furrowed at his words, and so did mine.

"I can't drive," I told him.

"Exactly, and the only way out is through the front gates. Unless you use the back exit, but no one goes down there as the road is too rough," he laughed.

Zara set her sandwich down on her plate and placed a hand on her hip. "What?" Travis asked her.

"Are you trying to give her ideas?" Zara asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What? No, of course not. And she said it herself, she couldn't drive. Besides, there are guards at the front gate. She would never get past them. I was just saying that the King was worrying for no reason!" Travis said, sighing heavily.

The tension in the room became thick as they stared at each other. "Is everything okay?" Travis asked, glancing at us before sighing.

"Is this about me taking over from Desmond? I swear I had nothing to do with that. I get that you don't like me, but I would never place you in harm's way, my Queen. Desmond and I just have history," Travis said, and my brows pinched.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Ah, I probably shouldn't say," Travis hesitated.

"Well, you can't say that and not say it now, can you?" Zara said.

Travis glanced between us both and rolled his eyes.

"We had the competitor trials last spring for the guard position. Desmond blamed me for sabotaging him by setting the clock back, so he missed the trials and didn't make the cut," Travis said.

"Ah, yes, I remember that caused quite a stir," Zara said.

"Well, did you?" I asked him.

"What? No, of course not. He forgot to put his phone on daylight savings time. He slept through the trial," Travis defended himself.

"What are the trials for?" I asked Zara.

"Just a competitor thing between the guards, makes them compete each year for ranking within the royal guard," Zara clarified.

"Yeah, I don't understand why he blamed me. Nobody could beat his track time anyway from the year before or any of his scores, so his job was never in jeopardy," Travis shrugged.

"He holds the record?" I asked. "Yes, there is a reason he is your personal guard. He even beat Dwight's record one year. Dwight got it back, obviously, but it still shocked everyone. Especially with Dwight's Beta genes," Travis stated. I chuckled, happy for Desmond. Although I never pictured Desmond to be so competitive, then again, he looked like he lived in a gym and was the most observant out of all the guards I had. He was also the most protective, which was interesting.

"Want to help me with some gardening?" Zara asked, requesting my assistance. I placed my plate in the sink and agreed to join her.

"Give me a few minutes to use the bathroom first," Travis said, excusing himself.

Zara and I spent the afternoon gardening, but I couldn't shake my troubled thoughts about Rina. As the sky turned orange and pink, Travis led me back to my room, but once again, Rina had not contacted me. I couldn't stop thinking about the back exit Travis had mentioned earlier. In my room, I searched for maps, hoping to find information about Alpha Kelly's pack.

Peeking out the door, I saw Travis and approached him. "Do you know where Alpha Kelly's pack is? I want to send a parcel to Rina," I asked, hoping to trick him into revealing the location on the map.

Travis looked at me skeptically. "You want to send a parcel?" he asked before taking the map from me.

"Ah, yes, here it is, but you need her address, not just the suburb. Do you happen to know the address?" he asked me. I shook my head in response.

"If you want, I can show you how to use street view. You just need to type in the address on your phone's maps and you'll be able to pull up a street view of it. That way, you can even see the Pack house," Travis explained.

"Maps on my phone? I didn't know it had that," I said, surprised by his suggestion. Travis nodded and held out his hand for my phone. I hesitated for a moment before passing it to him. He quickly pulled up some apps and the maps appeared on the screen. He typed in the address and clicked on a link, revealing a picture of the Pack house, a huge white mansion with fountains in front of it.

"So that's where Rina is?" I asked him.

"Technology is pretty cool, huh," he laughed, ignoring my question. I nodded, understanding that he didn't want to get caught in trouble for mentioning it.

"Oh, Desmond told me he will be up soon. He got permission from Gary to return to his post," Travis told me. "I hope he slept," I murmured to myself.

"Yes, hopefully, he will be in a better mood," Travis laughed. I nodded before wandering back into the room and locking the door behind me. I quickly grabbed a jacket and glanced at the door, being careful not to shake the phone or close the map app, which had the address to Rina's place. I stopped next to the door, listening for any movement before going to the window.

