He Will Be Mine

Chapter 92: Mated to the Alpha

*** Alyssa's POV ***

"What will people call you once you're Alpha?" Matt asks me seemingly out of nowhere.

We've been lying here in my bed cuddling his headache away for a little while now. Because of the way his head was throbbing when we left the party together, for the most part we've just been quietly enjoying each other's nearness.

Immediately following the pack run, my dad and pretty much every other wolf in attendance was so revved up that he made the impromptu decision to host a party in the gathering and common rooms downstairs. At the time, both Matt and Tyler were excited about it since it's their first experience partying with werewolves. Tyler was eager to get a taste of our special werewolf-strength booze, strong enough that it would probably kill an average human who dared have more than one drink, and Matt was still riding the high of running with his pack and feeling that bonded connectedness to so many other souls.

My first thought, on the other hand, was to worry whether Matt could handle so many rowdy and inebriated werewolves. He survived the party with Trevor last weekend, but that was relatively tame compared to how I suspected this event might end up.

My dad isn't known for hosting anything even remotely resembling a kegger, but I could sense that this time would be different. We were just handed the keys to our future, and he can finally see the end in sight for his time as Alpha. Not that he's overly eager to hand over the reins, but he is excited to finally know for certain who he will be handing them over to. He's celebrating the end to his perpetual anxiety about it all more than anything.

But poor Matt has had a long day, and his overly sensitive senses got the best of him before long. He would have tried to soldier through, but thankfully, I was paying attention and insisted that we take a break somewhere quieter. I know it must have gotten bad because not only could I feel that he was in pain through our bond, but he didn't even try to fight me.

Now that he's back to asking questions, it seems like a good sign that he's already feeling better. His brain is back to its normal setting of overthinking everything, which is something I actually love about him when it's not actively making him miserable.

"Will it be Alpha Alyssa or Alpha Aly?" he wonders. "I'm just curious because I so rarely hear you use your full name, but it will be a formal title, so maybe it's required or something."

I think that over for a moment, trying to come to a decision about it. It's something I've been considering since I was little, but I tend to go back and forth about it.

"Traditionally, Alphas use their full given names, but some do choose their preferred name. It's something you declare when you officially become Alpha," I tell him, still not sure about my choice. "I only wish my parents had chosen to name me something else. Something that didn't sound so weird when paired with the Alpha title. 'Alpha Alyssa' is too many 'A' sounds and puts two of them together awkwardly in the middle. I don't like it."

"I think we all have a natural aversion to our own name. I feel weird even saying mine, which gets tricky considering that it's so common," he chuckles at himself.

I automatically snuggle closer when I feel his chest vibrating with his laughter, and he begins moving his thumb slowly across the area of my back where his hand rests.

"What would you have named yourself?" he asks after we've been quiet a few more seconds, probably mulling over my complaints about my name.

I can't help letting out a bit of a sardonic laugh, recalling the name I always wished was mine when I was younger.