She is the Alpha

"Sheika Naya, Sheik Harun and his family have arrived," Cora, her daya, told her.

Naya looked down, as if trying to protest against what that day held for her. "Daya Cora," she muttered, almost on the verge of breaking down. "I don't want this," she uttered, voice cracking along with the trembling of lips.

Cora served as her daya or nanny, she had been with her ever since she was three. Cora watched her grow, she knew all her heartbreak, hopes, and dilemmas.

She moved closer to Naya, took her hands and pulled it closer to her heart. "I could only wish I had the power to change the course of your life, Naya," she sighed, while fixing Naya's burqa.

"Harun is just like my father, even if he is taking me away from the corners of this palace, I am sure that he is just going to give me the same world- probably even worse."

"This has been happening in your culture even before you were born. Even up to now, women are only expected to do what men would ask them to," she explained, tears flowing from her eyes, as she softly caressed the sheika's face.

"Help me," Naya begged while keeping a strong grip on her daya's wrist.

"How?" she quickly replied, wondering about the strange possibility that she can do for the princess.

"Help me escape, Daya Cora, please."

"How can we do that?" Cora curiously and worriedly asked her, feeling sure that no escape plan could ever outsmart the strict ruling of Sheik Rashid-- Naya's father and the ruler of Kingdom of Azhamir.

Naya frowned, allowing her tears to start falling from the outer corners of her eyes.

"Death," she hissed, turning her head towards the direction of the window. "If it is the only way to get myself freed from all of these."

"No!" Cora growled, and then covered her mouth with her hand as she started to tone down her voice. "I am not letting you do that," she added.

"What kind of life is this? I don't have freedom, and I can't even make my own choices." She sneered, moving her gaze around her room that was luxuriously designed with real gold and everything royal.

Her duvet was soft, filled with fine feathers that went very well with her cushion. Her sheets were a mixture of satin, silk, and velvet. The whole area is filled with the sweet woody fragrance of uod that was exclusively created for her.

"Sheika, please...."

"Stop calling me sheika or princess!" She demanded, allowing all the heavy emotions to take over her mind. "My life is far from being one! This is slavery!"

Cora moved to hug her, calming her as she had broken down already. "You know that I spent my entire life serving and loving you, and I am willing to do everything for you to see the world that you truly deserved."

In their tradition, a woman would wear a burqa during engagement. It's a garment worn by the Azhamirn Women that covers the entire body with only a thin sheet of mesh to cover the eyes.

"Take it off," she ordered Naya as she was taking off hers too.

"What?" she wondered, but quickly did as her daya said. "They will kill you!" she exclaimed,, realizing that her daya would switch Burqa with her and pretend to be her.

"If it is death that will set you free, then be it!"

"N-No, Daya!" she snarled, stopping her daya from pushing through with such a quick and careless plan.

"It is now or never," she replied.

Cora grabbed a kohl eyeliner from Naya's pile of makeup products, and then she started lining her upper and lower water line with it. She quickly dabbed the makeup brush from a black shimmery eyeshadow and applied it to her eyelids.

"I am sorry, Daya!" She cried, already regretting her actions that made her nanny risk her own life for her.

"I'd rather die than spend the rest of my life watching you suffer, Sheika Naya," she narrated. "One day, your freedom will set everyone else free!"

"I will return and I will get you, that's a promise!"

"Run!" she whispered in Naya's ear as she kissed her for one last time before they went out of the room.

Naya had prepared for the day that she would escape, although that was not how she thought it would be. Putting her nanny's life at risk was something she never thought about. She had imagined herself running away, escaping the palace on a dark winter night was how she imagined it to be.

Sheik Rashid had a very strict way of treating her as compared to her siblings. Yes, she was able to attend school but she was heavily guarded, and her classmates were not allowed to speak to her and must keep at least a 2-feet distance.

Luckily for her, she had made a good relationship with her professor who was originally from New York. Naya remembered one time during her exam, she was shocked to see a note on the test paper that her professor handed her.

Let me know if this is the kind of life that you want.

Naya answered that, she wrote down about her situation in her family and asked her professor to help her escape. Three months later, Naya was handed an American Passport with her photo on but with names and details different from hers.

This is the farthest that I can go, just do everything to leave the kingdom.

Naya had been keeping that note along with the passport for over a year now, and it was her inspiration to escape the life that she thought she did not vouch for.

Engagements in their culture were different, men would only present the gifts that he had for his fiance. Jewelries, money, gold bars, and a promise of a brilliant future-- the usual engagement offerings-- without talking to the woman and without seeing her face.

