Save Me Mr. Alpha

After the more than surprising ‘peace offering’ between Tyson’s mom and I, I take a break from the office and make my way to the back garden. Several pack members mill about, relaxing in the sunshine, and a couple of the retired females work at the edges of the garden beds, carefullt weeding and taking great care as they maintain the garden.

“Luna,” they nod.

“Hello,” I respond, the title still making me pause. “Can you tell me if there are any peony bushes in the garden?”

One of the women smiles, her eyes touching with a sliver of an emotion I don’t recognize.

“The Alpha has them back by the Alpha and Luna sanctuary.”

“They look a little frayed to be honest, Luna.” One woman tuts, shaking her head disapprovingly.

“Why is that?” I ask, suddenly offended that they weren’t taking care of my precious peonies as well.

“The Alpha. He insists on taking care of them himself. Won’t let anyone near them.”

“It wouldn’t be as bad had Marie showed him how to take care of something in the ground,” another woman chimes in with a chuckle.

“Yes, but she raised him to be an Alpha, Carol. Not a flower gardener.”

“Doesn’t excuse him from tearing up the lawn without a single thing said to him.”

“Carol, I don’t—”

“Still, basic skills can be afford to be taught and—”

“I don’t think the Luna would appreciate you talking about her mate like that.” Another woman chimes in.

The woman, Carol, who has been talking about Tyson suddenly looks to me as if just remembering I was there.

“Oh, Luna, I mean no disrespect, I am so sorry!” she bares her neck to me and looks down, her cheeks red.

“It’s alright. I understand Tyson is a bit of a handful,” I chuckle. “And I’m sure your experiences with him haven’t always been delightful. He tore up your garden a bit in his youth it seems?”

Carol looks at me, wary, and checks to see that I’m not going to punish her for her disrespect.

“He was a wily young man, most young alpha children are I guess.” She says gently, her cheeks flushed.

“My brothers were just as bad I assure you,” I chuckle. “They used to torment my poor garden and track God knows what through the house.”

“How old are they now?”

“Oh they were the cutest things when they were in high school with my girls,” another woman chimes in.

“The boys are in their second year of college. They decided to go overseas and pursue soccer for scholarships. I was pretty surprised they were good enough to get onto their teams in such a soccer heavy country, but they did and they love it.” I smile, thinking back to the phone call where Charles had called me in tears due to his acceptance on the team.

“It must be very hard to have them live so far away,” Carol says softly.

Tingles run up and down my spine and I shoot her a smile, “I love them more than anything. Sending them away so they could be happy was the easiest thing I’ve ever done, no matter if it hurt me.”

The ladies continue to chat with me about the garden and the rehabilitation projects they’ve been planning in the community before Carol directs me to the ‘Alpha and Luna Garden’ so I can see where Tyson had moved my mom’s peony plants.

I found them in the back corner under a shady tree where they were bent over in half. I swore softly looking at the cracked stems and wilting petals. Tingles rolled up my spine again and I stand up calmly.

“Spying on me isn’t a respectful move if you’re trying to get on my good side,” I say.

“I wasn’t spying,” Tyson states gently. I turn around and I see him standing about 20 feet away at the edge of the garden.

“What do you call it then?”

“Checking in on a pack member.”

“Oh, that’s what I am to you.” I chuckle, sarcasm dripping off my words. “Hmm, interesting.”

“Cass—”

“What do you want, Mr. Bergson?”

“So, you’re back to that old move. On a first name basis with my mom, but when it comes to me—”

“I guess she apologized in her own way, a way which I can respect.”

“And you don’t respect me?”

“Definitely not.”

“And what can I do to earn that?”

“Have you apologized to your sister? Have you even tried talking to her?” I say, changing the subject.

“I haven’t seen her around the house yet.”

“She’s been staying with me. And she will continue to stay with me while I... address the issues you have placed in her life and in mine.”

“That issue also affects me if you haven’t noticed, Cass.”

“Seeing as I don’t want you as—” Tyson growls, his eyes flickering black, but I don’t move from my spot. His body shakes in anger, but I continue, “I don’t want you in my life, Mr. Bergson. You’re the Big Bad Wolf and I’m modern day Little Red Riding Hood and it’s eat or be eaten in this.”

I stare at him, readying to call for help in case my jibes push him over the edge. I want to see how far he’ll go, how much he can take before the beast takes control. He wants me to trust him? Let’s see if he trusts himself first.

The black fades from his eyes as he stares at me, “It’s never a smart thing to challenge an Alpha. Especially the Alpha King.”

“I don’t see you as an Alpha, Tyson. At the most, you’re a poor little Omega in an Alpha’s body. And at the least, you’re the scum of the world, just like James.”

Tyson tenses, but his eyes stay the light shade of hazel with no traces of black.

“Gaining better control of your temper, huh?” I ask.

Tyson doesn’t say a word.

