The Wolf Of Penshaw Lake

*Mason POV*

It was impossible.

No, it was almost unheard of.

For lower-ranked pack members, sure, but an Alpha? A pure lycan? Mason scratched his beard in frustration and slammed his fist down onto his mahogany, oak desk. He was from the strongest lycan bloodline there had been for centuries. There had not been a human in his family since the sixteenth century.

So why was he feeling the pull towards a human girl?

Mason nursed the straight whiskey in his glass and knocked it back in one. Pouring himself another, he shook his head and tried to reason with himself.

Hard, when lycans aren’t known for their control.

A knock at the door pulled Mason from his self-pitying and he growled, “Come in,” to the poor soul at the other side of the door. For their sake, they had better only have good news.

At the sight of his Beta, Isaac, Mason rolled his eyes and continued to drink his favourite whiskey. Isaac may have been his Beta, and in charge of the pack’s warriors, but he was also Mason’s closest advisor and his best friend. Isaac, like Mason, was a pure lycanthrope and built like one too. Sandy coloured hair that was neat and well-kept, with soft blue eyes and a cheeky smile, Isaac didn’t look like a fearsome warrior, but he was fiercely loyal, protective and unbeaten in a fight.

“What do you want?” Mason sighed tiredly, he definitely wasn’t in the mood for Isaac.

“Well, well, well I knew something was wrong when you went to visit Josie. What has gotten you all worked up?”

Mason slowly sat down in his chair, mustering up every little bit of strength he had in him to stay in this form. He was infamous in the pack, and in neighboring packs, for being one of the only wolves to truly embrace his animalistic side. Others would hide it, push it down and aim for a human life wherever possible, but that confused Mason.

Why would they hide the most incredible thing about themselves? He was brought up to be a proud lycan, proud of his family and his heritage and proud of his species. Mason sometimes preferred to be in his wolf form,’as nature intended I to be′ he would say. But, he knew that it was a dwindling ideal of his species. The more technology was developed and the more that humans cut down the forests, the more they needed to ‘fit in’.

For their own survival.

“Nothing Isaac,” Mason said finally, staring at the growing pile of papers on his desk.

“Do you think I’m daft? Mason, something is troubling you,” Isaac responded. He pointed to the whiskey on his desk, “Or you wouldn’t be drinking at one thirty in the afternoon.”

“Since when were you my therapist?” Mason drawled with a raise of his eyebrows.

“Dick, I’m only concerned because you know we have an important meeting tonight.”

Isaac was right and Mason had completely forgotten, having been blown sideways by the human girl in his cousin’s cafe. Tonight was the night a northern pack on the border of Scotland would be travelling down to see if mate bonds would be discovered, but more importantly, to see if Mason’s mate was with them.

He remained hopeful, that his unusual emotions towards the human girl were only a product of lust and not that she was his mate. His mate should be someone powerful, a female lycan with a title behind her and a good family. It was important to his family that they remained powerful and pure.

“Yes, is everything prepared?” Mason asked.

Isaac nodded, folding his arms across his broad chest. “A site has been set up on pack grounds and rooms set up in the pack house for the Alpha and his wife and their children. Security measures have been increased and there is plenty of food and drink to entertain them.”

Mason absentmindedly cleared his desk, beautiful dark eyes clouding his vision, and he simply nodded in response.

“Mason!” Isaac cried, “Do you realise your mate could be here tonight? You should be more excited!”

“I am not confident she will be Isaac,” Mason responded, finishing the remainder of the whiskey in his glass. “Please go and finish up the preparations, I have some work to complete. I will be out to greet our guests when they arrive. Make sure everyone has ample time to be ready to greet them. I don’t want them to think us idle and unprepared.”

It was an order, not a request. Isaac could feel the cold, firm tone behind his voice and knew not to question him. He was teetering on the edge and struggling to keep himself in check.

“Yes Alpha,” Isaac appeased him, bowing his head respectfully and leaving him in peace.

***

It was drawing sunset when Isaac returned to fetch him. Mason had changed into a black three-piece suit and was combing his black hair in the mirror, neatly sliding it back with some gel. He tugged on the bottom of the suit jacket and adjusted his black tie.

“You are going to make some females very happy,” Isaac chortled.

Mason smirked and turned to face his friend. Isaac too was dressed in a formal suit, his looking much more natural on his ever-so-slightly leaner frame. Masonhatedwearing suits, in fact, he hated most clothes. More often than not his own body temperature was too high to be comfortable in clothing and he felt more natural and at home in his own skin.

Or fur.

“They will be here very shortly. The pack are outside in the clearing ready to greet them.”

“Then lets join them,” Mason replied.

They walked silently out of the pack house, an old Victorian manor situated at the edge of the town by the forest. The houses surrounding the manor all belonged to his pack and the human housing was much further into the centre of town. His driveway led to a natural path leading into the depth of the forest, where the untitled pack members would be staying.

As Mason entered the clearing, he was greeted by his pack who chorused greetings towards him and bowed their heads respectfully. The clearing was set up like a campsite, ready to accompany a pack of just over a hundred members. Two pack members were situated over a barbecue, pups were chasing each other around and females were conversing. Mason immediately relaxed and a soft smile came across his face as he observed his pack.

