Alpha Wyler
I remembered being as young and as eager as the boys that stood in front of me. Like when I'd finally turned fifteen and been permitted by our Alpha to join the pack's patrol. I'd always had my sights set on higher positions though, like how I'd eventually been given the Beta position after moving on to the pack where I'd met Lara. I'd never settled into a pack until Silvermoon though, and it was clear I had been meant to, given Olivia's presence.
As much as the idea of coaching these up and coming males filled me some pride, I had begun to feel impatient, and it had happened as soon as I left my mate's side. The idea of mating her once I returned spun my head into another universe. Yet I had to find a way to focus. that would prove more difficult than normal for me as the day turned to evening and I sat in my private accommodation. It was segregated for the training officers in charge but somehow I'd been given it all to myself. Johnathan had just left and I sipped the half finished beer in my hand as I glanced out the screen window of the log chink cabin.
The forest surrounding and the trickling of a creek nearby reminded me of where I'd grown up, a small log home in the woods on the outskirts of our pack's territory. I'd spent most of my childhood homeschooled and locked up in a cabin away from society. when I finally turned sixteen I joined the pack's patrol, and became integrated in some form of normality. I had little to do with the male camaraderie after patrolling-shifts, fucking she-wolves was much more interesting. I figured, hanging out with the other males and getting wasted at parties would never move me forward in life. Luckily, I'd been correct.
After all the odds I'd had working against me, I was now an Alpha. Even if losing Lara to Jackson had been bitter during the in-between, I'd pulled through it with enough strength to keep me on track and if anything, it gave me the boost I needed to get back on track.
I walked away from the door, sipping the beer back and sitting to the old- and surprisingly comfy- couch. When I finished off the beer, the back of my head slipped against the velveted fabric of the 60's pattern...
#
“I'm so nervous.”
“Why?” I pulled the shirt over my shoulders as I did up each button there after. She was wearing the blue dress I'd bought for her. The smooth material against her curves had me bulking in my pants.
Her sweet lips etched her worry across her face as she said, “I just am. What if your parents don't like me?”
“I wouldn't concern yourself about that.” The only one who may care about our presence at the family gathering was my mother. I still hadn't quite processed what I was doing, taking a she-wolf who wasn't my mate to a family event. Though I was beginning to wonder why I even needed a mate, when Lara fulfilled everything I wanted and more. I was twenty-two, had made Beta in another pack, and had a she-wolf willing to serve me with many qualities a forced mate might not.
Tucking my shirt into my pants I watched as Lara checked her makeup once more.
“I'm still nervous,” her voice wavered as I approached from behind. She was naturally meek, nervous and constantly concerned about others around her – but I rested her mind and gave her strength, she was the first female I'd met in real need of me. I loved it.
“You don't need to be.” My hands came around her slight waist, tracing the film like fabric of her expensive little dress. The position of Beta had made my living double from patrol salary, letting me submerge myself in the lifestyle and relationship I wanted.
I had a nice car, clothes, the housing was adequate for the pack status but Lara was my real prize for all my hard work thus far. Everything I did, I sought out with her in mind. A mate, when I had this level of satisfaction, was unnecessary.
I laid gentle kisses along her neck while taking her against the wall, fucking her worries away before we made our way to my parent's humble home in the woods.
When I stopped the sedan in the driveway, I sighed from the sight of my brother's pickup already there.
“Again, please ignore anything rude that spews out of my brother's mouth.”
Lara gave me a weak smile before stepping out into the spring air.
I grabbed my cell phone and coat from the backseat and joined her at her side. My mother greeted us at the old screen door but the heavy scent of booze and cigarettes had ruined the interaction for me. It hadn't been a smart choice bringing Lara, I should have come alone. As soon as I stepped inside the regret magnified.
My old drunk father sat in the rocking chair in the tiny living room with my brother across from him. I walked in to greet my dad but he didn't give me a glance.
“Dad, how are you?”
He muttered something before looking away from the basketball game on the antenna TV to me, his eyes scanned every inch before grunting. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
Jackson finished off his beer and stood, smiling at me. “That's a nice shirt, that standard uniform for the dick-parade?”
I gave him a look as he walked past me, bumping my shoulder as he did. Lara had snuck up behind me in the process and Jackson stopped dead in his tracks, looking at the she-wolf with her delicate hands on me.
I squared my shoulders, not liking his new locked focus on my girlfriend.
Lara took in a shuddering breath that shook her body against me. As she tucked herself closer, Jackson reached and grabbed her wrist, pulling her away.
They could make fun of me all they wanted but touching Lara, I wouldn't allow. I broke his hold and shoved him against the wall, pinning him tight so his windpipe slowly crushed. The empty beer bottle in his hand dropped to the floor and shattered around our feet.
“Don't touch her,” I growled. I'd grown up being beat up by Jackson but there was no way, after the training I'd endured over the past years, he'd be able to do that again.
“I can touch her all I want,” Jackson spat slurred words all over my face, “she's my mate.”
I looked behind to a paralyzed Lara as she stared at Jackson and not me. my brother took my distraction and broke my hold, shoving me away so I collided with a chair.
“What's going on!” My dad barked at us, not moving from his spot and likely not looking up either.
“Nothing.” Jackson answered, approaching Lara like a snake about inject her with venom.
“Don't touch her.” I stepped in between them.
My brother smiled. “That's my mate and I want her.”
Lara's hand came to my shoulder. “Caleb... please.”
I stared at her stunned, her eyes had glazed over in some fucked up way that made my blood boil. There was no way I would let my brother take her, she was mine!
“Lara, no.”
She gave me one more glance before Jackson grabbed her, pulling her over to him so he could smell her. “Guess you need a new girlfriend...” He began to laugh.
I wanted to throw up as I stared at the scene happening in front of me. It made my heart harden, she wasn't mine and she'd never been. Mates had priority and the way her eyes fluttered at my older brother told me I'd lost her. Just like that, after almost a year of making her happy, she'd been lost to an instinct.
“Caleb...”
#
I woke suddenly in the dark cabin as the wind blew in the still open door, cooling the sweat against my exposed skin and making me wake. If I could make it so I never had another nightmare about the day I'd lost Lara, my life would be complete. I kicked the front door shut and walked across the cabin to the small cot, wishing I was back home with Olivia instead.