The Alpha Female

Chapter 4

Another wave of gasps erupted from the remaining crowd. "Is she insane?!" "He'll kill her mate or no mate!" "Poor girl!" "Will he take her away from the pack?" "She has to reject him." Just the thought of rejecting Gavin made her shake with anger. Her wolf was going crazy wanting nothing more than to kill whoever said that.

Both of Gavin's companions thankfully growled at the pack members that were speaking ill of their Alpha. Her father pulled away from Isabelle. Now, looking at her directly in the eyes. She looked back trying to plead with him using her eyes to let her talk to him.

If she ignored Gavin, worst comes to worst he'd attack and she didn't want anyone to get hurt. She was confident enough to know that Gavin could wipe them out if he wanted to.

"I have to." Isabelle said finally. Her father, however, looked hesitant. "He won't hurt me." She was almost sure of that.

Seconds passed and she was starting to wonder where Gavin was but didn't look away from her father. "Very well." He finally said letting go of her and stepping back.

 She felt a surge of relief at this. Though if she was being honest, her confidence was slowly lessening at the thought of her being alone with Gavin. It made her heat pound loudly and felt her wolf surge with joy. It took her father a good minute or two to pry her brothers away from her and another minute to shout an order towards the crowd. Soon, she was left with only her thoughts, her wolf and two of Gavin's men.

One of them cleared their throat. "The Alpha is on his way." It was smooth and intimidating at the same time. Did they all talk like that in the Blood Howlers? We're they always so tough?

"Where'd he go?" Isabelle asked turning towards the two. She was thankful that they had clothes on now.

"To shift. He's having a hard time shifting back since he's still a bit angry." The younger looking one answered sounding amused. "It's taking all of Andy's mind link energy to calm him." He jerked his head towards the older one. Andy was probably only a few years older than him. After careful observation, the man named Andy was most probably the Beta.

"Mason." Andy warned carefully though he smiled warmly at Isabelle. 

Isabelle was taken aback by such actions. The two boys certainly weren't barbarians her mind conjured when she thought of Blood Howlers. Of course, she could not deny how intimidating they all were. It was sad to think that people thought of them as uncivilized yet by their looks and smiles it made Isabelle feel like she was the uncivilized one. "He's on his way." Andy assured her.

They were all very young, she realized, probably the same age as Damien which was about twenty five or so, Mason being about nineteen or younger. Gavin, she guessed was most likely in his early twenties. She was at awe at the fact that they were so young yet so powerful.

Both the men straightened suddenly taking a step back. "He's here." Andy told her quietly. They both bowed down in respect towards her before they disappeared into the woods.

Leaving her awkwardly alone, she started sniffing the air. He was indeed close. She could smell it in the air. It was calming her wolf. Gavin's scent was woodsy, the smell of rain and something else, something different yet alluring. Embarrassingly, she didn't realize he was already standing behind her watching her closely with wide gold eyes.

Isabelle blushed feeling shy about getting caught in the act of smelling her own mates scent. She looked away from him, her eyes staring at a branch that was suddenly more interesting than the person in front of her.

Gavin didn't make any move to talk, only looking at her. In normal circumstances, it would have been rude and creepy but Isabelle enjoyed the attention. He was looking at her with so much concentration and awe as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

'Say something!' Her wolf impatiently begged pacing around the back of her mind.

'And scare him of with my brilliant conversational skills?' Isabelle shot back angrily. She was the type of person that always knew what to say. It frustrated for her to be at a loss for words.

Her wolf growled back at her.

"I have school tomorrow." Isabelle blurted out wishing that the ground would swallow her whole.

'You shouldn't have said anything!' Her wolf cried glaring at her for what she said.

'Oh, now you say that!' Isabelle muttered back angrily. 'You were the one who wanted me to talk to him!'

'If I knew you were going to say that I wouldn't have begged you to!'

Gavin looked at her curiously as if he was trying to analyse her. 'Hell, he thinks were weird!'

'You'd be lucky if that's all he thinks of you.' Her wolf snarled.

"How old are you?" Gavin finally asked. He had a strange look on his face.

'Now he thinks you're immature.' Her wolf sighed dispassionately.

Isabelle bit her lower lip. "Seventeen." She said it more like a question than an answer. "You?"

"Twenty one." Gavin answered, his tone having no kind of emotion. Isabelle blinked in surprise. Just as expected, he was young for an Alpha. If she remembers correctly, he was given his title when he was only fifteen.  

"I'm sorry I'm not usually like this." Isabelle apologized gripping the back of her dress anxiously. "I don't know what's gotten over me."

"You're shocked." He says simply his face devoid of any emotion.

Isabelle wondered if he was always like this. "Yes." She replied looking down at her shoes.

"Why?" He had that strange look again. 

Why?!

Why? Because he was the heartless Alpha of the pack that wants to take everyone's land?  Because, because she never thought that he would be her mate? Why was that question so hard to answer! 

She swallowed feeling nervous. "I just didn't know that you were to be my mate."

His amber eyes hardened suddenly. "You're rejecting me." It wasn't even a question. It was a statement. His fists were balled then looking as though he would punch something.

"What? Why would I do that?" Isabelle blurted out like a mad woman. The response was automatic. It was as if her mouth and body were acting on it's own. 

'Keep this up and he'll end up rejecting you!' Her wolf snarled angrily but Isabelle only pushed her back though, the comment hurt her even more than she thought was possible.

