#{werewolf alpha}

I frowned, trying to sit up. The motion made the pain in my neck spike again as I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

The bed beneath me was strange too, not soft and comfortable like a mattress should be. The blanket that covered me was heavy and warm with a coarse texture; It was real, thick animal fur, stitched crudely together.

There was a wide balcony opposite the bed, but there were no windows, no doors, not even glass. The wind drifted through freely, cool, and damp. Who built a house like this? What about rain? Snow?

My hand returned to my neck, and this time, my fingers brushed over something rough and raised. A scar?

That was when the memories crashed in.

The forest.

The beast pinning me, his breath burning against my skin. His teeth sinking into my flesh. The pain, the scream that died in my throat.

I gasped and stumbled to my feet, my boots scraping against the wooden floor. My clothes were still on: my jeans, my hoodie. Except for the pain in my neck, I was intact in other places.

But I was supposed to die. That’s what predators do; they tear your throat out and feed. That’s what every documentary said.

I stumbled toward the open balcony. The sunlight hit my eyes, and I squinted. Below me, a whole settlement spread out; small wooden houses scattered between trees. Smoke rose from fires. People moved about; men, women, children.

I backed away from the bed, clutching the side of my neck as I looked around frantically. The room was bare, just the bed, a small wooden table, and nothing else. No mirror, no door to a bathroom, no lamps even.

They were big. Broad shoulders, muscled arms, bodies that looked carved from stone. Even the women had strength in their posture. And yet they moved with quiet ease, carrying baskets, tending fires, and laughing together.

They looked… human. Almost.

The door, heavy wood, opened.

I pressed my palm to my neck, feeling the dull pulse of pain. This time, my fingers came away with a faint stain of red. My stomach lurched. Before I could think further, the sound of a creaking hinge behind me made me spin around.

He filled the doorway; a towering figure that made the room seem smaller instantly. His body was broad and heavy with muscle, but not in a sculpted, gym-made way. His strength looked natural, like something born from the earth itself. He wore only a dark leather hide around his waist, leaving his chest bare; thick and scarred. His skin was tanned, rough. His hair was long, black, swept back from his forehead. His beard was dark and untamed, shadowing his sharp jaw.

He closed the door behind him slowly, his gaze never leaving me. The sound of wood clicking against wood echoed in the quiet room.

He looked human. Yes, unnaturally large, and strange-looking, but maybe it was just genetics. Maybe he was born that way. Maybe all these people were. Maybe these people had saved me from that mutant animal.

But then his eyes met mine.

And I froze.

It was the same eyes.

The same fucking golden eyes.

My breath hitched as I instinctively took a step backward, inching toward the open balcony behind me. My legs trembled, but I didn’t care. If he came any closer, I’d jump.

He took a step forward, heavy and deliberate, his feet making dull thuds against the wooden floor. He wasn’t even wearing proper shoes, just something like rough leather sandals strapped around his feet. They looked as uncomfortable and primal as the rest of him.

His voice was low and rough, as if it hadn’t been used in years. His English carried a thick, broken accent; foreign, uneven.

“You shouldn’t be standing,” he said, his words halting. “You smell weak.”

I raised both hands in front of me.

“Go away—don’t step closer to me, or I’ll scream!”

He looked at me as if I’d just said something ridiculous.

“My love,” he murmured, “you can scream as much as you want. It will only please me.”

I stared at him, my pulse pounding in my ears. He was insane. Completely insane.

“The people outside will hear me!” I said, my voice trembling but louder now. “They’ll come and help me!”

His smirk deepened into something almost wolfish.

My heart slammed against my ribs. “Stay away from me!” I yelled, stumbling backward. “I swear to God—I’ll jump!”

“People? Those are my people, and your screams will be a delight to them. They will know we are only bonding.”

His expression didn’t even flicker. “Don’t hurt yourself,” he said quietly. “If you jump, my people will catch you before you touch the ground. And then I will have to bring you back here again.”

He said it so casually, like it was a simple truth.

But I wasn’t listening anymore. I turned sharply, my feet slamming against the wooden floor as I rushed toward the balcony. His footsteps were steady behind me but unhurried...like he knew he’d catch me.

I reached the railing, grabbed the wooden edge, and hauled myself up. My body trembled as I looked down; it wasn’t too high. I could survive this. Maybe break a leg, but at least I’d be away from him. Away from this madness.

