The Alpha Girl and Her Rogue Mate

Voices

I head into the pack meeting room, which takes up most of the first floor. The packhouse is laid out in a weird way, compared to other houses. The bottom floor is open to the entire pack. It has my father’s office, Pierce’s office, the huge packhouse meeting room, a spacious dining room that can open up by way of large double doors to the meeting room for extra space if needed, a large industrial kitchen where the Omegas cook for everyone-- any pack member is always welcome to come by and eat a meal, but most only come by on Fridays, when we have our weekly pack meetings-- several large bathrooms with showers, and a daycare center in the basement. The second floor has my bedroom, my sibling’s bedrooms, and three spare rooms. The third floor has my family’s private kitchen, living room, and my parent’s room, as well as a few more spare rooms. There is an attic with rooms for Omegas who don’t have their own houses for any reason and Warriors who want to crash after a night shift. We also have a cottage in the backyard, which we usually use for when we host visiting Alphas from other packs. We also have a bed and breakfast on the pack side of town, for when we host even larger events. When we don’t have any visitors, humans visiting the local college sometimes stay there. We do a lot of business during Freshman Parents’ Weekend. My father always avoided hosting any other packs that weekend. Graduation was also usually a big one for us. The Bed and Breakfast is run by some of the wolves and staffed by a few of our Omegas. 

In the pack meeting room, My father is sitting at the front of the room, and most of the pack has already gathered and sat in the chairs assembled in neat rows. The room is almost the size of a ballroom, and at the front is a small platform with two raised chairs for the Alpha and Luna. The room is dark wood and dark wall panels, with a pure white carpet lining the way toward the front of the room. My father is sitting on an ornate chair, which was carved for the first Alpha in my bloodline, when he took over the pack something like 250 years ago, in the 1700s. My father’s chair is carved in ornate designs, a sun at the top of the chair surrounded by birds and finely detailed leaves. My mother sits next to him in a chair that is equally detailed, and the carvings on her chair feature a moon at the top with stars and wind decorating the sides and arms.

Though the chairs are as elegant and formal as could be, my father and mother are informal, as always. My mother is still dressed in her scrubs, and clearly just arrived from the hospital. My father is wearing his usual suit and tie. They’re both chatting animatedly with pack members sitting close to the front of the room. My mom makes silly faces at a cub sitting at the back of the room, where they are always grouped together during meetings. Tulip slips quietly over to them, and several of them light up when they see her approach. I smile gently.

Since it’s a Tuesday, this isn’t a regularly scheduled pack meeting. I’m not entirely sure what it is about, though it’s possible it has something to do with Pierce. As I slip into my seat, which is on one side of the platform my mother and father sit on, underneath some of the portraits which hang on the walls, portraits of my ancestors. Though the room is made of dark wood, from the chairs to the walls, it’s light and airy thanks to large windows on the other side of the room, which open to the backyard. There are beautiful sconces and a chandelier as well, for the winter months when the sun has set by the time we meet.

My siblings, except Lini who sits with the other pups, are assembled at the chairs, and I take my place as the closest to the platform where my parents sit. Behind them, arranged against the wall, sits Pierce and his family. He avoids my eyes. Not a good sign.

For a moment, I panic, wondering if my father has decided to expel him anyway. But my father catches my eye and gives me a small nod. I calm myself, knowing my father wouldn’t betray my wishes like that. If he had decided to expel him, he wouldn’t have asked what I wanted. I also take a deep breath to calm myself because I have no desire to experience another heat right here, where I would possibly even pass out right in front of the whole pack. 

When everyone had assembled, my father stood. That was all it took to quiet the pack. My father has his Alpha status, which is enough to quiet the pack by itself. But he also has the pack’s respect. Our pack is unusually harmonious, and we always have been. For as long as I can remember,  at least. Where some Alphas had to demand control of their pack, my father seemed able to command it as effortlessly as he breathes. 

“Thank you all for coming on what I know is very short notice,” he begins. “Some of you may be aware that my oldest daughter, Skylar, recently felt the first of the heat. Her wolf is beginning to emerge.”

I shift uncomfortably in my seat as most of the eyes in the room turn to me. I don’t relish everyone knowing that I’m maturing and feeling my wolf. Of course everyone would eventually know when I found my place in the pack, but most wolves don’t get an announcement in front of the entire pack the moment they feel a tingle in their chest. At least I know now what the meeting is about. 

My father continues, “Now, it has come to my attention that some individuals within the pack have been defaming my daughter for quite some time. Apparently, some of you have long speculated that she is a mistake of the Goddess, an error, because she isn’t male. Some, even, have speculated that she is no wolf at all, but a human. Now, some of us here have had human children, and we all know it is a possibility for even the strongest wolves. There is no shame in it, at least not among any pack I lead. But speculation about a cub, a child, a young pack member, is completely inappropriate. The Goddess…” His voice lowers in tenor until it is practically a growl, “would be so incredibly disappointed. To speculate about a pup in our pack, not to mention my pup, an eldest of Alpha bloodline, is something I could, and perhaps should, expel any one of you over.”

