Wolfpack

The Alpha

When the alpha's scouts returned to him, it was the northerner's tradition to hold a feast in their honor. Though there was the promise of endless food in the evening, Emme found herself squeezed tightly between Ardyr and another pack female, Zeta. In the front seat, Noah, Julien, and another male Emme didn't recognize were exchanging words in low, serious tones. Another truck tailed them, packed with males and females.

A werewolf's hunger was insatiable.

They were all headed for the diner, each unable to wait until the meat had been properly prepared. Ardyr had suggested a hunt, but Noah, mindful and protective of Emme's inability to shift, had quickly convinced the group otherwise.

I taste your discomfort, vitago, Noah murmured to her without breaking his pace in the male's discussion. Are you well? Ardyr was conversing easily with Zeta - it appeared that the two had grown up together.

In truth, Emme felt quite small, overwhelmed, and left out. She didn't feel like she would ever belong to the pack. Perhaps she was spoiled, having come from a high rank in the eastern pack. There, everyone clamored to befriend her, there wasn't much work involved on her part. Now, she was lonely. She couldn't connect with her wolf, and she couldn't even hold to the hope of one day bearing pups.

I'm okay, she lied. She was grateful that she had not yet marked him, and he was not privy to her thoughts. Mates did not lie to each other. She hid herself quietly in his mind, like a shadow in his thoughts, so still that he did not even notice her. She felt safe there, protected from the new life she was forced to navigate.

Noah pulled into the small diner that had boasted its name on the carton on Noah's kitchen table a few days ago. It appeared to be a pack favorite as some of the younger males from the other car rushed into the diner, whooping and hollering. Emme wanted to hang back, but in Noah's own quiet way, he was the leader of this small group, and his rightful place was at the front.

Almost as if he sensed her discomfort, he placed his large hand around her neck, massaging it gently. It was as much of a comforting gesture as it was a domineering and possessive one. He had noticed the glances of some of the unmated males, and he was marking his territory.

The group, Julien included, treated Noah with deference, as if he were their defacto leader. To Emme, it appeared that each wolf in this small pack of sorts agreed with Noah and Julien that their alpha's actions were wrong. It was treasonous, and it suddenly struck Emme with a pang of fear. Not for herself or for the other wolves, but for Noah. The alpha would tear out his throat without a single regret and with full right. She looked up at her mate now, the hard line of his jaw, the wary strength in his eye. She did not wish any harm to come to him. He glanced down at her and smiled. Just like that, the hardness and wariness in his face melted away to warmth and a depth of affection that Emme did not want to name.

"What are you thinking, vitago?" he whispered to her, rubbing her neck absentmindedly with his thumb. The group was waiting to be seated - the diner was small, but popular. In their corner, surrounded by the lull of friendly conversation, Emme could almost imagine herself to be alone with Noah, in her own private haven. She let her eyes fall closed for a brief moment. Noah had positioned himself between her and the room. She relished the moment of privacy.

"Nothing," she replied with a purr of pleasure as he melted a kink that she didn't know she had.

"I can not yet see your thoughts, do not hide them from me," he murmured in the dark velvety voice that could compel her over the edge of waterfalls. Emme smiled lazily.

"Why do you hide yours from me?" Emme asked. There was no demand in her words. She accepted her mate as he was. Noah leaned closer, intoxicating her with his smell. She itched to reach out for him, to be steadied by him when it felt like the whole of her life was shifting sand.