Alpha Giovanni

The End of the Beginning

"Diana! Get back here!" shouted my friend, Devin. Wanting the thrill of a chase, I eased into my wolf form, not caring about the clothes that once dressed my human form. "Come and get me, Devin!" I said, not caring about the consequences. Devin has been my best friend since childhood. Ever since he saved me from the bullies on the playground, he saw himself as my protector- he was like a brother to me. He was the son of my father's Beta. No matter what happens, no matter what obstacles we face, we will always be connected to each other.

I decided to take a run to clear my mind from this morning, when I noticed that Devin had been close behind me, with the intent of joining me. My mother and father got into an argument this morning because he's been acting weird lately, like not coming home for the night. We all miss him, as it seems that he's been spending all of his time doing paperwork and contacting other packs. My mom feels as though he's not apart of my sister and I's life as much as he should be, and she's right. I looked back at Devin, needing to get my mind off of what had happened.

I ran into the forest as fast as I could; it was fun making Devin mad. As soon as I heard a unforgiving growl leave his mouth, I took that as my cue to run even faster. "Diana, don't test me!" he said, his patience clearly being pushed to the limit. I decided to slow down, knowing that it would be a long walk home, and an even longer one with a mad Devin. As I shifted back, I stated, "Sorry, Devin! I haven't let my wolf out in awhile." Once I got dressed with my spare clothes behind a big willow tree, I headed back home with Devin. 

All of the sudden, Devin pinned me against the tree beside us, and said, "What happens if you don't find your mate, Diana? What happens if I don't find my mate?" Not understanding the context of his question, I replied, "Why would you say such a thing, Devin? And why do you have me pinned against a tree? We have a long time to find our mate, and the Moon Goddess wouldn't do us dirty like that." Looking straight at me, he said, "Diana, if you don't find your mate, and vise versa, please promise that we will be together. You're an amazing girl, and I love you. Whether it's as a friend or lover, I will always love you. Please promise me this.." I was shocked to say the least. Why is he doing this?

"Devin, I love you like a brother, and as tempting as that could possibly sound, I want to save myself for my mate no matter what. You can't have the mindset that you won't find them. Promise me that you won't even stop looking, and promise me that you won't give up. Mates are destined, and you're also destined to meet. We're only 18, which is the age where we can now pick up on their scent. We have a long time before we even have to stress over not finding our mates, okay?" Lightly pushing him off of me, I started to question my own words. Why was he doing this? Did he know something that I didn't? "You know what, forget it. You're right, Diana. I'm sorry, but just know that the offer still stands." The offer still stands my a**- why would I ever accept that? 

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Pretty soon, we had reached the clearing of the woods, where my mother stood, waiting patiently. Mother is my rock; she's the light of my life. Ever since my brother had passed away, my father drowned himself in pack work to forget, and my sister, Vivian, wasn't born, so it was just us two. Sometimes I wonder if Caleb was looking down on us, urging us to be closer. I trust my mother with everything, and she's pretty cool if I do say so myself. 

"Where have you two rascals been?!" she said with a humorous glint in her eye. "We took an afternoon run, and that was it," I said, knowing very well that a run wasn't the only thing that took place. "I'm sorry to rain on your parade, but we need to choose a dress for your party, Di. Let's go over to the dress boutique." And with that, my mother dragged me away from Devin. I wasn't complaining, though- I needed a distraction to get over what just happened.

I'm having a party in two days to celebrate my 18th birthday. I'm not the type of girl that celebrates her birthday, but I don't object to partying. My mom, my sister, and my other best friend, Gemma, convinced me to go all out. They claim that I have most of the control over the planning, but in reality, they're the ones making the decision for me. I don't mind, though. I get to sit back and watch them act like teenagers as they fight over the color of the cake. 

This isn't the only thing going on, though. Tomorrow, The most powerful pack's alpha, Alpha Giovanni, is coming over to discuss "pack matters" with my father. My father is not too fond with Giovanni, though I never personally saw him myself besides one interaction when we were younger- about 7 years old. The girls in my pack practically drooled over him, as he was proclaimed as the "hottest male" out of all of the packs in the world. He lives in Italy, as well as his pack, so he brought about 20 male pack members for backup in case of attack. His pack has a population of 500, which is why he has a title of "Alpha King", though he technically isn't. There is no king ruling over us, but we obey Alpha Giovanni as if he was. He has double the population of every other pack, so no one messes with him except for small packs, believe it or not.

Because Alpha Giovanni and his pack are from a country so far away from Los Angeles, they will be staying for the next three days, which also means that they will be attending my party. I don't have a problem with this, but it's a little intimidating to know that Alpha Giovanni will be at my party. 

I never had any desire to be the center of attention, but I knew that he would definitely have all of the attention, which was a little unnerving.   This means that I'd have more than enough time to sneak away to the gardens and have alone time to reflect on all of this stuff that's been happening in my life. I couldn't figure out why this was happening to me, but I've decided to just go with the flow and hope that everything will turn out okay.

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It was now 3:00, and I was in my room with Gemma. We were watching Supernatural on Netflix, and we were already on the 5th episode. Even though our kind hates hunters, I have to admit that Sam and Dean were pretty hot. Who can resist two ripped guys fighting vampires? I reached into the bowl of buttery popcorn as Dean slashed the shape shifter's neck. I don't even know how I still have an appetite after watching this, but how can I resist buttery popcorn? 

I looked over to see Gemma not even looking at the screen. I paused the show, and said, "Gemma, what's wrong? Are you okay?" She looked over at the door, and asked, "Are you nervous for Alpha Giovanni and some of his pack members to come tomorrow? I don't know about you, but that man is scary, Diana. What if he's planning something? What would I do without my best friend? I love you so much, Di. I don't want anything to ruin this." I was surprised that she was saying this, as Gemma is the most carefree girl that I know. She's the one that got me into having a drink or two. I'm starting to think that there's actually something that I don't know. 

"Gem, don't worry. Everything will be okay. We've been planning my party for months, remember? Think about that instead of everything that could go wrong. We're all going to be alright?" I reassured her as best as I could. When Gem is nervous, that's when I start to get nervous, as Gem is fearless like me. "Alright, Di. Now let's get back to watching Sam and Dean slay those ugly vampires," she said, amusement dripping from her voice. I rolled my eyes, and unpaused the TV.