He Will Be Mine

Chapter 97: Succession

*** Alyssa's POV ***

It's an incredible feeling to lead an entire pack of werewolves in their natural forms through our woods with a mate on either side of me, radiating their own individually unique twists on the Alpha aura. Eli's aura feels light and crisp, uplifting and motivating. People will want to follow him because it just feels good and right. Zeke's aura, on the other hand, is much darker. It radiates strength and vitality, but people will be compelled to follow him more because they know it is in their best interest. His aura borders on fearful and intimidating, but it comes off more like a subliminal awareness of the protector within him, as well as the promise of the much darker alternative should one dare to cross him.

I don't know what my own aura feels like to the others, but judging by the effect it seemed to have on the crowd as they felt it wash over them when the power transferred from one Alpha to the next, I would wager that it's a powerful one. My dad seemed relieved when he sensed it. As much as he said a lot of grand things about how certain he was that I was the one we needed to have in power right now, I know a small part of him feared that he could be wrong. But as my aura washed over him, it seemed to evaporate any lingering traces of that fear and uncertainty. He knows he did the right thing, and the pack feels it too.

And now, knowing what I do about the rogues and how long he has been helplessly watching them grow both in strength and in number, worrying about the increasing threat without the knowledge or the ability to do much about it, I finally understand why he has pushed me so hard all these years. He knew I needed to be ready, though he wasn't entirely sure for what, and he knew that it had to be me, whatever the cost.

I know now that he never wanted me to have to give up my chance at a fated mate, or later when he knew there were actually two of them, mates. All he ever wanted was for our pack to have its best shot at enduring whatever the future held, all the time watching the signs and signals pointing to it being something dark and dangerous, a threat like none that our pack has ever faced before. He knew that some greater force had chosen me for something, and it was his responsibility to get me ready for whatever that might turn out to be, whenever it happened to come calling at our doorstep.

With the moon high and full in the sky, our Alpha trio leads the pack back to the sacred clearing where it all began. I don't know how long we all ran together, for many hours more than likely, but I do sense that the pack is ready to rest. It feels like there is no better way to conclude this nearly perfect day than to bring them all back together to sit back on our haunches and howl at the moon as our wolves devour the spoils of their hunt.

This entire day has felt like a throwback to the roots of our traditions, to the natural instincts of the animals within us. At every turn, despite the rules and customs that our more dominant aspects, the men within us, have developed over time, our wolves have been pushing to be freed. And it hasn't just been me and my mates, either. I've been fully aware of all the times a packmate or a family pack broke away from the greater pack to chase their prey, and I sensed all the marking and territory claiming that was going on as well.

It's partly why we stayed out so long. Something in me knew it was what we all needed. It felt good to sate those primal parts of us, and I could feel the bonds of the pack strengthening in a way I've never experienced in my nearly twenty-two years of life.

We're going to need that cohesiveness for the days to come. The rogues we will be facing are already in tune with their more primal urges. They live and die by them. Perhaps what our pack needed most right now was a reminder that we're wolves as much as men, and though the laws that govern our lives are important, that doesn't mean we have to let go of our base animal instincts. I want to empower our wolves and remind the pack that in any form, we're a community. A family. We live together, hunt together, and take care of our own.