Banished by the Alpha

The Mall

Cory POV

I never thought of myself as remarkable. I was a "plain Jane" type with ash brown hair that had just enough body to not be boring, hazel green eyes, and a face that was neither ugly nor stunning. I tried to spice it up sometimes with short, pixy cuts and the occasional new color or some extra eye makeup. But I wasn't very good at makeup and boy short hair made my round face look fat and too masculine, even if it made my life easier because I hated doing my hair. Even my name was boyish, Cory, well that's what everyone had always called me but my full name was Corinthia Allana McCallister.

It didn't really matter anyways since we lived mostly in seclusion. My parents, siblings, and I were rogues. My father had conceded the fight to Lucas when he was near death. He wanted to spare his family from losing him. Lucas was quick to banished us because he was worried my older brother would train day and night to overthrow him. Which was pretty much true since Connor hadn't stopped training since we left the pack territory three whole years ago.

I hadn't even gotten to experience my first shift yet! I had to leave my best friend and everyone I loved that wasn’t immediate family and learn to do everything for myself. We were spoiled at the pack house as kids and I'd only learned how to make simple food and didn't really know how to do laundry or yard work but I did now. I had grown strong hauling bags of animal feed and hay bales on the farm we now ran. Plus, I joined my brother for the occasional training session but he was pretty intense and I always came away with some severe injuries.

Our dad rarely let us shift into our wolf forms because he was worried we might be found. Rogues were assumed to be bad by other packs and, while we weren't on any pack territory, my dad was always very careful. After bad injuries we needed to shift to speed up our healing and he usually made us hide in the barn to do it, which was no fun and my wolf, Opal, absolutely hated laying in the hay loft, smelling goats and chickens and not running free through the woods.

I had found Opal just weeks after we were banished. My father had just found a job working with humans and we were still homeless. Luckily the homelessness meant we were hiding out in the woods away from anyone who might have seen my first shift. It wasn’t pretty and I howled in pain several times before it was over. Now I could shift into Opal quickly and easily.

My 18th birthday was last month and I was an adult now. I'd be graduating high school soon, under the radar at a human school near our farm. My older sister, Emily, always complained about not being able to find her mate while we laid low as a family but I wasn't worried about it much. I enjoyed spending time with the animals and by myself. My brothers and I were closer than I had ever really been with Emily since she was a bit of a girly-girl with some dramatic flair, and I was a Tom boy who chose comfort over style in basically all aspects of my life. Don't get me wrong, I had her help me doll up for my senior prom and rocked the night away but if it weren't a special occasion, I wouldn't be caught dead in anything other than jeans and a tank or t-shirt.

Today Emily was dragging me nearly an hour away to go to a mall to find what she called "the perfect graduation outfit." Dad was trying not to have a coronary since we would be near pack territory but still not within its borders. He was worried about a member of the pack spotting us but we both doubted they would recognize us since we had grown so much since anyone from our old pack had seen us. I guess if they got close enough to smell us, they might figure it out, but only those who had been close family friends would recognize our smell and wouldn't turn us into Alpha Lucas for shopping at a mall outside their territory.

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"Is this it? Please tell me this is my graduation outfit Emily." I say with clear annoyance and exhaustion.

We'd been at the mall for nearly three hours and I think she’s made me try on every semi-formal outfit in every store that came in my size. She even dragged me away from the bookstore, which she knew was my favorite. I loved getting lost in books and going to places that were WAY more exciting than our farm lost within their pages.

"No, I think the bright blue button down over the black tank top and the khaki capris was it. We have to find the right shoes now though!" Emily squeals.

"Why have I tried on FOUR outfits since then!?"

"Oh, shush." She beams at me.

I groan at my sister's irritatingly chipper attitude towards shoes. I hate all shoes and am barefoot as much as possible but I guess this is one of those cases where I should have a pair.

"I'm stopping in the bookstore on the way to shoes though. You're not stopping me this time."

"Fine, I'll go on ahead to find a few pairs I think will be perfect with the outfit we picked and you can decide on one when you get there."

"You mean the outfit you choose and why did we not do this divide-and-concur approach from the start? I like this idea." I tell her with a grin, which is met by an exaggerated eye roll.

