Chosen by the Alpha (#1 of the Denali pack)

The Packhouse

The first few minutes of our drive went by in silence. I looked out the window, trying to see as much of my childhood village as I could, as we drove by. All seeing it for the last time, in probably, forever. So many questions were popping up in my mind, not knowing if now was a good time to ask. It was not like I had been prepared for this evening my entire life.

What is my life going to be like from now on?

Would I like it?

Would I be happy?

Would I be able to just forget about my past life without ever looking back?

As if he read my mind on the spot, he cleared his throat and looked at me.

“Is there anything you want to know or ask? I’ll try to answer it as best as I can. I know it’s a lot for you to take in right now.” I sighed as I thought about what question I would pick as my first.

“ OK, well… you live in a pack house, where will I be living?”, he looked at me as if the answer was pretty clear.

“Well, all the pack members live inside the pack house. On the main floor, you have a shared living space, my office, a kitchen and rooms for the pack members. Other rooms for them are also on the first floor. The second floor is for the Gamma and the Chief warrior. The third floor is for the Beta and the Alpha, which is me. When we find our mate, they come and live with us. Once a pack member gets pups, they can choose to stay inside the pack house, or build a private house for him and his family on the pack property. The last option is what most pack members go for, since the pack house can sometimes be a little loud, it’s not ideal for pups to live in. And so, families can have more privacy.” He peeked over to spot my reaction, so I tried to stay as calm as I could,

Would I be living with him?

It felt strange to go and live with a man I knew nothing about. But at the same time, I was happy to hear this. I felt safe, knowing he would be with me.

“uhm… pups, is that what you call babies?” I asked, struggling with my fingers on my lap, feeling embarrassed.

“Yes.” He answered, looking at the road in front of him.

“With us, werewolves, relationships tend to go faster than with humans.” I looked up from my fingers at him, staring at his beautiful features.

“What do you mean?” I saw him biting the inside of his cheek,

was he nervous?

“Uhm… well, when we find our mate, that’s all we care about, we know that when we find our mate, we find our partner for life. So normally, within the first year, the girls are carrying their first pup. New mates find it hard to stay away from each other. So there is no need to wait, since the bond between mates is too strong to break anyway. There is just nothing better than that… soulmates being together, you know?” My eyes widened at the info I just got.

“And we are mates? You and me?” I asked.

“Yes, we are.” He said, as he once again looked at me, smiling his angelic smile. I felt my cheeks getting red, so I looked at my hands on my lap again.

“But I don’t understand. I heard 3 boys, each taking a girl away. One of them was my best friend. If they are soulmates, why make it into a scary freakshow? Some were actually laughing because we were scared and screaming. You don’t do that to your soulmate, right?” He shrugged while keeping his eyes on the road.

“The blindfolds are for you girls, not seeing us in our wolf form when we arrive. It would have scared you much more if you had seen a pack of wolves coming your way. So a long time ago, they decided it would be better if the girls would see nothing at all. Since humans cannot feel the bond between mates, they leave that part up to us. After that, the chosen girls would be brought to the pack house by car. At the beginning of the 'ritual of choice', mates would be brought to the packhouse on the back of their mate's wolf. But most girls were so scared they fainted even before they made it there. So we decided to wait, showing us in our wolf form to you girls, until you are settled down and feel at home a bit at least. As for some guys being dickheads, well, I guess boys will be boys? Putting up a tough face in front of each other? They’ll deal with me about that tomorrow, but I can tell you one hundred percent, those girls will be absolutely fine! Their mates will protect them with their lives now. If your best friend is chosen, she’ll be in the pack house as well. So you’ll be able to see her tomorrow.”

If my eyes could have opened any bigger, they would have popped out of my head.

Jennie is safe!

She lives in the same house as me?

I can see her tomorrow!

I let out a sigh of relief, and looked out the window. We must had been driving about half an hour. We drove past a beautiful lake, the moonlight made the water look like it was covered in pixie dust.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” I said as I looked at the lake.

