Stealing the Alpha’s Heart

I came home with an improved mood. Sure, I still wasn’t thrilled about the way Mahlan had talked to me, but he seemed appropriately chastised. Besides, how mad could I be when it was because he was worried I got kidnapped? Usually, I would say that was a pretty farfetched option, but considering eight other wolves had disappeared in just as many weeks… well, that was bound to work anyone up, let alone such a protective person like Mahlan.

Speaking of which, my mood got all soft and sappy when I saw he was already cooking in the kitchen. I knew it was usually the woman who was supposed to make the meals, not the muscle-bound provider, but Mahlan seemed to genuinely enjoy creating dishes for me to try.

And all that delicious food was certainly doing a number on me but in a good way. I felt stronger and had more energy. My body was filling out in a way that it was always meant to be instead of just a bit wider than actual emaciation. Even my hair was thicker and shinier, although that could have been the prenatal supplements Mahlan kept putting into the shakes he gave me twice a week.

If it were any other situation, I would have thought he was trying to be slick about something. But I literally petted his wolf form and goodness… his coat was thick and soft. Ridiculously soft. I wanted to lie on him like a rug, but thankfully I’d had some restraint at the time.

Maybe next time, however, I would give in. I was willing to put my newly earned money down that he was very comfortable.

“Whatcha making?” I asked, coming over and pressing a k!ss to his cheek. The way Mahlan perked up at that was pretty gratifying. He was so cute for being a muscled shapeshifter who could rip someone’s throat out with his bare teeth.

“Chicken noodle soup,” he answered, giving him my cheek k!ss.

“Oh my gosh, that’s one of my favorites.”

“I know, that’s why I made it.”

“You are too observant for your own good.”

“I dunno, giving you food you love seems pretty good for me.”

“Sap,” I accused, gently elbowing his side.

“I’m just trying to make up for being an a*s earlier.”

“Well, you’re on the right track.”

I went to the island and sat in my usual spot, observing Mahlan as he happily puttered around. “Hey, I have a weird question.” I blurted.

“Oh?”

“Why haven’t I met your parents yet? That’s a thing that mates do, right?” Mahlan turned to me, his face split by a broad grin. “What? What’s with that expression?”

“You said mate.”

Goodness, now he was being the sappy one, wasn’t he? “I guess I did.”

“You’ll get to meet them at the pack run. It’ll be the first time the entire pack will be together since I became alpha.”

“Oh, that sounds like a huge deal then.”

“It kind of is.”

I tapped my fingers on the counter, thinking. Now that I knew I would be meeting his parents at the event, I was much more interested. “When is this pack run?”

“This Saturday, actually.”

“Wait, I’m going to meet your parents in two days, and you didn’t think to tell me about it?”

“I didn’t want you to feel pressured.”

“Well, it’s too late for that!”

Panic rose in me, but I fought it down. Considering that I was bitten against my will, kidnapped, and everything else, meeting Mahlan’s parents wasn’t really a big deal. I got the impression there wasn’t anything they could do about it considering I’d already been bitten.

“Okay, so like, in the future, I require at least a week’s notice before I’m supposed to meet significant familial figures.”

“Fair.”

Matter abated, he served dinner and explained the pack run to me. It seemed like a family reunion, just like the dinner, except more. Well, the dinner had been so fun, I was certain the run would be great.

Okay, maybe certain was a bit too strong. I was pretty sure.

Mostly sure.

… I hoped I was right.

“By the by, I’m going to ask the younger and untrained pack members to take a few safety and self-defense classes together. That way, you won’t be all on your lonesome.”

“That’ll be fun.” I paused briefly, drinking down a delicious spoonful of chicken noodle soup. “Although I kinda figured you would be the person training me.”

“As flattered as I am, I want you to have the best training possible. Your teachers will be experienced and certified more than I ever could be.”

I liked that about Mahlan. He was incredibly powerful, but he was also realistic. He didn’t think he could defeat anything just because he was strong.

“But maybe you could work with me sometimes? Maybe to practice?”

He sent me a knee-melting grin, and I was pretty lucky I was sitting down. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

The conversation went from there, flowing naturally as a talk between two comfortable partners would. But it wasn’t until we were curled together, binging an entire magical series on the couch, that I realized I was falling for my mate.

Huh. I never saw that coming.

---

The days passedin a blur and the next thing I knew, it was Saturday.

“Hey, Mahlan, what should I even wear to this thing?”

“Whatever you want, it doesn’t really matter.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?” I called down the hall.

“Lyssa, my dear, think about it. This event is for people who shed their skin and run around in wolf form.”

“… right.”

I paced the closet for a few minutes before pulling some nicer clothes. By then, Mahlan had returned from the kitchen, handing me another smoothie that was no doubt going to be delicious.

