The Shadow Alpha

~Dream-~

I was once again in the familiar meadow, seated on the bench under the willow tree. Soon enough the beautiful woman I expected to see appeared before me with a small smile on her face.

“Good evening my dear Alpha Shadow.” She smiled wider when I stood up to hug her.

"Good evening Mother.” I greeted graciously and we took a seat on the bench.

"How are you my child?” she inquired in her soothing motherly voice and I sighed knowing better than to say I was fine when it was me who requested her presence.

“I am in need of your guidance mother.” She sent me a knowing look and nodded encouragingly.

“I am confused mother, by right my mate bond with Devin should have been restored the moment he accepted me, but I don't know why I still feel the pain of his rejection, it feels as if our bond is somehow weaker than what it had been before and despite the passion and attraction we both feel when we are physically connected, when we are apart I feel nothing but pain. I don't know what to do anymore Mother, please I need your help.” She listened closely and took my hands into hers with a smile marring her face.

“My dear Allison, in the past there have been Shewolves such as yourself, bestowed with the gift and the responsibility of maintaining peace among your kind, but unlike you they were not fortunate enough to have a soul mate as other wolves do.” She revealed with an earnest look and my confusion sky rocketed, “In the time of the Gods, Werewolves had one soul and one body with four arms and four legs. They were an incredibly powerful race, but as we know, in the world where there is good there is evil. One day a powerful leader gathered his army and threatened to conquer the Gods, but they were defeated by Zeus and as a punishment the entire race suffered. He split their bodies into two halves and took away their power; power akin to that which you possess.” She sent me a meaningful look.

“That means that I am of the kind of the original werewolves?” my thoughts were cut short as she continued.

“From that day forward, the Werewolf race was tasked with finding their missing half before they could live in peace. The task proved to be near impossible, many succumbed to loneliness and died without having found their mates and reproducing. When the Goddess Aphrodite saw their kind dying off, she took pity on them and gave them the ability to recognise their mates by a mere scent and touch. Soon after, wolves in each area grouped together to form packs while the strongest members led the pack, that way it became easier to identify mates.” I listened intently as she spoke entranced by the story of our ancestors, this isn't something you can read about in any book or scroll

“When the Shadow wolf was created, she was born with a complete soul, only two arms and two legs, she yielded the power of an original werewolf as well as the ones you know of today, but she was never given a mate since she had a complete soul. With each generation that passed I noticed my dear Shadow grow lonelier and lonelier and so with the help of Goddess Aphrodite and Maa Kali Devi we created another being that is made for you, but in order to create the Shadow wolf with a mate, we had to share your soul with him and his with you for the bond to be created, that is how he is connected to me too.

“The other Gods were rather unhappy with our creation, but were unable to stop us and instead placed a barrier between the two of you. They wanted assurance that you along with your mate would not procreate and create a whole new werewolf race that is stronger and more agile than the existing ones. You and your mate must prove yourselves as true leaders and honest protectors of the Were kind, then only will your bond be fulfilled. The pain that you feel is not that of your mate's rejection, but rather the restriction of the Gods on your mate bond.” It was a lot of information to take in. It made a lot of sense and I could understand some of it now, but something was still unclear to me.

"How do we prove ourselves mother? What should we do to gain the trust of the Gods?" I inquired with keen interest.

She beamed and responded, “You both hold a unique power, a power that can only be unleashed together. Find your soul within him and become one, but do not mistake completing the mating process as becoming one. Use your power for good, the choices you make will determine whether you are together or apart.”

I was rather puzzled by her words; I had no idea what power she spoke of and how to become one without completing the mate bond. I knew better than to ask questions though, if she were to give me the answer I would have had it already, she wanted us to figure it out on our own and that's what 1 will do.

I looked up at her and smiled gratefully, “Thank you Mother, I will fight with everything within me to fulfil my duty to you and my mate.” She returned my smile and placed her hand on my arm.

“I trust you Allison, it's time you trusted yourself and your mate. You evoke your own inner turmoil, when you learn to forgive yourself is when you will realise why things happened the way they did.” she advised one last time before she stood up and walked back in the direction she came from, but before she could fully disappear she turned and spoke once more.

“To be apart in love is to be together in spirit, no evil can conquer that which cannot be seen.” And just like that she vanished into the darkness; the calming light that always surrounded her engulfed by the night.

~End of Dream~

My eyes snapped open as I was dragged from my dream world and thrust back into reality. My heart was pounding; I could feel sweat dripping from my body which I soon realised was due to Devin's body heat. I carefully pried myself from his arms without waking him and placed the pillow I used with my scent on it between his arms which he immediately clutched tightly.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 2:30am and I groaned internally.

When am I ever going to get a proper night's rest? I thought to myself.

With a resigned sigh I grabbed a sticky note from his desk and wrote a quick note for my mate so that he wouldn't think I ran away. I stuck the note on the bedside lamp on his side before I walked out of his room and closed the door lightly behind me.

In the dead of the night I could hear the faint breaths of everyone in the pack house, suddenly a muffled voice caught my attention and I froze. I took a few steps back towards the direction of the voice and found myself in front of Austin and April's door. I concentrated on their voices as I leaned against the wall beside their door.

“I know that he is dead Austin! Stop lying to me, I felt it, I felt him die!” April's frantic voice sobbed angrily.

Who in the world is he? The unmistakable sound of his hand coming down on her face travelled to me followed by a sharp cry from her, I stifled a gasp.

“Shut up mutt! I don't care what you feel, if you don't keep your mouth shut and finish what we came here for I'll make sure you and that good for nothing son of mine pays for it!” Austin sneered and I could just picture her cowering in the corner of the room as he towered over her, the way he had done to me countless times.

My hands balled up into fists, I had to fight my urge to go in there and break his jaw for laying a hand on a woman. I heard his footsteps nearing the door, on impulse I ducked into Hunter's room which was directly opposite theirs. The sight I was met with made me gag, both Hunter and Jolene were sprawled across his bed stark naked. Thankfully all their precious jewels were covered or I might just have needed to wash my eyes out with salt water; I guess it was my fault for barging into their room anyway. My cheeks flamed bright red as I listened to Austin’s footsteps grow softer as he walked further away.

I stepped out of the room quietly when I heard his footsteps disappear downstairs, I could hear April's muffled sobs and I once again had to hold myself back from walking in there to comfort her. I hurried down the stairs as quietly as possible, trying my hardest to ignore the quiet sobbing and rather focussed on Austin closing the front door behind him. A part of me wanted to follow him, but the more rational part of me argued that regardless of whether I was the shadow wolf or not, the rogues have become a whole lot stronger and I was very certain that the neutral land outside our borders was prowling with them. My chances of going undetected were slim out there.