Gavin was quiet then looking at her with confusion in his eyes. He didn't reply only averting his gaze towards something behind her. "I'm sorry if I seem like I'm rejecting you. I'm not." She found herself saying. His eyes then instantly went back to hers, a wave of relief washing over his stone features.

"Then what are you?" His voice was intoxicating. She could get lost with just that.

Isabelle let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Thinking."

"Thinking." He repeated like he's never heard of the word. Then it hit her. Normally, mates would claim each other the moment they meet without another word said yet, here she was thinking. It was unheard of. "I take it you won't come back with me." His face was hard and his jaw was clenched.

"With you?" Isabelle asked in surprise.

He had a steely gaze. "My pack." She never thought of that, going back to his territory. Honestly, it thrilled her that the emotionless Alpha wanted her to go back with him.

"-but I have school." She found herself saying bluntly like she couldn't live without school. Isabelle resisted the urge to facepalm at her words.

Gavin's eyes narrowed. "I won't leave without you." He said simply leaving no room for an argument.

"I don't-" He cut her off as he lifted a hand up to stop her.

"I won't." His voice was commanding, a growl vibrating through his chest. If it were a normal day, Isabelle would yell bloody murder at this random man to give her an order but then this wasn't a normal day and he wasn't just some random man. This hulking Alpha is her mate. 

Isabelle looked down at her shoes again. "What about your pack?" She asked quietly.

"I'll send Andy, my Beta, back to watch over the pack for a while." Gavin answered waving off her question like he's thought of everything.

"Gavin." She said for the first time, his name slipping through her tongue like it was the most wonderful name she has ever said in her life. He stiffened at the call of his name. "I can't ask you to leave your pack for me." She paused. "-even if it is for a little while."

Recovering from his initial shock, Gavin gritted his teeth. "You didn't ask me." He paused as well taking a deep breath. "I want to."

Isabelle was about to retort when a mind link went through and boomed into Isabelle's mind making her flinch at the loud voice.  It was Damien. "Isabelle. Home. Now."  He barked commandingly.

"I'm in the middle of something." She replied, irritated.

"Now." The voice growled.

Sighing, Isabelle shrugged looking back at her mate who was looking at her with his strange confused look. "My father and brothers are expecting me." She breathed out like it was a very hard thing to explain.

He nodded taking a side step to let her pass. Isabelle passed by him only to snag a quick whiff of his scent. She blushed embarrassed at what she did. Isabelle sashayed her way back towards the Alpha's house with Gavin following her in silence.

Without needing to look back, she could feel Gavin snap his head towards the side, a menacing snarl coming from his throat. Swiftly, he took hold of her wrist pulling her behind him as though to shield her for whatever it was hidden in the trees. She let out a strangled gasp in surprise. Isabelle followed his gaze peeking through his sides. 

It was only Trevor. 

"Calm down." Isabelle soothed calmingly, placing a small hand on his shoulder. She felt him tense at the contact but relaxed soon later. Isabelle could feel him leaning towards her touch. Her wolf felt happy about this howling and jumping around. "He's my guard." Isabelle explained with a small smile.

Gavin merely nodded at her. He gave one last terrifying growl towards Trevor -who stiffened in fright- before Gavin jerked his head towards the house. Isabelle gave him a soft smile before letting go of his shoulder to start the trek back again.

-

The lawn outside her house was flowing with werewolves who straightened when they spotted the Alpha's Daughter. Isabelle confidently made her way to the main door with Gavin still following her. All of the eyes followed them. Isabelle could sense their fear and worry for her but she only shook them off. There was nothing to be worried about. She was with her mate. 

Her father was in front of the main door before she could open it. "Isabelle." Elliot, her father greeted. "Gavin." He said nodding towards the massive man behind his daughter. Isabelle could feel Gavin nod once at him. Elliot opened the door further to let Isabelle and Gavin in.

Isabelle smiled at her father warmly before walking inside the warm house, Gavin followed suit. She saw all three of her brothers at the kitchen counter looking anything but happy. 

"Took you long enough." Damien said irritatedly, his eyes cold and hard.

"Hello to you too." Isabelle mused with a laugh as she made her way towards the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. This time, Gavin didn't follow standing tall and proud in front of the door, eyes never leaving his mate.

"We should talk about this." Her father finally said cutting through the silence.

Isabelle frowned exhaustedly. It's been a long day. "Can't this wait till morning? It's midnight and I have school tomorrow." She told them trying to avoid the discussion of her and her mate. What was with her and school anyway? She kept on bringing it up. "Plus, I'm really tired. It's been a very long day." She continued to reason.

Everyone was looking at her now. Isabelle took another long gulp of her cold bottled water. Her father was hesitant but nodded his head. 

"Indeed. It has been a long day." He turned towards a stone unmoving Gavin. "You must be exhausted as well. You've been travelling all day." Gavin didn't respond. "There are a few guest rooms where you and your companions can stay-"

"It's just me tonight." Gavin finally spoke. "I sent them home." Again, Isabelle was taken aback by his boldness. Inside enemy territory without a single backup. Not that her father would attack Gavin.

Elliot's eyes widened at this. "Oh, alright then. A room will be ready for you to stay in."

Isabelle's brothers were unnaturally silent. They were never ones to keep their mouths shut but then again the awkwardness would scare anyone's mouth to shut.

"Boys, take your sister to her room. She looks tired." Elliot ordered, waving off his children. The three of brothers nodded obediently. They quietly took their sister to her room. The trip to her room was unnaturally silent with Max's arm was around her neck like he always does. Isabelle was almost sure they were mind linking with each other but she didn't care.

It was all suddenly hitting her, she found her mate.