“You can wear jeans if you want. You don’t have to be fancy.”

“You’re introducing me to the entirety of your pack and your parents. If I’m not going to dress up for that, then when?”

“Fair enough. But I’m no Emmaline, so I probably shouldn’t be handing out style advice.”

“I dunno, you had a pretty keen eye when we were lifting stuff. You sure you don’t have any recommendations?”

He looked over the somewhat sizable pile I’d thrown on the bed. I half expected him to be dismissive, but to my surprise, he seemed to give the idea genuine consideration.

“What about those shorts with the ties? They’re dressy but a little casual. And that top with the, uh… loopy sleeves?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his description. “You mean the shallop-sleeve top? Like that green one?”

“Yeah, that’s definitely what I said.”

“Sure, it was.”

I quickly got dressed then we both headed to the kitchen, where Mahlan was loading up an absurd amount of snacks into a duffle bag.

“What’s going on here?” I asked, thoroughly amused.

“Turns out running around as a wolf tends to make a shifter a bit peckish.”

“That checks out.”

Even if it did, it was plenty amusing to watch a grown man shove as much high-calorie junk food as he could into a very finite space. Then we headed out and made our way back to the countryside.

Sure enough, there were a lot of people there. People who I’d never seen hide nor hair of before. Mahlan led me around the group of nearly a hundred different souls, their ages ranging from teenagers to literal senior citizens. I was shocked, gobsmacked, and maybe add a pinch of bamboozled.

I’d thought Mahlan was responsible for maybe twenty to twenty-five people with how he talked about his pack. I had no idea it was so huge.

It was almost like a small town had gathered in the village square for a BBQ, and I was the odd one out.

Except they certainly didn’t make me feel like the odd one out. Everyone greeted me like I was a long-lost friend, their smiles backdropped by the gorgeous mountains spread out behind them.

It turned out we weren’t in the exact same spot that Mahlan had shown me, as that couldn’t accommodate a hundred people at once. We were on private property about an hour further into the countryside. Whose private property, I had no idea. But the pack run spread so far that sometimes a few of them would end up where Mahlan had taken me towards the end of the night.

As Mahlan took me on the introduction tour, I noted many tables set out and even a couple of grills. It wasn’t what I imagined, not at all, but it was lovely. The family reunion I’d always longed for.

I was legitimately enjoying myself, troubles forgotten, until he guided me to a woman who looked like an older version of Emmaline.

“Mother, this is my mate, Lyssa.” An older man approached, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was Mahlan’s father. “Ah, and this is my dad.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, offering my hand to them. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

That actually wasn’t true, but what was I supposed to say?

“Oh, Lyssa! Likewise! We’ve been so excited to meet you, but we understood when Mahlan said you needed some time to acclimate.”

And now I got where Emmaline’s bubblier personality came from.

“Can I hug you? Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

She did indeed hug me and goodness… it was a good hug. I was pretty sure I already liked the woman, which was amazing considering I’d spent the last two days somewhat terrified of her disapproval.

After all, I was a maybe/maybe-not shifter who was homeless, packless, and utterly uneducated in their culture. Technically, I was still a teenager for a few more months, and I had nothing to my name.

But they didn’t seem to care, not one drop. Even the more reserved father greeted me warmly, taking my much smaller hand in both of his as he firmly shook it.

Maybe this whole pack thing wasn’t that bad after all.

Mrs. Reese launched into a half-monologue, half-happy tirade about all the plans and things she’d like us to do together, from going to the spa to meeting her dog Fergus to passing down some of the family’s traditional dresses. I tried hard not to laugh about a shifter owning a canine, but something about it reminded me of the weirdness of Mickey Mouse owning Pluto.

“Mom, I warned you that you couldn’t hog her,” Mahlan said, grinning wryly at his parents.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Your mother is just excited, dear. I’ll let you go, but you truly are a beautiful, lovely young lady, Lyssa.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, knowing my cheeks were bright pink and unable to do anything about it. “We’ll talk more later.”

“You bet your last moonstone we will! Hugs again!”

We did indeed hug again, and Mahlan continued introducing me to folks. It didn’t take long for the names and faces to kind of blend into each other, and I couldn’t help but marvel at how normal everyone was.

I dunno, when I found out I was going to a gathering of people who had wolves explode out of them, I’d expected some real characters. Like maybe a field full of Ellibies. Which I realized didn’t make sense considering that everyone else I met was pretty normalish by human standards. But in my head, they’d all been curious characters and somewhat backwater. Not lawyers, nurses, teachers, kids, and grandparents.

Weird. It was all weird.

But I liked it.