“I told you, I’m not your mate, I’m not your anything. But I will accept my role as Luna to the pack, whether that’s temporary or permanent, that’s for me to decide. You can’t force your will on me and expect me to follow like a good little pack member. I didn’t come from your world and you have no idea how to fit into mine.”

Tyson is still, but I know my words have affected him as the edges of his lips have turned down slightly. He looks down at his feet and sighs.

“What will it take?”

“Take to what?”

“To have you trust me again?”

“I never did.”

Silence fills the garden and my eyes start to well with tears as I watch a cacophony of emotions spread across Tyson’s face.

“Yeah, you did. You had to. You came with me, willingly to talk about being mates, remember? You brought me to that damaged shipwreck of a tree house and you trusted me enough to fall asleep in my arms and not worry about the monsters in the world that you just discovered were real.”

He was right, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing it.

“What’s it gonna take, Cassie? I will give you the world if you want it.”

His face displays a sincere look and I know what I have to say next to truly believe him.

“Would you walk away from this?”

He stares at me in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Could you walk away from this? This world? A world full of monsters and titles and being a werewolf? Could you forget about this entire life, your entire life, and give it up if it meant getting to have me and my trust and having a normal life? Could you walk away from it all without turning back?”

Tyson stares at me and opens his mouth, but before he can say a word, a voice screams out.

“Intruders!” and everything changes.

After the screams had begun, Tyson didn’t hesitate to cross the garden, pick me up, and begin running to the pack house where people were congregating. People were crying, screaming, some even bleeding.

“What happened?” Tyson and I said in unison while we assessed the situation.

“Rogues on the South border. Too many to count. I issued a retreat but as soon as I did, they left.” a burly man huffs, blood dripping down his forehead and gathering in his thick eyebrows.

“They’re not alone,” someone else yells.

“They wear the mark of Yakunda.”

Screams come out from the groups of people at the unfamiliar name and one woman in the front faints at the mention. I catch her in my arms and look to Tyson in confusion.

Babe comes running up and looks at us with grief written across his face.

“Status report.”

“2 dead, 6 injured, and 1 missing,” Babe snaps back, his face dead serious as he looks around. He sees me holding the woman and he takes her from my arms and carries her to an outdoor chaise sitting on the back patio and directs some women to keep an eye on her.

“Cass, there’s something—”

Suddenly, two wolves come tumbling out of the bushes from my right and everyone stands on guard, ready to attack.

One wolf is half the size of the other darker wolf, but is still holding its ground while it attacks. They roll and tumble against one another and several try to intervene, but the smaller wolf refuses, snapping at anyone who tries to get in its way between it and its prey.

“NO!” Tyson yells, staring in horror at the smaller wolf.

Suddenly, the smaller wolf lunges, feints left, and manages to get the larger wolf by the throat, tearing it out, blood hitting the ground.

The smaller wolf falls, trapped under the weight of the dead wolf and Tyson runs over quickly.

I scream out for the the smaller wolf, shocked to watch Tyson pull the dead wolf off, revealing a naked and injured Katie below it. She’s transformed from her wolf form and is human again, bloody scratches, bruises, and scrapes covering most of her body.

I run over to them and rip my shirt off, giving it to Tyson to cover her body and press to the giant gash in her arm that is bleeding profusely.

“Katie, what happened?!” I cry out.

“They attacked the house in town—the boys, they were there. I cou-couldn’t let them hurt them. I had to pr-protect him. I couldn’t let them get to Ch—” she passes out, her strength gone and Tyson lets out a howl into the air and the other people in the backyard join him.

Medics rush forward, grabbing the unconscious Katie and hurrying her to the pack hospital. I watch her be rushed away when a sense of horror washes over me.

“She was protecting them,” I whisper. I turn to Tyson who is directing his men to start taking the wounded to the hospital. “TYSON!” I yell.

He looks for me, fear in his eyes until his eyes land on me.

“WHERE ARE MY BROTHERS?” I scream, starting to hyperventilate.

The world becomes a blur as panic ensues. My chest tightens and I see Babe running over, a clean shirt in hand.

“Cass! Cass!! CASS!” He yells, grabbing me and shaking me until I can focus on him. I can hear Tyson growling in the background, but Babe isn’t phased.

“They’re okay,” he whispers. “Charles only got a scratch on him and Katie jumped in front of Chase before any real damage could be done, but—”

“BUT WHAT—” I growl.

“Something happened to Chase in the process. He’s not hurt, but—”

“BUT WHAT—” I repeat, red filling my vision.

“Tyson, I don’t—” Babe turns to Tyson in confusion.

“What happened? Tell her.”

“I don’t know how.”

“What happened?” Tyson asks, his voice growing angry.

"Subitam commutationem.”

AN: A couple of pronunciations/definitions for you: “Yakunda” is pronounced Yah-koon-duh and is a person who will be identified later on and “Subitam commutationem” means sudden change, a process that happens in this book that will be identified in the next chapter, thank you!