Women were not allowed to speak, and must not be seen with their face uncovered. She was confident that her Daya Cora would not be discovered easily, and she prayed that Cora could go back to her room undiscovered. At least, if that would successfully go as she imagined it, Cora would not be punished for her escape, and her nanny could only pretend to be doing something else while she was escaping.

Later that afternoon, before the sun kissed the dunes of the Azhamirn Deserts, Naya had successfully left the palace unnoticed. She went to a mall near the airport, bought herself some ordinary clothes, suitcases, and everything that she could need.

She was smart enough to think of putting on some jewelry that she would eventually pawn or sell once she reached her destination. She also withdrew some cash, and decided to transfer some amount of money to a certain bank account that her professor gave her.

She knew that it would be easy for her father to trace all the transactions, but her professor made sure that the bank account was somehow fraudulent.

Naya took her makeup off, realizing that the absence of her perfectly winged eyeliner would actually make her look softer and more ordinary. She was wearing ordinary clothes, no hijab, no fancy purses, and no luxurious shoes.

Her siblings had more middle eastern features than her, her naturally fair skin and hazel eyes were proof enough for her to know that she was different from them-- probably the same reason why she was treated differently by her father.

"Welcome to the United States of America, Ms. Noelle Norris," the immigration officers greeted her as her passport was being pushed back to her.

Naya could only smile, the freest one she had made in her life. "Thank you," she graciously replied.

It was winter in Boston again and the packs were roaming around the woods. Alpha Lucas was walking behind the pack, some few feet away from Finnigan - the weakest Omega.

"What are you? A hungry puppy?" Luke growled, pushing Finnigan so he could speed up. "I don't get it, I have never seen a wolf run as low as you do. Even my pups run faster than you do."

Finnigan looked down, his nose almost touching the thick snow that covered the ground. Hal, the Beta, stopped running and waited for Finnigan.

"Right! Keep pacifying his weakness, Hal," Luke growled at Hal, sneering on the action that he extended towards Finnigan.

"Come on, we have to patrol the other end to make sure that our territory is safe. We have seen nomad wolves wandering around," Hal looked at Finnigan's eyes, rubbing his nose against his cheek.

Lucas was just staring at them, disgusted by the tolerance that Hal had for Finnigan.

"I don't think my fur is thick enough, I am freezing," he complained.

"Maybe if you run faster, your body heat will double. Unfortunately, you are designed to run behind us, because speed is not in your features." Lucas was usually sarcastic towards Finnigan, and Hal could not do anything about it.

"Come on, Lucas, he's still young!" He hissed, staring sharply at the Alpha.

"I was way faster than him when I was his age," he replied.

"Because you are an Alpha," Finnigan uttered, butting in between Hal and Lucas.

Lucas jumped so high and he landed in front of Finnigan, he pushed him with his nose, and Finnigan lost his balance and fell a few inches on his left side.

Hal immediately positioned himself in front of Luke, hiding Finnigan behind his back. "This is very unnecessary, Lucas, he is just a boy!"

Lucas could only answer by taking some deep breaths and by showing his canines. Finnigan was feeling scared already, he was always scared of him. Luke's back arched and his hair hackled, as if showing his dominance.

"Get up, Finnigan," Hal ordered him. "Let's go back home!"

Lucas howled, and then he started lunging away from the two wolves.

Before Hal and Finnigan made it out of the bushy part of the woods, the two had already transformed into their human form.

"You are feverish," Hal noticed, realizing the body temperature of Finnigan and the tremendous shaking of his shoulders.

"Why does he hate me a lot?" he questioned as they entered their home that was situated along the road.

"Probably, he is reminded of your father," Hal replied.

"Did he also hate my dad?"

"He envied him," he mumbled.

"Why?"

"You father was the fastest, he had the sharpest canines, and his dominance had cemented his Alpha position when the time came. Unfortunately, he didn't make it before that day came." His explanations had caused Finnigan to wish that his father was still alive, realizing a better life for him in the pack if his father was still around.

"Was he jealous of my father?"

"If that's how it sounds to you, I guess you are right," he answered.

"But my father is long gone, and he is the Alpha now! Why does he hate me and still want me to join the patrolling pack?

"You are 23 now in human age, and that makes you a juvenile in wolf life, Finnigan," he explained. "Juveniles patrol the territory together with the adults to protect our land."

"Protect our territory from who?" he curiously asked.

"From nomads, from other packs, from human."

"Humans, like The Falcons?"

"Yes, just like them, but there are also humans that hunt Wolves for their own entertainment," he explained, pushing a bowl of seared meat towards Finnigan.

