The Lost Alpha

Discovery

Monday morning came way too early. Faolan wouldn't stop going on about finding our pack and finding our mate, which that particular part I wanted nothing to do with. I only got a few hours of sleep because of her talking, and now I had to get up for an early class.

I glanced through my closet looking for something to wear.

"We really need to work on your style." Faolan commented, apparently not happy with many of the choices I was looking at.

"I like my style." I grumbled. "It fits me."

"I'm just saying, it needs work."

"Get over it." I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans, and a fitted pale blue, long sleeve shirt. I decided to go with my typical brown Dublins, Easy, put together, and nothing too flashy.

"Okay, we are going to class." I said as I drove towards the school. "I need you to keep quiet and let me focus on the schoolwork. I still need to graduate before I can go to medical school."

"Okay, okay." Faolan grumbled. "But you should probably stop talking to me out loud. I can hear your thoughts, remember?"

"Yes, I remember, and I find that very unsettling." I rolled my eyes.

"We are one person with two minds. We share everything."

I rolled my eyes again, still not completely understanding what she was saying.

"Just please be quiet."

I parked my Jeep and grabbed my bag. I could feel Faolan sniffing at random people as we walked across campus. She was obviously trying to find a member of our pack. But I was there for class, and nothing else.

“Can you stop that, please? It’s very distracting.” I grumbled.

“We need to find our pack.”

“And I need to pretend like I don’t have a wolf inside my head.”

I finally made it to my first class a few minutes ahead of schedule. Which was probably good, because Faolan stopped me in my tracks the second I walked in the door.

"Someone from our pack is here." She said to me. "I can smell him."

I could smell it too. It was an oddly familiar scent, although I had never smelled it before. Faint, but it was there.

"I'm here for class." I reminded her. "We can deal with this later."

"No, we need to find him." I rolled my eyes but glanced around the room anyway. And that's when I saw him.

I knew his name was Grant something. He was kind of a loner and had a few friends that he stuck with. Rumor had it that he was dangerous, but nothing he ever did seemed dangerous to me. He just kept to himself and that was something I could understand.

But now he was staring at me with confusion on his face, his mouth slightly agape. His head tilted questioningly, silently asking me to explain. I gave a slight shake of my head and walked to my seat in the back of the lecture hall, where the least number of people would see me.

I dug my books out of my bag and found a pen. When I looked up, Grant was sitting next to me, still staring at me.

"What?" I whispered, already irritated. "What do you want?"

"Why didn’t I know . . ." He trailed off, glancing around. Then he lowered his voice. "Why didn't I know you were one of us?"

"One of what?" I asked. I figured it was better to play dumb than to be committed.

"Of the Blue Lake Pack." He whispered. "You've never lived on pack lands. You've never been to any of the trainings or events. I've never seen you outside of this class, and now suddenly, you smell like one of us."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What are you doing?" Faolan yelled at me. "He's one of us. What are you doing?"

"Shut up."

Grant glanced around the room. People were still filing in, and the professor hadn't arrived yet. He stood and grabbed my things and my bag and took hold of my arm.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, not wanting to draw attention to us. He bent to look me in the eyes.

"We have to figure this out." He whispered. "I have to take you to the Alpha. Now."

"We have class!" I balked. But I was unable to stop him from standing me up and marching me out of the room.

"Not today." He grumbled. "This is an unprecedented situation. We need to go to the Alpha. I don't know what to do about this."

"You don't even know what you're talking about!" I pulled my arm out of his grip. "You have no idea who I am!" He had managed to get me outside of the building in record time.

"No, I don't. But I know you're part of my pack." Grant turned to me, still keeping his voice low. "You're part of my pack, but you haven't been a part of my pack. And we need to find out why." He started walking towards the parking lot, my stuff still in his hands.

"What difference does it make?" I asked, following him. I had to practically run to keep up with him, but I needed my books back. "Who says I want to be a part of your pack?"

"The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives." He muttered to me.

"What does that even mean?" I tried pulling my stuff from his arms, but he was bigger than I was. Stronger. Faster.

"It means that it's dangerous out there for a wolf on their own. Especially one who has no idea what it's like to be a wolf." He glanced at me. "I could very easily kill you, and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"And you think having a pack would change that?" I asked sarcastically.