“Yeah” Jensen answered, feeling his eyes on the back of my head.

“It absolutely is.” After about five minutes of silence, we pulled up at a huge white house. It almost looked like a college dorm, but bigger. It was massive, with 3 stories rising above the ground, tons of windows next to each other with a big door in the middle, light was shining from the main floor and as Jensen pulled up, people came out and looked at our car.

“Why are they coming out?” I asked, looking at the crowd forming in front of the door.

“They are all happy to finally meet their Luna.” Jensen spoke as he stopped the car.

“Wait what? What is a Luna?” I asked, looking at him as a frown formed on my forehead.

“Well, I am the Alpha. As I told you, the partner of the Alpha is called the Luna of the pack.” I frowned, looking at him.

“So, you are like their king?” He laughed out loud and looked at the crowd forming outside with pride in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t call it like that, but I am in charge of this place. Yes. But if you want to call yourself the queen, you’re free to do so.” He smirked, while winking at me, leaving me breathless in my carseat.

“I’ll send them off in a minute, just say hi to them.” He took my hand and squeezed it gently.

“You’ll be fine, I won’t let you go for one second.” He opened the door and got out, getting to my side of the car. As soon as he opened my door, I could hear the whispers coming from the people standing outside.

“That’s our Luna.”,

“ She’s finally here.”,

“Thank Goddess, our Alpha found his mate.” ,

“Luna.”

Jensen took my hand as he helped me out of the car. He gently pulled me with him as we walked towards the entrance of the packhouse. So many faces were smiling at me, genuinely happy to see me. All I could do was bring out an awkward ‘Hi.’ And put on a forced smile. When we were at the door, Jensen turned us around, facing everyone and spoke loud and full of power.

“Everyone, I am happy to announce to you all, that I finally have found my mate and your Luna of the pack. This is Hannah.” I looked at him from the side as he spoke,

Oh, I love the way he calls out my name.

“Please, give her some time to get used to her new life. There will be plenty of time for everyone to get to know her. Goodnight everyone.” He put up his hand as a sign that we were done for today and let me inside the house, where we entered the living space. It was gigantic! Sofas and tables were placed all around the living area, enough to seat at least 100 people. With two doors, one on the left and one on the right. In the middle of the room, a big staircase that went to the next floor.

“On your left you’ll find the rooms of the pack members. On your right is my office, the kitchen and eating area.” He said as he pointed at every door, walking with me towards and up the stairs. First floor, second floor, and then the third floor, where I –or we- would be living from now on. Coming up the stairs again, there were 2 doors, one on the left and one on the right. I heard a lot of noise coming from the left door and looked at it, as if the door would tell me what was going on behind it. Jensen laughed.

“Don’t mind that, I think my Beta is busy tonight.” as he pulled a key out of his pocket and gave it to me. “Welcome home Hannah.” He smiled, as he stepped aside to let me open it. I opened the door and got in, seeing my new ‘home’ for the first time.

It looked like a loft, all open with hardly any walls. To my left as I entered, was a small kitchen and a dining table for 2. Looking further, I spotted a big grey ‘L-shaped’ sofa with a TV in front of it. With a door at the far end of the room.

“So, this is where we will be living for now.” Jensen stated with a bit of a tremble in his voice, making me think again, that he was also feeling nervous.

“We have a kitchen, but mostly we eat downstairs with the rest of the pack. But it can always come in handy if you ever need anything or want a quick bite.” He stepped further into the living room.

“Sofa, TV” he said as he pointed to all the things he named. Going to the door at the end of the room, “Bedroom.” he said, as he opened it. I walked in after him. A huge white bed was standing in the middle, with a big window looking out over the forest. 2 doors in the bedroom took us to the bathroom and a dressing with a huge amount of clothes in there.

Why does anyone need so many clothes?

The left side was all taken with Jensen’s clothes, the right side was almost completely empty, although there were some pants and shirts lying there.

Oh God, were these from an ex-girlfriend?

