My Mate is an Alpha

SASHA “Hey, Sasha. Did you manage to call all the leaders who are coming to visit us tomorrow?” the Alpha asked as he stormed into the office. I lifted my eyes from the papers on the desk to look at him. The first two buttons of his long-sleeved shirt were undone, and his usually relatively tame hair was disheveled. Judging solely by his appearance, I would have guessed he had just been picked up by a tornado. But aware of our current situation, I knew that he just had a lot on his hands. Alpha Lancaster Stark had only been ruling for roughly half a year. One could say he had really climbed the ladder of werewolf society, considering that he went from a stray Omega to Alpha after being chosen by our childless former leader to take his place upon his premature death. We had been friends long before then, and it was an honor to serve by his side. “Yes, Alpha. They will all be present at the meeting.” I smiled fondly at him. “I also finished organizing the documents you’ll be needing tomorrow.” “Good.” A relieved sigh broke through his lips as he deflated, flopping down in his chair. “Thank you. I’d be lost without you.” “Yes, you would,” I agreed playfully. I, Sasha Stone, had been born and raised in Diamond Tempest, a relatively small pack located on the outskirts of Vancouver. Since I was a pup, I watched my father, the third-in-command, help protect our family of roughly 300 wolves. The intricacy of his job had always fascinated me. It soon became my dream to follow in his footsteps and rise to the Gamma position once I came of age. But that was all it was: a dream. The older I got, the easier it was to realize that life wasn’t as simple as I had innocently thought it to be. Werewolf society abided by rules determined by the Elder Council, which differed from country to country. Since our kind values physical strength above all else, it’s common for males to be at the top of the food chain. In Canada, females weren’t allowed to occupy any of the three highest-ranking positions at all. Although I was not naive, I don’t think I truly realized what all that meant until our former Alpha perished in battle and my father, along with the former Beta, stepped down. Somewhere deep inside me, I still held onto a glimmer of hope that I would miraculously be offered the chance to prove my worth. Instead, I watched all of my friends rise to higher ranks while I inevitably stayed behind. My wolf, Topaz, was restless then. She thought it wasn’t fair for us to be judged solely based on our gender, but I had resigned myself to the situation. I was ready to let go of hope, yet she insisted that our time would come. Luckily, the current Alpha and Luna were kind enough to offer me the Delta position - the only rank among the four highest ranks that could be occupied by females. It was the best they could do, considering that our laws forbade women from taking either one of the three most prestigious titles: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Not exactly what I wanted, but I would take it just to have a chance to be part of the team again. “Anyway,” Lance broke the short silence, pulling me from my thoughts. “If I may ask for one more favor, I was wondering if you could-” “I can’t believe you two are still here.” A different voice echoed through the room. We both turned in its direction to find the Luna standing at the door. Much like our Alpha, Luna Caitlyn De Bruin had also been born an Omega, although we had recently found out that there was more to her bloodline than we initially assumed. She was a direct descendant of the first werewolves, known as the Original Werewolves, which meant she had stronger senses despite being an Omega. She had joined our pack less than a year ago, but with her kind and caring nature, she had quickly won the hearts of everyone in Diamond Tempest. “Workday was supposed to be over an hour ago,” she reminded us when we stayed silent, walking towards us. “You’re dismissed, Delta Sasha. Thank you for your hard work.” “Wait. Lance said he needed me to do something else,” I chimed in. “Cait’s right. It can wait,” the Alpha promptly agreed. He looked reinvigorated as he jumped back up to his feet, his gaze locked on his Luna. These two spent most of their hours together, yet he still got hearts in his eyes whenever he looked at her. I wondered if someone would ever look at me the same way. “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told them as I rose from my seat, but the two love birds seemed too lost in each other to hear me. I shook my head, but I couldn’t help the small smile that lit up my face. After a very tiring day at work, I was ready to lock myself up in my room, have a nice shower, and order room service to get a few hours to myself before another hectic day. However, I hadn’t even turned at the end of the hall when someone bumped into me in a rush. “Where the hell were you?” the Gamma whisper-yelled at me. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” “I was helping Lance,” I replied almost instantly, too confused to ask questions. “An hour after the end of the shift?” He furrowed his brows before raising them in surprise. “Damn. You really are a goody two-shoes.” Jasper Stray was the current third-in-command. He stepped up after my father abdicated his title following the passing of our former Alpha. Sarcasm ran through his veins. He was a natural escape artist who managed to fool everyone into thinking he couldn’t do anything right. He was also a self-entitled bon vivant, known for seducing every she-wolf who crossed paths with him. And over the past few months, we had become best friends against all odds. “What do you want, Jasper?” I crossed my arms, not bothering to hide my frustration. Any other day, I would tolerate his snarky comments and silly jokes, but today, I just wanted my bed. “And why are you in such a rush?” “I’m running from Jessica,” he revealed, his