Choice of The Alpha

1.9

It had been a long couple of days. After listening to my mother's story, we were both exhausted. No matter how tired we were, it was too early to go to bed. I knew if I laid down for a nap that I would sleep through the night. Maybe a walk would help. A calm, leisurely, walk. Obviously one where I stay in town. I don’t want a repeat of last night.

“Hey mom!” I call up the stairs, “I’m going to head out for a walk.”

She peeks her head around the corner at the tip of the stairs. “OK sweetie, but be careful, okay?”

“Of course Mom. I will.” I turn and head out the front door. At first I just stand there taking in the scents. They aren't as overwhelming as I thought they would be. I guess that makes sense though. If my grandparents were also wolves they wouldn’t want it to be so strong they couldn’t stand it.

After a few moments I head down to the sidewalk. Unsure of where to go, I headed towards the park. I just want to enjoy some greenery. As I get closer I think about the hang out spot. I really don’t want to run into anyone right now. Turning, I head over toward the pond instead.

There’s a cute little area by some trees that has a bench, so I head over there and sit down. You could see the little fish in the pond. As they swim around they cause ripples on the surface. It was beautiful and relaxing. This is the perfect place to take my mind off the last few days.

“Hey! Lexi!” I heard someone shout at me. I look over and there’s Chad waving at me as he comes out of the trees.

I groan silently. I really didn’t want to talk to anyone. Putting a smile on my face, I call back. “Hi Chad.”

He walks over to me. As he gets closer, he pauses for a second with a look of confusion on his face. Then he looks at me and smiles as he keeps coming over.

“So, anything new happen to you recently?” He raises one eyebrow as he asks. It seems like he already knows. How is that possible.

“He’s a wolf.” Sasha answers my unspoken question. “He can smell that you've shifted. So he knows.” Great. Just what I need.

“You already know Chad. I can see it on your face.” I look away back to the water. Why couldn't I get just a few moments of peace. My whole life has been flipped upside down multiple times in just a few days, I need time to process this.

“I'm sorry. I didn't think that maybe you needed some time. It's hard to remember that you weren't prepared for this. I will leave you be.” He starts to get up and walk away.

“Hey.” I called after him. “Does everyone know that I didn’t know about this?”

“Well, yes. Before you guys got here your mom told my mom and asked her to let everyone know. She didn’t want anyone else to tell you about it. I will leave you be.” He turned and started walking away. I felt really bad for hurting his feelings. This wasn't his fault. Besides, maybe he could help me process some of the changes.

“Certainly helps that he is massively hot.” Sasha was panting inside my head. “His wolf is radiating power too. He’s a very strong wolf.”

“Thanks for the information Sasha. I’m really not thinking about that right now.” Silly wolf. “Chad.” He turns around and looks at me with a glint of hope in his eyes. “Look, I’m processing a lot right now but I wouldn’t mind some company. I'm just so confused about everything.” Chad smiles and starts walking back toward me.

“I am here to help. I can just listen or I can answer any questions you have. I am an open book.” His smile lit up his eyes. They were a gorgeous sky blue with flakes of gold in them. I could easily get lost in his eyes.

“Ahem,” Sasha tries to get my attention as she chuckles. “I thought you said you weren’t thinking about that.”

I shake my head to distract me from his eyes and look down at my hands in my lap. “So, what is it like being a wolf? I mean until last night I thought it was all fantasy. Now I have voices in my head and can smell things I never could before.” As if to prove it, I took a large breath and was shocked by what I caught. It was Chad. His smell brought an image of him into my head. He smelled like the grass after a fresh rain. Along with a strong scent of animal. It was musky and brought to mind the thought of strength and protection. It was intoxicating.

“Well,” he smiled as if he could read my thoughts, which made me blush and look away. “It is definitely interesting when you experience it for the first time. The increase sense of smell is always the first thing you notice. It’s so blatant and strong. Just wait though. Now you can change at will. Your wolf will come out as you ride shotgun. Going for a run with your wolf is amazing. You see things as the wolf does. It’s like going in a virtual reality game as a wolf. Except you experience the feeling, smell and sounds with it. It’s very freeing. There's also the strength. You will experience that slowly as your wolf gains strength.” Sasha huffs at that point. As if I need to gain strength. I chuckle out loud and Chad just looks at me and raises his eyebrow. I just shrug and he continues. “There’s so much to explain, I don’t think I can explain it all. Do you have any questions?”

I look over at him and he seems so bright and cheerful. It is contagious. “I can’t really think of anything right now. I mean I don't even know what to expect right now. What do you know about my grandparents?” Chad flinched and looked away when I asked that. “I'm sorry you don't really have to tell me. It's just until a few days ago I didn’t know they existed. Now with all of this it makes me curious.”

He looks back at me and now he has a deep sadness in his eyes. I automatically feel bad for asking. My mom was right, they were not good people and maybe I don’t want to know. Before I could stop him he starts to talk.

“Your grandparents had different sides to them. They were loyal to the pack and always put us first. However they could also be harsh. There was no such thing as a small crime that only deserved a mild reprimand. They believed every crime should be treated with the harshest punishment. The pack does well. We have almost no crime and everyone gets along. That is all due to your grandparents. Our pack also isn’t very large. Many members left because they didn’t agree with the rules or punishments.”

“So basically, they were very strict but treated you well if you obeyed. Got it.”

“Pretty much. Yeah. Right now the pack is in chaos. We don’t have a leader right now and that’s making things difficult. No one knows what to do.” He looked at me with what I could only describe as expectation. This is what my mother warned me about.

“Oh no! Don’t you dare look at me like that! My mom told me what you guys would expect from me and it’s not happening! I found out I had a wolf in my head last night! No way in hell am I picking a mate and taking over!” I stood up and started jogging away. I couldn’t deal with this right now.

“Lexi! Wait!” I heard Chad call after me. I just kept running.

I heard Sasha calling me but I ignored her and just kept running. Eventually, she stopped trying to get my attention. I had no idea how long I had been running. I slowed down and looked around me.

“Oh no. I'm in the wrong neighborhood again.” I looked around trying to figure out where I was and how to get back.

“I tried to warn you.” Sasha grumbled at me. I just shrugged her off.

I could feel eyes on me, but I didn’t see a single person. I kept walking trying to get some sense of my surroundings. Suddenly a strong scent overwhelmed me. It smelled like the forest. Moist and fresh. Along with that was the strongest scent ever. It was pure musk and had a tinge of anger to it.

Sasha yelled at me. “Run! It’s the wolf from the woods!”

I whipped around and was frozen in my tracks. My mind was saying angry black wolf get away, but I couldn’t move. He had pitch black hair and the greenest eyes I had ever seen. He had a look of pure anger on his face but for some reason I wasn’t scared.

When I turned around, he froze in place as well. The look on his face kept changing. He was angry, clearly, but I saw a look of confusion and wonder as well. As we stared at each other I couldn’t help but to reach out as if to touch his face. He flinched back and growled causing me to jump back as well. That growl broke the spell.

“What are you doing here little Alpha.” He growled at me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I was just running and got lost.” I look down at the ground trying to avoid angering him any more.

“Well you clearly got lost. You don’t belong here. This is my packs territory and we don’t need your kind coming over here and scaring my pack.” He stalked towards me causing me to back up. I tripped over the curb and fell into the grass. “You better get out of here little girl. You don’t want to find out what I do to trespassers.”

I nodded my head. “Of course, I will just be on my way sir.” I scoot backwards trying to get room to stand up. I pull myself up and start walking away as quickly as was pilot.

“The names not sir. It’s John. Alpha John. You better remember that.” He calls after me as I run away.