An Alpha without a Pack

Chapter 16

Katie had her arm looped through mine as she gave me a tour of the Sapphire pack. The layout of the pack was almost like the Rubies. It was like the Rubies were trying to copy the strongest pack and they got close to it, just the opposite colors. A few miles to the west was the river that ran through the territory, the one that I had used to escape the attack. Supposedly that river is the reason for the Sapphire name. When the pack was first made the founders said the river was the color of the gem. A lot of packs thought that the name was because there was a sapphire mine and joined to get rich. Jokes on them.

"There is something that I don't understand," I said to my sister. "I supposedly have all the attributes of an Alpha, but you're alive. You're older and so much stronger than me, always have been. The power of the alpha should have fallen on me, but instead fell on me. Why?"

Katie was quiet for a moment as she stared at a red bird that flew by. "Because I am no longer a Silver wolf." I turned to her with shock written clear across my face but before I could say anything, Katie held up her hand and began to explain. "The night I had escaped from Drake and his pack, I just ran. Never stopped. No matter how many branches scraped or hit me, no matter how tired of beaten I was, no matter anything. I just ran until I came across a family of wolves who was teaching their pups how to hunt. At the time I was the alpha and they instinctively took me to a camp. Turns out they were a pack of lone wolves who had agreed to work with each other to survive. They allowed me to stay until I had my energy back and pointed me in the direction of the closest pack, which was the Emerald Pack. Martha took me in, gave me clothes, gave me shelter, and protected me until things had died down. One day the alpha of the Sapphire pack, Jasper Leone, came by to talk about building an alliance. Apparently, with the attack on the Silver pack, other packs got threatened themselves and wanted to have allies. When he returned to his territory, I went with him. I wanted to be close to home. After a year, he and I had married, making me the Luna of this pack, and you the Alpha without one."

"Wait, isn't Jasper like 20 years older than you?" I asked stopping in my tracks.

"Actually," she giggled. She actually giggled. "He was seven years older than me."

"Was?"

Katie answered me with silence as she slowed to a stop and placed a had on her round belly. She was no longer smiling but was looking at the blue sky with tears forming in her eyes. "He died about a month ago from a rare sickness called Wolf's cough. I sat by his bedside for three weeks unable to touch him. He was too scared that he would get me sick and possibly lose the baby. Before he passed, he made me alpha."

I turned to look at the tree line unsure of what to say. My sister got married, got pregnant, became an alpha, and lost her husband in the span of four years. I looked down at the ground and nudged a few rocks with my bare feet.

"Drake has three of the four pieces to the key," I said looking back at Katie. "I had Rick hide the fourth part before Drake could get his hands on it when he attacked the Emerald pack. I don't know where he hid it though."

Katie was quiet for a long moment. The wind blew softly through her hair as she looked around at the land. Her land. "We shall deal with that tomorrow," she whispered with a sigh. "I would like to throw a celebration tonight. I guess you would call it a welcome party in your name."

Katie sure knew how to throw a celebration. As soon as the sunset had passed, a group of wolves ran through the pack's town to light lanterns in different colored glass, making the town look something out of a storybook. Ropes hung from every building above us with colored flags that had various symbols on each. Katie managed to have several of her cooks put together a feast in just a few hours. Now there were a couple of tables filled to the brim with fruit drinks, wines, fruits, baked goods, meats, and candies. Five wolves were placed on the steps of the Alpha's house and played drums, lutes, and pan flutes. All around people were eating, dancing, or just conversing.

I was currently dancing with Katie who was twirling me in circles around her. She was kind enough to let me wear a dark blue dress that was fitting around my bust and fell loosely around my hips and legs. Every time I would do the twirl the dress would flow outward. Katie wore a similar dress but a lighter blue. Katie grabbed both of my hands with hers and began to spin un in a circle, our bare feet slapping the ground. She let go and we both spun away from each other, only to stop on the third spin. We turned to face each other, grabbing a handful of the skirt of our dresses and swished them from side to side as we stopped to the beat towards each other. Katie lifted her right hand, as did I, and lightly touched my fingertips. Then we ended the dance as the music began to fade out with a bow. The crowd cheered as Katie and I hugged.

Seth, Katie's Beta, came up beside us to ask Katie for a dance and I snuck away to the feast tables. As I popped a few dark grapes into my mouth a figure walked up beside me. Quickly looking out the corner of my eye I saw that it was Rick. He had a freshly shaven look, his hair combed back, and wore a nice pair of black slacks with a clean dark shirt. My cheeks warmed at the sight of him.

"How are you feeling, Ms. Sophie?" Rick asked in his deep breath.

"To be honest, I don't really know," I replied eating another grape. "The wolfsbane is out of my system so I don't feel so week. Less than 24 hours ago I was almost married to the son of my father's murderer only to be saved by my sister who I thought was dead for the last four years. Oh, and I'm going to be an aunt in the near future." I pooped one last grape into my mouth before grasping a glass of wine.

"Hm, I guess I wouldn't know how to feel either," Rick says shrugging his shoulders. "At least there is a fun party in the middle of everything."

I laughed at his little joke before taking a long swig of my drink. "Yes, because the party help ties everything together." We went quiet as I looked into my nearly empty cup. "Rick, would you like to dance with me?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, Ms. Sophie," he replies grabbing my hand.

I barely had time to finish my drink as Rick pulled me towards the dancing crowd and the music. Rick pulled me flush against him, causing me to go bright red. It was exciting and scary at the same time to be against him like this. Before I could think about it anymore, Rick had begun the dance, pulling me with him. Around and around we went, never stopping unless the songs ended. On occasion, Rick would let me get a quick sip of wine before tugging me back to the dancing crowd. We danced long into the night coming to a complete stop when the music ended, and all the food was gone. I let Rick hold me as we walked into the Alpha's house, loving the way his heat warmed me.

"Let's get you to bed," Rick whispered.

"That sounds lovely," I whispered back.

Slowly we made our way down the hall. I found myself leaning against the wall next to my bedroom door with Rick standing just a few inches away from me. Before the silence could become unbearable, I whispered, "Thank you for dancing with me tonight. I was the most fun I've had in a long time."

Rick let out a warm chuckle that seemed to fill me. "To be honest that was the most fun I've ever had. I'm glad you asked me to dance." We stood there smiling at each other. It became apparent that my cheeks were starting to warm the longer we watched each other. Rick softly cleared his through and said, "I guess I should let you get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Yes, you need to get some sleep as well."

"If you ever need me, I'll be a few doors down the hall. You don't have to knock or tell me what's wrong. I'll be there for you."

"Rick," I whispered, "thank you." I was unsure of what else to say so I stood on my toes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheeks.

At first, the look of shock rested on his handsome face. Then he broke out into a grin, put his hands in his pockets, and began to walk down the hall, whistling. Feeling all giddy myself, I opened the door to my room to slip inside. I did not even bother turning on the lantern, just threw myself onto the bed and fell into sleep quickly.