My foot was already over the railing when he reached me. His large hand clamped around my upper arm, and in a single effortless motion, he lifted me away from the edge as if I weighed nothing.

“Let me go!” I screamed, thrashing in his grip. I slammed my free hand against his chest, over and over. “Get away from me! Let me go!”

He didn’t even flinch.

His grip around my arm was firm but not painful, and that frightened me even more. He was controlling his strength.

He dragged me back inside, ignoring my nails raking against his skin, my desperate kicks, my screams. My blows landed uselessly against his shoulders, his back, his chest.

When we reached the bed, he stopped, towering over me.

“Sit down, my love,” he said quietly. His tone was soft, but when I didn’t obey instantly, it deepened, sharp as thunder. “Sit. Down.”

The air in the room changed. His voice was heavy and commanding. The kind of voice that demanded obedience. That meant you'll do it willingly, or I'll make you sit myself.

I trembled and sat down at the edge of the bed, tears burning my eyes. I felt small—so small—like a fragile thing before a storm. He was huge. Twice my size in every way; height, build, presence. Even the air around him felt larger.

He lowered himself slightly, his shadow falling across me. Then his hand, broad and rough, with skin like sanded stone, came up to my face. His palm could easily cover the whole of my skull. He cupped my chin gently, his thumb brushing away a tear that had escaped down my cheek.

His touch was warm with real callouses, not the soft roughness of someone who lifted weights. These were the hands of someone who worked, who fought, and who lived in the wild.

“Shh,” he murmured, his tone softening as he wiped another tear. “Don’t cry, my life. Don’t cry. You are here with me now. It’s all right. I am here.”

My lips quivered as I sobbed, the words tumbling out of me between shaky breaths. “Please… let me go. I’ll give you whatever you want. I have money—I’ll give you money. I won’t tell anyone, I swear. Please…”

Before I could say more, he shushed me again. His other hand rose slowly up to the side of my neck. His rough fingertips traced the tender skin there, right over the scar that still throbbed.

He frowned as I continued to sob. “You’ve moved too much,” he muttered, “It’s opening again.”

He leaned closer, his expression creasing in confusion. “It shouldn’t. You should heal.” His tone was laced with genuine bewilderment, as though my wound’s refusal to close offended some natural order he believed in.

He bent his head down again toward my neck. My stomach dropped. The scene from last night flashed before my eyes, except this time he was in his human form, not the monstrous beast from the woods.

Panic surged. “Don’t—don’t...!” I stammered, trying to scoot backward across the bed. But he moved faster, catching the back of my neck with one massive hand, his fingers spreading almost from one side of my throat to the other. His other arm snaked around my waist, drawing me forward as he bent down until his face was buried against the skin of my neck.

“Stop!” I cried, shoving at his shoulders. My nails dug into his flesh, but he didn’t flinch. He didn’t even seem to notice. And then I felt a wet, rough drag over the scar.

He licked the scar slowly, tracing the mark from its base to its peak, leaving a slick trail of warmth behind. I thrashed, choking on my own sobs, convinced he was about to finish what he’d started: to kill me. But he only repeated the motion again and again, slow and rhythmic, almost… careful. His hand rubbed small circles into my side as though to soothe me while my entire body trembled.

When he finally lifted his head, his breath brushed hot against my tear-streaked cheek. His eyes met mine, but there was a strange softness there now, something frighteningly close to concern.

He reached up, his big, calloused hand sliding to the back of my head. His thumb brushed through my hair in a clumsy attempt to comfort me as he murmured, “Shhh… it’s closed now. You’re not bleeding anymore.” He exhaled a heavy sigh, his voice lowering to something almost gentle. “I closed it. But you shouldn’t move your neck so much, my love, okay?”

His words hit me like a slap. My love. He spoke as though this was all normal, as if I were fragile, reckless, in need of instruction.

“Please,” I whispered brokenly, unable to stop the tears spilling down my cheeks. “Please… just finish your job. Or just let me go.”

He frowned, confusion flashing across his face. “My job?”

My breath came sharp and uneven. “Just… just kill me.”

The word kill had barely left my lips before a roar exploded from him, the sound shaking the air itself. His eyes blazed with fury as his grip on me tightened.

