Alpha Callen

Callen's POV I sat in my office and strummed my fingers on my desk as I thought about my eighteenth birthday. Today I was twenty-four and my parents had finally given up on me meeting my mate. I wasn't in a hurry, I had all the time in the world to find her. That was the best day of my life so far. **Flashback, eighteenth birthday*** "Mom, you can't just walk into my room, I'm an adult," I said, looking at my mom who had just walked inside. "You will always be my baby boy." she said as she sat down on my bed. "I'm going to be late for school, what do you need?" I asked, getting irritated. "It's your birthday, you could be late. I want to talk to you about something." she said, patting her hand on my bed. I groaned but went and sat down beside her. "When I got my wolf, I met my mate that night." she said, but I cut her off. "Mom, I know this story. You don't need to relive it. I know it's painful for you," I told her, because it's true. She has talked about it before, and I can see how painful it was. She always cries. Dad sat me down one night after she had talked about it and left the room crying and told me everything. "It is because someone who should have never died did because my father was not a good guy. With your wolf showing up today, I want you to know that whoever your mate is, you need to love them and protect them and cherish them. You don't understand how important they are in your life." "I know mom. Again, you and dad have been telling me this my whole life." "I know, but we don't want you to miss out because you're young and make dumb choices." "Are you saying I'm dumb?" "Not at all, sweetheart. Just remember that when you find your mate, she is special and important and, as your parents, we don't care who they are, we will accept them." she said with a smile. "OK, get to school," she said, and then gave me a hug and walked out of my room. "I didn't think she would ever leave," I heard someone say in my head. "Are you, my wolf?" I asked with a smile on my face. "Sure am, name is Ash." "Ash, that seems a little girly. Did I get a female wolf?" I asked. "No asshole, you will understand when you see me," he said, and I laid back on my bed. He was here and I was excited. I knew he wasn't my only wolf either. My family had a special gene that gave us two wolves, but the second one doesn't show up on your birthday. They show up when they are ready and, from what I've heard, you usually aren't prepared for it. Always takes you by surprise. "Don't you have school?" Ash said. "Yes, but we're already late, so it doesn't matter." I said and closed my eyes, "can you tell me something?" "Maybe." "Have we met our mate already?" "How am I supposed to know that, and what does it matter? Do we have a girlfriend? Is she hot?" "No, we don't have a girlfriend, but being the future King, we have girls that are after us, and it's annoying, and also I don't want to be stuck with someone who can't protect themselves. I want them beside me in battle, not hiding in the safe house." "Well, I have no clue who our mate is, but I do know that we will love her regardless of her status." "I'm not saying that. You make me sound like a jerk." "When the shoe fits buddy," he said and started laughing. I got up and went down one floor to Asher's floor. He was one of my best friends, and we happened to be born on the same day. His dad is the beta right now, and he would be one of my betas. We have had two betas here since it was the kingdom. The other one would be Kaden. He was one of our other best friends, but he is younger than us by a few months, so he still didn't have his wolf. I knocked on Asher's door and waited for him to open it. I could hear him talking to someone and when he opened the door, he had his phone to his ear and quickly hung up the phone. "Did he show?" he asked me. "Ya and I feel like he should be your wolf. His name is Ash." I told him and he started laughing. "Sounds like a girl's name," he said through his laughter. "Tell the asshole if he wants to keep his position he better shut up," Ash linked me. I ignored his comment because he couldn't take his position away, "did you get yours?" "Yes. His name is Oakes." "What kind of name is that?" I asked. "Well, he doesn't have a girl's name." "We better go, Kayden is going to be pissed that we're late." I said as we turned and left his room. We raced down the stairs like we were kids, laughing and with no regard for anyone. Like I thought, Kaden was standing at the bottom of the stairs with a scowl on his face. "Dude, you are never going to get a girlfriend with that look on your face. Have you tried smiling before or is your face stuck in that permanent look of pissed off," Asher said to him and I laughed while Kaden kept his scowl and hurried to the car. "I wouldn't have this look if you two dumbasses could be on time." he said as he got into the front seat of my car. "Hey, it's our birthday, cut us some slack," Asher said in the back seat and I started pulling out, but both of my sisters came running out. They were twins and, while they were my sisters and I loved them, but they drove me nuts. Since we were close in age, we had some of the same friends, and they were always around. "Dude, maybe one of your sisters is my mate. That would make me your brother-in-law," Asher said as he rolled his window down, "You two want a ride?" he asked, and I groaned, but they came over and got inside. Apparently, they weren't taking their own car today. "Happy birthday you two," they said in unison. "You