ALPHA

Rhys stared down at me in utter anger. Good, at least I wasn’t the only one. “What do you mean they’re giving us until the full moon to mate?” He demands.

I looked away from his harsh gaze feeling my cheeks heat up “Every full moon we have a mating ceremony where newly mates couples...erm...complete the mating process.”

Rhy’s lips lifted slightly in amusement at my blush before his eyebrows furrowed “But why the time limit? Isn’t finding your mate enough?”

I frowned feeling my frustration return “They want to pass the Alpha position to you. The council thinks that with me leading the pack is in danger.”

Rhys let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair “Shit. I’m sorry Ad. We’ll figure things out okay? You belong as Alpha. I don’t give a damn what some council has to say.”

I nodded my head “Okay.”

He put a hand under my chin and lifted my head to look down at me “Don’t let this get to you angel, we’ll get through this together”

“Angel?” I rose a brow.

Rhys pecked my nose and pulled back with a smirk “Hmm I agree, Angel doesn’t quite fit either.” His eyes roamed up and down my body and I felt a delicious shiver run through me under his heated gaze.

“Down wolfie. I need to get back to my Alpha duties.” I pushed him back playfully.

“I’m sure they can wait a little longer.” He grinned wolfishly pulling me close to him.

“Goddess please stop before I barf.”

Rhys sighed deeply at the sound of Selene’s voice behind us. I chuckled and patted his chest comfortingly. “Perfect timing Sel.”

Selene smirked and moved to stand in front of us tucking her hands into her jacket pockets “Sorry for interrupting...whatever that was but I came to see if Rhys would like to help with the search for the attacker. It’ll be nice to have an Alpha help out.”

Rhys seemed surprised at Selene’s statement for a moment before recovering “Uh are you sure? I don’t do well with taking orders.”

Selene rolled her eyes “That's why you’ll be leading your own group. I’m not an idiot.”

Rhys narrowed his eyes “I didn’t say you were.” Then he looked down at me “What do you think?”

“I think you should do it. Sel could use all the help.”

He pondered my words for a minute then finally agreed “Alright. When do I start?”

Selene’s eyes lit up with satisfaction “Now, dog breath. Your team is waiting.” She looked over at me “Thanks sis.”

Grinning at Rhys, Selene took off towards the training area leaving my mate and I alone.

“One of these days, she's going to get it.” He grumbled.

A soft giggle escaped my mouth and I leaned up to peck his cheek “That’s the joy of having sisters, get used to it Alpha.”

The days seemed to go on quickly and soon two weeks had gone by. I spent most of my days in my office completing paperwork and meeting with pack members while Rhys was gone most of the day with the warriors. They were no closer to catching my assailant but didn’t give up their search.

My chest ached at the absence of my mate. We hadn’t been together long but our fleeting moments weren’t enough to satisfy my wolf and frankly me either.

I stared down at the document that sat on my desk and quickly signed my name giving it the seal of approval. Leaning back, I rubbed my eyes tiredly. Hours of reading and signing papers had worn me out and I was aching to do something else.

A knock on the door got me out of my tired daze. My heart leapt out of my chest, hoping that a familiar blonde man would be on the other side of the door. “Come in.” I tried to hide the excitement evident in my voice.

My smile faltered a bit when Lucas poked his head into the room “Are you ready?”

“Hello to you too Luc. Ready for what?” I tilted my head to the side.

“Your meeting with Emilia? You promised her to meet today to discuss some more funding for the daycare.” He explained raising a brow.

“Oh right.” I pushed away from my desk, “Let’s go.”

“After you Alpha.” He gestured for me to go first with a cheeky smile. I rolled my eyes and exited my office.

The autumn breeze blew through the air and I sighed in contentment at the lingering warmth that came with the cool wind. Leaves crunched under our feet as we trudge uphill to the daycare at the center of the pack.

“So, how are things between you and Selene?” I ask looking over at my beta. It had been awhile since Lucas and I had actually talked about things that didn’t have to do with pack business.

Lucas was quiet for a while before blowing out a deep breath “Things are okay...we’re on semi good terms now.”

“And you’re okay?” No matter what, Lucas was my best friend. I cared about his well being and knew he was struggling with not being mated with Selene.

He nodded solemnly “I will be.” His deep brown eyes met mine “I’ll wait for her Ad. I don’t care how long it takes”

I smiled in approval “I know you will Luc.”

The daycare came into view and I spotted Emilia waiting for us at the front doors. “Ad!” She exclaimed in excitement running to greet me.

She pulled me into a hug “I miss you!” Em pulled back with “You’ve been stuck in your office for weeks! It’s about time you crawled out of your cave.”

I chuckled and ruffled her hair “You know how Alpha duties are. Now let’s start this meeting okay?”

Em clapped her hands in happily. It was nice to see my shy and quiet sister excited about something. My sisters and I all knew the love Em had for children and the daycare. She may not be the warrior we all wanted her to be but she was an amazing caretaker.

“Right of course. Let’s give you a tour before we begin. Come on.” She opened the door for us to walk through.

The building was smaller than I thought it was. Emilia led us through the narrow hallways pointing out the different classrooms and answering our questions.

“The number of pups are growing each month. With all these newly mated wolves having children, our building is nearly at its maximum capacity.” She explains gesturing to a classroom with will quite a few pups.

