Her mountain alpha

The sun was hovering just about the mountain ridge, the morning was turning out to be a perfect day to capture moments. A lean and petite woman took off her hat and laid it down on the mossy mountain rock. She wanted to get a good photo overlooking the valley underneath, so she rested her elbows on the ground to stabilize her camera. Then she adjusted the focus lens to get the glittering fog that hovered over the treetops. Her hat resting next to her was a beige and wide-brimmed men’s hat, but it made her look the part. She heard a small crinkle of a leaf to her left side and turned to see a large wolf in a crouch position trying to sneak up on her unnoticed. It had been successful as it was so close it could leap towards her with no trouble before she could jump up. The wolf had a sandy color and it was much larger than the regular wolf, the blond woman did not flinch at the sight. She was young and inexperienced in a lot of things, but this she knew. She turned her camera towards the wolf and focused so she could capture the detail in the fur, the wolf barred her canines as she snapped a picture of it. The woman grinned as she got a perfect shot of the wolf, then she sat up and started to speak to the beast.  “Where are the others? Could they come out so I can take their picture?”  The wolf stopped baring her teeth and tilted her head curiously at the woman. Two other large wolves emerged from the trees and bushes, they were hidden close by. With a few steps, they were there in front of her in a similar crouch position. The blond woman raised her camera and focused again, and she got a perfect shot of each of the other wolves. One was dark brown with dark streaks, and the other was multicolored from all sorts of brown. The wolves seemed hesitant to attack, and they seemed confused at her talking to them.  The woman spoke again as if they understood her, pointing at where she wanted them to stand, “could the two of you please stand in front of me here? So I can get a picture in front of the sunrise?”  The wolves stood still for a while and the woman waited patiently, finally, the two wolves moved over to where she had pointed and she motioned for the first wolf to join them. She took a picture of them standing there with a focus on the wolves. Then she adjusted the focus to the sun so the wolves blurred.  “Could the three of you please bare your teeth again? Look angry!”  The wolves bent their front legs slightly, their fur stood up as a warning, and their teeth bared. They all growled as if they were furious and the young woman took the opportunity to take the wonderful shots of three fierce wolves. She lowered the camera and looked through the photos, then she motioned for one of them to stand on a large rock before the deep valley. She took some photos of a majestic wolf with the awe-striking background of a deep and lush valley. The woman flipped through the pictures again and seemed happy with what she had. She looked up and saw the three wolves now sitting in front of her panting with their tongues out. She smiled at them and waved them over, the wolves trotted to stand behind her and they looked over her shoulders as she flipped through the photos.  “These pictures look amazing, thank you for indulging me. It was sporty of you guys to pose like that.”  The wolves phased to humans one by one and stood behind her squatting down as they turned. Slowly each of them stood up and walked behind a tree to fetch some clothes. When they emerged again they were wearing shorts and t-shirts, one young female and two young men.  The woman gave her a slight nod as she looked at her with suspicion, “how did you know?”  The blond woman grinned at the brunette, she was tall and lean. All three of the werewolves were fit and muscular, just like warriors on patrol should be. The blond however was human and had a typical physique. Even though they all were young, beautiful, and thin, the three werewolves differed in their muscle mass and height.  The blond woman gave a nod back at her, “you guys are larger than your regular wolf, an easy way to tell the difference.”  One of the male warriors took a step forward, he seemed more hesitant than the brunette, “do you belong to a pack human? Since you know so much?”  The blond woman gave him a short smile before she leaned down and picked up her hat. As she put it on her head she told him the short story of her life.  “My parents are human, but my mother is fated to a beta. When they met she divorced my dad and we moved to his pack. I grew up in a pack, pack life is all that I know.”  The third warrior mused at her, he wasn’t sure if he should believe her. His features were more toned than the other two, he had golden skin and dark hair. The first male had the same hair color as the female and it looked like they could be related.  The taller more toned man spoke up for the first time, “name, pack, rank!”  He was curt and demanding, but the blond woman was used to werewolves being suspicious and hesitant.  She spoke back with respect, she was after all the one who walked on their land, “Scarlett Woodburn, I don’t have a rank, but my stepdad is the beta. My pack is Silver Moon, over at the east coast. I’m taking a gap year to hike, I thought I had avoided all borders. I wanted to respect pack lands, but I guess I got off course. I apologize for walking into your territory.”  The three warriors all gave a short nod as if they accepted her apology and explanation. The larger of the men, the one with the golden tone stepped even further towards Scarlett and gestured for her to join them.  “I mind linked our beta, he said to bring you to the packhouse. We have had a string of attacks, we want to make sure you are safe.”  The blond woman smirked, “safe from the rogues or safely handled for your pack?”  The brunette smirked back as she understood that Scarlett knew very well they did not care for her safety. They only wanted to check that Scarlett was not a threat to the pack.  But the brunette played along and answered a more diplomatic answer than the two men would have, “both, we want to make sure from both standpoints.”  Scarlett gave her a huge grin as she knew she was just being polite, but she complied non the less and followed them. As she walked by a large three she picked up her large backpack resting at the trunk.  The dark-haired man quickly grabbed it from her and put it on his back, “it’s faster if I carry it.”  Scarlett gave him a soft nod and thanked him. As the hike was long and the three werewolves soften up to her, they started slowly to talk to her. Before she reached their settlement she had learned their names, rank, and if they had met their fated mate yet.