The Alpha Girl and Her Rogue Mate

Friendships

Rosa shows up with three extra large coffees. One is for me. Well, half is for me. I probably won’t finish mine and I’ll give it to her. She loves coffee. It’s actually a little unusual, since wolves don’t really need caffeine. We can wake up pretty naturally with the sun, although some of us like that more than others. Like anything else, some wolves like coffee more than others too. But we don’t have the capacity to get addicted to it the way humans do. Rosa just loves the taste. 

“Thanks,” I say, as she waltzes into my room as if she lives here and hands me the coffee. 

“So what happened?”

“It was just the heat. Apparently when you have a really strong wolf but you aren’t ready to shift yet, sometimes it just causes some pain. Which is not something I knew.” I sip my coffee. It’s a little hot.

“Oh, that’s right!” She exclaims. She is already knocking the coffee back, apparently without care to the fact that it’s still burning.

“You knew?” I’m a little taken aback. It’s certainly never happened around here.

“Yeah, it happened to a guy down in Texas before we left,” she says. She rarely speaks about that time. She lived in Texas for three years, until she was 9, but her family never felt settled there. Texas has a lot of chaos, historically, within their packs. They love to fight. Rosa always says her life really began when she arrived here, in Oregon.

“I don’t remember it very well,” she replies, fiddling with the coffee lid. “But Sebastian told me about it. It was his friend.” Sebastian is her oldest brother. He found his mate and married her two years ago. He lives with the Green Pine Pack now as a Warrior.

“What happened?”

“Nothing bad. But his first shift was kind of brutal apparently. He’s fine now. But Ryan, Sebastian’s friend, apparently spent almost a full day in shift, so there was a lot of pain. Although, I guess Ryan said you kind of get over it quickly when you’re running as your wolf. His first shift started in the morning, not the evening, which is horrifying. But like I said, he thinks it was worth it. He’s an Alpha in one of the Carolinas now.”

“An Alpha?”

“He married the oldest daughter of an Alpha who’s only son had died in a fight with another pack.”

“Ohhhh,” I said. That was often what happened when an Alpha died without children or who had sons who died before him. Either the closest male relative or a daughter’s husband, if they had a strong wolf. 

“Sebastian said that everyone knew that would happen. Apparently that kind of shift only happens to some very strong wolves with Alpha blood.”

“So he was from an Alpha line?”

“Yeah, the fourth son of the Alpha of the pack we stayed with in Texas.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“But, I don’t think it has ever happened to a female werewolf before.”

“Shocking.”

“Well, Sebastian said that at the pack meeting, the Alpha said it only happened to wolves destined to be an Alpha. And that’s really only male wolves.”

“Ugh,” I slump back into a pillow. “I really am the Goddess’s biggest mistake aren’t I?”

“You don’t know that!” Rosa has always been very optimistic. “Maybe you’re going to be an incredibly strong Luna.”

I hadn’t considered that, actually. It’s not a bad point.

“Wait, no, I don’t like that!” I realize suddenly, “because I’d definitely have to move to a different pack and we’d probably be separated.”

“That might happen anyway,” she points out. 

“We don’t know that,” I say, “My mate could be… someone here.” My coffee is finally cool enough to drink, and I take a long sip. 

We both know it isn’t very likely. Pierce doesn’t have any sons near our age, two who are older and mated and two who are a lot younger, closer to my brothers' ages. He has a daughter our age, though. Pierce’s oldest son, Glen, moved to the Blood Soil Pack as the Delta, because Weston has been his best friend since they were kids. When Weston becomes the Alpha of that pack, Glen will be his Beta. Pierce’s second oldest son married a Healer and they live close to the edge of the wolf part of town. He’s a Sentinel so he patrols the edges of the territory most nights. It would be a little unusual for an Alpha’s oldest daughter to marry someone who isn’t an Alpha, future Alpha, Beta, or future Beta. Though sometimes we do find our mates are the strongest Warriors.

