Toying with the Alpha

Good things happen to those who wait…or so the saying goes. Leaves rustled, branches cracked, and birds flew, avoiding the beautiful gray-eyed blonde who was running as if her life depended on it. And it did. Her legs ached with the unusual effort. Sure, she could run fast, but these two wolves following her were catching up to her just as fast. She had been wandering in the woods aimlessly when she encountered them. She hadn’t even known there was a pack living there. Werewolves were territorial creatures, and coming in unannounced could be considered as rude – it was called trespassing. The intruder could face some serious consequences – death being one of them.     She shook her head, trying to chase the silly images of her own body laying in a pool of blood on the soil, when they closed in on her.  She had never fought anyone for real. This is going to be fun, she thought only half amused by the prospect of the upcoming fight. They growled at her and she held her hands up in the air in surrender. “I want you no harm,” she said softly. “Hell, I didn’t even know about your pack.” That careless statement of hers earned her another growl from the bigger wolf of the two. She rolled her eyes at him or her – she couldn’t really tell if it was a female or a male werewolf. The wolves soon enough changed into two well-built men who looked no older than twenty-five. They were naked. Ergo neither one of them was the alpha.   “You’re trespassing, leech,” one of them – the one who emitted a stronger aura – spat out. “I apologize,” she said with a small smile. “I didn’t know.” “Well, apologizing just won’t cut it,” he bit back angrily. “I did you no harm,” she rolled her eyes at him, “and I mean you no harm.” “Well, well, what do we have here?” A man’s voice reached their ears. The hairs on the back of her neck rose to attention at the mere presence. As for the voice, it did wonders to her body, but she didn’t want to fret over that. She knew a sexy voice when she heard one, and she could admit to getting turned on by a simple voice. She averted her face only slightly, and caught glimpse of a man who looked positively edible in his slightly-ripped-at-the-knees jeans and his stretchy white t-shirt. He had a strong jaw she could picture herself kissing all day long, a defined nose, and beautiful green eyes. Good god, those eyes, she could drown in them. She felt wetness smearing her panties when his eyes flashed black – as his inner beast took over – and he uttered the one word she had always wished to hear, “Mate.” She bit on her bottom lip, feeling her swirling emotions getting the best of her. She took two steps towards him and his eyes – which had gone back to normal – narrowed at her. She was within touching distance, and she was about to reach out to his face, to stroke it lovingly – so as to carve it into her memory – when he took a step back, going out of reach again.      “Are you angry?” She was basically flabbergasted, with her hand frozen mid-way and her jaw dropped low. She was also hurt by his unspoken rejection… only she didn’t want to show it. “As he should be. His mate is a f*****g vampire.” “What about it?” She challenged, eyes defiantly narrowed at the one she supposed was the beta of the pack. He was speaking to her with disdain, even though it was obvious she was the alpha’s fated mate. What was so wrong with this pack? “That makes you an enemy,” her mate – whose name she had yet to know – all but growled out the words at her. “I beg your pardon?” She exclaimed, half incredulous half angry. “You don’t even know me.” “I may not know you, but I know your kind,” he retorted with something disturbingly close to disdain in his tone. “Your kind is as evil as they come.” She pouted at the accusation. She had never killed a soul. But right at that moment, she wished she could rip her mate a new skin.    “Not going to argue with you right now,” She ended up rolling her eyes at him, blatantly disrespecting him. “I gotta go but I’ll see you around.” And with that, she flashed out of the meadow. She heard growls in the distance as she ran, but didn’t bother to turn around. She didn’t hear paws pounding on the soil like earlier. At least her good-for-nothing judgmental ass of a mate did her the favor of letting her go. She’d give him the time to stomach the revelation before going back anew.    Athena Patera was nothing if not persistent. She had waited too long for her mate to show up. If he thought she would give up on him just because of some misconceptions he had about her kind, he had another thing coming at him. She was a fighter. And she believed in fighting for what her heart desired. She had her mother’s fiercely independent streak and her dad’s persistent ways.    What could possibly go wrong?   Once inside her one-bedroom flat downtown, after taking a much needed shower, she laid on her bed and thought about her mate – her oh so gorgeous mate. “I don’t even know his name,” she sighed in dejection as she thought about that fact. You’ll know soon enough, she told herself a split-second later. Good things come to those who wait.  Her peaceful wandering and then her run-in with the werewolves, and all it entailed, had tired her. But before going to sleep, she called her mom as per usual, so as not to worry her – and also because she needed to tell her the news. She couldn’t keep it in any longer. She had to babble about her mate to somebody. She decided to begin with her mom, and then annoy her best friend, Anastasia, next.