12. Alpha Graham

~Graham~

(EARLIER THAT EVENING)

From the first day I saw Catalina and realized that she was the one the moon goddess blessed me with, I promised myself I would do anything to make her mine.

So, I made it my mission in life to seek her out.

She overtook my senses and practically my entire life.

It was so bad that I had to find a way to get into her life.

Not merely because I was attracted to her, but because she was my mate.

And when I found out about the fool she was dating, I thanked the Moon goddess for making things easier for me.

...

My wolf, Knox, has been restless. He has been tugging at me since we left the Island resort.

He wanted to run, something to ease all that pent-up tension.

It’s been a while since I let him out properly. The last real run we had was almost a month ago.

Back then, I was still living close to the town center, surrounded by way too many curious humans.

Now things are different.

I've finally moved to my own estate in preparation to receive my mate.

Acres and acres of private land stretch around the house, most of it covered in thick canopy trees that block out the sky and hide everything beneath them, perfect for keeping humans off my business.

The last thing I need is an image of my massive wolf ending up on the internet.

If that happens, my father would definitely see it, and there would be a whole lot of chaos from him and his overbearing Beta.

My mission here is not done, and he would be mad if I jeopardised it by revealing my true self to the humans.

The plan was to be like humans, act like them in every way, and gather enough information to track down the few surviving members of the Rebellion group threatening the peace of my people.

A few of them had escaped into the human world with their leader before we could finish them off.

So, I followed them and had since eliminated more than a dozen of them. It was obvious it would only be a matter of time before I found their leader.

Despite that, I’m running out of time; the plan was still the same.

'Find them all, track down their leader, and end him before he has time to rebuild.'

Sounds easy, but it's not.

Especially now that I found my mate, and she’s a human girl.

That changes every damn thing.

Knox has been ridiculously protective of Catalina.

All he does is pace in my head, restless, wanting nothing but for us to claim what is ours, to love her, worship her, ravish her, care for her, and pamper the hell out of her.

Wolves are always like that.

Something to do with pheromones or whatever they call it.

But we need to be patient so as not to scare her.

She is human, and it might take a long while to get her to understand the existence of my kind and that she is my soulmate.

Well, at least it's going to be easier now that I’ve fully kicked off my plan.

As soon as I stepped deeper into the woods, the tug to shift became unbearable.

“Alright,” I muttered under my breath. “You win, Knox.”

The shift came easily. Bones stretched, muscles tightened, and then Knox was free.

The forest exploded with life the moment my paws hit the ground.

Wind rushed through my fur as I took off.

Running like this felt so good.

Branches blurred past, and leaves crunched beneath my paws. The scent of pine and earth filled my lungs.

Knox was practically glowing with joy.

We ran for a couple of minutes before turning back toward the house.

By the time the estate came into view through the trees, Knox was calm again.

Ethan, my junior Beta, was already waiting near the back entrance when I arrived.

He had done this routine long enough to know when to expect me back.

Knox slowly gave control back as I shifted back into my human form. Now that he'd had that run to his fill, the change was smoother.

I grabbed a towel from Ethan's outstretched hand and ran it through my hair as I headed into the house.

“What are your plans, Alpha?” he asked, stalking behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder. “Plans for what?”

“Your future Luna. Have you told her she’s going to be the Luna?”

I stopped walking and swung around to face him.

For a moment, I just stared at him, trying to figure out exactly why he thinks everything is simply black or white.

He has a lot to learn, I guess, and I'm beginning to understand why his father insisted that he serve in whatever position I place him.

Ethan has a pure heart.

“You want me,” I began slowly, “to tell a human girl, who has absolutely no idea of the existence of our kind, that I’m an Alpha werewolf, and she is my mate?”

He went silent, probably thinking it through...or not. “It doesn’t sound hard to me.”

I let out a short laugh. “One step at a time, Ethan. Besides, Jeffery Suther is still in the picture.”

“But that's a situation that is already under control. Or isn’t that the reason Senazo is out there?”

“Still…”

“But if you mark her without telling her, wouldn't that mean you violated-”

“I don't plan on doing that to her," I cut him off, but it seemed my voice wasn't convincing enough, as he gave me a disbelieving look.

“Just let me do this my way,” I added, and he lowered his head immediately.

“Yes, Alpha.”

I started walking again. Halfway to the door, a thought crossed my mind, making me halt in my step.

“Ethan?”

"Yes, Alpha."

“You’ve seen her," I swallowed down before letting the question out. "What do you think of her?"

"The Luna is perfection. And I’m saying this without a single doubt in my mind, Alpha,” he replied firmly.

That's great. I growled with satisfaction.

It makes the things I'm about to do and the way I'll go about chasing her justifiable.

“Well then,” a small smile spread across my face as I grabbed my phone from the table and began to type out a text to Senazo, my senior Beta.

ME: [GET THINGS IN FULL GEAR, SENAZO. WE’RE GOING ALL IN.]

His reply came almost immediately.

SENAZO: [Understood, Alpha. I'll handle it.]

“How's the search going?" I asked Ethan.

"We've been able to track down some information trails. We're currently working to decipher some of the codes. Might take a couple of days."

"Okay. While on it, get on with the travel arrangements. Catalina and I would be leaving Willowbrook once it's done."

"Yes, Alpha." He bowed and hurried away.

I was about to set my phone aside when the message tone beeped.

A message from Catalina.

"[Hi]"

That was all she said, but it felt like someone poured a soothing balm over my body.

Next, my finger was already moving. “[Tell me where you are and I’ll be there immediately.]” I typed impatiently.

It took her rather too long to reply. “[I'm not asking you to come anywhere. And how about a hello?].”

I stared at her reply and became painfully aware of how much I've missed her.

“[Hello, Catalina. Now tell me where you are.]”

I typed out.

But she didn't reply. I waited for almost a minute with nothing.

So, I typed her name impatiently, “[Catalina].”

Still nothing.

I called out to Ethan.

"Get the car ready; we're going to see Catalina," I told him and hurried away to clean up.

All my plans are beginning to take shape.

I guess Catalina did not understand that there is nothing about her that is hidden from me.

She might not know it yet, but she's mine now.