Charlie & Her Alpha

Chapter Two: Sweat Pants & She-Wolves

Staggering in through the back door of the packhouse, Jamie made his way into the kitchen. Still naked and dripping from the outdoor shower he had just taken to wash the blood and mud from his form, he stood at the fridge rummaging for the leftovers he knew the omegas would have set aside for him. 

Mandy, a middle-aged omega Jamie had found wandering rogue on the outskirts of his pack lands over 15 years ago, was the main omega cook in the packhouse. She always kept him happily fed. She kept the whole packhouse running in the absence of a Luna. 

She never spoke much about her past, but Jamie often felt that she had to have been higher ranked than an omega before. Her knowledge and skill at handling everything from planning pack events to rearing warrior pups had become essential to his success as Alpha. Having been forced into the position at 18 when hunters killed his father and mother, Jamie had very little guidance aside from Mandy and his father’s beta Kennedy. The two had stepped in as his parents and mentors without ever having been asked. In doing so, they saved more than just Jamie but likely the entire pack. 

In the years since his parents’ death, Jamie had been relentless in his pursuit to become one of the most substantial packs in North America. He refused to be weak ever again. He refused to see more of his pack’s blood run red on the streets. Although many threats had been reduced once the laws against magic went in place throughout the human lands, Jamie took no chances when it came to seeking out those who pushed their luck—ending their lives long before their threats could amount to anything worth an actual battle.

Magic was forbidden in the human lands, but for those whose blood was kissed by the gods, it was still ever-present as its powers could never be ignored for long. Werewolves and other magical beings all knew it was foolish of the humans to attempt to lock it away.  They complied only to save the innocent lives of the unknowing humans, but it was known that magic would soon return among the creatures of the night. When or how they did not know. But its lingering pulse in the air always reminded them that it was alive. So while they all waited for its return, Jamie made damn sure they would be ready for whatever trials it would bring with it.

“Oh Goddess, Alpha Jamie, really? Must you eat with your hands like a pup whose paw is stuck between forms? Really?” Mandy softly scolded Jamie as she flipped on the lights in the kitchen.

“Ah, and I see now, perhaps all the forks ran off with your pants as I can only assume they’ve all run off while you were away- why else would you be standing naked eating chicken with your hands in the dark?” 

She shook her head as she walked back out of the kitchen only to return a moment later with a clean pair of grey sweatpants from the laundry. 

“These are Juliens, so don't go shredding through them like you’ve done all of yours,” she warned him as he slid them on with a sheepish boy-like grin spreading wide over his mouth.

“What would I do without you, Mandy?” he cooed to her softly with a wink.

“Starve and turn the pack into a nudist colony. That's what would happen; I’m certain of it.”

She handed him a fork then lifted a hand towards his face. He leaned down so she wouldn't have to strain up to reach him as she picked a crumpled leaf from his hair with an eye roll.

“Males, even Alphas, the whole lot of ya are a mess,” she grumbled as she left Jamie in the kitchen alone.

“Don't you dare leave that fork on the counter either, Alpha!” she lightly called out over her shoulder as she disappeared down the hallway that connected the omega quarters with the central packhouse. 

Only the Alpha’s family, the Beta’s family, and the Gamma’s family lived in the central packhouse in order of rank from the top floors down. Packhouse omegas lived in their own side quarters, mostly so they had easy access to their duties while still getting privacy from the ranked pack members. Unmated warriors had their own dorms, and the rest of the pack members lived scattered throughout the little town of Elmswitch. 

Less than 5,000 people total called the townhome, 4,000 of whom were members of Jamie's Pack, the Black Pine Forest Pack. The other 1,000 were mostly other creatures of night who were allied with the pack but not werewolves. They were included in all events and even had been called on to help protect the pack a time or two, but mostly they just lived quiet lives mixed among the pack members. 

Jamie finished his food, then carefully rinsed his dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher before making his way up the stairs to the Beta floor where he lived. 

After his parents died, he had all their things removed and packed away, but he still felt weird living in their quarters. Living even in the room he had all his childhood felt sad to him. Their scents still lingered in the walls of that floor, and even though it was 17 years since their death, he still felt immense guilt every time he entered that floor. 

Seeing as neither he nor his Beta Julien was mated, they decided a bachelor pad on the Beta floor was much more appealing. Julien was more than happy at the idea of turning what should have been a family room into a pool hall and private bar. Jamie’s Gamma Noel and her mate Sebastian lived on the Gamma floor below the Beta floor. Sebastian was one of the few non-werewolves in the pack, as Jamie always allowed mates to join regardless of their species. That was not the case for many packs, but to Jamie, it was never a question. 

