She Came From the Forest (James and Tera: book 1)

19

"Strong enough to become Alpha?" I asked. I didn't know much about dominance or Alpha, so all of this was very new to me.

Charlie nodded. "Of all the packs in the world, maybe a ration of around 1/75 of the Alphas are female."

"Females aren't supposed to be very dominant." Tera added. "I'm one of the lucky few who are dominant enough."

We were sitting in the living room. Charlie was sitting in a recliner while Tera sat close next to me on the sofa. She basically was rubbing against me a lot and touching me a lot, especially on my skin. I'm guessing she was getting her scent on me. It was kind of cute.

"So females aren't born as dominant as the males?" I asked.

Charlie shook his head. "They're mostly on the lower ranks of the pack hierarchy. Some of them can be higher than the more submissive males."

I looked at Tera. "You're not very submissive." It wasn't a very difficult conclusion, considering she threatened everyone in our class if she caught them staring.

She cracked a smile. "Yeah, but I liked to play sub for the pack before the Alpha died."

I raised an eyebrow. "Before the Alpha died? What do you mean?"

"The previous Alpha died just a few months before we moved here." Charlie added.

"How? Old age?"

Charlie gave a slight smile. "Don't you remember how old I am?"

Realization hit. "Oh right. Sorry." I apologized. "He must've died in battle then."

He nodded. "The pack can challenge you for the title of Alpha. The Alpha, under any circumstances, has to accept the challenge, otherwise they will be branded a coward and be forced to give up the title to the challenger."

"So he was beaten in a challenge?" I asked.

Charlie's face turned dark and he slowly nodded. "Kurt was the Alpha's son."

I felt my mouth open with shock. I looked at Tera, who stared into oblivion with a look of grim hatred. "That power hungry freak." She mumbled. She must have liked the Alpha a lot.

He killed his own father just to become Alpha?

I couldn't do it. I don't think I could ever do that. Kill someone to rank up, especially family. Even though I wasn't fond of my father or brother, I wouldn't go so far as to take them out.

Charlie shook his head. "Sometimes werewolves don't have morals." He said, but not to anyone, but just out loud. "Some will do whatever it takes to gain control and power. Even killing your own blood."

He looked at me and continued. "Aaron was the his name. I met him a few times over the centuries. He was always a good man." He had a slight light of joy in his eyes before they left and he looked down. "It's such a shame he's gone."

I felt Tera vibrate as a growl escaped her clenched teeth. "This is my turf now. If he so much as causes any trouble here, I'll tear his heart out with my bare, human hands and eat it in front of his dying eyes."

I shivered with fear. I looked at her, staring at the bright yellow eyes and the sharp canines in her mouth that were clenching with frustration. This wasn't the Tera I knew. This is a different person, or, technically, a different creature.