He came to stand next to me and followed my gaze towards the clothes.

“I didn’t know what your size would be, so I just got a bit of everything. We can get you some clothes tomorrow if you like?” I smiled a little.

Thank God, no ex-girlfriend.

“Thank you, that’s really sweet. You have a beautiful home.” I said as I turned to him, almost feeling his warmth on me.

“Not my home, our home.” He said, as he looked deep in my eyes, looking serious, as if he was trying to control himself right in that moment.

We just stood there, staring at each other, to the point that it should get awkward. But then again, I could look in his eyes forever, and not be bored for one second. Jensen looked away and stroked his hair to the right.

OK, now I know he is nervous.

“Uhm… can I get you anything?” He asked while looking back at me.

“If it’s OK, I could use a quick shower.” I said with a tiny smile. That seemed to pull him out of his dreamy state.

“ Of course” he said, as he opened the door to the bathroom again.

“I’ll wait for you here , OK? If there’s anything you need, just ask.” I stepped inside the bathroom. When I passed Jensen, our arms touched and, just like before, a bolt of electricity went through my entire body. I gasped for air, as I looked down at our arms and the part where they had touched each other. I thought I heard a small growl coming from Jensen as I looked up at him. His eyes were more a dark brown now, like all the green had vanished. Maybe it had something to do with the lighting in the room?

Pull yourself together, Hannah!

“Thank you.” I breathed out and I stepped further, closing the door behind me, putting it as a barrier between the two of us. I leaned against it, thinking my legs would not be able to carry me any longer.

What is happening to me?

Why was there so much energy between us when we touched? It was like my body was telling me to touch him more, my body telling me I needed more. I focused on my breathing and after a minute, I pulled myself together and took of my clothes, before stepping into the shower. The hot water soothed my body. I was so tired from this hectic day, I could fall asleep just standing under the streaming water. I washed myself quickly and found a towel in the linen closet.

Shit, I don’t have clothes here!

I looked around and saw a white tshirt lying on the dresser. I put it on and immediately smelled Jensen on it, I took the shirt in my hands and took it to my face, taking in as much of the scent as I could. It calmed me down in an instant.

OK, now stop it you freak!

I put it on and looked inside the cabinets, finding a brush to comb my hair. I looked at the girl, staring back at me in the white tshirt. Eyes red from crying, wet hair hanging down her face and a necklace hanging over her tshirt. But somehow , I thought I looked different. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I opened the door, hearing Jensen was doing something inside the dresser. By the looks of it, he had taken all the bigger sizes of clothes out of the stack he had left for me. When he looked at me, his eyes shifted to the darkest of brown I had ever seen. Freezing him on the spot when he saw me.

“I hope you don’t mind.” I spoke as I pulled at the tshirt I was wearing.

“I don’t have pajamas.” He walked up to me and took my face in his hands, tilting my head so I was looking into his eyes. They were so dark, it felt like he was going to devour me.

Please, kiss me!

My inside was screaming. But he just looked at me with his dark eyes, while holding onto my face , as if he was taking in every inch of me, studying me, trying to read my mind.

KISS ME!

But then, he looked away, pressing his eyes shut.

“No problem at all,” he swallowed.

“I really like you in it.” He said as his dark gaze met mine again.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower too, I’ll be right back, OK?” He let go of me, as he walked towards the bathroom.

NO,

My insides started to whine.

Come back to me!

But he closed the door and left me alone in the bedroom.

What the hell is going on with me!?

I turned around to take in every detail of the room I was standing in, walking up to the window and looking out. You could see so many stars from here. In my old house with my parents, I could never spot so many as I did here. It almost made me believe I actually was in another life, another world. I lifted the sheets and laid down in the bed.

Oh God, this feels good!

I sighed and turned to lay on my side. Again, smelling Jensen on the pillow next to me. I decided to switch the pillows, so I could smell his amazing scent with every breath I took. And before I knew it, I was off in a deep sleep.