Playing The Alphas

Chapter 96: The Games Begin

SAMANTHA

The arena was enormous. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

I stood at the edge of the massive outdoor space and I felt my breath catch in my throat as I took in the sight before me. Tall wooden walls rose toward the sky and they were covered in ropes and nets and strange contraptions that I did not recognize. Pits of water glistened in the morning light and they looked deep enough to drown in. Mud pits waited in the shadows and they seemed to swallow the light that touched them. Obstacles stretched across the entire length of the arena and they twisted and turned like a maze designed by a madman.

The crowd was roaring.

Nobles filled the stands on either side of the arena and their voices blended together into a thunderous wave of sound that made my ears ring. They waved banners and they shouted encouragement and they placed bets on which slaves would survive and which slaves would fail.

I looked up at the royal section and I saw the king sitting on his gilded throne, his face unreadable, his crown gleaming in the sunlight. The princes sat beside him in a row and their expressions were varied. Jayce looked bored and irritated. Finnian looked cold and watchful. Darlington looked concerned and his eyes kept finding me in the crowd.

And then I saw them.

Molly and the sisters sat in a special section near the princes and their smiles were wide and cruel and their eyes were fixed on me. They were whispering to each other and they were pointing at me and they were laughing.

I looked away. I could not afford to be distracted.

The other slaves were lined up beside me. There were twenty of us in total and we were all dressed in simple clothes that were meant to be practical and nothing more. Some of them looked terrified. Some of them looked determined. Some of them looked like they had already given up.

I recognized a few faces. Clara was standing near the front, her red hair pulled back in a tight braid, her freckled face set in a mask of concentration. Mira was beside her and she was trembling slightly, her dark eyes darting around the arena like a trapped animal.

I did not know the others. They had arrived after Leslie’s banishment and they had kept to themselves.

The king rose from his throne and he raised his hand and the crowd fell silent.

"Welcome," he announced, his voice booming across the arena, "to the Luna Selection Games. Today, twenty slaves will compete for the honor of serving my sons and bearing their heirs. Only ten will remain. The rest will be sent away."

The crowd cheered.

"The first round will be physical," the king continued. "You will navigate the obstacle course before you. The first ten to cross the finish line will advance. The rest will be eliminated."

My stomach dropped.

I looked at the obstacle course. It was brutal. Impossible. I was not strong. I was not fast. I was not athletic. I was going to fail.

The king raised his hand. "Begin!"

The slaves surged forward.

I ran.

My feet pounded against the dirt and I pushed myself forward with everything I had. The other slaves were faster than me and they pulled ahead and I watched them climb the walls and swing across the ropes and wade through the mud.

I reached the first wall and I grabbed the rope and I pulled myself up. My arms screamed in protest and my muscles burned and I felt like I was moving through water.

"Move faster!" someone shouted from the crowd. I did not know who it was. I did not care.

I reached the top of the wall and I looked down and I saw the other slaves already moving toward the next obstacle. I was falling behind.

I jumped.

I landed hard on the ground and pain shot through my ankle. I cried out. I stumbled. I almost fell.

But I did not fall. I kept moving.

I ran toward the water pit. There was a rope suspended above it, stretching from one side to the other. I grabbed the rope and I swung myself across. The water churned beneath me and I could see the dark shapes moving in the depths and I did not want to know what they were.

I reached the other side and I collapsed onto the ground and I gasped for breath.

I heard laughter from the stands. I looked up and I saw Molly and the sisters pointing at me and laughing.

"Look at her!" Molly shouted. "She can barely move!"

"She is pathetic," Serena added.

"She should just give up," Kylie said.

I ignored them. I forced myself to stand. I forced myself to keep moving.

The next obstacle was a mud pit. It was deep and thick and it sucked at my feet as I waded through it. The mud was cold and heavy and it clung to my legs like it was trying to pull me down.

I stumbled. I fell. I sank into the mud and I felt it fill my mouth and my nose and my eyes.

I thought I was going to drown.

Then I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me up.

"Come on!" someone shouted. "Get up! You cannot stop now!"

It was Clara. Her face was streaked with mud but her eyes were fierce and determined.

I grabbed her hand and she pulled me out of the mud. We ran together. We climbed the next wall together. We swung across the next rope together.

We reached the finish line together.

I was the last one to cross. But I crossed.

I collapsed onto the ground and I gasped for breath and I felt tears streaming down my face. My body was screaming. My ankle was throbbing. My lungs were burning.

But I had survived.

The crowd was silent. They had expected me to fail. They had expected me to be eliminated. They had expected me to be sent away.

But I had survived.

The king rose from his throne. His eyes found me. He looked at me for a long moment and then he spoke.

"Samantha Samuels," he said. "You have survived the first round. You will continue to the second."

I could not believe it. I had done it. I had actually done it.

I looked up at the stands and I saw Molly and the sisters. Their faces were twisted with fury. Their plan had failed.

I smiled.

It was a small smile. A tired smile. But it was a smile.

The first round was over. But there were two more to go. And Molly and the sisters were already whispering together and they were planning something worse.

I watched them and I realized that the games were not just about survival.

They were about war.