A howl sounded from the border of the clearing and chatter immediately ceased. Mothers’ encouraged their children to come back to their side and the barbecue was closed, set to a low heat. Through the trees came excited chatter, the crunch of leaves and sticks on the ground and the heartbeats of over one hundred excited wolves.

Mason grinned as the Alpha, Patrick, came into view with his wife, Mia. The two lycan’s shook hands formally and embraced each other in a manly hug, patting each other on the back. Mason greeted Mia, bowing down to her and kissing her hand. A female Alpha was to be respected, perhaps even more than her male counterpart.

“My pack,” Mason announced, “Please may I introduce Alpha Patrick, his wife Mia and their pack to you. Please mingle, converse and introduce yourselves. Any mates, declare yourself to me and Patrick. Other than that, enjoy!”

Mason watched his pack immediately embrace their new friends, children slowly greeted each other before shifting and trying to catch each other. The barbecue was lit once more and soon food was being passed around to the hungry lycans.

“Alpha Patrick, Alpha Mason,” sounded a voice from behind them.

Both Alphas turned to spy a young pairing, shyly holding hands, their mate bond evident from their scents, their red cheeks and the fact that a once normally boisterous and excitable Emma was reduced to barely speaking.

Mason grinned at Emma, a lively girl of eighteen, she was forever running circles around the males in the pack. He was curious if this young male from Patrick’s pack would be able to contain her.

“What is your name?” Mason addressed Emma’s mate.

“Harrison Sir.”

Mason clasped Harrison’s hand in his own to shake it and by doing so, bestowing his blessing onto him. He was accepting the pairing and Emma’s eyes lit up with delight. Patrick did the same with Emma and patted Harrison on the back to congratulate him. Mason left Emma to meet her new Alpha and found Isaac stood against a tree, moodily biting into a burger.

“Now it is I asking you, what is the matter? You look like a slapped arse.”

“My mate is not here,” Isaac replied glumly. “I’m almost twenty-seven. Do you think I will ever find her?”

Mason knew how hard it was. To watch other wolves younger than yourself find a lifetime of happiness...it was crushing. Mason himself was twenty six and had never had even the slightest pull to another female.

Not since the human girl.

She infiltrated his thoughts again and he pushed them away to support Isaac. A part of being an Alpha was not always being fierce, strong and powerful, but he had to be caring and supportive of his pack members too. There was no point in being a leader, if no one wished to follow.

“Isaac you will find her. You are a strong and capable Beta and you will find your life partner. Do not give up hope.”

“I do hope I’m not interrupting,” came the Northern voice of Alpha Patrick.

“Not at all,” replied Mason and Isaac nodded, putting his leg down from where it rested against the tree.

“I would just like to introduce my daughter, Jennifer.” Patrick gestured to a pretty, young girl who smiled as she walked over.

Curly, auburn hair fell down her back in waves and plump lips smiled seductively up at Mason. Short, with an hourglass figure, any normal human male would be drooling at the mere sight of her and Mason could agree that she was a beautiful creature, but she was not his mate.

“It is an absolute pleasure to meet you Jennifer,” Mason humored, kissing her hand as he had done with Mia.

Jennifer’s smile turned slightly sour once she noticed there was no pull once they touched. No spark, no bond, she was not Alpha Mason’s mate. Still, she blinked innocently through long, false eyelashes and falsified interest, if she couldn’t be his mate, perhaps she could still have one night with him.

It would be something to brag about to her friends, anyway.

“I was just about to get myself a drink, would you like to join me Alpha Mason?”

Once again, the beauty of the human girl flew through his mind and he could see straight through Jennifer’s act. Still, she was Patrick’s daughter and he needed the alliance.

“Of course,” he enamored and allowed her to place her arm through his.

Later, the pack meeting had turned into a full blown party. Dee had somehow managed to convince Isaac to shot tequila with her, Josie was kissing a female wolf in Patrick’s pack and Mason was sat, shirtless, watching his pack with a smile on his face and a beer in his hand. Despite his intoxication, Mason could feel his Beta next to him.

“This is what it should be like,” he said suddenly to Isaac who frowned down at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Lycanthropy. Why are we still confined to the trees when humans can show their love for each other anywhere and everywhere?”

A pair of wolves ran past him, barking and chattering to each other as they nipped each other’s heels and playfully tackled each other.

“Because humans will never accept the beauty of lycanthropy,” Isaac sighed wisely. “They fear what they do not understand.”

“Yes,” Mason agreed, drinking the last of the beer in his bottle, “Humans will never truly come to terms with discovering a new species like us. We may be stronger, but they outnumber us tenfold and they have weaponry we could not even begin to imagine. A wolf is no match for a bomb,” He laughed darkly. “They kill each other without a second thought and their wars rage on and on. You’d think they’d learn.”

“-and to avoid suspicion we were drafted into those wars to act as human soldiers,” Isaac added.

Mason shook his head, “I think I’ve had more than enough to drink to be talking lycan politics during a party. I am going to head back to the pack house, please send Alpha Patrick my apologies and let him know that the pack house is available to him, Mia and Jennifer whenever they are ready.”

Isaac nodded dutifully, “Yeah, of course.”

Mason headed quietly back to the pack house, the moon the only illumination he needed to find his way back. He was more than relieved to take off the suit trousers and place his suit jacket and shirt in the basket to be washed.

Collapsing in bed, he heaved a sigh before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

But not before the human girl invaded his mind for one last time that day.