The Golden Eyed Alpha

Chapter 4. Conall

Conall

“Come in,” Ethan called out at my soft knock on his door. “Close the door behind you.”

“You wanted to see me?” I asked as I settled myself in front of his desk. He looked a little haggard and I wondered what had happened to make my normally cool, reserved Alpha appear so stressed out.

“How much do you know about Black River Pack?” he asked.

“Not much,” I admitted with a shrug. “I know their leadership died a few years back, but we remained their ally until their Alpha comes of age. Their potential Alpha must be incredibly strong to keep the pack going for... how long?”

“Ten years,” Ethan said.

I let out a low whistle. That was a long time for a pack to be without an Alpha, but from what I'd heard, they were still a strong pack, and very few members had asked to join a different pack in the last decade. “I guess we should be happy we're their allies for when he takes over, huh?” I smiled.

“Micah turned twenty-five yesterday,” Ethan nodded, his eyes intense. “They held his Alpha ceremony last night. I just got off the phone with him. I'd called to congratulate him, but it turns out he's not the Alpha.”

“Is there a younger brother we're waiting for, then?” I asked, curious to find out how much longer this pack would need to wait.

“No,” Ethan shook his head sadly. “Two younger sisters.”

“So, they have no potential Alpha?” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back. “Are you planning on taking over their pack? You've been talking about expanding our territory. This could be the perfect opportunity.”

“There's just one problem with that idea,” he said with a wry grin. “Two words: Allegra Black.”

Something twisted in me at the sound of her name, but I shook it off as probably just something I'd eaten earlier that wasn't agreeing with me. “What about her?”

“Never underestimate Allegra,” Ethan chuckled. “She's fierce, proud, determined, and far too ambitious for her own good. There is no doubt in my mind that she is the reason their pack is still operational. I received a report this morning that patrols have increased along the Black River borders and I'm sure that was her doing. Every time we have reports of rogue activity on our border with them, she's already there with her warriors with the situation under control by the time we get there.”

“She's a warrior?” I couldn't hide my surprise. It wasn't unheard of for women to be warriors, but it was certainly rare.

“I'm not sure what to call her,” Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “She seems to be the one in command of the warriors with her and I've even seen some of our warriors... Well, there's no other way to put it. They submit to her.”

“I suppose as the daughter of an Alpha, she would have a certain amount of...” my voice trailed off as Ethan shook his head.

“Allegra is like nothing you've ever seen,” he said. “When we were younger, I had hoped she would be my mate. That's before I met your sister, obviously,” he added with a grin.

My sister, Nomi, was Ethan's fated mate and Luna, and the reason I was sitting in front of Ethan instead of in some bar hiding from my father and my responsibilities. She'd convinced him to give me a chance and he appointed me as his Gamma. He was a good alpha and a good friend, and I owed him my life.

“She's beautiful and intelligent and absolutely terrifying,” Ethan continued. “I watched her sparring in the ring with some of her warriors once. It was impressive, to say the least. I was tempted to challenge her myself, see what she was capable of, you know? But decided against it after she put her brother on his ass faster than I've ever seen anyone win a fight. And I've sparred with Micah. He's a good fighter and put me through my paces. Can you imagine the humiliation if I'd lost to her?”

“She's that good?” I laughed, not really believing him. I'd seen Ethan fight in the ring as well as in an actual life and death situation with rogues and couldn't fathom him being afraid of some little she-wolf.

“Better,” Ethan nodded, but his smile faded with the memory of why we were discussing her in the first place.

“Still, if she grew up in the Alpha's household, she must understand the danger they're in,” I pointed out. “Maybe she'd welcome the opportunity to have a caring, magnanimous Alpha instead of some of the others that will almost certainly challenge for the pack. I know it would be a difficult transition at first, but maybe we can come up with some sort of compromise. A way to keep their pack as intact as possible while integrating with ours.”

“If I suggest taking over her pack, Allegra will tear chunks off me,” he closed his eyes, groaning softly, and I could feel his frustration through our link.

“Why don't you ask Kayden to set up a meeting with Allegra and Micah?” I suggested. “Even if she doesn't want to listen to reason, maybe he will.”

“As long as Nomi doesn't know she's here,” he said seriously.

“Why would that matter?” I scoffed. “Nomi isn't a jealous wolf.”

“She is about Allegra,” he insisted. “Like I said, Allegra has no comparison.”

My curiosity about the she-wolf was burning. I decided to pressure our Beta, Kayden, to set the meeting for as soon as possible so I could meet her. The way Ethan talked about her made her sound more like a myth than a real person.