Sebastian was a witch, and while he had to be careful of how much magic he used as not to set off a human detection field, he had been able to place a few simple wards on the packhouse upon his arrival ten years prior. Privacy wards to keep the Beta floor nonsense contained and the Gamma floor quiet. Although, he often snuck up to join the boys for a beer and game of pool whenever he could slip by Noel undetected.

Jamie made it to the Beta floor and shoved open the door to his room. 

He scented something familiar. Something female. Something he once found to be sweetly alluring was now mildly nauseating to him.

Sierra rose from his bed, naked in her glorious long, lean form. She clicked on a bedside table lamp and made her way across the room to greet him.

“It got so late, my Alpha, I couldn’t stay up any longer.” 

She ran her palms up and over his toned torso and chest. Where it once would have made him harden in a moment, it now felt wrong.

“I’m sorry Sierra, tonight is just not a good night. Please, another time, but not tonight, I need to sleep alone.”

“Are you sure my Alpha? I’ve been dying to kneel for you again.” she whined up to him.

Jamie had to fight the urge just to growl the command to leave at the little thing before him, but that was not his style. It might have been his father’s, but it would never be his.

“Yes, darling, please. Another night, but not tonight.”

A lie. But one he was willing to tell if it got her out of his room.

He knew why her naked presence now made him queasy. He wouldn’t tell anyone in the pack why, but he knew why the pretty she-wolf in front of him no longer made him hot. Jamie knew as soon as he caught the scent in the black pine tree forest along the human city border what he had stumbled upon- or more accurately, who. 

The tired alpha rubbed his eyes and let the little she-wolf kiss his cheek as she finished dressing and approached his door. 

“You smell different, my Alpha. You smell stronger,” she said to him as she inhaled his scent before turning to leave. 

Curiosity was evident in her voice, but Jamie did not have much of his patience left, so he merely gave her a small smile.

“You need to get to bed pretty one, go.”

He lightly smacked the pretty she-wolf’s ass, and she giggled as she hurried down the hall.

Jamie heard the front door close as he stepped out of the sweatpants and climbed into bed.

Sierra scent was all over it, and it was fueling a fit of irrational anger in his mind as he tried to recall the scent of the one he had found that night.

Unable to take it anymore, he pulled forth his claws and tore through his sheets. Shredding the pillows and the comforter in an effort to rid his room of that lingering female scent.

There was only one scent he wanted to smell in his bed, and she was a f*****g human. 

A soft knock came from his door.

“WHAT” he boomed out, panting to catch his breath as he knelt on his bed. 

Feathers still flying in the air around him.

Julien opened the door just enough to peer his head in. His eyes grew wide as he took in the destruction Jamie had just unleashed on his bedding.

“So I am going to take this,” he waved a hand in a circle in front of him, “to mean that the human you almost mounted in the alleyway was more than just a pretty face?” 

Julien’s voice was clear and calm, but a glimmer of hopeful light danced in his eyes.

A snarl tore out from Jamie at the mere mention of the woman by another male.

“Got it, boss, no more questions- fair enough. I tracked her home and stationed three of the top warriors around her house as you requested.”

“Good.” snapped Jamie. 

He wanted to keep destroying things. He wanted to roar as loudly as he could at the frustration that was pulsing through his veins. The wolf part of his mind was howling non-stop and screaming out for more contact with the woman from the alleyway.

Julien cleared his throat and shuffled his feet rather than retreating the way he would usually when he found Jamie in such a sour mood.

“What else, Julien?,” Jamie grumbled out.

“For what it's worth Jamie- I felt it too. More strongly than I ever did with Luna Kendra (Jamie's mother). She may be human, but I’m willing to bet there's more to her story.”

Julien was Jamie’s best friend since they were born. Three weeks apart- the son of the alpha and the son of the beta. Destined for a lifetime of friendship as they would lead their pack for decades to come.

“For all our sakes, let's hope so, Julien- after 35 years of waiting for a Luna, containing my wolf from her is taking everything I have in me.” 

Jamie confided everything to his Beta. His innermost feelings included.

“I can see that.”

Julien replied, eyebrows raised with a smirk as he nodded towards the mess of his Alpha’s bedding.

A hearty laugh escaped Jamie before he could stop it. Soon they were both laughing at the ridiculous tantrum Jamie had just thrown.

“Put your f*****g pants on and come to my room. You can sleep on the sofa, and we will get the omegas to de-Sierra your space in the morning.” 

Julien continued to laugh as he walked back down the hall to his room. Jamie followed behind him shortly after.