The Lost Alpha

Confirmation

That night, and for the next several days, Faolan sulked in the back of my mind, seldom speaking to me. And when she did, it was in short, monosyllabic sentences. She was mad, and a part of me was afraid she would never forgive me. But the other part of me told me how crazy that sounded.

In class, I avoided Grant altogether. I could feel him looking at me and even caught him once. But I just glared at him in response until he looked away. After that, I knew he was staring, but he never let himself get caught again.

At home, I tried my best to avoid my father. I had so many questions, but I didn't know what type of emotions it would bring up in my dad. Alpha Morris was saying one thing, about my mother being kidnapped and there being no birth record. And my father never really said anything about it. Honestly, I never pushed the conversation either. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I devised a plan and went to him.

"Hey, Dad." I greeted, coming to join him for breakfast.

"Hey, kiddo." Dad smiled. "What's up?"

"My birthday is coming up soon." I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"It sure is. Big twenty-one." He nodded.

"So, I'm going to need my birth certificate to get my new license." I watched his reaction carefully. He paused for only a second. He was a smart man. A second was all it took for him to make a decision.

Dad put his cup down and took a deep breath.

"I can get it for you." He said slowly. "But there's something you should know."

"Tell me."

He took another deep breath.

“I adopted you when you were about a month old. You were surrendered to a Safe Haven. Your birth certificate was written at the time that you were surrendered, so it’s just an estimation of when your birthday is. And your birth parent’s names are blank because they weren’t known.” He paused to study me. "But something tells me you already knew this."

"Most of it." I admitted.

"How?"

"Something happened, about a week ago." I said slowly. "And I'm not exactly sure how to explain it to you."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me." Dad reached out and took my hand. I took a deep breath and caught the smell of his aftershave, a bitter smell that I never liked, but associated with him.

"I still don't know if I believe it myself." I shook my head. "But the overwhelming proof makes it hard to deny."

"What is it, Andy?"

I took a deep breath. Here we go.

"I'm a werewolf."

To his credit, Dad sat quietly and studied me for a few minutes when he could have blubbered or laughed or even told me that werewolves don't exist. Instead, he sat in thoughtful silence.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"The day you missed classes, you were at the Blue Lake Pack?"

"Yes."

Dad nodded.

"You spoke with Alpha Morris."

"Yes." I paused. "You know him?"

"Not personally." Dad shook his head. "But I know of him.”

"He wants to meet you." Dad looked surprised. "He wants to meet the man who raised . . . His daughter."

Now Dad looked really surprised.

"You are the Alpha's daughter?" He reiterated. "His only daughter, and child." I nodded. "That makes you future Alpha."

"No." I said sternly. "No, that is not my path."

"You may have no choice." Dad argued gently. "It's your birthright."

"It's not what I want, birthright or no. I don't want it." I shook my head, standing.

"Andy, we have to talk about this."

"I have to get ready for class, and really, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

I jogged up the stairs before he could say anything else about it. I had made my decision. Or so I had thought.

It never even occurred to me to question how much he knew about pack logistics or Alpha Morris. He spoke so naturally about it that I never thought that he shouldn’t know those things.

Upstairs, I grabbed a pair of boot cut jeans. I actually really liked this pair - they fit my ass and hips perfectly, which was hard to find with my small stature. It was chilly and rainy today, so I picked out a fitted white long sleeve shirt and a grey hoodie. I threw on sneakers and my hair up into a messy bun and headed out the door.

I was halfway across campus when a familiar scent hit my nose. It made my stop in my tracks. Woodsy and piney and perfect. I started to look around for where it was coming from. It had to be that guy from the pack house kitchen. I didn't even know his name, just his scent.

For the first time in almost a week, Faolan purposely spoke to me.

"He's here. Our mate is here." She said excitedly.

"Is that really all you're worried about?" I asked.

"If you understood what it really meant, you would be, too." Faolan snapped back.

I shook my head. I was getting distracted way too easily by this. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to walk on, away from the enticing scent. Faolan moaned in my head and returned to sulking in her dark corner.

It was my late day, and several times on campus I came across that scent, but I continued to ignore it. A smell was not worth giving up all my hard work. But damn, each time I encountered it, it was getting harder and harder to walk away from.

"Andy!" I looked up to see who had called my name to find Grant coming towards me. The sight of him made me roll my eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked flatly, looking back down at my book. I was on break between classes, curled up in a chair in the commuter's lounge.

"Hey to you, too." Grant mocked. He dropped down into the chair next to me. "What are you reading?"

"A book." I answered. "What do you want?"

"Alpha Morris is inviting you to the pack house this weekend."

"So, why doesn't he just call and invite me himself?" I asked.

"Because that's not how werewolves work." Grant lowered his voice. "We use a mind link, but you aren't connected in yet. So, I'm stuck delivering messages.”

"Well, here's a message for you to deliver - no." I slammed my book shut and stood to leave.

"I can't tell the Alpha no." Grant easily fell into step beside me. "That's not something that happens."

I rolled my eyes.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." I growled. "I'm not going."

"So, I'll pick you up around nine A.M.?" Grant gave me a grin.

"Who do you think you are that you can just tell me what to do?" I stopped and turned to glare at him.

"I'm the son of the Gamma." Grant shrugged. "The future Gamma."

I rolled this over in my head for a moment.

"My mother was the daughter of the Gamma." I said thoughtfully. "Mariana Collins."

"Mariana was my father's sister." Grant confirmed, giving me a questioning gaze.

"So, that makes us cousins." He nodded. "But I'm also the daughter of the Alpha." He nodded again. "So that means I outrank you."

"Yes, but no." Grant chuckled. "You aren't officially part of the pack yet. You haven't accepted your position. So, that means I still outrank you." He grinned again. "I'll see you at nine A.M." Grant turned and walked away.

"You don't even know where I live!" I called after him.

"That's what you think." Grant called back, waving his hand in the air.

There was nothing else I could say or do, so I huffed and stomped off to my next class.

"We're going back to the pack house?" Faolan asked excitedly.

"No." I told her.

"It didn't sound like you were given a choice. The Alpha wants you there."

"So?" I asked.

"So, when the Alpha calls, you go."

"I'll think about it." That seemed to satisfy Faolan enough to stop nagging me for the time being.