Prologue
Imakesuretoget up every day before 6am, even on weekends. I go to the bathroom, shower, do my hair, and put on some makeup. Not too much, I prefer a subtle look. I choose my clothes and dress according to the image I have to portray. When I go downstairs, I join my father for breakfast. Both of us are always up early, even now that he’s handed the pack to me, he makes sure to be there whenever I need him. I’m thankful for his guidance and for the fact that he still supports me. Sure, we didn’t have the tightest relationship while I was growing up, because he suffered so much grief over losing my mother and my little brother, but still… he tried his best. During breakfast, he listens to all my questions; we discuss problems and issues concerning the pack. Often my Beta joins us as well. When we talk, I try to listen as much as I can.
I smile.
I chat and make conversation with everyone, which I’m surprisingly good at. When I have a class to attend, I drive to campus, go to my classes, talk to my friends, and study. I have lunch, sometimes coffee. I never expected to make actual friends like Annalise, Harmony, Ella, Dave, and Finn. They are people who just accept me for me, who don’t even care for my rank. It hurts that this time I can’t tell them the truth.
I smile at everyone.
I go home and do my assignments. I talk to my father. I handle pack affairs, talk to my warriors and my Beta Harmony. I handle all my tasks diligently and spend time on my training. I’m training hard to become stronger because I’m a she-wolf and an alpha.
I smile through it all.
Then around midnight, I take a shower and put on my pajamas. I go to bed.
Only at night do I cry.
An Alpha She-wolf
*CELINE*
Nooneissupposedto see my tears, no one is allowed to see me weak. I’m a female alpha, a she-wolf occupying a position normally taken by male wolves. It’s been so much work for me to gain my pack’s respect and approval, but slowly they came around and started to follow me as if it was natural. Then surprisingly, a few weeks ago, my father handed over the pack to me. I never expected him to do it. I thought he would wait until I found my mate, until I had someone at my side. I never believed he would trust me to lead the pack on my own.
His faith humbles me.
I can’t just have it all ruined because my mate doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want me. He… he saw me and turned away. He saw me and didn’t want me, and that’s my new reality. There is no denying it, no pretending that it’s going to be alright. I swallow down the lump in my throat at the thought of my mate and how he made it clear to me that he doesn’t want me, and never will.
It’s not your fault,my wolf Danica huffs. She is more on guard, more… prissy recently since we met our mate.It’s his!
Gladly, her temper is directed at him, not me. If it weren’t for her having my back, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to fight the mate-bond the way I do.Why doesn’t he reject us though?
How would I know?She grumbles.We didn’t do anything to him! He has no reason to hate us. He should be happy he is paired with us! You are the best human in this universe, and I’m obviously the hottest wolf ever.
Always trust Danica to make me feel like I’m actually someone special.I wish I could reject him instead,I mutter quietly.
Danica stays quiet. She knows I can’t reject him.If you ever do, I will have your back,she finally says.
But no one else will have it then.
In my position, with all the handicaps I have—like being a female alpha to a pack—I can’t reject my fated mate. It’s impossible. Even if he hates us, I can’t. Not yet.
“Here you are, Alpha,” my Beta Harmony greets me when I meet her and a few of our elite warriors for training. She always refers to me formally when others are listening, to make sure they know my rank, to show her respect for me.
I stretch my tense shoulder. “I can’t wait to lay a few punches,” I mutter under my breath. Sparring and training is exactly what I need right now. I train with Harmony first, noting how good she has become. A year ago, right before I chose her for the beta position, she started training with the elite warriors, and it shows. She is a natural talent. All of her family members are very gifted and a powerful beta family. Only her younger sister Annalise originally ranked omega because she wasn’t born with any special gifts—at least not obvious ones, as we later realized. She is one of my closest friends and one of the most wonderful people I have ever met.
“Switch partners,” I command.
My warriors follow suit. They are used to me not wasting many words or talking a lot. I need to make sure they don’t see me as too chatty.
I allow my thoughts to wander again. It helps me with keeping my rhythm; nothing puts me at ease like training. I’m tall and athletic, my body is strong, and although my strength is not comparable to a male alpha’s, I’m agile and fast. My thoughts drift off to Annalise again. Because she is the kind and caring person she is, the Moon Goddess rewarded her with a powerful mate. An alpha lycan of royal blood, who is fiercely loyal to her. Actually, I met my mate at her luna ceremony.
Well, at least one of us got lucky.
Luna Annalise got a strong, intelligent, and loyal mate,Danica growls.And we end up with his stupid little brother, Mr. Gloomy Head.
I wince at her words and deliver a punch that sends the warrior sparring with me flying to the ground. The others around us stop and cheer for me. For a split second, all of my problems are forgotten. It feels so good to be one of them, and to have their support. Thankfully, we always supported female warriors here in Moon Blood, so the men are used to women fighting. As the alpha of the pack, I need to be one of the guys in a way, but I also need to look after the other she-wolves and omegas. I’m alpha and luna in one person right now.
“Oh shit,” the young wolf curses, rubbing his shoulder.