"I don't like eating raw meats," he complained.

"Can't you see it's cooked, and we only eat raw meat in our wolf form."

"I mean, I don't want to be a wolf."

Hal looked at him, curling his lips as a sign of disagreement to Finnigan's notion.

"It's in your blood and in your spirit," he seriously uttered. "You were born this way, it will never change."

"What if I stop transforming?"

"It's different under the moonlight, I mean during a full moon. You know very well that it's uncontrollable during a full moon."

"Yeah," he agreed with a disapproving look. "At least I only need to transform once a month. I don't like the fact that I have to transform on a daily basis."

"Are you aware of how weak and slow you are?"

"Hell's yeah! Like, I hear that everyday from the other wolves," he quickly replied.

"And you are not bothered by it?"

"I am not, it's Alpha Luke that bothers me the most," he said in reply.

"And don't you want to shape up? He might probably like you once you become stronger and faster,'' he suggested.

"I don't feel like giving him that satisfaction," he surely uttered.

"The only reason that you are not becoming the strong wolf that you can be is because you are not embracing your identity as a wolf," he narrated, glaring at him eye to eye.

"I am in my best form when I am human! Hal, I am human!"

"Your scent says otherwise!" he quipped, trying to lessen the weight of the budding heavy conversation.

"You complain whenever I splash some perfume," he replied, bursting into laughter after.

"I am pretty sure that Lucas will not like it too if you become stronger, he might feel threatened actually." He narrated while staring outside the window. "Here's the thing, I want you to discover yourself, Finnigan. If you want to live just like a human, then I won't stop you."

"Really?" he asked in full excitement.

"Yes, it's 2024 now, and I don't think the busy cities still keep an eye on us, they consider us a myth. But you have to be careful, and make sure that you keep track of the full moon."

"But, where would I go?"

"Definitely not in the woods," he quipped again.

"I want to go to New York!" He exclaimed, widening his eyes and shaking his hands in excitement. "When can I leave?"

"Whenever you are ready," he answered.

"Will you come along?"

"You know that my position in the pack is very important, but I will track you and try to watch over you from time to time?"

"How can you do that?"

"Wolf thing," he replied, and then moved towards the kitchen to get something from the cabinet.

"What is that?" Finnigan asked him when he handed him a necklace.

"That stone will neutralize your scent, so other wolves won't notice your smell. Keep it around you all the time."

"Thank you!"

"Now, get your things ready, and prepare to run before sunrise."

"Is this legal?"

"Huh?" Hal furrowed his brows in confusion. "You are leaving the pack, and it only means you are not coming back. Lucas will not chase after you and put you back here."

"I can't come back? But you are all I have!" Finnigan put the necklace back on the table, and he got up to get next to Hal. "I can't do that!"

"Yes you can! You will!" He snarled, the conviction in his voice filled the place. "Trust me, one day you will return and they can't do anything about it."

"I don't understand," he complained.

"For now, but soon enough you will!" He tapped his shoulder. "Don't be afraid, your fate has been written and it won't change!"

"I... don't know.." he stuttered, fears started covering his heart.

"Take this," Finnigan handed him some money. "You'll need this! I will know where you are, and I will make sure to still guard and guide you no matter what!"

"I am afraid," he breathed, feeling confused.

"It's just an hour before the sun rises, it's time. Run!"

"Hey Noe!" Mirae, her university professor, greeted her. "I never thought that I would see you without your cover on."

Naya turned around to face her, "Mirae!"

"You look good, well I've seen your face on the photo that you gave me for your passport,but I must say, you look better in person."

"Thanks for the compliments! I never thought that freedom could be uncomfortable on some occasions," she graciously replied.

"Did you dye your hair?"

"I did!" she responded quickly. "My natural hair is really dark, but I think lighter brown makes a huge difference in my look."

"It did," Mirae agreed with a huge smile.

"Come on, let's get something to eat! But wait, aren't you cold? You only have a sweater on! It's freezing cold here."

"I am not, I feel warm actually," she uttered.

"Just make sure that I won't rush you to the hospital for hypothermia!"

"Trust me, I am fine."

"So, I found an apartment for you, which I paid for a year already. Don't worry, it didn't cost you a lot. I have already closed the bank account and I have the money with me already. I will turn it over to you later!"

"Thank you, Mirae! You have been a big help!"

"How was your flight?" Mirae asked, noticing her luggage. "I thought you were bringing your entire closet!"

"I wish I could!" She replied, realizing how much she had to leave to avail of a fresh start for her life.

