The Heart of an Alpha

Chapter I: The Keeper "What is it outside the village, Grandma?" I asked. Probably for the hundredth time in my entire life. Questioning about everything, outside this village. I am thanking my grandma silently because she never gets tired of answering my nonsense questions. "Oh Amy. The world is beyond beautiful and I cannot describe it with my words. Someday you'll be there." she said kissing my forehead. I giggled and hugged her tightly. My grandma has always been with me and I couldn't wish for more. She's my human diary and full time parent at the same time. I'm currently seventeen and yet to be eighteen. Though I celebrated my whole life in this small village of Coble I don't regret a thing. My Grandma never let me feel sad or lonely. Just the two of us is enough not to me "Go home early dear." she told me. Though it’s my birthday tomorrow, no one knows. And no one should know. That is what my Grandma told me. She's always worried of how curious I am but of course she told me how to stand on my own. I just want to depend on her sometimes because I know our bond won't be long. She's getting old and I'm turning eighteen.  "Sure!" I said slamming the door shut. It was cold in Coble because it's currently in its winter time. And that made the whole area white, so pure, so beautiful. I was working at a coffee shop. Just near our house. This village of Coble is small and yet blessed with its good people. Everyone is just so nice in here. Even the scenery of dawn and dusk will make your heart melt. "Good morning Amy!" Hailey greeted merrily. I smiled at her and made my way inside the shop. I smiled at her and walked towards my locker which I share with her unfortunately. The shop is not that big and the room for its employees is just enough for our small baggage. "How is my best friend doing?" she asked. The locker is small so we have to share space which is devastating. She doesn't know where her things should be and that irritates me.. always. "Fine Hailey! Just please remove your shoes in the locker. And please fold your apron!" I said pointing at the messy locker that looks like a trash can. I swear if my grandma saw my things as unorganized as this she'll yell at me. "Okay. Okay. You sound like my mother." she rolled her eyes and started fixing her things muttering protests. I tied my hair up and proceeded to Eric, the manager of the café. Should I define him as a hot guy with the perfect muscular body? Oh well.. Since Coble is a small town, attractive men are limited. So I must say Eric passed my standards. Some strangers are good too but they're just travelers. Coble is a great stop over for those who travel far from their homes. Coble is warm even though it's the beginning of the cold season. "Good morning Amy. Please help Gil for today. Shaira is taking her leave." he said and I nod. Shaira got a weak body because of the cold. Eric is the best coffee maker in town. Only he can perfect the perfection about coffee. And that's why I worked here, I love the smell of coffee that this shop produces. Since I was a child and we passed by in this coffee shop, I told my grandma a zillion times I want to work here! I started annoying Mr. Eric since then and when I turned sixteen he said yes. "No Shaira for today Gil." I teased him. I know he likes Shaira and caught stealing glances from her. Shaira is a beauty. "No biggie for me. Let's do our work." he said and starts to brew coffee. Denying a bastard. I cleaned the coffee cups and placed them beside the two customers. "Did you hear the declaration of war of Alpha Xander?" one of our customers said. I think he's in his thirties and the woman sitting beside him must be his wife. I didn't mean to intervene with their conversation but the topic is just too heavy. "Another war? Oh when will this thing end?" The woman said. Yes, war. The King claims everything and takes everything. Good lord he hasn't found Coble yet, I don't know what to do if my Grandma will be put into danger. "I heard that the King plans to build an imperial army. Which will be with him while owning the world." the man explained. I just stood there listening to their conversation. "I guess the only hope is the future Luna." the woman sighs. The future Luna.. "You believe in that? That's just a fanciful prophecy." the man shrugged. Yes, it can't be. A woman to stop an insane beast? Never heard of stories like that. It takes a strong willed woman I guess. I heard all of it from my grandmother. She said it is fine to be curious but not too much. She said that I'm special and will be taking a very important role in my life and until now I'm waiting for that to actually come. And yet that role hasn’t given a slight clue at all. It made me feel like my grandma is just telling me that so I can have a slight positivity in life. It makes me think that my grandmother must be joking because she loves me. "Here's a tip." the woman said and handed me the money. I smiled at her in awe. I actually got a tip from just standing here? Great! "Thank you, Madam." I told her and she looked at me from head to toe sweetly. She look at me in the eye and said, "You are a gorgeous sweetie." she said. I laughed and thanked her for the compliment. She asked if I got these compliments all the time and I said yes. Some random strangers actually asked to court me but I know I have to say 'no'. They were just amazed by my physical appearance and not who I really am. Even though I don't really think I am that presentable. "Oh.. Have a good day." she said and bid me farewell. I happily cleaned their tables and put the tea cups back to the kitchen. I laughed at myself. Gorgeous aye? I sure wish I am. "Another happy customer." Gil stated. I rolled my eyes. He said once that if he's the waiter of this café he's going to have much attention like I have. He's a very hopeful guy. "Oh shut up Gil. We all know they're only teasing me." I retorted. Yes customers are always right but in personal experience it’s actually not. Because we have different customers that come and go every day.  