"I know it would." Grant pulled at his shirt, revealing his collar bone and three large scars. They looked like claw marks. "I would have died if it hadn't been for my pack." He stopped next to a black Camaro and opened the passenger side door, looking at me expectantly.

"That's not my car." I crossed my arms at my chest.

"I know it’s not. I can't leave you alone." He argued.

"I'm not getting in a car with a stranger. That's like, rule number one that you learn as a toddler." I shook my head, my bangs falling into my eyes. Grant gave an exasperated sigh mixed with a growl, running his hand through his hair.

"Look, you need to come with me. The Alpha is expecting us." He tried to encourage with the little patience that he had left. "I literally cannot leave you alone. Not now that you have a scent. Other packs will be able to smell you and there's no telling what they'll do to you." Grant looked at me, pleading with his eyes. "Please. I will bring you back here to get your Jeep after we have it all sorted out. Just, please, get in." He motioned to the open car door.

I sighed, glaring at him for a moment more.

"Go with him." Faolan urged. "Go."

"Fine." I finally said, dropping my arms in defeat. "I'll go."

"Thank you."

We were silent on the drive to what Grant called the pack house. Apparently, it was the headquarters for the pack and where the Alpha and his family lived. It wasn't very far, about half an hour's drive, but when we pulled up, I was shocked.

It wasn’t what I was expecting. Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't a mansion. Maybe I was expecting a town hall, or a business building. But it wasn't that. The grounds were encapsulated in a wrought iron fence and gate. A guard stopped the car when Grant pulled up, but after a few whispered words, and a glance at me, the guard let us through. Grant drove around a large fountain and stopped in front of a set of grand steps. He jumped out and ran over to my side, opening the door again. I grabbed my bag and tossed it over my shoulder as I stepped out, still staring up at the building in front of me.

It was built out of white stone. The porch was large with wicker furniture and decorated in flowers blooming in the early spring warmth. Grant led me inside where it was tastefully decorated in grays with different pops of color in each room - yellows in the bright sitting room, reds in what looked to be offices, white in the kitchen that we passed.

I followed Grant down a maze of hallways until we reached a dead end. Grant knocked on the door and immediately walked through, pulling me in with him. Inside, one singular person sat behind a large mahogany desk, his hands folded together as he waited. He was older, wearing a black suit, gray playing at his temples. But the most striking part were his eyes. His gray eyes. My gray eyes.

"Alpha Morris." Grant bowed his head respectfully.

"Thank you, Grant." That simple sentence seemed to dismiss Grant because he turned to leave the room. He paused by my side and gave me a smile and squeezed my hand quickly.

"I'll be back for you." He whispered before disappearing out the door and closing it firmly behind him.

"Please sit." Alpha Morris spoke gently and motioned to the chair across from him. I wanted to argue, but something about him made me do as he requested. "What is your name?"

"Andy Wesson." I answered.

"What is your legal name?" He asked again. I sighed.

"Andrea Rose Wesson." I hated my full name. It was so . . . girly. That wasn't me.

"Named for your mother, I suppose." Alpha Morris said, nodding.

"I wouldn't know." I shook my head. "I never met my mother."

"What happened to her?" He asked.

"I was told she died when I was born." I shrugged. "My father wouldn't tell me anything else."

"Your father?" This piqued the Alpha's interest.

"Douglas Wesson." I told him without being asked. "He raised me on his own."

"But he never told you about your mother, or that you were a werewolf?" He said the last few words carefully, judging my reaction to them.

"No." I shook my head again, not sure of where this was going. Alpha Morris nodded, deep in thought.

"Twenty-one years on your own." He mumbled. "Twenty-one years."

"I actually don't turn twenty-one until next month." I told him. He looked up at me, his eyes misty.

"No, Andrea, you turned twenty-one on Saturday." He said softly. "And you got your wolf with no one to explain to you what was happening. With no one to prepare you. I can only imagine how confused and alone you felt." He gazed at me, his expression strange. He stood and walked around the desk to me. He extended his hand and pulled me to my feet. Alpha Morris towered over me by about a foot. "You look just like your mother."