Thankfully, the introductions didn’t last forever, the act fizzling out when someone called that food was ready, and people began to serve themselves from one of the long tables laden with all sorts of dishes. I spotted Mahlan’s open duffle bag in the middle of it, nestled between deviled eggs and fruit salad.

It was delicious, naturally. I wondered briefly if shifters’ extra senses made them better cooks but didn’t spend too much time spinning my thoughts around it. The food was just too good to be distracted like that.

I was thoroughly enjoying myself, chitchatting with a couple of people around me. Maria, a single mom and nurse with had three teenagers who were at their own table. Angelo, a deaf man who apparently couldn’t hear a thing in his human form but could hear fine as a wolf. I couldn’t imagine the whiplash of that. Then there was Gertrude and Amos, a couple in their seventies who kept having to lean forward to hear anyone speak and were utterly adorable.

I loved it. I could see myself getting to know everyone over the years, a life of companionship and happiness stretching out before me in my mind’s eye. I’d always assumed my future would be one of struggle, one of barely making it by. But what if it didn’t have to be?

That thought warmed me just as much as the scrumptious food in my belly, and I tried not to tear up. Mixed success on that front, but I was able to get myself together before Mahlan stood, clearing his throat like he was going to make a speech.

Oh, that was interesting. Beyond his few words at that one ritual, I’d never heard him do any public speaking before. I imagined he had to do a fair amount of it as alpha. Unless they entirely communicated in howls?

“Packmates, we have not had an easy time this past year. Violence and sudden change have rocked our very pack structure. But I believe that the coming years will be our strongest!” There was a cheer from many of the attendees and I watched, a bit enamored with my mate. He looked so passionate, it was really inspiring.

“We haven’t recovered our moonstone yet, but we are making great strides! Soon we will reclaim our rightful artifact and be able to move forward into the future together.

“However, as I’m sure you’ve all heard, there are an unprecedented number of disappearances plaguing all parts of our community. Shifters, witches, you name it. Eight of our kind have suddenly been taken, which is about eight too many.”

There was a worried murmur amongst the crowd, and I could practically feel their concern prickling up my spine.

“Many of those targeted have been women, the young, and the solitary. So I would like everyone under the age of twenty and all of our able-bodied women to take self-defense classes. I am aware that several of you are just as accomplished fighters as me, and I hope you will help your sisters learn. I have no doubt there are techniques that you’ve learned over the years that are far more relevant than anything I could teach.”

I looked around at some of the female pack members, trying to judge their expressions, but they all seemed varied, just like any other group.

“Classes will begin in two weeks. No one is expected to attend every class, but it will only strengthen our pack if we all do what we can. Note, all men are invited to attend as well. However, if classes are full, preference will be given to our more vulnerable members, as they’re the ones being specifically targeted.

“These are scary times, with our territory disappearing faster than ever, but I have faith in every one of you! I swear my life, my teeth, and all my loyalty to every soul here!”

And there was another chorus of cheers and even — perhaps ironically — some wolf whistles.

“Now, let’s get down to the ridge! In five minutes, we run as one!”

More hooting and hollering, with everyone around me starting to get up and take off. I sat there, watching their enthusiasm and feeling plenty of compersion for them. It was nice to see people so happy and having a good time.

Speech brilliantly delivered, Mahlan returned to me, offering his hand. I took it, and he walked me to another table under a sun canopy. It was only then that I noticed a woman around Emmaline’s age sitting there, gently cooling herself with one of those fancy, lace hand fans.

“Lyssa, this is our alma. We talked about her before, remember?”

“I do,” I said with a nod. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Oh, none of that,” the woman said, surprisingly normal. Maybe it was silly, but I’d imagined something mystical, almost haunting, like her magic would leak out of her words themselves. Because almas were magic… right? I wasn’t quite clear on that. “I am just alma. Or Alma Savannah if you have a thing for lots of syllables. And if I decide I like you, you can just call me Savvy.”

“Yes, ma’a- I mean, alma.”

“Thank you, dear.”

“The two of you will have some time together while the rest of us run. Alma, this is my mate, the one who can’t shift. I called you about her, if you recall.”

“Ah, yes, the one who’s had her magic meddled with. Come, sit with me, dear. We have plenty to talk about.”

I had no idea what to expect, but I found myself quickly charmed by her. Sitting at her side, I gave Mahlan what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

I wished I could run with them, I realized. I’d never thought much about changing my body into a wolf, but now that I was presented with so many close people about to bond and have fun together, I could see the appeal.

“Be safe,” I said, wishing I could k!ss Mahlan but not quite feeling brave enough to stand up and do that with what was essentially his pack’s super doctor sitting next to me.

“Always am,” he said with a wink before running off to be with the rest of his pack.

“So,” Alma Savannah said, turning her dreamy gaze to me. “Tell me about yourself, my dear.”