Alpha James: Book 1 of The Alpha Series

2. Alpha

James

The next day, I said goodbye to my cousins, uncle Cameron and aunt Jamie as they left to go back to the pack that was only two hours away. They would have stayed to watch my Alpha ceremony but uncle Cameron had work he needed to get to. Uncle Sean told me goodbye as he was getting ready to board his plane to go back to Nebraska to his pack. He wanted to get back to check on aunt Paris, which I understood with her being sick.

It was nice to have everyone here yesterday, but now it was time to get down to business to take over for dad. It was time to take on the responsibility of the pack and be the leader I was born to be.

We met in dad's office and talked over business for a while before it was time to help with another task. I helped as my family members packed their belongings and moved from the top floor of the packhouse to a house right next door that dad had built. I would be moving into mom and dad's old room tomorrow, but tonight would be the first night that I spend on the top floor by myself. Part of me was excited about that and part of me didn't like the thought of that.

As everyone finished moving things, I went down to dad's office once more for a private conversation. He had advice for me and I had questions for him. I walked into the office and sat down while watching him pack personal items from the room. It felt odd to see that and I honestly didn’t like it.

“Tomorrow morning will be a different one for you. Things after tonight are really going to change," he told me.

“I know. Part of me is ready and part of me isn’t.”

“At least you're honest,” he said with a soft smile.

I nodded my head and watched him pick up pictures of our family and put them in a box. He grabbed one that was the most recent of all of us pups.

“Leave that one,” I said while looking at it in his hands.

He glanced at me with a bigger smile and placed it back where it was. That made me happy. I loved that picture of me and my siblings. It was on Cam's last birthday and we had all enjoyed a food fight that mom encouraged. We all had something stuck to our faces as we hugged while smiling at the camera.

Dad kept packing things as he spoke, “being Alpha can be lonely if you don’t find your mate soon.”

“I can understand that.”

“Good.”

“I want to talk to you about something else," I told him as I thought about what I was about to ask the old man.

“Ok. What's up?” he asked.

“I know your conversation about, ‘don’t stick your d**k in crazy,” I started out.

“Yeah, I gave you that talk two years ago. I gave that talk to Sean too,” he told me while picking up some clothing from the closet.

I shook my head and muttered, “so old.”

“Watch yourself,” he said with high eyebrows while looking at me.

I looked at him with wide eyes and said, “I wanted to talk to you about s*x with pack members. I’ve heard you talk about Alphas that did that and it created a rocky start for him and his Luna.”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod as he sat on the edge of the desk.

“What would be best then to fill that need until I find her?” I asked honestly.

Dad's eyes grew wide with my question. I could tell he wasn’t prepared for me to ask that or to even want that advice from him. I needed to know what to do. I didn’t want to screw up within the pack and cause issues for my future here. I also knew that I would need to fill that need when it came up, so what were my options?

Dad took a breath and said, “Well, Freddie slept with she-wolves from other packs and so did your uncle Sean. Sean had one go crazy over him and she went after your aunt Paris.”

“Yikes.”

I didn’t want that. That was a problem too. How could this ever be anything safe for me to do and be satisfied?

“Personally, be smart and don’t sleep with females in the pack unless they are your mate. You could attempt to try sleeping with members from other packs if you travel. Otherwise, handle it yourself,” he said while making the jackoff motion.

My shoulders fell and I looked at him in irritation. Jacking off wasn’t fun. I dropped the subject and talked to him about Alpha duties I would need to handle after today and figuring out my schedule with school.

By the time we were done, it was time to get ready for the ceremony. Dad left the packhouse and got ready at the new house with the rest of the family, while I went up to my old room to get ready. It was too quiet up here on the top floor. It almost didn’t feel right.

I shook off the feeling and went into my room and changed. I pulled on a pair of black dress pants and a red button-up shirt that seemed a little snug on my muscles. The young she-wolves in the pack were going to enjoy that.

When I was dressed, I sat down and waited to go out to the ceremony spot at the edge of the woods. Everyone would arrive before me, including my family. I thought about how different everything was about to be as I waited for the right time to go.

I finally got up and went down the stairs and out of the packhouse. I looked across to the edge of the woods and saw everyone there, including dad. He was standing on the stage waiting for me. I walked over, taking in long deep breaths. These were the last breaths of being the Alpha’s son. My next breath would be as the Alpha and I needed to be strong, not slightly terrified.

I stepped into the area where the stage was and walked towards it. On the stage stood my dad, who was wearing black dress pants and a blue button-up shirt that was the same color as our eyes.

I walked up onto the stage with dad and turned to look out at the pack members I was about to lead. The ceremony space fell quiet as everyone waited for the ceremony to begin. In the front row, I saw mom sitting there with all of my siblings. Close by was Freddie and Willow with their pups, Micah and Gillian.

I looked out past them to the rest of the pack members and saw welcoming faces and bright smiles. Everyone else was ready. Now, the only real question was whether I was really ready.

“Tonight, we take witness to the coming of a new Alpha. Trinity Forest will continue to go on into the future. How do you vow James?” dad asks.

“I vow to provide for my pack to the best of my abilities. To lead and protect all those in need. Trinity Forest will be taken care of and will prevail through to our next Alphas,” I said in a loud and strong voice for everyone to hear.

“So be it,” dad said.

“So be it,” the whole pack answered.

Dad took a dagger from a table on the stage and turned back to me. I offered him my hand and he took it before cutting my palm and then cutting his own. We shook our hands, bringing the pack leadership to me. I was now the commander of our warriors and overseer of our territory. I felt the mind-link completely open up to me with a bright white light in my mind and I felt all of our members. It was almost overwhelming.

When we pulled our hands away from one another, I felt my palm heal right away from the cut. Dad led me off the stage and off to the mouth of the woods. I heard the pack members stand up from their chairs to follow us as we both shifted to let our wolves out. The rest of the pack shifted with us and took off running through the woods.

Dad ran in front of me while Freddie ran beside me. After a while, dad slowed down to join mom behind me and I took the lead with Freddie and Willow right on my heels. I circled the pack back around to go back to the ceremony spot.

As we neared the clearing back at the ceremony location, Bruno let out a deep howl that was heard throughout the territory. Every wolf in the pack howled back in response to me, including the guards out on duty. My howl was to signal to them that the ceremony was now over and a new Alpha was in place.

We ran into the clearing where the stage and chairs were so we could shift back to our human forms. Clothes were there for all of us to pull on so we could enjoy our night of celebration.

“Let’s go eat,” I told everyone with a big smile.

We all walked into the packhouse to eat in the dining hall and around the packhouse yard at picnic tables. Not everyone in the pack could fit in the packhouse. Although we had tried on a few occasions to make it happen, mom and Willow could never make it happen.

For dinner tonight I chose my favorite meal, empanadas with beans and rice. I planned to be dipping mine in spicy salsa Verde.

~

The next week at school, every she-wolf tried to get my attention by flaunting her body in front of me and batting her eyes. It was annoying as hell and hard to say no with all of them throwing themselves at me. I had an entire floor of the packhouse all to myself, I could do so many things and get away with it. But I wouldn’t. Not with these she-wolves or here.

I prayed to the Moon Goddess that the school year went by quickly so they would leave me the hell alone. I needed it to be summertime so I could go on the search for my Luna.