wide eyes betraying his distress. My frown intensified as I struggled to make sense of his words. “Jess…” I started, but in a moment of clarity, it hit me. “Don’t tell me you slept with her too!” “Why the surprise?” I blinked a few times, shrugging in the end. He was right; this was exactly the kind of stunt he would pull. “Honestly, I don’t even know.” “Anyway, you need to help me get her off my case,” he went on. “We slept together twice, and now she thinks I’m gonna marry her or something.” My eyes glistened with amusement as I let out a chuckle. “Karma’s a b***h, isn’t it?” “Stop f*****g laughing! This isn’t funny!” he scolded me. It wasn’t very effective. “Sorry, Jazz, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.” He shot me a death glare, and I knew he was about to argue when a loud, feminine voice sounded, making him jump back. “Gamma Jasper? I saw you run up the stairs! Are you alright?” “s**t! She’s here!” The look he directed at me next was one of pure terror. I was having too much fun with the situation to read his intentions. Before I could react, he threw one arm around my shoulders, holding me close to him. I was ready to push him away when a very confused Jessica climbed the last step up to the top floor of the pack house where we were. The glow in the poor girl’s eyes vanished the second they landed on us, and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Gamma Jasper? Delta Sasha?” She c****d her head to the side, slowly putting two and two together. “What are you…” “Oh, you haven’t heard?” When Jasper chimed in, I knew this wasn’t going to end well for me. His next sentence confirmed my suspicions. “We’re dating.” “What? No, we’re not!” I darted an angry look at him, but he didn’t care at all. “Yes, we are,” he countered insistently. He tightened his grasp around me when I tried to struggle away from it until it was almost impossible for me to move. When I stopped trying, he turned to Jessica again. “Forgive her; she’s really reserved. She cares a lot about her image as Delta and all.” “Really?!” I reached into his mind. Once again, he ignored me. Or so I thought, until he turned to me with a pouty lip. “Honey pie, sooner or later, we’re gonna have to come out to the pack. We can’t hide it from them forever.” “Honey pie?! Unbelievable!” At this point, I knew there was no way I could convince him to drop his act, but I was content with venting my frustrations to him via mindlink. “Anyway, we’re heading out for a date now. It was nice to see you, Jessica!” He waved at the speechless woman, a smile plastered on his face as he dragged me down the stairs. I finally succeeded in freeing myself from his embrace once we reached the second floor. To say I was mad was an understatement. “I can’t believe you just did that. You owe me one!” He stepped closer to me, his face inches away from mine as he whispered, “Actually, I saved your reputation once, remember? Now we’re even.” I cursed myself as he unceremoniously reminded me of the one night that would haunt me forever. Last year, I had gotten wasted after Lance and Cait’s Alpha and Luna Ceremony. I was feeling frustrated and crossed all of my limits, somehow ending up at Jasper’s door in the middle of the night. He stayed with me, cared for me, and even took the blame for me when I didn’t show up for training the next morning because of my hangover. As much as I hated to admit it, I had to acknowledge that I was indebted to him. Though I knew he would never truly hold my mistake against me. “Alright, whatever.” I waved him off. Remembering how tired I was, I turned around to head to my room. “Have a nice evening, Jazz.” “Oh, no! you’re not leaving!” His fist wrapped around my wrist, pulling me towards him once again. “We have a date at the hot spring tonight.” “No, we don’t.” “Please?” If there was one thing Jasper was truly good at, it was his puppy dog eyes. “Come one, Sasha. If I can sell this story to Jessica, she’ll leave me alone.” Somewhere deep inside of me, I foolishly took pity on him. “Fine.” It was my turn to step closer to him as I pointed my index finger at his chest. “Now, you owe me!” His classic smirk played on his lips, and he shrugged. “Fair enough.” *** The next morning was just as chaotic as I expected it to be. Thankfully, my previous evening with Jasper had been quite relaxing, and I was ready to get back to work. Which was great, considering that I was only able to take a break during lunchtime. After that, I was back to running around, making sure everything was in perfect condition for us to welcome our prestigious guests today. Our allies, leaders of clans of different species of shifters, had already started to arrive. I was at the office with Jasper taking care of some…last-minute details, when Alpha Lance linked us both to let us know he needed our help with the guests at the main square. However, as we reached the bottom floor of the pack house, something made me stop. “Wait,” I uttered, lifting my nose up in the air. The fragrance that hit my nostrils was unlike anything I had ever smelt before. It enticed me in an inexplicable way, making my heart beat faster. I shook my head, trying to form coherent thoughts. “Do you smell that?” From the corner of my eye, I noticed Jasper quickly sniff the air. “It’s just the same smell of burning firewood and lemon grass incense to me. Should it be any different?” I heard his words, but in my trance, it was impossible to truly understand them. The next second, I lost control of my own body as my feet began to move against my will, and I beelined towards the exit. “Hey, wait!” he yelled, in vain. The pull I felt was too strong for me to fight. Only after I pushed through the double doors did I stop moving - in fact, I was completely frozen. The town square was packed, but my eyes instantly locked on one specific person. A man. At that very second, my wolf’s ears perked up as she joyfully howled, “Mate!”