“What about Gamma Redbrook?” she says in a sultry voice. I sputter a bit on my coffee with laughter.

“Heath?” I know she’s always had a bit of a crush on our strongest Warrior. He leads them and trains them, and he also runs the gym in town. There are actually two gyms, but the humans don’t know about the second one, which is a “condemned” warehouse on our side of town. That’s for our training. We’ve trained with him a few times because he runs semi-regular training for pups and wolves who haven’t had their first shift, and he’s intense. “He’s 27, Rosa!”

“He’s also not mated. And you can’t deny he’s gorgeous,” laughs Rosa.

“Well, yeah. He is pretty cute.”

“But we could never be his mate, because he’s old. Yeah, I know.” she sighs. “Let a girl dream though.”

“I’m surprised he’s never found his mate.”

“I am too. I think your dad is getting desperate for him to find her. After all, he’s really strong. And he should find her in time to have a few pups.”

“He is getting desperate. I heard him telling Pierce a few weeks ago that he’s trying to convince the Council to send him to Europe.”

“Really?” she looks surprised, “all the way out to Europe? They really don’t think his mate is in the US?”

“Well, he’s been going to the Moon Ball for years but he’s never found her, so, I guess this is the next step. They send a small delegation every year anyway.”

“Hmmm.” She thinks for a minute, “well that would probably be good for him then. Speaking of Pierce… his car is outside.”

“Yeah I talked to my dad,” I nod.

“He’s getting expelled?”

“No!” I’m shocked by how blasé she is about it. 

“What?” She looks equally shocked. “He deserves it! He shouldn’t have spoken that way about you. His Alpha’s daughter! I’m furious for you. And a little surprised your dad didn’t expel him on principle.”

“He is good for the pack,” I say through slightly gritted teeth, somewhat annoyed to have to explain this again, “and he didn’t mean it.”

She shakes her head, her eyes wide. “You’ll be an amazing Luna. I could never. I mean, literally. I’d have had him expelled twice over.”

“I might be an amazing Luna. I might never be a Luna at all.”

She just laughs. “Sure. But I’d bet that’s what the intense heat means for you.”

“Well, hopefully I don’t find this dreamboat Alpha mate you’ve imagined for me before I get to college. When I passed out, did I freak the humans out?”

“Oh my goddess, yes. Honestly, I know it was painful, but I bet it’ll be hilarious if you feel the heat in front of some of the humans again.”

I laugh.

A knock comes at the door, and I shout that whoever it is can come in. An Omega, who I recognize from school, comes in. She’s a bit older than Rosa and I. Her eyes stay on the ground.

“Your father is calling a pack meeting tonight at 7. I’m just going around to let everyone who isn’t in the mindlink know.” I nod. We won’t join the mindlink until we have shifted for the first time. 

The Omega starts to back out of the room. 

“Hey, it’s Tululah, right?”

“Tulip,” she replies. She looks up briefly. 

“Sorry, I forgot. Are you busy?”

“Well, I was going around to everyone, but I could ask another Omega to do it. Why do you ask?”

“Can you bring us up some snacks and maybe some soda? And three glasses?”

Tulip nods and backs out, carefully shutting the door as she goes.

Rosa rolls her eyes. “Sick of the coffee already?” She’s leaning over, grasping for the coffee although she can’t quite reach. I giggle and hold it out of her reach.

“Give it here, if you aren’t going to drink it!” 

“She was in school with us, right?” Rosa says when she is gone.

“Yeah, her sister is Lily Whitesand.”

“Oh… right,” says Rosa. Lily and Tulip moved here about five years ago. Lily is mated to one of our pack members. Tulip’s parents were killed in an attack about a year before Lily found her mate, so Tulip came with her. Tulip was about 15, I think, so she’d be around 20 now. She hasn’t found her mate, and she’s not a very good warrior. She’s an Omega because she’s not a good fighter or mated to anyone, but she’s lovely with the pups. She works in the packhouse. We have a daycare here, for all the pups who aren’t in school yet. 

“And Lily, what does she do again?”

