Alpha's Prophecy

Chapter 30

Emma

Being summoned to the Alpha cottage first thing in the morning wasn't exactly doing any favours to sway my appallingly bad opinion of Jake. Sure, he may have, reluctantly, allowed Kayla to become part of his pack and even set us both up in a large dorm room, inside the pack house but he had a long way to go before I'd ever be voting for him in the nice guy competition.

Every other wolf I'd met so far were absolutely lovely, accepting not only me but Kayla, without question and as much as what I hated what their supposed Moon Goddess had turned me into, I had to admit I loved the sense of community among the pack. Eating meals, as one giant group, made me feel like I was part of a big family, something I'd always dreamed of.

The pack grounds were huge and I enjoyed exploring new areas each day, careful not to wander too far from the paths though. I'd gotten lost only a few times so far but luckily there was always someone around to help send me back in the right direction.

My favourite place to discover was the enormous library. Filled from celling to floor with stacks of books, that anyone could just come in and borrow. I'd spent hours on my first visit, roaming through the aisles of literature. When I lived at home, I had to order my books online and wait an entire week for them to arrive but here, they were available to me whenever I wanted.

The only books the library didn't carry were adult, erotic fiction books that I loved to read more than anything. Serena explained to me, that since the library was accessible to all wolves, including children, it would be highly inappropriate to carry such material but that she had her own, personal stash of books that she would lend me.

Serena was fast becoming a good friend. Being Jake's assistant, she had been assigned the task of teaching me everything I needed to know about becoming a wolf. Through Serena's help I was able to discover my inner wolf, who I named Berry, after my favourite fruit, strawberry. Serena taught me how to communicate with Berry, to strengthen our bond and also how to shift, allowing Berry to run wild.

Serena had also taught me about mates, how the Moon Goddess assigned each wolf a mate when they were born. Serena said that knowing that a wolf was your mate would be easy because each wolf has a distinct scent that only their mate can smell.

Learning about mates made me sad because I knew that, as I'd been created by the Moon Goddess, not born as a wolf, there would be no mate for me. I was doomed to spend the rest of my life without love, the one thing that I craved so much.

It was odd, approaching the Alpha cottage, after I'd spent so much time in there as a guest. Jake had offered me my old room back but I had refused, wanting to be as far away from him as I could. I hated even coming here today.

I knocked on the door and waited, hoping no one would answer so I could be free to once again explore my new home but when I heard the doorknob turn I knew my hopes were dashed. Let's just get this over and done with.

The door swings open and I'm taken aback to see Jake sporting a swollen, bruised cheek. His hair is tussled and his t-shirt torn. Not at all the clean cut Alpha I remember.

"What happened to you?" I ask him, surprising myself that I'm actually concerned for him. He just chuckles to himself, as if my question amuses him greatly.

"This was the greatest gift I've ever received." He says, cryptically. "Come on in Emma, don't mind the mess though."

He steps aside and I enter the cottage, shocked by the state of it. The living room is filled with broken furniture, from the smashed up coffee table,  the lounge that is in two pieces and the numerous holes along the walls. I feel like I'm standing in a war zone.