His arm slid beneath my waist, dragging me higher onto the bed. The wooden frame creaked under his weight as one of his knees landed beside my hip. His hand, large and hot, slid beneath my head like a rough pillow as he leaned down, putting me flat over the bed and pressing his forehead against mine.

“Kill you?” His voice was a growl, a vow. “Don’t ever say that word again. You’re not going to be hurt. You’re not going to die. As long as I’m breathing, you will breathe beside me.”

I stared up at him, shaking, my voice cracking as I whispered, “But you… you bit me.”

“Not bit you,” he said firmly, interrupting me. “I marked you.”

My lips parted, confusion thick in my throat. “Marked me?” I whispered.

He nodded, his tone softening, even tender. “Marked you. My life… you are mine. You are my beloved mate that I’ve been waiting for. For decades.” His rough hand brushed my cheek. “Now every werewolf will know that you’re mine. You belong to the me, Alpha Aleric.”

I blinked through tears, staring at him, every word sinking in like a fever dream. Alpha? Werewolf? Mine?

He smiled then; a gentle, almost serene smile that didn’t belong on such a fearsome face. It was strange, unsettling, like a weapon sheathed in silk.

“You’ll know everything,” he said, “by the end of tonight.”

His eyes darkened, glinting faintly, that same flicker I’d seen in the beast’s gaze the night before. “And then,” he went on, the corner of his mouth twitching upward, "when you are mine in every way possible…”

It is like a cloud has lifted from the pack and left things to flourish as they were supposed to do. Weeks have passed since she was dismissed. A formal complaint was filed directly after the wedding. It had spread like wildfire and tongues had quickly gone wagging.

Everyone knew what had been done.

“Trouble stirs to our west.” Jonathan speaks out during lunch at the picnic tables.

You are fussing with the small pups, the children playing in their animal form.

His wife looks at him with daggers. “No business at lunch. The children are here.”

“And they tell stories!” You laugh as you roll the pups on the ground and tickle their bellies as other pups nip at your clothes and hair.

Frankie admired you from her seat. “Let’s not talk about it now, dad.”

“Alpha.” Jonathan warned. “I just got texts from other alphas. Have you not been reading the group chat?”

“I hate group chats.” Frankie huffed. “It’s too much chaos for me.”

“You need to start paying more attention. This is your pack now; these are your people. That is your wife, our proud Lunar at the center of this.”

“Come on, children.” Carol whistled at the children. “Let’s go, my little pups. We have things to do away from here.” Several barks started to fill the air. Carol snapped her fingers at everyone. “Enough. The Lunar will play with you later. Follow me.”

You got up from the ground and brushed the dirt off of your pants before going to sit down with the alphas. “What’s going on?”

“Janette did not join the pack that had accepted her. She’s currently packless and we think she is bringing rogue wolves into the mix. This has gone from petty jealousy to a serious problem.” Jonathan explained.

“Send someone after them. Get a few from other packs.” Frankie responded as her arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you into her. You looked at the wedding band on her long, slender finger. You brought her palm to your face and kissed the center of it. “I’m not fooling with her anymore.”

“I hate to tell you but she isn’t fooling with you either.” Her father announced, raising his hands in the air. “She’s made herself the leader of this makeshift pack and she’s got a vendetta against humans. One in particular.”

“Me.”

Jonathan didn’t skip a beat. “You. The old school wolves are getting wind of this. They are gaining traction with their anti-human ideals, Frankie. “

“Then I will go.” Frankie announced, fed up with the conversation. “I will talk to some of the other packs, I’ll take Stone. Reece will stay here with you.” She turns to face you.

Jonathan made a face. “I should go.”

“No. We’ve got the Lunar festivities on Thursday. You’ve got too much to do here with mom. My wife will be able to help you while I’m gone. If anything, I can leave on Friday at the earliest.”

“Do you need to go?” Anxiety bubbled up to meet your brain. “Can’t you stay?”

“Let’s allow this to be my first act as a future alpha.” Frankie kissed your cheek. “I will be fine.”

You sighed but left it at that and so did Jonathan. There was nothing else to be said.

The Alpha had spoken.

