Chapter 4 Marked by the Alpha

Ralph's eyes fluttered open and everything that had happened the night before rushed in all at once. As his legs touched the cold marble floor, he felt his calves tighten, his muscles were stiff in an unfamiliar way. He felt stronger, and he knew it wasn't his imagination.

He went to the mirror and checked his arms the way he always did when he was obsessed with getting at least a decent body which he had given up long ago.

But looking in the mirror now, it was as if his muscles had changed overnight. He checked his other arm – the one she had bitten. It felt strange and he didn't feel any pain. Within seconds, he unwrapped the bandage and stared at it in surprise.

The wound was gone.

His body went still. He checked again and also checked his other arm to be sure he wasn't mistaken. He froze as the realization settled over him. He was becoming a werewolf. Suddenly, the stiffness in his body, the unnatural strength coursing through him, all of it began to make sense. Which also meant he would be transferring from Ridgehaven High to Ridgehaven Academy. He felt the kind of joy he had never felt before.

The door swung open before he could sit with the thought. Oz and Marcus stepped in. His two best friends. Marcus, a beta with black hair, black eyes, tall, fit but difficult to overlook. Oz was human – black hair, brown eyes, also tall and fit – and a member of the Vanguard trained as a warrior.

“You can't knock?" Ralph said, frowning.

"Since when?” Oz said simply, he dropped his backpack on the bed, and walked directly into the bathroom.

“Thank you, Marc. Since when did we start to knock?” Oz glanced at Ralph questioning him. “Or are you hiding something?"

Ralph scoffed softly.

Marcus came out within seconds. "What happened to you? Why is blood everywhere?” he couldn't hide the horror on his face.

“What blood?" Oz stood up immediately and went to check for himself. He came out with the same reaction. "Oh my God! What happened?” he asked. Questions all over their faces.

Ralph closed his eyes and opened them again. He has been too weak last night to clean up. Marcus raised his brows, waiting. Oz's eyes were fixed on him. Ralph let out a slow breath, rubbing the back of his neck before finally speaking. “I was bitten by a werewolf."

“What?!" They echoed in unison.

“Where?" How?” Oz pressed.

Marcus walked toward him. "Let me see.”

Silence stretched between them until he realized there was no escaping it anymore. He exhaled sharply through his nose, the weight of being cornered settling into the slump of his shoulders.”I think… I healed.”

"What?” Oz exclaimed. "How?”

"That's not possible,” Marcus said. "There is no werewolf that can be turned human in Ridgehaven. Only Alphas have that ability and Alphas are banned here.”

He ran a hand through his hair, frustration written across his face. A heavy sigh escaped him before he finally gave in and started explaining. “I found a girl in the woods yesterday, trying to help her,” he shrugged, spreading his arms. "She attacked me and I was expecting to die this morning. But it healed.”

"A girl?” Marcus's brows pulled together. "Who is she?”

"An alpha,” Ralph said bluntly. "Young girl, red eyes.”

Marcus and Oz looked at each other. Ralph could see fear settle in the frame, he wouldn't have believed it either, if he hadn't witnessed it himself and there was the evidence in the bathroom for his friends.

“An alpha in Ridgehaven?" Marcus questioned, unable to hide his disbelief. Then like he remembered something. Marcus exhaled slowly. “I heard a howl yesterday, it was… I don't know, kind of strange. It went through my core. And…” Ralph and Oz glanced at him as he talked curiosity spread on their faces, but Marcus dropped it.

Marcus checked Ralph's arm again – and there was no mark at all. It has vanished like it never existed. Their silence was so uncomfortable, so he told them everything. What happened at the shore? The Alpha in the woods. How Conan retreated. The ice-blue-eyed werewolf and the girl. Only the part where he later helped the girl and was now in the old storage room at school. He didn't know why his instinct just refused to talk about it.

Oz scoffed when he finished. “So Conan just left you for dead?"

“It wasn't intentional, he was scared," Ralph said.

“Really!" Marcus raised his eyebrows. “He has claws and fangs. What do you have – teeth and nails? Against Alphas and ice-blue-eyed werewolf?”

Marcus couldn't believe Conan just ran. As a beta himself, he was embarrassed for him. And Oz was fuming. A sharp scoff cut through his breath at what Ralph just told him, his mind refused to fully accept it even as it came back to him.

Silence settled over all three of them. Oz and Marcus' brows stayed furrowed. None of them had ever seen or heard of an Alpha before. But Ralph knew what he saw, even an ice-blue-eyed werewolf saved his life.

And now, the girl who had bitten him was in the old storage room in school. He didn't even know what to do with her yet.

“Then you should prepare for the full moon in two days," Marcus announced. He knew that since Ralph survived the bite that means he was changing and he was going to become like him and he was more than ready to help his friend. He grabbed Ralph's shoulder, “Don't worry, I will help you through it.” he smiled, reassuring him he would walk him through it.”

"Me too,” Oz said, you know I'll always have your back. You're in good hands.” Then Oz frowned. "But I've never heard of an ice-blue-eyed werewolf before. And the alphas? Where did they come from? I have to tell my father. They have to be send away from Ridgehaven or hunt them down. They can't just go around and be turning people. Not everyone wants to become a werewolf.”

Marcus stared at Oz for what he just said.

“What," Oz said in defense.

Oz telling his father lingered uncomfortably in Ralph's mind. If Oz should tell his father that the vanguard will hunt the alpha and the girl down and maybe the ice-blue-eyed werewolf. His stomach twists at the thought.

Then a loud, long beep echoed in Ralph's head. Footsteps. Then the clattering of pots from the kitchen. Every sound suddenly turned sharper, closer, pressing in from every direction. And then – someone at the door. He could feel the presence before he knocked.

“Your brother is eavesdropping on us," Marcus said. He walked to the door and pulled it open and Conan was standing there with his hand in his pocket, a little frown on his face.