The Alpha's Mutt

Alpha Farris emerged from his office still feeling groggy from the night before. He had drunk more than his fair share at the party and had not slept well at all. He was in a foul mood and certainly did not have the energy to deal with anyone’s crap today.

“You, bastard! How could you?!” A shrill voice shrieked from behind him as he turned to head down the hall.

He cringed at the sound of it. His head pounded, not to mention, he was being disrespected by whichever she-wolf was currently screaming in his direction. No one had the right to speak to him in such a manner, he was the Alpha after all, he demanded respect. He turned around to face his accuser, trying to calm himself, so that he could determine the cause of her discontent.

“Do not speak to me in such a manner…” He growled, reminding her of her place before continuing.

He recognized the woman as Alessa, his Beta and best friend’s newly found mate. She looked disheveled and angry; it was obvious that she had not been awake for long this morning either.

“Do not let your new position and its power go to your head. I am still your Alpha.”

“Yes, Alpha, I apologize.” Alessa ground out through clenched teeth, her jaw set firm, anger seething from every pore.

“Now…what is it that has you so furious?”

“I cannot believe that you would bed that whore while you have a mate waiting for you!” She cried out, losing control of her temper again.

“I am your Alpha; it is not your place to question my actions." He reminded her, his eye twitching, slightly, from the disrespect in her voice.

“That may be true. But I am the closest thing to family that YOUR mate has. Therefore, your actions are my business when they come to her pain.” Alessa countered.

“My mate is a mutt.” He spat, not entirely sure where the hatred in his voice came from.

“How dare you!!!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyes turning feral as she readied herself to charge.

“Back down, she-wolf!” He bellowed, resisting the urge to force her with his Alpha tone.

He did not like to use it unless he had to, so he reserved it for only when it was completely necessary.

Deene rushed in out of nowhere, sensing the distress of his mate and the anger of his Alpha. He ran to Alessa’s side and wrapped a protective arm around her waist.

“What is going on here?” He asked, remaining calm despite the tense situation.

“When I was heading to the kitchen to get us some breakfast, I saw Sauda leaving Alpha Farris’s room! Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were disheveled! He spent the night with another she-wolf even though he has a mate!” Alessa explained, her tone dripping with accusation.

“Is this true?” Deene turned and looked at Farris with a confused expression, his eyebrows furrowed.

“My habits are none of your concern.” He reminded.

Alessa’s anger began to rise again, and Deene could sense that she was ready to lash out. He knew that this could be a grave mistake, no matter how close he and Farris were, Alessa would not get away with attacking the Alpha. Even if she did little to no damage, she would have to punished for such blatant disrespect; Farris would have no choice.

“Alessa, please try to calm down. I will work this out with Farris. Why don’t you go back to the room and shower? Maybe it would be good for you to go out and see Mystique today. I know that you have been wanting to see her, but I have been keeping you, well…busy.” Deene cocked his eyebrow and put emphasis on the last word causing Alessa to blush, slightly.

“Alright.” Alessa conceded with a huff. “But you better talk to him. He cannot be bedding other women when he has a mate, he should at least have the decency to reject her first. Speaking of which, she doesn’t like to be called Mystique, she prefers Mysti.”

With that, Alessa turned and headed back down the hall. She trusted that her mate would talk some sense into Alpha Farris, even if it took all day. In the meantime, she was happy to go spend time with Mysti. She felt bad that she had not been out there for so long. It was difficult when you first find your mate, you want to spend all of your time with them, and it was hard to find enough time to get away. But that was no excuse, she knew that Mysti needed her, and she felt awful having neglected her for so long.

“Can we go into your office?” Deene requested.

Farris huffed and rolled his eyes and reopened the door to his office and gestured for Deene to enter. He followed him in and then turned to close the door behind them. Farris stomped over to the leather sofa and flopped himself down onto it, unceremoniously.

“What do you want, Deene?” He grumbled.

“Farris…what are you doing, man? You know that it isn’t right to bed another wolf when you have a mate. I know that you may not be sure if you want her or not, but you need to have respect for the bond. You know that it is possible that she felt you mating with another last night? She could be in tremendous pain right now because of your actions! You may not care for her because she is not a pure blood, but you should not want to cause her pain!” Deene lectured.

Deene had always been the better of the two of them. He had a kind heart and a genuine personality. Should he have found that he was he was mated to a mutt he would not have minded at all. He would have embraced her, certain in the belief that the Moon Goddess had paired her to him for a reason. Farris, on the other hand, had been raised to be cold and fearless. His father, Cosmo, had not encouraged emotions nor kindness. He certainly would not have approved of his son being mated to an impure half-blood mutt.

As a matter of fact, it had been his father’s hatred of the mutt that had fueled Farris’s own distaste. He had taught him that the union of a wolf with a human was an abomination. It watered down the purity of the wolf bloodline making for weaker wolves. He found proof of his beliefs in the fact that the mutt, Mystique, could not shift at will like all the pure-blood wolves. She could only turn at night.

Farris had visited other packs on Alpha duties. He had seen that not all of them regarded their mutts in such a way. Many of them actually celebrated mutts as proof that the two species, human and wolf, could eventually live side-by-side in harmony. His father never approved of the behavior of these packs arguing that their weakness made them untrustworthy. They may have been allied with the pack, but they would never count on them because they would lack the strength necessary in times of crisis. Or so his father had forced Farris to believe.

