The Alpha's Rogue Affair

An Ordinary Day

 On a chilly September day, the morning of her eighteenth birthday, June lay awake for hours in her small twin bed, in the old wood house she grew up in. She never felt more alone. She lay with her eyes closed, listening to the songs of fall: birds chirping and cawing, and the soft rustling of the dying summer leaves, the morning activities of chipmunks and mice. It was difficult to hear their chirps and squeaks. She strained her ears, but in her human form, she was limited. As soon as she got her wolf, her senses would sharpen. Since June was a child, she used to long for that day, to experience the sounds of nature in wolf form. All the wonderful flora and fauna of Maine. Once she became a wolf, she would hear it all, the croaks of frogs and the chipmunks scurrying and preparing for the winter. She would be able to pinpoint the exact location of a loon when it released its haunting call and relax into the satisfied croak of a toad as its long, gooey tongue smacked a cricket. And, on certain days, like today, she thought about what it would be like to stay as a wolf for days on end, a risk few took. The longer a werewolf stayed as a wolf, the easier it became to forget what it was like to be human. That fate frightened most werewolves, so they avoided shifting for long periods of time. But on a day like today, it seemed to June like she wouldn't mind losing her human form.

A piercing shriek interrupted her fantasies. "Norbert, I swear to God!" June heard the sound of a door slam, the aftershocks shaking the house like a low level earthquake. Then, angry feet stomped up the ancient stairs that creaked in protest. Her father's heavy tread could probably be felt throughout the entire house, perhaps the neighborhood. Her mother's lighter gait, the staccato click of her heels as she caught up to him was softer, but just as irritating.

"Stop whining, you pathetic woman!"

June groaned and rubbed her eyes. So much for a peaceful morning. It was time to face the day. Her birthday. It was a day just like any other, she told herself. She wasn't the superstitious type. There was nothing, absolutely nothing special about turning eighteen. What could be so different from life as it was yesterday before the stroke of midnight? No, to her relief, she felt just the same. It was just an ordinary day. The birds chirped, just like every morning. Her parents acted as her human alarm clocks, waking her up fighting at the butt crack of dawn like roosters. After which, she would get dressed for school, just like every day, and have to deal with the same stupid classmates, as always. Same shit, different day.

Her bedroom door swung open, slamming against the wall and deepening the dent made by the handle. June sat up abruptly, grimacing.

"Wake up, June!" yelled her father. "Your mate isn't going to wait for the grass to grow. Hurry up and find your mate because I'm tired of paying your bills." He glared at her with his small, beady eyes, scratching the back of his thick neck. It was lucky her mother had once been a beautiful girl, or June might have ended up rather unfortunate looking like her father. As it was, she was kind of an average between them both.

"Norbert! Don't yell at her! It's her birthday!" Her mother exclaimed. Her eyes looked tired, and dark circles stained her otherwise beautiful face. She looked young from a distance, but up close, her wrinkles and tired eyes aged her. "Don't rush her. She will always have home with us."

"You're right," her father scoffed. "It's unlikely anyone would want such a lazy, plain looking bum like her. I shouldn't get my hopes up about her moving out."

"Don't worry, asshole," June muttered and rolled her eyes. She was used to her father's rough manner, but his jokes still burned. She sometimes wondered if they were even jokes. When she called him out on it, he always insisted he was only playing around, but she sensed a strain in his voice that made her feel it was true. It was this tension, the unbearable tension in the house, like a string pulled taut that could snap at any time and bring the whole house down, that made her want to tuck her tail and run. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible," she spat back.