Though my father’s voice has barely risen at all, the air is thick with silence. Most eyes have shifted down, toward the floor, in a natural show of submission. A few curious, brave wolves occasionally glance up at me before their eyes dart back down to the floor. My father is letting the silence hang for an uncomfortably long time, and I can tell he is doing it on purpose. My mother stares into the crowd as well, her eyes full of the same anger as my father’s voice. The Luna doesn’t generally speak during pack meetings, although my father is not particularly strict about this and often invites my mother to speak on pack matters. She’s also allowed into his office, which is slightly unusual as well. 

My mother chooses now to speak, “I would have wholeheartedly supported the expulsion of any wolf who spoke in such a manner about the pups of any wolf in this room. I would certainly support the expulsion of any wolf foolhardy enough to speak that way about my own child.”

I notice that Pierce, seated behind the platform on which my parents are standing, has closed his eyes. I realize suddenly that my parents haven’t told him what they are planning. And that perhaps they are planning to go against what I requested. I suddenly feel extremely nervous.

“But,” says my father, “I won’t. Although I am tempted to expel those of you I know have spread this rumor, I’ve decided against it. I’ve partially done so because of the wise counsel of my daughter, the very one you’ve all been slandering.”

Pierce looks up, startled, and a moment later, he catches my eye. I nod at him.

“I will forgive anyone who, since my daughter’s birth almost 17 years ago, has spread these false and pernicious rumors. My daughter is a vibrant, kind, and intelligent wolf,” he puts extra emphasis on the word wolf. She is becoming a wolf. She feels her wolf. She will soon shift. And if anyone, and I do mean anyone, would like to dare to suggest that she is a mistake, I suspect you do so now. In front of all of us here, the entire pack, if you’d like to posit that my daughter is anything but a wonderful creation of the Goddess, feel free to speak.”

He once again lets the silence drag on and on. It becomes so heavy I wonder if it will press all the air out of this room. I can’t tell if I struggle to breathe because of my own nerves or the oppressive atmosphere in the meeting room. No one moves. Not even to breathe, it seems. I begin to feel warm, maybe even dizzy. 

“I didn’t think anyone would like to speculate on that. Now, as I said, I’ve decided to forgive those of you who have made these accusations. On one condition.” He turns to me, beckoning me onto the stage. I hesitate, because it’s unusual for anyone who isn’t the Alpha and the Luna to stand on the stage. “Come up onto the stage, please, Skylar.”

He holds out a hand, so I rise from my chair and step up next to him.

“I want anyone who has even so much as harbored a thought against my daughter to apologize. Now. Here. In front of the entire pack. But if you don’t apologize now, and I find out by any means that you were among the wolves who spoke badly about my daughter when she was just a cub, I will expel you. This is your only chance.” He sits again, leaving me standing alone before the entire pack.

I look down at the floor. My father is exuding an energy that even I find cowing, but out of the corner of my eye I notice that my mother continues to stare into the pack with a small smile on her face.

Standing in front of the whole pack, I suddenly feel proud. My father is, perhaps, the strongest Alpha in the country. Certainly the strongest Alpha I’ve ever met. I come from a strong bloodline, my proud and unbowed mother sitting straight and tall in the chair next to my father. I take a deep breath, still feeling a certain darkness and warmth around me. In my head, I hear a voice, not quite mine.

Stand tall, it whispers, and look at them.

The voice is insistent, but it’s also right. The voice is my wolf. I feel certain. She’s gone the moment I realize who it is, but I know she was my wolf and I know she was helping me. With another deep breath, I raise my arms, roll my shoulders back, and look out at the crowd before me.

And in that moment, the energy shifted. I was able to breathe again. And the entire pack changed their gaze, briefly, for a millisecond, to me. And then they cast their eyes down to the ground again, just as they had done for my father. I didn’t know what it meant, but I heard a noise behind me at the same time and turned to see Pierce standing. 

After a moment, in which he seemed to steady himself, he walked around the platform to stand in front of me. He stares into my eyes and after a moment, I give him a small smile. Then he bows before me, something only done for the Alpha and the Luna, traditionally. 

“Skylar, daughter of my Alpha, I apologize. I spoke out of turn and with no basis for it when I once speculated that--” he gulps slightly, “you were a mistake of the Goddess or perhaps not a wolf. The Goddess does not make mistakes, she just doesn’t. It was inappropriate of me to suggest that she did, and it was unbecoming of me as a member of this pack and a Beta. I hope you will accept my apologies. If you don’t, and you wish for me to leave the pack, I will accept that judgment.”

I find it shockingly easy to accept his apology. I lean down and tap his shoulder so that he looks up, and when he does I extend a hand.

“I accept your apology, Beta Jackson. Please don’t prostrate yourself any more.” 

He nods, rises, and looks me in the eye.

“Thank you, Skylar,” he says, with a smile that doesn’t quite make it to his eyes. He seems upset, but I assume he is embarrassed, and I wave the thought aside.

Suddenly, a scraping noise sounds behind him and I look away to see another member of the pack standing. And then another, and another, until about 20 pack members stand. They approach me one by one. They apologize one by one. And I forgive them one by one.

Behind me, I still feel Pierce’s gaze on me for a reason I’m not quite sure of.