“I did not do anything. So, there is no risk of harm to the mutt.” Farris explained, crossing his arms over his chest in irritation.

“What do you mean that you did not do anything? You mean to tell me that you shared a bed with Sauda, and nothing happened? I would find that very hard to believe.”

“You can believe what you want, but I am not guilty of anything. I thought about doing something and Goddess knows that Sauda did everything in power to seduce me. But every time that I tried to kiss her, I was filled with disgust. When she pawed at me, my skin was crawling. I could not do it. I could not betray my mate, even if she is just a filthy mutt.”

Deene took in the scene before him for the very first time. Farris was still wearing his pants and undershirt from the night before. His hair was a mess and stubble graced his chin. He was usually much more kept than this. Deene glanced at the sofa below Farris, and it dawned on him that it had been set up as makeshift bed with pillows and blankets.

“Did you sleep in your office?” Deene queried.

“I could not share a bed with that woman, and she refused to leave.” Farris growled.

Deene could not help but chuckle at this. Big, bad Alpha Farris forced onto his office couch because he could not share a bed with a she-wolf that was not his mate.

“Do you find this funny?” Farris snapped.

“I’m sorry, man, but you have to admit it is a little amusing.”

Farris failed to see the humor in the situation. So, he simply huffed and rolled his eyes at his friend.

“You know what this means though, don’t you?” Deene questioned.

“What?” Farris grunted in response.

“You’re going to have to make a decision about Mysti, sooner rather than later.”

Farris knew that he had been putting this off too long. It was not fair to either of them to continue ignoring the situation. But he had to admit that he was conflicted. He had been told all of his life that mutts were something to be despised. Yet he had also been taught that your mate is a gift from the Goddess, the other half of your soul. Mates were meant to be cherished and loved above all others. How was he meant to reject her now?

“I know. I have been considering the best way to handle the rejection.” Farris lied, uncertain that he should admit his confusion allowed.

“So, you do plan to reject her then?”

Farris could sense the sadness in Deene as he asked this. He knew that Deene would feel this way. He had always held the idea of his mate in the highest regard; he would never imagine rejecting her, no matter the circumstances. He was also one of the few members of the pack that did not believe in Farris’s father’s edict that mutts were to be treated as second-class citizens.

Deene’s fondness towards the mutt had only grown fonder after discovering that she was the best friend of his mate and was destined to be his Luna. As the pack’s Beta, he would feel the greatest desire out of the pack members towards respecting and protecting his Luna. It was one of his duties, after all, to ensure the safety of the Alpha and his Luna. Until Farris rejected her, Deene would have a pull to serve Mystique that would be hard for him to resist. Farris was keenly aware of this fact and would not hold anything against him for this.

“What would you have me do?” Farris asked, truly wishing to know his friend’s opinion on the matter.

“I would ask you to look inside yourself. Forget that she is a mutt. Forget that you are an Alpha. You are simply mates. Would you still wish to reject her then?”

Farris sighed in frustration. He felt that Deene simply did not understand his predicament.

“That is easy for you to say. Your mate is a pure-blood wolf. No one would ever look down on you for accepting what is yours. How would they look at me? An Alpha mated to a mutt?! Have you ever heard of such a thing?! I would lose all respect!”

“Is the respect of others really worth the loss of the other half of your soul?” Deene questioned, truly believing his words.

Farris could not help but pause for a moment. There was a part of him that knew that Deene was right. The half of him that felt empty without his mate there, agreed that nothing would be worth such a loss. Yet, the Alpha in him, the strong wolf that commanded admiration, disagreed vehemently. That part of him, could not stand the shame that would be associated with mating a mutt.

“What about your pups?”

“Hmmm?” Farris was pulled out his thoughts by the surprise of Deene’s question. “What do you mean?”

“If you reject your chosen mate then you will never have biological pups.” Deene reminded him.

“Yes, this is true…” Farris considered Deene’s words for a moment.

He had never really thought on this issue much as he was not eager to become a father. He did not feel that he would be any good at it; his own father had not provided much of an example. However, this did not mean that he did not want to have pups eventually. He was an Alpha after all, and it was part of his duty to sire the next heir to the title. It was a responsibility that he owed to the pack to ensure that the next generation would be well cared for.

“I could always adopt. There are pups out there who need a good family.” Farris shrugged, trying to brush it off.

“This is true.” Deene agreed with a nod. “But is that really something that you are willing to give up? It is not her fault that her blood is mixed. She was simply born; she has committed no crime. The Goddess paired her to you for a reason. Perhaps so that the cloud placed on you by your father could be lifted. We are one of the few packs that still practice this antiquated belief that mutts are less than others. Take a good long look inside of yourself. Is all of this really worth losing the other half of your soul? Your future pups? Think on it before you make a decision that you could come to regret.”

Then Deene left the office, closing the door behind him, without another word. Nothing more needed to be said. He had made his point and he knew it. Now it was up to Farris to make the right decision. Deene had always had faith in Farris and now, more than ever, he prayed to the Goddess to guide his friend.