The Lunar Festivities were upon us. They happened only once the full moon appeared after a previous alpha had picked their successor. It was an ascension of sorts. The Lunar Goddess was said to bless the future of the pack upon this festival. If there was a Lunar in place, the Goddess would bless them as well. It was a good time for pleasant food and fun music. It was a break from the mundane parts of life and to be in the same breath of the Lunar Goddess for one night.

The days went quickly after that. With each new tiny bit of exposure from the moon, you could almost feel her pull.

“Can you sense it?” Frankie says in the dark as you stand out on your back porch, staring at the sky. “Her?“

“It’s like she’s inhaling.” You turn to face Frankie, her golden eyes glowing within the darkness. “It’s like she’s here. Is this what it means to be a wolf?”

“Sometimes.” Frankie wraps an arm around you before looking up. “You always have her presence.You always have her wishes, desires. It’s similar to the bond. She’s just…there…with you at every step of the way.”

“Why can I feel her?”

“You’re about to ascend, my love.” She kisses you, inhaling your scent. “You are about to be the closest you can be while still being human. You will be in her presence, her love, and her honor. She is sweet.”

“You talk as if you know her.”

“You do when you are a wolf. You know her the first moment that you breathe. She makes our bond real. I am endlessly thankful for her because she brought you to me.” Frankie smiles and kisses you again.

“What will happen during the ritual?”

“Dad will take us and only us out into the fields. We will do some sort of ritual. I actually don’t know what the details are because you only find out once it happens to you.”

“Top secret, huh?” You bumped heads with her and kissed her nose. “Whatever, we will find out together.”

“Shared knowledge even if we didn’t.” Frankie looked into the darkness.

“I can feel the stress and I know it’s not just from me.”

She ran her fingers down your back. “I just have something in the back of my mind. It’s like I know something is coming.”

“Good or bad?”

“I haven’t decided.” Frankie brought her hand up to hold the back of your neck. “I just can’t figure it out.”

“All will turn out well.” You turned to stroke her face. “You will always return home, come back to me.” You kissed her cheek.

“Always.” Frankie smiled and leaned into your affection. The night continued on without much of a whisper.

Thursday was here fast. The pack had hung festive decors from all the homes and trees. Paper lanterns were scattered about and illuminating the world in their soft, warm light. The animal life within the woods sounded loud and active. The pack was full of energy as well, more rambunctious than usual.

“It’s the moon.” Frankie pointed towards the sky as she could feel your questions as they came a mere thought. The alpha adjusted her suit, adding the cuff links after she fixed her jacket.

“We all feel it.” You confirmed, padding out onto the earth soil with bare feet. You were in a more formal outfit of your choosing with a flower crown on top of your head that the children had made for you.

“You look divine by the way.” Frankie pulled you into a hug and kissed your neck. “Are you ready?”

You nodded. “Are you?”

“Absolutely.” Frankie kissed up your throat and dug in with her teeth.

You whined and squirmed in her hold. “We’ve got to go to the ceremony.”

“Do we have to?” Frankie joked in your ear. “I could just take you back inside to the bedroom.”

“For shame.” You laughed before she let you go. Frankie twirled you around to face her before pulling you back into an embrace. She hummed softly to you, bringing you into a slow dance. You smiled as she closed her eyes, leaning forward to press her forehead against yours. The two of you stayed like that for a little bit as lightning bugs started to twinkle around.

“We do have to go.” She whispered to you, not moving even a hair in the direction you both did have to go to.

“I know.” You looked at her face to watch as her eyes flickered to the wolf inside of her. There was a mischievous look on her features before she quickly scooped you up and carried you bridal-style through the woods. “Hey!”

“You don’t need shoes.” Frankie laughed, gold eyes glowing in the dusk. “I can carry you wherever you need to go.”

She would too. You know she would. Frankie would do absolutely anything for you. You could ask her to burn the world down and she would, that is how deep the bond runs.

The two of you pass through the main festivities at one of the pavilions. There was food and drinks with games to be played. Everyone was looking wonderful. The spirit of the pack seemed good. It makes you have high hopes for the future. The wolves parted for the two of you, Frankie walking off into the darkness of the woods where only a few paper lanterns were scattered far enough that shadows just barely touched. It was here deep within the wilderness of the woods that Jonathan stood on top of a hill. There is a stone altar that waits with him, a few things scattered about with him.

