Second Chance Alpha

Chapter 4

The sounds of bones grinding and snapping filled the room as pain seared through my body. “Ava no!” I couldn’t tell who shouted it but it was too late. I was shifting for the first time. I felt my bones elongate and stretch and snap until suddenly it was done.

I stood up on shaky paws and looked around the room. Athena towered over everyone in the room even though James, the Alpha, and my father were all over six feet tall. Female wolves weren’t supposed to be this big. Only an Alpha wolf is over eight feet tall in their wolf form. But Athena was definitely taller than that and I was grateful for the very high ceilings in the office.

My vision was so good I could see dust swirling through the air in front of my snout. I looked down at my paws and saw that Athena’s coat is the same color as my hair. A silver strawberry blond. How freaking cool! I’ve never seen a wolf that color before! And I thought James’ smell was strong as a human, but Athena’s nose was actually burning from his stench.

My parents and the Alpha and Luna were staring at me incredulously but Athena was focused on James. And not in a good way. “You’re absolutely beautiful Athena.” James whisper seemed to trigger Athena and she started growling and snapping at him. She even connected with James’ wolf to tell him to accept the rejection. “I’m sorry Athena but my wolf won’t talk to me right now. And I won’t accept the rejection. You and Ava both belong to me.”

Athena lunged at James but stopped at the last minute when she heard the Luna scream in terror for her son. We might hate him but we still love his parents and don’t want to cause them any pain. But now what do we do? I had never shifted before and here I was, a giant wolf, standing in an office in front of my ex-boyfriend and his family.

Maybe intimidating James a little more would get him to reject me? I mean what good is it being a giant wolf if you can’t scare your ax a little bit, am I right? So I crouched low and got right up in James’ face and growled menacingly. This close I could see light gold flecks in his greens eyes and I could smell just how greasy his hair was. But still I stood my ground.

James was looking up at me with wide eyes and a slack jaw. I gave a light bark to try to snap him out of it. It seemed to work but not quite the way I wanted it to. His jaw closed and he blinked a couple times before smiling at me. SMILING! “Athena, you are absolutely beautiful. Nobody else can even come close to comparing to you.”

Oh hell no! By some miracle I felt Athena give me back full control and my bones started to shift again. Shifting back wasn’t nearly as painful and felt more like my bones sliding against each other to fit a smaller space. Uncomfortable, but not too painful.

When my shift was done, I stood naked in front of everyone. But I did nothing to hide my nakedness and instead, turned to face James fully. “Nobody can come close to comparing to me? Except for Sarah right? She must have been pretty d**n good since you couldn’t keep your hands off of her.” “I was just using her to get what I wanted until I could have you, that was all. I’ve already said I’m sorry. What more do you want from me?”

I stepped forward and caressed James cheek gently. “Oh James, you already had me. But now, you’ve lost me. And all I want is your rejection.” I dropped my hand and stepped back away from him. “I can’t reject you. I love you.” James sank down to his knees with tears in his eyes. “Then I have nothing else to say to you. I will move on with my life. With, or without, your rejection. But I really hope that you will make the decision that’s best for both of us. Please.”

I turned on my heel and walked towards the door with my parents following behind me. Before I pulled the door open I turned back towards his parents and addressed the Luna. “Luna Debra, please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help with the upcoming mating ball. You and I have worked so hard on it and with it being only a week away I would hate to leave you hanging. Even under these circumstances.” “Absolutely dear.” I finally pulled the door open and walked away, while James’ wailing started up but got quieter the farther away I walked.

At some point, my father had slung his jacket over my shoulders to cover me. I stuck my arms through the sleeves and buttoned it while thinking about my clothes that had been destroyed when I shifted. I had loved that outfit. I spent the walk to the car thinking about everything that had happened in the office.

There was a lot to unpack from it but my brain wasn’t quite ready to think about most of it yet. What it did think about was a very small part of what had happened. Me offering to help the Luna with the mating ball. I knew I would kick myself later if Luna Debra actually asked for my help with the mating ball. It was true that I had been helping her plan everything. Her oldest son had been gone for years fighting in a war but would be coming home this week. Luna Debra had decided that throwing a mating ball in his honor was a great way to welcome him home. He would be the next Alpha but hadn’t found his mate yet and the girlfriend of her youngest son, I had been helping Luna Debra with everything.

I still wanted to go to the ball. I already had a dress picked out and everything planned. But now I had no date. Maybe tomorrow at school I would see if some of my other friends would want to go together as a group. Oh my gosh school. I turned to my mother and asked her in a horrified voice what I was supposed to do at school tomorrow.

“Well honey, you told James you were going to move on with your life and I think this is where it starts. It’s going to be hard but you are so strong. What happened back there just proves it beyond a doubt. If he’s there you just pretend like he is any other person. An acquaintance. Nothing more.” I lay my head on her shoulder and nodded it in agreement with what she said.

“Sweetie I know you’re probably very tired right now, but at some point we are going to have to talk about your wolf.” My dad met my gaze in the rear view mirror briefly. “What do you mean?” “Well that was absolutely incredible. Athena is huge. And there are going to be people in your life who are threatened by her. But we can talk about that another time.”

I spent the rest of the ride home thinking about what my dad had said. Was he right? Would people treat me differently if they saw Athena? Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing though. The last four years I had basically just been existing as James’ girlfriend. What would happen if people actually respected me, for me?