What Em said was true, there looked to be too many children in such a small room. While the building was relatively new, constructed when my father was still alive, it was no longer big enough to contain this amount of pups.

“Alpha! It’s the Alpha!” High pitched voices of the children echoed the room when they noticed our presence.

I smiled and knelt down to greet the pups “Good morning.”

“Good morning Alpha!” They greeted simultaneously. The pups tried to push past each other to get Lucas and I’s attention.

“Beta Lucas. look at my drawing!”

“Alpha I have the loudest howl of the whole class! Want to hear?”

“When I grow up, I want to be like you Alpha!”

The last one made me choke up as I looked down at the small girl with pigtails beaming up at me.

I said goodbye to the pups and continued to follow Emilia towards her office. It’s hard to believe my 18 year old sister was head over the daycare but with her four years of experience working with the pups made her the perfect candidate. “So what will the funding be needed for exactly?” I asked as Lucas and I sat down in front of her desk.

“We want to start expanding on the daycare center. Our numbers will only continue to grow. We need more space.” Emilia went straight to the point. Like the rest of us, when she knew what she wanted, she dove head first in for it.

“How much would you need Emilia?” Lucas inquires “There are other parts of the pack that require funding as well, we can’t spend too much.”

Em nodded understandably “We just want to expand the building. The daycare can take care of it’s other financial needs.”

Lucas and I exchanged glances then nodded “We will discuss it further and will let you know our decision in a few days.”

A large smile appeared on Em’s face “Thank you Ad! This means a lot to me.”

I nodded my head “I’m proud of you sis. Come and visit anytime you want.”

“I will!”

Lucas and I walked through the pack after our meeting discussing our decision we made. It was clear we’d help the daycare.

“How’s the planning for the Gathering of Alpha’s going?” I asked.

Lucas groaned in annoyance “It’s times like this I wished we had a Luna. Getting women to help plan a party is pure hell.”

I giggled “What, didn’t you ask Sel to help?”

He merely gave me an incredulous look as if I was crazy “Right. My mate planning an extravagant party. That sounds just like her.”

The Gathering was only a week away and the she-wolves of the pack had gone into a frenzy. Without a Luna to help dictate they only had Lucas to give them orders and were free to do as they pleased. A part of me was guilty, our pack would never have a proper Luna for as long as I was Alpha.

But I could never be that. Even if Rhys becomes Alpha, I wouldn’t be the nurturing Luna the pack deserves.

“Hey get out of your head Ad.” Lucas says noticing my silence “We’ll be fine without a Luna or even a beta female. Don’t worry.”

I hope he was right.

We continued walking greeting fellow pack members as we passed and came across a familiar group of men talking in a circle.

I hid my look of annoyance at the sight of Chase and Abraham Wilson along with their posse of men. “Good afternoon Alpha Adira.” Abraham says acknowledging me.

“Good morning.”

“The Gathering of Alphas is approaching. Are you ready to see what a real Alpha looks like?” He inquires earning laughter from his friends.

Lucas moved towards Abraham angrily only for me to hold him back, I gave a tight lipped smile “Looking forward to it.”

“I hear you found your mate. How interesting for it to be the mysterious rogue who trespassed on our lands.” His face twisted into a look of disgust “It would be better if our Alpha was someone from our pack, like Chase here.” Abraham put a hand on his son’s shoulder.

Chase looked uncomfortable and was unable to meet my gaze. I held in my irritation at the man who couldn’t seem to understand that I wasn’t going anywhere. I was this pack’s leader whether he liked it or not. “Yes well I guess the moon goddess works in mysterious ways.”

“There’s always rejection.” He shrugged uncaringly “My son would be a perfect Alpha once the stranger was out of the way.”

“Dad-“

“Excuse me?” I demanded not knowing whether be dumbstruck or completely furious.

Both. I would be both.

“Come on Alpha, you know the pack would prefer Chase over the rogue.” Abraham replies condescendingly “Just consider it.”

“This is a discussion I will have with you ever again Abraham. I will not reject my mate for your son and I never will so drop it.” My glare was unwavering and the graying man couldn’t help but look away.

“Hear us out-“

“I believe my mate told you to drop it.” A large hand wrapped around my waist. I felt sparks erupt on my body. My shoulders relaxed under Rhys touch.

Abraham’s mouth dropped in surprise at the sight of my mate towering over him. He looked like he wanted to say something more but quickly snapped his mouth shut. I held back a smirk seeing the man gulp nervously under Rhys’ harsh glare “Let’s go boys. Think about what I said Alpha..” His voice shook slightly as he waved the men to follow him.

Rhys’ blue eyes followed the group until they were out of sight before they flickered down to me. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.”I moved closer to him feeling the urge to be wrapped in his arms “I missed you.”

“I’m just gonna...go...anndddd you guys don’t care.” Lucas grumbled making his escape when he noticed we weren’t paying attention to him.

“I’ve missed you.” He cupped my face and brought his lips down to mine. My heart began to beat wildly in my chest as his loving gesture. It’s felt like years since Rhys and I had any time alone. I would take full advantage of it.

Rhys pulled back and smiled down at me “So Selene is giving me a break from our search and I was wondering something.”

I rose a single brow curiously “What?”

“Go on a date with me?”

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

What do you think of everything so far? We got Rhys with the warriors, Adira dealing with Abraham and we can’t forget Lucas and Selene! Any theories for the story? I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts!

Until next week! See ya my little Alphas!