His Savior

Co-Alpha

~Cory~

               I feel sparks on my cheek, and my eyes shoot open. Zahara is lying next to me, stroking my face. I look around my room and quickly realize it's Zahara's room. I never left her room when she left to meet with her dad. "How long have I been out?"

               "Not too long, though I have to admit that I have been watching you sleep for a while. I didn't have the heart to wake you......you looked too cute." I can feel my cheeks heat up at this revelation. I swear Zahara has the most beautiful brown eyes. I could drown in them. They always seem to look through me and see something in me that no one else has seen. "We need to talk." Immediately I can feel my stomach coil tightly. Those are not the words that anyone really wants to hear. I look at Zahara, not knowing what to say next. I try to find an answer in her eyes, but there is nothing there other than love.

               "What do we need to talk about?" I maneuver so that I'm on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Zahara shuffles on the bed so that she is lying on my chest. Her hand starts to stroke up and down my stomach, and I could expire, right now, a happy man.

               "You are the heir to an entire pack. I know that you are nervous about the idea of running a pack-"

               "Not nervous, but terrified." I interrupt Zahara, and she chuckles.

               "OK then, terrified." Zahara snuggles into my chest more. "Anyways, it's your birthright, and you shouldn't throw it away. They took this from you, and that's not fair. Besides, you won't have to do it alone. I will be right here every step of the way." I guess she is right. I'm meant to be the Alpha of the Wild Tail pack, and I shouldn't ignore that just because of what I've been through. I could go in there and make things better for everyone. As terrified as I am about this entire situation, I feel that ignoring or denying it would be a mistake I will regret forever.

               "I guess I can give it a go." I turn my head and look at the top of Zahara's. "What about you, though?" Zahara turns and looks up at me.

               "What do you mean?"

               "You are an Alpha and about to take over the pack. What would happen to that if I took over the Wild Tail pack?"

               "I'd imagine that we would just join the two packs." I gasp a bit, and I know that Zahara was able to hear me. She chuckles a bit. I truly have no idea how all of this works, and it's a bit embarrassing. "The packs are close enough to each other that we can just join the two and have 1 pack. We would be Alpha's together." Zahara moves her head to look up at me. "I mean, would that be okay? Would that be something you'd want to do?" Zahara can't be serious right now. As if she even has to ask that question.

               "Of course that works for me. I would love nothing more than to share the lead with you." Zahara smiles and snuggles back into me.

               "Well, my Alpha ceremony will be in a few weeks. We are getting things set up now. So we should just have the joint ceremony instead." A few weeks?

               "How many weeks are we talking about?"

               "Uh....it should be about three weeks now. Dad is ready to retire, and I already have my Beta and Gamma picked." Three weeks is no time from now. How can I be ready in such a short amount of time? I haven't shifted, and I haven't trained......it's too soon. I can feel my breathing change and my heartbeat increase. Zahara sits up quickly and places her lips gently on mine. "Please relax. Everything will be okay. I am right here with you and will be right here every step of the way."

Calm down! We were made for this!

You don't understand Sylas. I'm not prepared in the slightest. I can't do this.

You have the blood of an Alpha. You are completely prepared.

You weren't here. You don't know how things were. Sylas growls in my mind, then howls. The sound is so piercing that I wince. Zahara looks at me with concern and starts to stroke the side of my face.

               "Is everything alright? Do you need the doctor?" I shake my head a bit, not wanting to move it more than necessary. It's clear that I said the wrong thing to Sylas. What's worse is that he has blocked me out in some way. I can't contact him. I feel he's there, but I can't reach out to him. I hope everything is okay and he won't leave me. I don't think I will be able to survive if he were to leave me. I have lost so much, the people that I loved the most. I couldn't take it if I lost Sylas too.

               I close my eyes and try to calm myself. Zahara's touch is working wonders, and I appreciate her being here with me. "I want to start training," I say with my eyes still closed. "I have never trained; was never allowed. If I'm to be an Alpha, I should know how to protect the people that I love."

               "I think that's a great idea. I can have Lennox start training with you tomorrow if you like." I nod slightly when a thought strikes me. What if everyone laughs at how inept I am? I am 20 years old, almost 21, and I have never trained. I won't be any good, and I don't want anyone to look down on me because of it. "You know you don't have to train with everyone. I can have Lennox train you privately." I open my eyes and look at my mate. She is so caring. I give her a small smile and nod. "I, personally, think you will be amazing; a natural." I laugh a bit. Zahara has a lot of confidence in me, no matter how misplaced it may be.

               "How will we get the pack from Laslo and Margaret? They won't leave willingly and I'm in no position to challenge Laslo."

               "I'm thinking that once dad gets the information he needs, they will be able to discuss things with the elders and go from there. I'm sure there will be some sort of investigation, and we will get it from that." I've heard of the elders before, but I don't know much. I just know that the elders represent all of the packs from across the country. They don't meddle in the day-to-day affairs of each pack, but they have tasked themselves with keeping the peace and making sure things are fair. If a war breaks out between two packs, they make sure that things were handled justly. They also can take on major investigations, and I guess this would be that. Some people like having them, and others don't.

               "If that ends up happening......." I sigh and shake my head a bit. No matter how this happens, it will be a mess. I just don't want to have to deal with the mess. I feel sparks at my temple and open my eyes. I'm immediately staring into my mate's eyes.

               "I know this is all a lot. Hell, your life has changed greatly in the last couple of weeks. Just know that you are not alone. You have myself and my entire pack behind you. I won't let you fall or fail." I pull Zahara gently so that she moves, and she lays on top of me. She gets comfortable, and I relish in the sparks that are flying across my body. I don't think I will ever get used to those, and I know I will never get tired of them. I never expected my life to be like this. I never expected to have a mate, let alone someone who actually wants me. I'm extremely lucky, and I don't want to lose this feeling. "I guess now we can talk about announcing you to the pack as my mate." Just when I was getting calm, another bomb drops. My breathing starts to get heavier, and my heartbeat increases. Zahara laughs and starts to rub circles on my arms to calm me down. Goddess, it's always something.