Her Savior Alpha

Things didn’t plan out the way I wanted them to, and my life in general was a mess. A big hole of a mess and the last thing I wanted was a big stir up over my party, but sure enough the one thing I was looking forward to was sabotaged in so many ways. Thelma had to go out on duty and my only true female ally was taken from me. Hard to feel anything at the whole situation. My reaction was glib one and I would chalk it up the wheel of fortune in the Mount Hunter pack. Of course there was no one to clean up the litter and the garbage from my birthday. Paper plates had been thrown on the floor and foodstuffs were everywhere. The wolves of Mount Hunter were savages! The last thing I wanted to do was clean up their shit, but if I wasn’t able to clean it up I was due to cop a beating from Dane and or Grant.

Clive and Archer came over to me seeing I was trying to clean up the mess, even amongst the hot flushes and pulled me away from the trashed trestle tables.

“Nope, not today. That’s not a role you’re going to assume. You need to put down the plates and relax. This is your born day Vera and it’s a significant event. The moon will be at its fullest peak at midnight. That’s when you’re going to turn and you can’t be in here trying to clean up when you break out. That’s ludicrous, it truly is.” Clive tapped the paper plate out of my hand with an air of authority.

“I’m so frustrated. I wanted to party with Thelma and now the party is ruined. Not that any of the wolves care about me anyway, but that’s not what I mean. It’s one of those things.”

Clive dropped his serious gaze down to land squarely on me. “It’s not a thing Vera. It’s cruelty and I don’t know why all of sudden there’s some stupid thing about rogue wolves being on the loose and infiltrating. We have Archer right here and he’s not given one single hint of being off.” Clive pointed to Archer and I could have sworn I saw the quick flicker of his pupils as the word rogue was mentioned.

“I would never do anything to undermine the generosity of Dane, let alone his trust. He’s an unforgiving man however, that much I can see. I still want to be there for you Vera. It’s a special moment when you turn. I’m sorry this whole thing with your birthday has gone to shit.” Archer’s kind words were like soothing balm to my soul.

“Thanks Archer, but I’m going to spend my time with my bestie if I can find her on patrol. I’m going to be safe with her. No offense.” Feeling rebellious I decided I would loiter around for a while so I could grab some drinks from the mess hall. The majority of the alcohol was still on sitting on the bench and I planned on nabbing a few bottles and taking them along to Thelma so we could have our own little party at the border.

“I understand that. I think there’s a special present for you. It was left on the table.” Archer handed me what seemed to be a book wrapped in brown paper wrapping with a piece of twine carefully holding it together. Tucked under the twine was a small white card.

Happy birthday Vera. Enjoy. The writing was in cursive and there was not a wolf in the Mount Hunter pack that had neat hand writing to my knowledge. I didn’t have the strength to strain my brain to figure it out.

I took the book off the table staring at it for a minute. I ripped the paper back to reveal a small book on the inside. I thumbed my fingers through the book thinking the title of the book had to be a joke and somebody thought it was funny to play games with me.

How to tame your mate was the title. I was at a loss as to why anyone would give me this book. Tame a mate? I hadn’t even turned and the person who offered me the book was talking about taming mates? Give me a break. I took the book and held it up to Archer.

“Maybe this is someone’s idea of a joke. I guess that’s what people think I am anyway in Mount Hunter,” I said in glum tone.

“You’re not a joke. I think you’re sweet Vera. Interesting, and maybe the person who gave it to you knows you’re mate is going to show up soon. That’s why.” There was a funny gleam in Archer’s eye that left me perplexed for a moment longer while I stole a glance at Clive who was hand picking garbage off the ground and throwing it into an olive green bag. He looked cheerful doing it as well.

That’s my job. The only one I’ve ever known. I thought to myself.

Heat pulsed through my body every few minutes and I wanted to jump out of my own skin. The feeling was one like I’d never experienced before. I shook it off as Archer stared into the heart of me leaving me vulnerable and feeling stranger than ever.

“Thanks Archer. Phew. I don’t get what’s going on, but I’m feeling out of sorts,” I grumbled under my breath not sure I wanted Archer near me while I was changing. At the very least Thelma was a person who I trusted wholeheartedly to watch me change and grow. She would never harm me in any way. I reflected on all the broken bones I’d acquired and wanted to stop it. I wanted to defend myself now. The beatings were a thing of the past, and this was the silent declaration I was making for myself. What did I have to lose? It might have been a painful road, but no more painful than all the back breaking situations I’d been put through already.

“You’re starting to change already. Everything’s going to be okay. It’s scary isn’t it?” Archer and I had a little flirtation going on and I enjoyed being in his essence. His calm, peaceful wolf spirit made me feel comfortable. For some reason I didn’t want to shift in front of him however. All I’d ever had with male wolves was terrible experiences and I was gun shy in a lot of ways.

A mate was promised to me, but who in the Mount Hunter pack would be right for me? I hadn’t the faintest but that was the last thing I was thinking about.

“It is. I think I’m going slightly insane,” I said quietly, but all the energy was coursing through my veins. Clive had his eye on the prize as he cleared all the tables with ease. He did my job in half the time.

“Wow. Clive would you like my job?”

Clive heard his name and looked up at me. “Actually, no offense Vera, I’m going to leave it to you. Not that I think you should be cleaning up after these slobs. It takes two seconds to put your food in the trash. Man, hopeless,” Clive said, feeling the pain I experienced every day.