know I got my wolf today," Asher said, and both of them practically drooled at that. I knew instantly that neither were his mate, and I was thankful for that. He wasn't ready for a mate, neither was I. When I got home that night, we had a family dinner for my birthday. It was the same thing every year. My mom made my favorite cheeseburgers and garlic fries. After we celebrated, I went to my room to have some time alone. Tonight would be my first shift, and I was nervous. "Ash, how bad does it hurt?" I linked him. I had heard horror stories, but I also knew that everyone went through it but I still wasn't looking forward to it. "Don't be a weeny. You will live," he linked back, and I just ignored him after that. I laid on my bed until my father came in. He didn't bother knocking either. He just came over and sat down on my bed. "It's almost time. How do you feel?" "I'm ready dad." "I know you are. You will be just fine. Should we head out there?" he asked. It is customary in our pack to have a parent escort you out and make sure that the shift goes OK, and then you join the rest of your family for a run. We will be joining Asher's family as well. We got up and walked out of my room. It almost felt like I was heading to jail or something. I didn't see my mom or sisters as we went outside. In fact, I didn't see anyone. It was dark, and the moon was high but not at its highest point just yet. We moved into the tree line and my dad looked at me, "don't fight against the pain. Let it happen and it will go much smoother. I will be here the whole time," he said, and it made me feel so much better knowing to not fight the pain, because how do you not fight pain. I shook the thoughts out of my head and stripped out of my clothes. I didn't want them ruined. Being nude in front of people is normal around here. I didn't have a problem with it. Most people didn't. I stepped in between the trees where the moonlight could hit me and prayed to the moon goddess to make this quick. As the moon hit the highest peak, pain rippled through my body, forcing me to my knees. I looked up to the moon as I felt my leg kick out behind me and breaking and reshaping, and before that one was finished my arm started doing the same, dropping me down to my knees. "Breathe, take deep breaths and let me work," Ash linked me. "Easier said than done," I said through gritted teeth as more of my bones broke and rearranged themselves before going back to normal and reshaping again. I heard the alarm bells go off signaling we were under attack right now, and then I screamed again as more pain hit me. "We're going to make this quick, sorry and take a deep breath," Ash linked and as I tried to suck in a deep breath as my entire body felt like it exploded at once, but it quickly disappeared, and I looked down and saw we had paws and now the name made sense. I was the color of ash from a fire. "Son, go to the house," my father said, shifting and running off. "No way, I'm going with you," I linked him and took off running, catching him quickly. "Holy s**t, dude, are you headed to the attack," Asher linked me. "Yes." "Me too, can't wait to finally be a part of the action," he linked and I cut him off as we came to a line of wolves that were moving in quickly, but they were outnumbered by us. I watched as my father shifted back to human form and walked in front of the line of warriors. "This is your only warning. Leave now because you are outnumbered." he yelled, but they charged forward. He quickly shifted back and led us into the fight. Wolves were jumping on each other, trying to tear your throat out. One landed on my back and even though I had no wolf training yet, I had watched enough classes. I rolled and knocked them off my back and jumped on them, ripping their throats out. They weren't rogues, they didn't have the smell or taste that everyone says they have. I looked up to see my father fighting with a wolf that was almost as big as he was and when another one jumped in to help them, I ran as fast as I could, knocking the first one to the ground and ripping his throat out. They fell to the ground lifeless and my father took care of the other wolf and as soon as the wolves attacked, they realized that they were dead, they quickly retreated. It was a quick fight. My father shifted back, and so I followed suit and did as well. "Thanks son, but next time I say stay home you need to listen. You have no training." he growled at me and then turned to his beta, Liam, who had Asher standing behind them. They gave us a look that told us to get our asses back to the house now. We both took off running before they could chew our asses. "Holy crap, that was insane." Asher said as we got to the house. "I know. That shift, I'm glad that only happens once." We went upstairs, and I took a shower and laid on my bed. I knew my father would be back up here, and it took him two hours to come up here, but he walked in. I sat up on my bed and waited. "Good job tonight, but you can't just run into a fight like that just yet." "Sorry." "I'm proud of you. The wolf that you killed, we believe it's the councilman that has been after the kingdom for years. Their attack was very unorganized and not their usual way. I think he was getting desperate. Either way, he is dead, and I'm proud of you," he said and I couldn't help but beam with pride. "You need to realize that taking a life, no matter the reason, can take a toll on you. As future leader you really need to think about that," he said and then walked out of my room.