The Forgotten Wolf

Chapter 4 - Jackson

        This never should have happened. If I was really the Alpha of the Haven pack – I would have known the moment that Margaret Millstone got sick. I am only acting Alpha; I was never cut out to lead a pack. Being Alpha is something you are born to do – it passes from father to son. Similar to the royal family of Great Britain, you can marry into it but you cannot just wake up one day and decide, ‘Hey today is a good day. I want to be Alpha.”

          Fifth teen years ago our pack lost our Alpha, his mate and their daughter in a freak car accident.  The police never found evidence of another driver or anyone else out on that road. They ruled it an accident, claiming that Stephen Jones, our Alpha, must have had a heart attack or mini-stroke while driving. Our pack knows differently. It was the curse that has been plaguing us for generations. It was rumored that Alpha Stephen had a plan for breaking the curse but he died before he ever had a chance explain. The curse was tying up all lose ends. No other Alphas from the surrounding packs want anything to do with us, the cursed. We are on our own until the curse takes the rest of us.

          I walk up to the little pale pink house overcome with ivy. I never met Margaret personally but the few older members of the pack were talking about her yesterday. Remembering the woman who left the pack over twenty-two years ago, I was barely a pup when she left. They all spoke of her love of plants; she was revered at the packs Medicine Woman. Apparently her mate and husband was the pack doctor. From my understanding he came down with an unknown virus, which quickly killed him. Margaret showed signs of being infected as well; her only lasting symptom was her inability to shift after her mate’s passing. I would of ended my life than – my wolf means everything to me.

          A couple weeks ago Margaret reached out to the pack. She said she might have found something and wanted me to come out there. Things have just been so busy I didn’t pay any attention to the message. Margaret hadn’t connected the pack in the last five years since I became Alpha after my father died in a freak gas explosion. The curse does not discriminate. It is a surprise to us all that my mom is still here after the sudden passing of her mate. She spends most of her time as her wolf now – losing herself in the peace that shifting brings.

          ‘Rap, Rap, Rap’ I knocked on the door. The packs lawyer told me that Margaret was foster a teenager who was still living in the house.

          “Look I’m not inres-“ A beautiful young woman answered the door. She had brown hair that was loosely pulled into a pony tail and her eyes mirrored her hair. They were the most interesting shade of brown. I could easily see the undertones of yellow and red amongst the brown. This was the hair color people would heavily pay salons to achieve. She was wearing jeans that were slightly too big, and a t-shirt that she swam in. I wanted to know what she was hiding under those clothes. I needed to know.

          ‘Mate!!!’ growled my wolf. I think I might of actually growled a little as my wolf struggled to get to the surface.  Here was my mate, the other half of my soul, and my wolf needed to stake his claim. The look in her eyes changed to one of fear. I could hear her heartbeat increase, and I smelt the adrenaline coming off of her in waves.

          “Oh…. I’m so… so sorry” She stuttered. She turned her trail and ran into the house. My wolf wined to give chase, but I knew something was off. She was a wolf, I could smell it, but she hadn’t yet shifted. This mysterious woman would soon experience her first heat, and not shifting yet is dangerous. ‘Why hasn’t she shifted?’ I needed to know more about her.

          I must of lost track of time, because before I knew it she was back in the living room carrying a tattered old book bag.