The Rise of The Alpha

Chapter 1

I ran my fingers through my hair as I stared at the latest letter the council had sent me, they had been pushing me for a while now to find a bride and the letter sitting open on the desk was just another one of their reminders. I had two years to find a bride or my mate and if I wasn't able to find someone by their deadline then the council members would come together and find a bride for me of their choosing. I knew that there was a high possibility that they more then likely already had the bride chosen for me and they were just biding their time.

The door to the study opened as my Beta Hunter walked in, "Still staring at that damn letter are you?" He asked walking to the bay windows that overlooked the training yard linking his fingers behind is back as he observed the pack members training, "No matter how many times you stare at it the words won't change Cole. What's done is done." Hunter finished as he walked over to his friends desk sitting in front of it.

"Yeah I know. Doesn't mean that I have to like it. I know its already been three years since I've taken over the pack and four since I turned twenty-one but they blame me for not being able to find my mate or find a steady pack w***e with the right 'Luna qualities' as they've put it." I said sitting back in my desk chair putting air quotes around Luna qualities rolling my eyes.

Hunter leaned back in the chair and watched as his friend made his way over to the bay windows that he had been standing at just moments before, he'd seen Cole go through everything these last few years since the rouge war that took their fathers but this was the most troubling. He had watched Cole fall in love, and thought that they would finally have their Luna until she was caught sneaking off of pack lands and meeting with a rouge who swore that he was her mate. Cole went ballistic and killed him, torturing him while she watched screaming her head off the whole while. He would've killed her too if she hadn't spoken up about her pregnancy so Cole sent her to the council to be dealt with choosing to not be apart of her trial for obvious reasons.

"Just give it time, there's two years until the council meeting. Two years, meaning four Alpha meetings. Which gives us two years to find you a bride. We could open the ballroom doors for all unmated wolves and allow those who are eighteen and older to attend? After all the ballroom is on human territory which means its neutral for all." Hunter spoke joining his friend at the window. I looked at Hunter, what my friend suggested made sense, it was the most logical thing to do.

"We'll do that. It will be made into a week long event. Schedule it for mid-July and another for mid-December. They will be hosted each year until the council meeting." I told Hunter with a hardened finality in my voice which Hunter understood, these balls would be the final chance for me to find my partner so he nodded in agreement. I stayed at the windows, watching the sun go down over the trees long after Hunter left to begin the preparations for the ball since it was already April there wasn't much time until the first one would be held. Walking back to the desk I couldn't help the thoughts running through my mind, the council new that I had been struggling since my fathers passing and had rarely stepped outside of the packs boundaries for fear of another fight happening and if it were to happen while I was away the pack would be torn to shreds.

I glanced up as the door creaked open, it was Miranda one of my old conquests before I refused to bed another woman. I rolled my eyes at the sight of her, after all this time and all of my denials she never was deterred, "Not tonight Miranda. I'm not in the mood for playing any of your stupid little games." She ignored the sentence and strolled into the office, shutting and locking the door before sitting on my desk. "Now, Now Cole. Hear me out sweetheart." She spoke, her words sounding like they were meant to be something sweet but instead were something else entirely. I took the opportunity to lounge back into the desk chair, placing myself further away from her, gathering what her intentions were already as it wasn't classified that the council is pressuring me to find a Luna.

"I'm not taking you for my Luna Miranda." I began, "There will be a total of at least six balls in an attempt for me to find my Luna and until then no other alternatives will be considered. And even so I wouldn't choose someone who has had more partners then there are roads in this pack." I deadpanned, ignoring the furious look she was giving me, I stood up and escorted her out of my office locking the door behind her.

Looking around the office, not much had changed since my fathers passing the pictures books and even the layout of the office had stayed the same. Sitting on the sofa on the wall opposite the bay windows, running my hands through my hair, I had done everything in my power to delay the council and unfortunately there wasn't anything that I could do to delay them any longer.

Xerxes and I hadn't thought about another woman since Jane nor did we care to. My father had welcomed her into his pack, she was a werewolf born into the human world and ran away as soon as she started shifting. Jane and I, along with our wolves, had become fast friends being just a year apart in age, and after a year of being friends it blossomed into something more, which both of my parents were happy to see. Everything was fine up until my father passed, Jane started visiting the human town nearby at first it was weekly until it became daily leading until she'd be gone for days at a time. One day Cole followed her, masking his scent so she wouldn't know he was behind her.

Xerxes growled, "How is thinking about that ungrateful cheating lying w***e going to help us in finding our mate?"

I just rolled my eyes at Xerxes comment, someone still was holding the grudge that I had almost forgotten about, but I chose not to think about her again, as much as I didn't want to admit it Xerxes had a point. Jane was the past for a damn good reason and I wasn't about to let the past interfere with our future. My mother and father had taught me how important mates were and even though I hadn't remained pure for mine, I was constantly reassured that mates were meant for each other and mine would love me regardless.

Tomorrow was the first Alpha meeting of the year where I would inform the Alphas of the ball. Xerxes didn't look forward to the meeting the others were a bunch of greedy pigs. Especially the two Alphas of the West Coast Alphas Jason and Kellan are brothers and they run their packs using all the traditional methods. They don't allow their women to fight and all training for males begins at sixteen and they earn their pack ranks when they turn 18 and gain their wolves. When I visited last year the women were only seen doing basic chores and kitchen duties, being treated almost as slaves. And even though I am the "Alpha King" it doesn't have much pull I oversee all the packs and I have my own, but I cannot interfere on how a pack is run.

My father ran our pack as equal, both men and women trained and shared all basic duties that were required, only the unmated wolves above the age of eighteen stayed in the pack house and you only worked in the kitchen if you wanted or if you needed extra curricular points for school. Whenever a male found his other half a standard single family home would be built on their chosen location within the pack lands. The high-ranking pack families all had one specific stretch of road reserved for them, the Alphas mansion sitting atop the hill at the end of the cul-de-sac, followed by the Betas, Gammas, and Deltas.

I looked up at the ceiling, saying a silent prayer to the moon goddess that I would find my female, my mate, before the councils deadline. I prayed that she would be a Luna strong enough to lead my pack but kind enough to guide my females in matters of the heart and soul. Knowing the council whoever they have picked as my chosen shall I, moon goddess forbid, not find my mate, has already been coerced into some unforeseen deal. As possibilities and thoughts ran through my head I drifted off, thankfully, into a deep and dreamless sleep.