Challenging the Alpha

Devon

I push away from my desk and rub my eyes. I’m distracted again and can’t seem to focus on my research.

And I know why.

Tasha is back, which means that the redhead, Emma, is back from the camping trip, too. I’d seen her on my latest run, and she seemed to notice me in the woods as she drove by me. When our eyes met, it was mesmerizing.

But now that she’s back in town, her presence is upsetting my focus.

I had planned to call everyone for a meeting anyway, so I guess I might as well get something accomplished and get everyone in the pack together. 

I’m sure not getting anything done in the tech room anymore. 

We usually meet outside town, deep into the forest, so that no one will think it was weird for a bunch of apparent strangers to be gathering at my house. In the forest, we’re in control. We can pick up the slightest scent that doesn’t belong and scatter in an instant, and no one will ever see a bunch of wolves standing together in a circle. We always stay in our wolf forms for these meetings for that specific reason–we need to be able to stay invisible to the world. That, and no one can hear our mind-link but members of our pack. 

I head out the door and into the packhouse backyard, which is basically the forest’s edge, then step into it a few feet before shifting.  

The run feels great. It always does. It’s an almost indescribable sense of freedom to race through the forest, avoiding every obstacle with precision skill as my senses came alive. Running always makes me feel like myself, like a primal force deep in my soul takes over and releases all the tension of living with ordinary humans. 

I appreciate that we have the human town to live in, and everyone is friendly enough there and welcoming, but it never does feel quite like home. The years of blending into the human world have had an effect on me, as if my nature is contained and restricted. It’s a hard thing for a wolf shifter to feel that way, especially an Alpha like me. It just isn’t natural. Running in my wolf form, with the wind in my face and the multitudes of forest scents invigorating my senses, gives me the outlet I need.

I think it’s that way for the rest of the pack as well.

Mandy is already there when I arrive, along with a few of the Omegas. There are so few of us left that we have representatives from each family in our management council, for lack of a better name, where we discuss relevant pack business away from curious humans. 

Humans like Emma–her name still dances in my mind like a song with a perfect melody.

“Alpha Price, are you alright?”

The voice erupts in my head–the pack mind. Ugh, I’ve been daydreaming again. I have to stop doing that. I’m the Alpha, responsible for everything and everyone in the pack. I’d never been this disorganized before.

I refocus on the mind-link. “I’m fine, thank you, Kelly,” I say quickly. 

At least, I hope it was Kelly who asked since I wasn’t paying attention. This isn’t like me at all. I’m always focused and on task. I need to work this thing out before my distraction causes a serious problem for my pack. 

“Okay, good,” she answers. So, it was Kelly, thank the Goddess. “I was just telling the Beta that the warriors have returned from their scouting missions, and no one has found anything significant.”

I nod, at least partially, since gestures in wolf form are a lot different than in human form. “We’ll take that as a win,” I say. “Vampires are hard to spot, but I trust all the warriors not to miss anything.”

“They aren’t hard to spot if you’re focused on your work.” David chimes in with a bit of a hostile tone. 

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Mandy says, clearly irritated. 

David is the father of Stephen, the kid who’d gone missing yesterday, so Mandy is still steaming about how he couldn’t keep his kid under control. It’s understandable, considering. 

“Some of us are getting a little too comfortable in the human world, that’s all,” David says firmly, and a little bit loudly for a pack mind statement, if you ask me. 

“We’re all in this together.” I interrupt Mandy before she gets even madder. Mandy can keep her cool really well, but the Stephen thing has really rattled her. “We all have to blend in. It’s part of the plan, David. You know that,” I add. 

“I just can’t help but notice that you’ve taken a bit too much of a shine to that human girl,” he snaps. 

Mandy’s eyes are practically steaming. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I insist, sounding a little too defensive, which is odd, and I’ve kind of surprised myself with the tone. I’m always more confident than that. 

“I’m talking about our Alpha of what’s left of our pack making himself a little too human,” he adds. I glance over at Mandy quickly and see the anger in her eyes. “Maybe it’s time for a leadership change,” he continues. “I knew having a young Alpha was going to be a problem.”

In wolf form, it takes everything I have not to instantly answer that challenge with a fight, but I keep myself cool. Dad would have wanted it that way. “I’m the son of the former Emerald Moon pack Alpha and heir to this position. Not only that, but I’ve earned it. If anyone here agrees that I should answer David’s challenge for the role, speak now.”

The rest of the pack is quiet, but a bit of uncertainty peeks through in the eyes of some of them, David’s friends in particular. It seems he has built a small coalition against me. 

“I see no immediate agreement on the matter, but I’ll give you all time to think about it,” I tell them. “I am the Alpha, so far unchallenged, but if, as a pack, we agree that David’s challenge is legitimate, then we’ll settle this. In the meantime,” I add, using my Alpha voice through the mind link, “know that I have not had any connections with the humans other than polite interaction to fit into their society.”

David grunts but holds his place in the circle. I catch his eyes, trying to read what he’s thinking. What’s going on with him, and was the thing with Stephen a setup? The kid hasn’t given me much of an excuse for his actions. But putting something like that together and worrying the entire pack is an odd thing to do. What would be the point? I remind myself to keep an eye on David and his family. 

Goddess, I hate distrusting a member of my own pack. 

We discuss some more pack business, this time without any challenges, and eventually I dismiss everyone, thought Mandy and a couple of the wolves stick around after the others have left. 

“What’s up with him?” she asks in a private mind-link to the small group around me. 

“I don’t know,” I reply. “But I’m going to watch him.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you finding someone, you know,” she tells me. “Just saying. A pack is stronger with a Luna, and there’s really nothing wrong with it if she happens to be a human. The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.”

“She’s not my Luna,” I clarify.

“It would be fine if she were,” Tasha adds. She has also lingered at the meeting spot. “She’s smart, and she’s a good person. She’d be an asset to the pack, human or not.”

“Let’s just get back to town,” I tell them all. 

I’m pretty sure they’re talking about this in their own private mind-link. 

But I ignore that. 

We all take to a light sprint, weaving through the pine trees and underbrush. I can’t stop thinking about the situation. Clearly, I have some detractors now, but most of the pack seems to support me as their Alpha. I’ve never questioned my Alpha status before, but with the way I’ve been distracted lately, even I’m not sure I’m up to the job. 

I just have to refocus and get my work done. I know I’m right about the technology. I just need to find the breakthrough that is going to lead my pack back to freedom and safety. I know I’m missing something, though.

I just don’t know what.