The Alpha's Embrace

Motives

"My name is Vincent Walker, I am Serenity's uncle." The middle-aged man, Vincent, introduced himself to Jared. Jared gave him a slightly strained smile when he introduced himself.

"So Vincent and friends," Jared motioned to the crowd of old men who came with Vincent. "What can I do for you?"

"It's quite simple. We came to get acquainted with you. After all, you're going to become our new alpha." Vincent smiled at Jared and stated why they were there.

"Oh well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am the advisor to the alpha king. There is simply no way I'd have enough time to do those two jobs. But you have an alpha already, so that is good for you guys, right." Jared subtly refused to play their game, making the men's faces all harden simultaneously. "Besides, shouldn't you be callin' me, Luna?"

"Nonsense!' an elderly man shouted. The old man seemed older than the rest, with a head full of white hair and his back hunched over. Another man helped the old man to the front, so Jared could see the speaker. "Never in history has there ever been a man as Luna."

"Serenity's the first female pack alpha, so I guess we're making history here." Jared beamed at the old man, "I know what you want. And I'm telling you right now that I am nothing but the Luna of this pack. That is my identity."

"You, you, you sully the name Lupe." The old man rebuked, "How can you, as the older brother of the king, be a Luna of a pack? It's unethical. Its blasphemy! It's not as the Goddess intended."

"What did the goddess intend? Look, men and women are equal. There's nothing in the bible that says a woman can't be an alpha or a man can't be a luna." Jared shrugged his shoulders. "Serenity is your alpha, my presence won't affect that fact. She spent countless years developing this pack. And you want me to usurp her based on your sexist claims? No, I will not."

This sent the crowd into silence. Vincent still wore a slight smile on his face, but on the inside, he was sneering. Looking at the young man in front of him, he couldn't help but mock him in his heart. Too weak to keep his throne but putting on airs in front of them? The elders of tranquility pack?

"You said you're the advisor to the king correct?" Vincent decided to take control of the conversation. "Then doesn't that mean you'll leave when the king leaves?"

Jared eyed Vincent suspiciously but nodded regardless of his thoughts. "Then how are you going to be our Luna if you're not here to take care of the pack with Serenity? Correct me if I'm wrong, but what's going to happen to the heir of the pack? I mean he's not going to conceive himself. Do you still plan on being an advisor and becoming Luna or is our alpha following you?"

"Yeah? What about the successor of the pack after she follows you?" A man voiced out before Jared could say anything.

"Are the children going to have your last name? Does this mean it's the end of the Walkers as tranquility pack alphas?" Another questioned.

"No that's impossible, the name Lupe cannot be associated with pack alphas. The children must, of course, have the last name Walker." the old man informed the man who asked the previous question."

The elders began talking over one another, leaving Jared speechless. Wasn't this bunch of old men talking to him about the alpha title? How did it jump to children?

"Alright, alright! Enough." Vincent stopped everyone's chatter and turned to Jared once more. "If you and Serenity do decide to leave it would be better to appoint a successor for the pack."

"Oh? Seems like you have a recommendation." Jared's eyes turned, obviously, this man was scheming. "Do you mind if I ask who?"

"It hasn't come to that as yet. After all, we don't know what the future holds. But we, as elders, would like to welcome you to our pack, Luna." Vincent smiled before turning to the others. "We should leave the Luna to his business. Seems like he was going somewhere."

Everyone said goodbye to Jared and left him alone soon after. Just thinking about the complicated mess that would happen when Serenity rejected him, gave Jared a headache. Checking the time on his watch, Jared quietly made his way back to Serenity and Serena's house. Along the way, he began to strategize the contingencies for various situations.

After Serena and Jorah's relationship stabilized, it would be the best time to head back to the royal pack. Just thinking about the trouble Lucas is going to cause when they get back made Jared's head ache even more. Jorah seemed optimistic about the response he got from Serena, so Jared could only trust his brother to do the right thing. But Serenity, that was another problem. One he had no idea how to solve at the moment.