"There is no turning back now, Noe! You won't keep in touch with any of them, and you won't even dare look back."

"I know," she worriedly replied.

"It will be tough in the beginning, but I know that you will get along!"

"I will," she answered.

"Enjoy your freedom, Noe!" She smiled at Naya, nodding her face at the princess who was about to live a normal life in a city where no one knew who she really was.

"I'm scared, but I feel better."

"Stay away from Naya, okay? You are Noelle Norris now, an American!"

Noe moved her gaze around the small NYC Flat that Mirae got her. It looked smaller than her own bathroom back in her kingdom, but she felt good about the place.

It was a little old and rustic, the single size bed looked decent, and the small window was enough to allow some rays of the sun to greet her every morning.

"I assume that you don't know how to cook and do the laundry," Mirae told her, showing concern and care. "I will help you with everything, but it doesn't mean I am doing it for you. You have to learn everything and how to take care of yourself here."

"Give me some time to learn, I am sure I can keep up!"

"That's my girl," Mirae said, giving her a huge smile after. "I have some bagels and root beer for you here! I will be back before 6, and I want you to take some rest for now."

"Thank you, can I just take some walk later when I feel bored. I also want to get myself a new phone."

"Shoot!" Mirae jolted when she remembered something. "I almost forgot, I have gotten you a phone already and I have made a social media account for you too. Don't upload your face pictures, unless you want your father to be dragging you back to your princess prison!"

Noe nodded, thanking her for all the things that she had done for her.

"Here, take this card," she handed Noe a different debit card, "I have transferred the money in that card and here is some cash too. New York can be really costly, and your money can only last for so long here. But don't you worry, we'll figure something out soon!"

Feeling exhausted, Noe fell asleep a few minutes after Mirae left. It was about 4 in the afternoon when she was awakened by her stomach. She was really starving, and she immediately got up when she remembered that Mirae left some food for her.

When she was already full, Noe decided to freshen up. Looking at her face in the mirror, she noticed that the cold weather in New York had dried up her skin.

She decided to walk around and look for a place where she could buy some skincare essentials, especially a moisturizer.

People seemed to be staring at her all the time, she thought that it was just normal for them to stare at her to think that she was a new kid in town.

"Good afternoon, may I help you with anything?" A sales lady approached her when she entered the store.

"Yes please. I am looking for a moisturizer, and some skin care essentials too," she replied.

"Are you looking for any brand in particular," she politely asked Noe.

"Not at all, anything would do. I will take your suggestion!"

The sales lady smiled at her as she led the way to the section where the skincare products were displayed.

"It's freezing outside, are you sure you are okay with just your cardigan?" The sales lady could not help but ask her, noticing that Noe was not feeling cold at all with just the thin cotton sweater that she had on.

"I am fine, thank you," she quickly replied. '"I live just a few blocks away from here."

"Okay then! I hope to see you again here soon, Ms..."

"Noe, just call me Noe." She shook the lady's hand and they exchanged smiles.

"You have an accent, where are you from?"

"Oh, is it bad? I am actually from Azha...." She stopped, remembering all the reminders of Mirae. "Armenia," she finally said.

The woman smiled sweetly at her as she bid goodbye. She was obviously new in the city because she was surprised to see how time seemed to run faster there as compared to her own country

She took some more walks around, trying to check some other stores where she could get something else that she can use. By 6PM, her phone rang that made her remember that Mirae would return to her apartment by that time.

"Hey, where are you?" Mirae, on the other line, asked her.

"I am walking, I am on my way back to my apartment."

"I'm outside your door," Mirae told her. "Where are you exactly? Let's just meet halfway so I can take you to dinner."

"Just a few blocks away from my apartment," she uttered, looking for some signage that she could tell Mirae about. "I am outside Barneys," she added.

"Okay, just wait up there. I'll be there in a few minutes," Mirae said, ending the call right after.

While still a few meters away from her, Noe noticed that Mirae was wearing layers of thick garments. "Hey, it's not too cold to be wrapped up in such thick layers of fabric. How was your day?"

"I am not sure about your weird body heat or your immunity to low temperatures, but trust me, it's freaking cold." She answered, shocked to see Noe wearing sweatpants and a sweater only. "It was a long day at work for me. I am leaving for Nevada tomorrow, I will be back in 5 days."

Noe could only nod, even if she started feeling frightened about officially being alone in a place where she knew nobody.

"It's just five days, and I will keep in touch. I want you to take care of yourself, and if you need help on anything, just give me a call."

"Look, don't worry about me. I am 23 already, I will surely figure things out myself," she grunted, fighting against what she really felt inside.