The Luna Alpha

Surprise

The next day I had mind linked Maribel to ask if our session could be in the afternoon. It was a rest day for my warriors, which meant I had a tradition to uphold with Micheal and dot. She had scolded me quickly about not overworking, reminding me that a rest day meant no training period. I grumbled, but she was right, if I expected my warriors to rest I should too.

So, our movie tradition on rest days could continue. We had done this every rest day at night when we were young, but once I became Luna rest days often ended with duties for me. So we had decided as a group that we would start rest days with a movie marathon. The popcorn was popping in the pan next to me as I stirred the hot chocolate. Michael and dot join me in the kitchen as I finished up.

Smiling, I ask, are your mates going to join us?

They both nodded, smiling at me. As I plated the goodies on our movie cart, I missed the twinkle in their eyes.

OK one of you grab the cups then and I’ll wheel the cart into the movie theater.

I thought I heard one too many tinkles of cups as they were pulled down from the cabinet. I didn’t question it too much as a smile, I was just glad that this time we could spend together. Dot was the reason why we had started this tradition. Her parents died in a car accident young, and she had come to live with my parents. Movies were how we bonded over the rough transition. Once bonded though, she blossomed into the woman I know today.

We had just settled down to start a movie when to my surprise my mate walked in.

Hope I’m not late, he chuckled as he snuggled in close to me. Although we hadn’t personally announced that we were dating, there were rumors buzzing around the compound that we were. Dating, however, we agreed was off the table, at least until everything was settled in my Alpha role. We would have to decide later if we wanted to be mated, and how we were going to handle divisions. I refuse to give up my alpha role, my people have come to see me like that. Sighing, I leaned into his shoulder, we would worry about that another time.

A couple of movies later and everyone began to branch off. Dot had fallen asleep, so her mate carried her to bed. Michael and his mate had plans with her parents, so they wandered off. That left my mate and me there finishing the last movie on the list. I relaxed a little back on his chest to enjoy the closeness and his smell. Kayleigh was going nuts in my head with happiness. She had grown bouncier over the last few days, so I figured after this last movie I would take a run. Letting her out to run would be good, most of the harshness of winter was over. Snow covered the ground and roads, but the “storms” side was long over.

As the movie ended, I sat up and stretched feeling the tightness of sitting for so long in my position. Kayleigh was stirring restlessly in my head. She knew that this meant we would be strolling in the woods soon and she could not wait.

I turned to smile at our mate, would you like to join me on a run?

He frowned as he had to decline because he promised his men to workout with them this afternoon. I could feel Kayleigh's disappointment mirroring my own, but I smiled anyways. I understood the need to keep promises, our people depended on us to keep them. It was a sacrifice we knew we would have to make when we decided that we did not want to deny each other. We had a mutual understanding that our alpha duties would come before our own. Grabbing an extra blanket from the couch, I gave my mate a soft kiss and headed out the door. Kayleigh’s need to get out was beginning to vibrate through me as I landed just inside the tree line. Shivering, I tugged my clothes off and let the shift take over, I knew I would be warm once her fur was covering me.

Shaking her head with joy as the shift ended, Kayleigh bounded off into the trees with speed. The joy radiating from Kayleigh as the brisk air hit her face made me smile in her head. She needed this, we needed this. We had been stuck within the castle walls too long. Cold and responsibilities had kept us inside. She needed to stretch her legs; I had been neglecting her needs too long. Sadly, it took me to let her out to realize how much she had felt cooped in. She purred at me reassuringly as she slowed her run to a trot. I knew she understood, but I vowed to her I would do my best to not let it happen again. She needed to run as much as I needed to eat.

I locked myself back into our mind as she began to roll around in the snow, I liked to let her play some without me around. She enjoyed the snow more than most wolves. She would play in it all day if I would let her. After a while, she stopped and began to shake the snow from her. As she was shaking, we both became aware of the feeling of being watched. Kayleigh pricked up her ears as we scanned the tree line of the opening, we were in. The feeling was painstakingly clear, there was someone out there, we could feel their eyes. We knew it couldn’t have been one of ours, they would have already come out into the open. This was an intruder, we sniffed the air trying to pick up the scent, when we heard a snap off to the side of us.