"Don't take more than an hour so we can head home right after for dinner."

"Deal"

And with that I headed off towards my favorite bookstore but Opal had started to pace and I knew there was another wolf nearby, I just didn't know who yet. that the losing Alpha be banished from the pack; many previous Alpha families happily lived on pack grounds  but I knew Corbin’s oldest son would be strong enough to overthrow me eventually and I didn’t want to risk having to fight him. I knew we were no longer friends after I challenged his father, and certainly not after I won the fight, but we had been close before and I didn’t want to risk having to kill him in a challenge in the future. Only pack members could challenge their Alpha, so by no longer being a pack member, I eliminated that issues.

Part of me always felt bad for his wife and younger children who had grown up in the pack house and were now classified as rogues though. They had never known what life outside the pack house was like, let alone living without a pack altogether. I especially felt bad for their youngest daughter, Corinthia, I was always oddly drawn to her and would find myself randomly watching her doing everyday tasks. That would no longer happen I guess.

Today was one of those days I was dwelling on if I had made the right choice or not while my mother was dragging me around the mall near the southern pack border to get a new suit for my little brother’s upcoming wedding. He had found his mate and while I’m truly happy for him, I really didn't like special occasion attire. Mom insisted that I get a brand new, tailored suit for the occasion so here I sit, near the window to the suit shop, getting measured for something I never want to wear when I smelled her.

A couple of young women walk by chatting before going separating and heading in different directions in front of the bookstore across from me. The older one that kept walking down the hallway looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place her. The other seemed to be just a couple years younger and my wolf, Granite, had started pacing in my head since her scent had stirred me from my deep thoughts.

She smelled like fresh cut hay and honey; it was intoxicating. Granite was insisting we go after her and while I would much rather hide in the stacks of books than where I was, but Mom would kill me if I didn't finish my fitting. For a rather dainty woman of average height my mother, Marjorie Raven, could be formidable to say the least.

Twenty minutes later and the tailor was finally finished with me. He hands me my slip and tells me when my suit would be finished. I half listen as I’m still staring at the bookstore entrance, she hasn’t come out yet and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.

I quickly dart across the hall and inside the store before Mom could realize I ran off. She's been harassing me the last four years about finding my mate, as if it were my choice when I find her. Basically, since the hour I turned 18 she’d been driving me nuts. She and everyone else acts like I’m not trying or don't want to find my mate but I have thrown parties and invited allied packs in several attempts to find her. Even though I hate the attention of holding, or going to parties as an Alpha, I desperately want to find my mate. Growing up in a pack, everyone always talks about how a mate completes a person and makes you whole, and now I’m 22, preparing for my 19-year-old, baby brother’s wedding. Perfect.

I step into the store and easily find her tucked in a chair in the fiction section with a werewolf fantasy book. I chuckle a little at her choice of book since I can clearly tell she’s a wolf herself. I watch her from a distance for what seems like forever, pretending to look through nearby bookshelves. She seems totally entranced in her reading and doesn’t seem to notice that there’s a man staring at her between books a few rows over. I know I’m being a bit creeper-like but she looks too peaceful and content to disturb.

Granite has started whimpering at the fact that I refused to go right up to her and kiss her.

She’s our mate!

Dude, that’s so rude and will probably scare her off! I’m not going up to a total stranger and shoving my tongue in her mouth.

I didn’t say you had to be forceful about it.

He was being ridiculous and even he knew it but acting irrationally seems to be part of finding a mate. What would I know about it anyways, I had only heard stories about mates finding each other until now.

Her phone suddenly broke both of our concentrations. She glares at it before answering. I use my wolf hearing to listen in on her conversation. I no longer care if I’m being rude, this woman has my full attention and I want to know more about her.

"Cory! I know you're lost in some book but you promised you'd meet me to pick out your shoes so we could go home! Neither of us wants to miss dinner and mom would be pissed." I hear a voice half whine, half scold her.

Granite doesn't like anyone scolding our mate and a small growl escapes my throat before I can stop him. Her head whips around looking for whoever the sound came from and I duck behind some books. I’m sure I’ve been caught spying on her.