Frankie gently placed you on your feet before taking your hand. You walked up the hill into the tall grass as equals. Jonathan greeted the both of you with a warm welcome. “Are you both ready?”

The two of you nodded as Jonathan slowly smiled. There was a mixture of sadness and happiness in his features. Jonathan moved to the altar and gestured for the two of you to be on either side of him as he bowed his head.

“Today, we thank the moon goodness.” Jonathan began as you sat on either side of him in the tall grass. “We thank you for the power you give us, the love that you shower us with, and the good intentions that your light illuminates us with. On this night, I, Jonathan, am here to bestow my role as alpha of the pack to my chosen heir, Frankie. Frankie has blessed us with finding her Lunar. I am here to act as a conduit for your power and grace on welcoming the next in line for this pack.”

Neither of you moved an inch as Jonathan reached for the altar and placed his hand on the center of the stone slab. There was a flash of light as if the moon blinked and there next to you was no longer a man. You did not move to look at the creature standing up. It had white fur, pure and silver as the moon itself which was unlike the form you knew Jonathan had taken before. The werewolf almost got a silver shimmer around its body. It looked to be much larger than Jonathan’s other form by just seeing the shadow that it covered you in. The beast moved, taking the bowl from the altar and pouring it over the entire stone. Blood ran deep, deep within the cracks and down into the earth. There was a claw placed on both of your shoulders and the two of you just knew what needed to happen.

Your bodies worked automatically. You stood on your feet and turned to face the new friend before you. It was like a ghost, a mirage, a Spector of some sort as it looked from you to Frankie. The wolf dipped a white claw into the blood and turned to Frankie, drawing symbols in the blood on her face. The creature then turned to you and did the same before their large palm came down on the top of your heads. You both looked as the beast looked back to the moon and howled loudly. The vibration was a force all by itself as it pushed the two of you back and on to the ground. The tall grass blew back and laid on the earth from the force. The werewolf got back down on its knees and bowed its head at the stone altar before the moon blinked again and Jonathan was merely a man once more.

There was heavy silence as Frankie’s father turned to sit and lean against the bloody altar. You looked at Frankie and felt a whole new world from her. It was an extra layer to the bond. You looked at Jonathan with his labored breathing. “Are you alright?”

“I think I will need many nights of deep sleep but I will be fine.” Your father-in-law looked from you to his child and slowly grinned. “She visited.”

“What the fuck was that?” Frankie looked bewildered, a thousand racing thoughts going through her blood.

Jonathan moved his head back and stared up at the night sky, stars twinkling in the far distance of our galaxy. “That was the mother of us all.”

“Does that happen every time?” You ask.

Jonathan starts laughing, softly at first before it is a full bellow and he has to straighten himself up. “I’m sorry for laughing, I just..can’t believe it. No, it doesn’t happen. It’s never happened to this pack that I know of. Usually, the alpha does the whole ritual but oh my goddess.” He whispered, looking like a young man again even in both spirit and body as he stared up at the moon. “She has given me a few extra years it seems.”

“How do you know?” Frankie asks as new information floods you. Older werewolves have issues as human years start to stack up. The shift became harder and the wolf inside wanted to grow more dormant. It can become hard on the human body to sustain the wolf.

“She has given you more time.” You whispered, reaching for your father-in-law to hold his hand. “You can still run.”

Jonathan grins big, a smile so similar to Frankie. “I sure can.”

Frankie’s eyes got watery before she crawled over and hugged her dad. “I’m so happy for you, dad.”

“Kid, don’t just be happy for me. She has blessed the two of you. Do you understand what that means?”

“Oh, I don’t give a shit right now.” Frankie just holds him, overwhelmed with many emotions. Three of you just sat there in a shocked state until a lantern came bouncing through the woods.

“We must have been out here for too long.” You murmured.

“It’s probably my wife.” Jonathan looked at the bouncing orb. “She’s probably been deeply curious about all the emotional flood and couldn’t handle staying put too long.”

As if on cue, Frankie’s mom came through the woods with a lantern and walked up the hill. “The kids want to eat, Jon.” She took in the state of everyone and just nodded. “How’s it going?”

“Most wonderful, dear. Can you help an old man up?” Jonathan extended his hand. Frankie bounced up and went to you, bringing you up as Carol went to her husband and helped him.

“What’s taken so long?” She asked him.