I pushed the window up and peered out into the setting sun. Looking at the side of the window, I tugged on the vines to see if they would hold me before noticing a drain pipe at the next window over. Closing this one, I moved to the next. I chucked the phone in my pocket before throwing a leg out the window.

My heart pumped frantically as I pulled myself to sit on the edge of the windowsill. I gulped, looking at the drop. My hands shook as I gripped the copper pipe. Minutes passed before I finally built up the courage to let the pipe take my weight. When the pipe didn't pull away, I sighed before slowly descending it until I got a safe enough distance from the ground to jump. And I did.

After landing safely on the ground, I did a little happy dance while looking at the window I had escaped from. However, my celebration was cut short when I heard a guard's voice, causing me to race around the corner and hide.

Although I knew about the road Travis mentioned, I had initially thought it was a dead end. I made my way to the garage behind the stables and peered into the glass window on the side door to check if anyone was inside. Finding no one, I twisted the handle and hurried to a sleek-looking black car. I tugged on the handle and was relieved to find it unlocked. I quickly climbed inside, searching for the keys which were tucked under the visor. They fell on my lap, and I looked at the steering wheel.

"I can do this, I can do this!" I whispered to myself while trying to figure out where the key went. After locating the ignition, I jammed the key in and twisted it. The sound made me jump, and I quickly ducked behind the steering wheel, worried that someone might have heard. When nobody came, I sat up and put on my seatbelt. However, when I tried to move the car by pressing down on the pedal, it wouldn't budge. I pushed harder, but still, nothing happened. It was only when I looked down that I realized my mistake and found the gear lever.

I vaguely remembered seeing the driver fiddling with it once before. After squeezing the button and moving it, I forgot that my foot was still on the pedal, causing the car to fly backward and hit another vehicle behind me when I jammed my foot on the other pedal. "Whoops!" The alarm blared, and I panicked. Moving the gear stick again, the car jerked forward, and I hit the car again. However, the alarm turned off, which was a small relief. I growled in frustration, wondering how people managed to drive these things.

I moved the car again, taking my foot off the accelerator and pressing it slowly as the car moved forward towards the open roller door. As I put my foot down, my heart lurched into my throat, and the car jerked forward. I eased off the pedal, scraping the brick wall as I left the garage. I clenched my teeth at the noise.A voice from the map app told me I was off-route and to return to the road as I followed the dirt track at the back.

My hands shook as I moved out into the open and saw guards running in my direction. I floored it, only to jam on the brakes, trying to navigate the dirt path.

Hearing a tap on the window, I jumped and saw Desmond walking beside the car. He pointed to the buttons on the door handle. I pressed them, and the roof opened up, and the window rolled down as I frantically jabbed buttons.

"This is the worst getaway I have witnessed, also the slowest; I can walk faster," he laughed, and I growled, ignoring him, the car moving at a snail's pace.

"Ania?" he snarled.

"I am going to get Rina!" I told him. Desmond looked towards the guards and waved them off. He clicked his tongue, walking beside the slow-moving car.

"He is going to kill me anyway, for you jumping off through the window. So stop and move over. He will be home long before you finally leave the driveway at this speed," he said, and I looked at him.

"Hurry before I change my mind," he said, and I jammed on the brakes.

He reached through the window, grabbed the gear lever in the middle, and shifted it to P.

"Come on, move over," he said, pointing to the passenger seat.

"Seriously?" I asked him.

"Well, you'll keep trying to leave, and if you're going to, I'd rather be with you," he said, opening the door.

"What about the guards?" I asked.

"I'll tell them I'm teaching you to drive. Clearly, you need some teaching. Arman will kill you for scratching his car. This is his favorite car. It never leaves the parking lot. Although I'm glad you didn't choose the one next to it because that's mine," he laughed, and my face fell as he examined the side of the car.

"If he's going to kill us, it might as well be for something worth dying for, right?" he asked. I nodded, and I climbed into the passenger seat. He got in and looked at me.

"Put on your seatbelt," he said, and I did. He shook his head before continuing down the path, but at a faster speed.

"We have an hour before one of them mind-links to find us, which will prove that I'm not really teaching you how to drive," Desmond said as we reached the street far from the castle. He floored it, pushing me back into my seat, and whistled as the engine roared and he tore onto the road.

"Now, let's find Rina," Desmond said.