“Trust me, I didn’t want the designated role either,” I replied in a sour pitch. Archer still had his eye on me, making me self conscious so I did what I came to do which was to go get my backpack so I could share some drinks with Thelma. I moved off to my locker where it was dead quiet as all the other wolves had left for the night. Not a single one of them cared about me and I was all alone in Mount Hunter. The pain of that fact had dissolved and was replaced with the fact I had people who appreciated me. They might have been few in numbers, but still three was way better than none.

I pulled my backpack out of my locker and quickly moved into the mess hall, careful to take one bottle at a time without Clive and Archer knowing. I had no idea how I pulled it off, but I did. Before I left to sneak out to the outer rim of the barracks I wanted to thank them both for looking out for me.

“Thank you both for organizing this gathering. It might not have worked out, but I won’t forget it.”

A watery smile glimpsed over my face as Clive and Archer stood side by side in contrast and wondered how two wolves could be so different. Both of them had grand qualities in different measures. If the both of them were melded together they would make a beautiful blend of a superwolf. I hoped my eyes wouldn’t give me away and make me look a little too dreamy so I tore them away attempting to stop the clink of the bottles in my bag. I had no clue if either of them would be opposed to me drinking, but there would be no taking the risk from me.

“It’s our pleasure Vera. Have a nice night with Thelma. We’ll make sure nobody interrupts okay?” Clive winked and zeroed in on my bulging bag. “You’re going to have a sore head in the morning, but hey it was for you anyway.” He winked again as the corner of his eye crinkled.

Embarrassed that my secret had been exposed I chuckled nervously as I smoothed down my long bangs. “Busted, I guess. Please don’t tell Dane.” I arched my eyebrows in anticipation with the symptoms of my oncoming wolf rising like a tide. I wanted to run for some reason. Really run, to feel the hawkish night air on the pores of my skin and to howl at the moon.

Was this what it was to be a wolf? Uncovering a hidden code of my DNA had me giddy in a number of ways. Surely having a few drinks before the change would take the edge off.

“We won’t,” both of them chirped in unison as I blinked for a moment and then burst out laughing at them both. I laughed at them both covering my mouth. I hadn’t seen Dane all night and despite the beatings and all he’d had done to me I still wished to see him. My own grandfather wanted nothing to do with me and didn’t want to celebrate my birthday and that was the biggest shame at all. I tried not get down about it as Thelma and I were about to fun at the border, but it irked me inside something fierce.

Archer shifted me out of the dark hole my mind was about to take me down. “Wait, you can’t go down to the border without any food. You have to take some of the goodies with you. There’s still plenty of food leftover. Do you have a container?” Archer quizzed as he supported my escapade.

Startled that I hadn’t come up with that I shook my head. “No, you’re right we can’t drink on an empty stomach. What do we have left?” I peered around the tables not seeing anything.

“We got plenty left, I will bring the containers in with the spoons and you can scoop some salad and other food in Vera,” Clive mentioned as he moved into problem solving mode and to the refrigerator. Licking my lips to stop the dryness from taking over I closed my eyes and flicked the sweat out of my bangs. Things were getting too hot and if there was a pool I could jump into I would have.

Archer came to the rescue once again as he walked behind the bar counter as I heard the water rush. He arrived back with a wet wash cloth placing it against my temple.

“Here we go. This will help with the sweats.” Gently he lifted my dark bangs up sitting the face cloth underneath and on my skin. Clive ruffled around under the sink and produced three clear plastic containers.

“Tah, dah! Here we go. You should have enough between the both of you to eat from these. Thelma is made from wolf pixie dust so I don’t think she’s going to eat much, do you Archer?” Clive poked good naturedly.

“No, I don’t think she will. She is pretty small.” I pressed the cloth to the top of my forehead as the cool, wetness flooded through my body.

“Thank you,” I mouthed to Archer. It sure did help having someone in front of me who’d already gone through the change of being a wolf and didn’t make me feel like an invalid.

Archer’s eyelid closed in a half wink as he touched m arm and it felt a ticklish kiss, the same the fireflies produced when the used to bump into my arm down by the river. Giggled oddly I took the containers from Clive graciously and packed in cold meats, potato salad, some greens and other goodies for Thelma and I. Licking the rest off my fingers my attention faced around the barracks. I wanted no more rude awakenings from Grant, Reilly or his jumping crew. The coast appeared to be clear however.

“Okay, I have to go guys cover me!” My inner child was jumping for joy and coming out to play. I jogged out from the mess hall with the bottles jangling in my backpack and giggling. Cameras did exist on grounds, but mainly around the country house. Dane was paranoid about thieves, but not so much at the barracks. I guess he figured all the wolves and the guards were enough ammunition and cameras weren’t needed. As I stood at the front of the barracks ready to embark on my dangerous adventure I contemplated my life.

It was better like this. The Mount Hunter pack didn’t accept me anyway, so what was the point of being mad. Half the time all of them scattered like roaches when I came into the room. If a wolf did approach me it was to request a chore be completed. To them I was invisible and only existed to complete their tasks and present as a punching bag.

In more ways than one, I’d signed up for that. I’d been okay to put my guard down and allow the pummeling to occur. Not anymore. Bones had been broken in so many places and now it was time to put them back together.