Her mountain alpha

Hettie

A week had passed and Scarlett had adjusted well to Fiery Falls pack life, Greyson was busy being the alpha so she had plenty of time to walk around and get to know people. She enjoyed spending time with Jaxen, to Greyson’s much despair, he was afraid Scarlett would catch the eye of someone else and he had grumpily told Jaxen to stay back. It only amused the beta as he saw his best friend and alpha starting to be jealous. Greyson had some of his pack members spy on her and he quickly found out that she liked to sit by the wood-burning fireplace at night sipping a cup of tea. In the mornings she liked to get up early, not as early as the alpha got up, but early enough to watch the sunrise. At night he would linger outside her bedroom door, his wolf was whimpering in his head, he wanted him to go inside and hold his mate. Every night he would toss and turn, it was hard to find sleep when he could smell her in the room next door. During the day he would take some time off and seek her out, and she was polite and friendly every time. He tried to make her laugh by being funny or to have her blush by getting close, but Scarlett was seasoned in the charm’s of a werewolf so she was not easily affected. She knew he was playing the long game, so she played the long game back. He was trying to win her over and she was trying to keep him at a polite and respectful distance. The summer was soon over so the leaves had started to turn yellow, just the one week she had been there the weather had shifted dramatically. Scarlett was taking pictures of the yellowing forest when Greyson came walking up to her, she greeted him with a slight smile and he returned it with one of his heart-melting smiles. 

“What can I do for you alpha?” Scarlett was insisting on calling him by his title. 

Greyson scoffed, he wanted her to look at him as his mate and not an alpha, “I keep telling you Scarlett, call me Greyson.” 

She shook her head slightly but did not answer. Greyson looked into her eyes as he wondered what he should talk about today, all other efforts had not gotten him far. He thought of her green eyes to be the most beautiful things in the world, unbeknownst to him, Scarlett thought of his dark blue eyes to be the most beautiful things she had seen. But she would not admit that to him. They both smiled at each other awkwardly and they chuckled as non of them found anything to say. 

To Greyson’s surprise, Scarlett took the lead and carried the conversation, “I would like to get to know more of the pack members, I have been taking a lot of pictures and I looked through them last night. It hit me that I don’t know many of them, and it intrigued me. I would also like to frame some of them and give them to the person in the picture, there are some really good portraits in there.” 

Greyson seemed happy that she wanted to get to know them, and it warmed him that she wanted to gift them the pictures. He stepped up to her and looked at the camera for her to show him. She flipped through some of them and showed on the little screen the ones she was talking about. As she showed every one of them Greyson would tell her their name and give a short explanation of who they were. Scarlett was having a great time and kept asking him questions. 

Suddenly Greyson's eyes glazed over and he got a serious look, Scarlett knew this very well and thought that he was getting just another ordinary mind link. But then she saw parents rush out of their homes and grab their kids from the playground and rush them inside, Scarlett knew this as well, it was an attack on the pack. She saw one little girl who was not picked up and fear gripped her, she grabbed Greyson’s arm and he saw what she was looking at when the mind-link broke. He signaled for her to grab her and yelled out to her to run to the packhouse as he ran towards the forest. He did a jump and in mid-air he shifted to a large black wolf, tearing his clothes as he shifted. Scarlett ran towards the little girl, no more than five years old. Her little pink coat was old fashion looking and her dark blond curls cascaded down her back. She looked like a little child model from a fancy catalog with old-fashioned and expensive clothing. Scarlett didn’t say anything, and neither did the girl as she grabbed her and ran with her to the packhouse. When they were safe inside the packhouse some warriors barricaded the doors and windows, it took hours before they opened up the doors again. 

The threat was over, and the pack members started to move around again. The little girl was all alone so Scarlett had spent the hours with her playing, as soon as the doors opened a young woman rushed in towards the girl. The little girl squealed in joy and ran into her mother's arms, that evening Scarlett got to know Elisabeth and her daughter Hettie. She was a widow after her mate got killed in a rogue attack, and she worked full time to be able to support her daughter. She had someone watch her most days, but today Hettie had to be by herself at the playground. Elisabeth worked close by and could watch her all the time from the window, and Hettie would often run to her workplace for snacks or hugs. But with the attack, she froze, and Elisabeth was stopped from running out to get her. Scarlett’s heart ached for the young mother, she promised herself that she would find a way to help her. It was very late when Scarlett got to bed, and the alpha had still not gotten back, he probably had to deal with a lot of things after the attack. And it worried Scarlett, the longer an alpha was out after an attack, the worse it was. So when he finally came home and dragged his feet to stand outside her room she opened up the door to check on him. He was leaning on the wall next to her door just trying to get her scent so he could calm himself, and he was surprised when she peered out to look for him. They didn’t say anything at first, they just looked at each other. It was as if they could tell by their eyes, and Scarlett knew right away that there were casualties. Her face fell in an expression of sorrow and it made Greyson’s heart bleed. Then she did something he didn’t anticipate, she held out a hand for him to hold, he grabbed it and she led him inside to her bed. They both laid down in an embrace and Greyson closed his eyes and breathed in her scent, Scarlett knew that after such a hard day, the alpha would need the comfort of his mate.