“She’s a Hunter.” I reply. Hunters are pretty self explanatory, although they don’t just hunt for food. They also work as trackers and scouts for the pack. “My dad has said she doesn’t have a great link to the pack so she works best alone.”

“Right, and her husband is?”

“Shade Everett.” One of our Warriors.

“Oh yeah, right. That makes sense. He was never very social.” she says, before falling silent, and we both look at our phones.

A few minutes later, Tulip is back. She puts the food and drinks, which are on a pretty brass tray, down on my bureau and starts to back away again as if to leave.

“No, sorry Tulip, one of the glasses is for you, I should have said.” 

She stops, a little awkward, hovering in the door.

“Oh, I--” she pauses. “You don’t have to-- I mean, err,” she seems unsure of what to say.

“You don’t have to stay! But we’d love to have you, if you aren’t busy.”

Rosa looks a little surprised, but quickly disguises it and chimes in, “yes, please, sit. If you have time. We were thinking of watching something on TV.”

“Well, I suppose I can stay, as long as you promise to account for my time to Greta.” Greta manages the Omegas who work at the packhouse.

“No problem,” I smile. “Sit!” 

She perches in one of the chairs, but she doesn’t settle down in it. She stays on the edge of the seat like she isn’t entirely sure she belongs in my room.

“You know,” I say, “you really don’t have to be so formal here.”

“You’re the Alpha’s daughter,” she replies.

“Sure, but you’re only three years older than us, we went to school together!”

“I’m just an Omega,” she says. Her cheeks color a little bit. She looks embarrassed. A lot of packs follow a strict hierarchy, and some Alphas do not encourage Omegas to be well integrated into pack life. 

“What pack did you and your sister come from again?”

“Red Sun Pack,” she replies, and I’m glad to hear her voice get a little more confident.

“I forget where that one is?” Rosa asks.

“Oh, it’s in Hawaii,” she says.

“Was it beautiful there?” 

“Oh, very. The sand was so soft. And the sunsets were… exquisite.” Her eyes get a little misty.

“What did your parents do, they were Warriors right?” I ask.

“Yeah, both of them.”

“Can I ask another question?” I don’t want to upset her. But she nods with only a little hesitation.

“Was your old pack very formal?”

She kind of laughs. She has a beautiful laugh, I notice. “Yes, very formal.”

“So I take it your Omegas were very… deferential?”

She nods again.

“But surely you’ve noticed that isn’t really true here? You’ve had your pack rank for two years or so.”

“I have, but I thought since I wasn’t born here, and I can’t provide the way my sister or a Warrior does, I thought, I mean I think maybe I’m not really that useful.”

“You care for our pups!”

She smiles, “I do love to look after the little rascals.”

“From now on, you really don’t have to be so formal with us, okay? Or with anyone really. That’s just not how my father likes to operate.” I stand up and pour all three of us drinks. She looks a little shocked as I hand her a cup and a small plate with Cheez-its on it. “I can pour myself a drink. I can pour you a drink. My family really doesn’t think we are better than you just because we are pack leaders, okay?”

“What about the others?” She asks, looking at Rosa.

“Same for me,” Rosa laughs a little bit. “If it’s good for the Alpha’s daughter, it’s good for me.”

“For everyone else, you should just figure out how formal they are. Gamma Redbrook isn’t formal at all, Beta Jackson is very formal. His wife Alma isn’t though. But you’ll never have to avoid eye contact with anyone or anything like that. Not in this pack. You do an important job. I’m surprised my father hasn’t talked to you about this.”

“He, um, actually has,” she says with a very slight smile. 

“But you didn’t listen?”

“I thought he was just being nice,” she says, her smile getting wider.

“Yeah that’s my dad.” I laugh, “Just don’t get on his bad side.”

She nods, lowering her eyes. But after a pause, she looks up at me. “Thank you,” she says. 

“No problem.” I sit back further on my pillows and I see her relax incrementally into the chair she’s sitting on. “So, what do you want to watch?”