There's nothing he could do if Serenity rejects him. He could only helplessly watch as she did so, but that didn't mean he'd leave it like that. A mate was essential. The mate bond he heard so much about ever since he was a child felt so strong and vibrant. If Serenity was worried he would want her alpha title, then he'd make sure the pack knew to call him Luna.

Would he be ashamed to be called a woman's title? No. If that was what he had to do to convince her that he didn't want the title, he'd even let the good wolves of tranquility call him mother. Jared was never a man with much ambition to begin with. The titles never meant much to him. All he ever wanted was to help the werewolf society change for the better.

He wanted women and girls who dreamed of being in the position of men to have hope. He had been trying for years, along with his brother, to discard tradition. It was an idea solidified when Serenity became an alpha eleven years ago. Serenity had no way of knowing that just her being a female alpha had given rise to his plans and movement to empower women throughout the realm.

That's why things were dangerous for Serena. His brother and his ideals aligned perfectly. They had worked tirelessly to at least have young girls begin training to be pack warriors. Girls could be scouts but never warriors, or betas, or gemma and deltas. He wanted to change that to show she-wolves that they were much more than homemakers.

Jared truly admired Serenity's strength and wit. After finding out she was his mate, he was happy. But now he was conflicted. The knowledge that she wanted to reject him was almost gut-wrenching. He could only hope that she would give him the chance to defend himself against her imagination.

He would say it out loud for her to hear, that he didn't want to cage her in the norms of werewolf society. That she was beautiful as she was, strong and free. Jared could only hope that she'd give him that chance. Because the pain of rejection was something he knew they both wouldn't be able to stand.

While Jared was lost in his thoughts as he headed back to the house. Thomas sat in Mary's office reading a thick file. That file was Serenity's medical records. From the time she was twenty to now. Looking up from the papers, he made eye contact with Mary.

Closing the files, he waved them around. "Seriously? You seriously think all this is wrong with her?"

"Came here to clarify, and I clarified. I even went a step further and showed you my observations over the years." Mary rested her elbows on her desk and interlocked her fingers to use as a chin rest. "Thomas, you have to stop running to Serenity's rescue now. You've been cleaning up after her messes for more than eleven years now."

"So leave her to self-destruct? Some help you are. Oh, right, I forgot you were the b***h who left her with those people. No wonder she's f****d up. Is nobody in your family a good person?" Thomas flung the files to his left, scattering them all over the floor. "Take f*****g responsibility for what you did! For what you caused. How could you not see what was happening?"

"You think I don't regret it? Do you think I didn't notice? I noticed everything, but you can sit here and lay the blame on me because you weren't there. You have no idea how strong my brother was." Mary huffed, enraged by Thomas' accusations. "Sean let Serenity kill him!"

"Well, for somebody who let his daughter kill him, he sure fought valiantly," Thomas quipped sarcastically. Mary took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You don't have to believe me. But after all these years, after seeing how strong other old pack alphas are, do you think he didn't let her kill him? Not to mention how the mate bond had weakened him over the years." Thomas stared at Mary without another word. Making her sigh once again.

"Look Thomas, I have some. No, a lot of fault in this matter, but me admitting that to you won't change a god-damn thing." Mary drooped her head. "Serenity is traumatized. Her trauma intensified when I gave her that diagnosis six years ago. Asha and Sean's obsession traumatized the poor girl. I thought if she had just killed them she would get over it. I was wrong, Thomas."

"This is not trauma you suddenly get over. And meeting her mate just might be the catalyst for some very destructive behavior. Not to mention, Serena." Mary looked up at Thomas. "That file, I am going to burn it. When Serena leaves for the royal pack, my mate and I will follow. Only I can be her physician. Do you understand me?"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Thomas' mouth felt dry after hearing what Mary said.

"Bury it deep in the depths of your belly and stay out of her mate business. Right now, Serenity is a ticking time bomb. I cannot let Serena know what happened to Asha." Mary ordered.