Some of the customers like their coffee hot and some want it just warm. When we have child customers they want it sweet and to their parents they want it bitter. Some travelers say that our brewing is the best but some of them think it lacks something. What I'm saying is customers have different taste buds and we can't serve them what they want on what we don't have. I was on my break so I joined Hailey. She was eating of course. She is a hungry one I must say. But with her body? No one can guess she is a food addict. Thin yet with great appetite. I never. Ever disturb her while eating. That is one thing I consider respecting her at least with her personal time. She's gonna kill me if I ever disturb her.  I opened a book near the small shelf on my locker and started reading it. Werewolves. In this world wolves are everywhere. They coexist with normal people unless the moon kisses their skin. It has a great effect on them that we, humans tend to shut our doors at midnight. But in this old book it says that wolves are dangerous and ruthless. Today there's a less possibility that you will be killed by a werewolf. They want the blood of your sheep and pigs. Farmers built some fences inside their homes to avoid this phenomenon. In this book they kill everybody billions of years ago. I had seen wolves howling at midnight. They were running from one place to another, hunting. Like I said before, Coble is a small village and we are surrounded by forests and a stopover. Our place accepts travelers that are sometimes followed by wolves. Some of them tried to enter our house but somehow no one ever crossed that barrier. She said it was a hidden enchantment to keep me safe from harm. My grandma said that the barrier itself will break once the person who needs to enter has come and since then, no wolf even enters our house. Seriously? I have no idea what she's talking about before. Since I'm a child I believed anything she's telling me. But now that I started to read and hear stories and how fancy my grandma's stories are, I started to doubt her which is a wrong move. "Break times over!" Gil said I groaned and put back the book on the shelf. I stood up and walked towards Gil when someone grabbed my wrist. A man just my age came in and now holding my wrist, tighter. He was wearing a black jacket and pants. He's fuming and sweating really hard. He's a werewolf I can tell by the color of his eyes and he's really freaking me out. "Sir?" "Selenite... Heilen.." the man said. I raised a brow because he might be mistaking me with someone else. He inhaled deeply while looking at me intensely. "Sorry but.. I don't have an idea who you are." I told him and removed my wrist from his hand. My skin is quite sensitive and it turned pink around the area. "Rare." he whispered, cracking his bones. "I'm sorry but I have work today." I said and excuse myself. His eyes glowed from blue to yellow. "Sir excuse me." I ran towards Gil when the man started to sniff me. Gil tried to protect me and snarled at the strange guy. Yes, Gil is a werewolf. The man whispered before running outside the shop. 'found you' That is the weirdest thing that I ever experienced in this shop. I proceed to the kitchen immediately and I continue to wash coffee mugs when Gil starts to give me side glances. That's something he never did. "What?" I asked as I washed the final cup and placed them on the cupboard. "Your smell is.. alluring." now this really creeps me out. Even Gil? What the hell is happening? Did I smell that good? I didn't apply any special perfume today. Suddenly the coffee shop has been pretty crowded and all of them are going on my way. They were glancing and sniffing anywhere in the shop. I let Hailey do the customer service today and so when its already five I went home. Slightly running my way home because seriously? I can sense someone following me. On my way home the houses of our neighbors started closing and banging them with locks. Sheep and pigs are gathered back to their backyard and people are in a rush. I half run as I sense that there's more than one that's following me home. I'm nervous, really nervous and afraid. One person quickly came into my mind and I couldn't calm down. Grandma Linda. I need to go home now. I ran and silent steps were suddenly loud behind me. When I saw our house I rushed inside closing the door shut behind me. I turned around and saw my grandma patiently waiting for my return. She looked relieved that I came home safe and we hugged each other. "I'm home Grandma." I told her and she nodded. She cupped my face and kissed me on the forehead. "You have to get ready now. Your time has come my dear."