The Alpha's Mutt

“Alpha?”

“Yes, Casey?”

“Wolves along the southern border?”

“Again?” I scoffed. “They never learn.”

“They claim to be on a search for a missing pack member and they believed this to be a neutral territory.”

“Of course, they did.” I responded, rolling my eyes, though he could not see it.

The truth of the matter was that this area was meant to be neutral territory and we were aware of that. However, our pack had been posted up here for the last year. You would have thought that word would have spread by now of our claim. It was not as though this was a desirable piece of land, perched high on a mountainside. Though, we did not view this as a problem, we found it advantageous and did not mind making our homes amongst the caves.

We were wolves after all. Did it not make sense that we lived wild? We were not like the other packs, living their lives in luxury. Attempting to blend with the human world rather than living how we were truly meant to. We had all been blinded by the comforts that world provided at one time, but we knew better now. Animals lived in the wild, so why should we live any different?

We had been shunned by those who had chosen to be tamed. Pushed away from the comforts of life that we had known. Cast out from their world and left to rot. They did not know what happened to us and they did not care. We held no value in their eyes and we felt the same about them.

We had found each other despite our circumstances and under my leadership, we had formed a pack of sorts, the Pariah Pack. We did not have such rigid rules as the rest of the wolf community. We did things our way and formed our society based on values that we believed important rather than those of some ancient Alphas. They knew nothing of the world today and their beliefs had grown archaic.

The nearby packs were growing ever curious as to our intentions on our high perch. Looking over all of their lands. Several local Alphas had come sniffing around. We did not want to threaten anyone, we merely sought sanctuary from the rest of the world. However, that did not mean that we could not be a threat to those who pushed us to that point.

“Alpha, they are claiming they believe one of their females may be hiding amongst our pack. They are asking permission to enter our lands and search for her.”

This irritated me, greatly. If the female had fled, then she likely had good reason.

“Nonsense. If she has sought sanctuary here, then it is our responsibility to provide it. Tell them that their request is denied.”

“We already informed them of our pack’s stance on these matters, but they are insistent.”

“Ugh…” I sighed. “Keep them at the border. I will be there soon.”

I made my way through the tunnels that led deep into the mountains, keeping our homes well hidden. I began to ponder on the poor she-wolf that these wolves were seeking. I did not know if she was amongst our numbers, but if she was then I would defend her right to be here. No wolf left their homes without reason. There was always a driving force behind their departure.

I knew that there was behind mine.

I felt that strange pit in my stomach that I did whenever I thought about my former pack. I did not long for the pack, in particular, but there were a couple of wolves that I missed. One because I wanted to and the other because I had no choice. The mate bond called through the distance even though it had been almost two years since we had laid eyes on the other.

I was not the same wolf that I had been when I had left the Elwood Pack. Everything had changed in such a short amount of time. The mutt had died along with my pack allegiances and now…now, I was the strong and powerful leader of a pack all my own. An Alpha despite my gender; as I said, we did not hold to traditional pack norms.

I, the meek and shy little mutt, had managed to gather together an allegiance between rogues. Rising in the ranks as we built our pack together. Wolves that had been believed as lost causes or useless to their packs, had proven to make the most efficient and loyal of pack members. We took in all wanderers and our numbers were growing, rapidly. Many left abusive pack lives in the hopes that the stories of our pack were more than mere fairytales. As long as their intentions were pure then they were welcomed with open arms.

As I reached the border, where I knew the wolves were waiting, I could see Casey and Emlyn in their wolf-forms, holding the others at bay, teeth barred. Whilst my Beta, Jamari, could be seen standing in human-form, her clean-shaved, mahogany scalp shining in the sunlight, as she was speaking with the intruders. They were not members of our pack, so they could not mindlink with us, this meant someone had to be human to understand their intentions. To be honest, no one here took their human forms very often.

“Ah, our Alpha has arrived. Maybe you will understand her viewpoint on things, since my word was not good enough.” Jamari huffed.

I chuckled inwardly. She did not take intrusions on our territory lightly and she tended to irritate easily. As her irritation grew, so would her sarcasm as her patience ebbed. But she was the hardest working, most loyal wolf that I had ever known. Not to mention, she could take down any wolf that challenged her. I had never seen her lose a fight and, fortunately for me, she had taught me everything she knew.

Jamari and I had stumbled upon each other a couple of weeks after I had turned rogue. She took me under her wing and helped me learn the survival skills that were necessary. Then she taught me how to fight and trained me in agility. I had never been stronger in my life. I owed her everything, but she would never let me attempt to repay any of it. Choosing her for my Beta was as close as I would get.

Things had been very difficult for us in the first couple of weeks of our friendship as it was difficult to communicate with each other. But she had always remained patient with me, knowing that my case was particularly difficult. Once we were able to form our pack, the mindlink had allowed for communication to become a breeze. But because of my situation, I still could not often speak out loud, causing Jamari to act as my voice whenever it proved necessary.

She did not appear to mind, though. She was quick to anger, and this made it difficult for her to think diplomatically in tense situations. This was often where I had come in. I had learned that I had a knack for reaching people, speaking to them on a level that touched the deepest parts of their soul. I was gifted with this ability by the Goddess as I was meant to be a Luna. Able to rule over the pack with kindness and love.

Turns out that those traits, when combined with anger and resentment, made for a fairly effective Alpha as well. I had the strength, stamina, agility, and rage of an Alpha. With the compassion and intellect required of a Luna. My pack had found these traits to be a winning combination having chosen me, specifically, for this role.