The tension in her shoulders eased instead of ratcheting upward as I’d feared.  Her body relaxed into mine, the soft feel of her hardly had a tranquil effect on me.

“My wolf’s picked you as well.”  Her white teeth worried at a plump bottom lip, one slightly swollen from our kiss.  That constant, insouciant grin quickly returned and she added, “And I don’t hate you, so that’s something.”

I drew back to avoid literally laughing in her face.  “Do you understand what this means?”

“As long as you understand what will happen if you betray me.”  The predatory gleam in her eyes made me harden even more.  It soon faded as something apparently occurred to her.  “A submissive and an Alpha sounds like a recipe for disaster.”  She flashed a twisted grin that seemed born of nausea more than humour.  The thought of her asshole ex-husband and her tattered self-confidence filled my mouth with iron and the imagined taste of his blood.

“Why?” I asked, although I already had an inkling of what she was about to say.

“I’m not a leader.  I have no desire to be in charge.  I suck at politics.”  A finger was ticked off at each point.  Bits of mud caked under her fingernails, which was the first time I saw them not clean and well trimmed.

“You are good with people, not machinations.”  Her chocolate tresses felt like a lush waterfall under the hand that feathered up to grasp the nape of her neck.  Lashes fluttered, her lips slightly parted and she relaxed into my embrace.  “I spoke with your supervisor not long after you arrived.  You did what’s right by your patients despite how many doctors or petty management types you crossed while following the letter of the rules.”

“You had no right to call my boss!”  She jerked out of my arms to glare at me.  Her hazel eyes were greener today, sparkling like peridot in her affront.

“I do now.  You forget that.”  I was quiet, calm even, but those brilliant eyes faded and dropped to the floor at the gentle reprimand.  Closing the distance she put between us, I gently tipped her chin back up until she looked at me.  Proper respect was required at certain times; discussing us was not one of them.  “You cared for those weaker than you while avoiding confrontation with the higher ups.  Even when you do tweak tails, your earnestness and passion soothes.  That’s not just your level of dominance, that’s who you are.”  Her jaw clenched under my palm in her attempt to remain angry.

“I don’t think I could handle it if someone challenged me,” she whispered, gaze dropping again to straighten the collar of my shirt.  “I don’t know much about how mating works, but I do know it-it would affect you.  If you were weakened because of me, the pack…”  Shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to take a step back, but I kept my arms loosely banded around her.  My heart swelled at the unspoken confession and I wanted to take her to mate more than ever.  My wolf surged to the surface, nearly frantic in his desire to claim her.

“There’s no honour or rank to be gained in challenging you.”  I shook my head.  I’d hoped that Mickayla would explain the ability of a wolf to draw on their mate’s strength, and mated to an Alpha, she would have my power to back her up if necessary.  Since she was dominant in her own right, and to my knowledge, hadn’t yet been challenged and therefore hadn’t needed to pull on their bond.

“But I’m weak, easy prey.”  There was more truth than lie to her statement.  She truly believed that she wasn’t strong in any sense of the word.  I had to bite back a growl at that.  Nothing I could say would convince her otherwise.

“And by God, there’s nothing wrong with that,” I said so soothingly that it bordered on condescending.  “I’ll just have to work around it to mitigate all risks.  You can’t work, of course, not that you’ll need to.”  Ellie drew back to stare at me with the beginnings of betrayal dawning on her face, tamping down my humanity and the associated guilt, I plowed onward.  Although it twisted my gut to hurt her.  “Although this would be easier if we didn’t mate, but I don’t let go of what belongs to me so easily.”

“That is not what you said,” she snapped, small hands fisting at her sides.  The melange of emotions rolling off her made my nose want to curl in on itself.  “You said that I was free to find work that wouldn’t put anyone at risk.  Or was that a lie?  And what do you mean ‘what belongs to you’?  Even if I was a member of the pack, I am not a possession!”  She took a step towards me, invading my space.  My wolf and I didn’t see it as the violation it would have been if she were any other wolf.  Our mate would never challenge us.  Well, not my position in the hierarchy, anyway.

“If you do join, you will be one of my wolves, whether we mate or not,” I replied with far more equanimity than I felt.  Neither part of myself liked the possibility that she might yet change her mind.  “But now that you realize how weak you are, the others will pick up on that.”