Rejected by the Alpha

Chapter 3 - The summoning

Almost seven years later, I was pacing the forest that surrounds the crescent moon pack in my wolf form, my snout pressed to the ground. The forest seemed to groan around me as I inhaled its scent; pine, moss, the musky smell of forest prey such as rabbits, squirrels and deer.... but they were not my target tonight. I raised my neck, pointing my nose skyward. The wind shifted in various directions carrying with it a number of scents. I focused inhaling deeply. it was faint but it was there. The scent of a werewolf, my target. it should have been stronger. He must be hiding his scent.

Good, Moonlight spoke to me, 'We don't want this to be too easy.'

I took another deep inhale trying to separate his scent from all the others. I turned towards where the scent was coming from. There was a well foliaged area in front of me, deeply shrouded, like a wall of thorns and leaves. I stalked forward, keeping low and quiet. My large ears were pricked and tilted forward. I heard the hiss of a snake to my left as it slithered by rustling leaves on the ground. Above me, birds gossiped and sang. The wind was gentle today, dancing through the trees with a soft whisper. A twig snapped to my right. it was a small sound, almost undetectable but I had heard it.

There, Moonlight whispered in my mind.

Instead of swinging towards the sound, I swung away from it. When my back was bared, my target launched himself from his hiding place, soaring through the air and making almost no sound.... But I'd been expecting it.

I jumped to the side, and as I did so, I turned to knock him out of the air with a kick to his ribs. Once he was on his back, I pounced on him, my large paws at either side of his head.

"Submit," I said.

The wolf below me snorted. "I submit," he replied.

I got up from him and waited for him to gather himself off the forest floor. 'You did better today Duke. you've improved a lot," I told him

Duke grumbled low in his throat. 'you still got me,' he complained.

"Ah, but I'm the best," I replied.

Duke rolled his eyes, something that always looked comical on a wolf's face. 'So you keep reminding me General."

I grinned, showing the jowls of my mouth and my razor sharp canines. Moonlight and I were proud of our status as General. It has been hard earned. Ever since that night, I have had a singular focus in life - to train, to become strong and to help others be strong. I never wanted a repeat of that night ever again, of the feeling of helplessness I had as I watched my dad die.

So I had trained hard for almost every day of those seven years and I had fought in battles for this pack. I had the scars to prove it. It was my whole life and it felt like the only purpose I could cling onto. At first it had felt that there was nothing for me; no longer a daughter, rejected by my mate which also meant my destined future as Luna was gone. There had been times where I'd had dark thoughts. But the kindness and beauty of this pack, the thrill of training and fighting, the rewards from seeing people grow and improve from my tutoring; it had slowly healed me. I still did not feel whole and perhaps I never would but I was okay.

Duke and I approached the entrance to the pack village and quickly shifted into our human forms, collecting the clothes we had set aside earlier.

I walked through the pack village, the pack members smiling at me or saluting as I passed. The village was blanketed in sunlight, flower baskets were blooming in window sills and doorways. There was the smell of freshly baked bread and the sound of happy chatter from the pack members. I saw a flash from the corner of my eye and in the next moment, I was stabilising a small girl who had crashed into me while being chased. Three other children stood behind her looking sheepish. The small girl looked up at me with bright blue eyes, 'Sorry miss," she said, "We were just playing."

"Don't worry," I told her, "Playing and chasing is good. Just be more careful."

"Will do miss" and with that, she ran back to her friends. All four giggled and ran away together in a disordered fashion.

"Lena," said a voice and I turned to see a tall man with jet black hair and glasses perched on his nose. It was John, the Beta for this pack.

I bowed my head, ' Yes sir."

"The Alpha wants to see you,' he replied.

"Oh.. okay."

I followed him back to the packhouse, a large looming building in the centre of the town and home to Alpha Kyro. Soon we were entering the Alphas office. Alpha Kyro stood looking out of the window but when we entered, he turned to face us. Alpha Kyro was an aged man, his hair having turned grey over the years but despite this, he continued to radiate strength and vitality. The soft wrinkles in his face seemed to tell a story. The laugh lines by his eyes signalling that this Alpha loved to laugh with his pack. He has one of the best laughs I'd ever heard; a strong loud bellow that seemed to come from his toes. Alpha Kyro didn't have any children unfortunately. His Luna was attacked while pregnant by a rival pack, losing the baby. She struggled to conceive after this and suffered a number of miscarriages. This took a heavy mental toll on her and now she spends most of her time hidden away in their quarters in the packhouse. Alpha Kyro had been like a father to me over these last seven years at a time I desperately needed one. I would be forever grateful to him for accepting me into his pack when I showed up, drenched in the rain and my own tears, broken and untrained.

He usually smiled when he saw me but today his face held a grave, sad look.

"Lena" he said.

"Alpha," I replied.

He raised an eyebrow, "You should call me Alpha Kyro," he replied and I frowned. Usually members from a different pack would address him as Alpha Kyro; reserving the term Alpha on its own for their own pack's Alpha. I may technically still belong to my old pack but for me, Alpha Kyro was my Alpha. I had called him this for a long time and usually he didn't object to it and so this was quite jarring to me.

When I didn't reply, he sighed and continued, "You have been summoned by your Alpha," he told me and my mind started reeling.

When I had first arrived here, I had expected my pack to call for me, I had feared it but it never came. Why now, after all these years, that they would summon me..... I felt my breath quicken. I was a lot stronger than I was when I left but I still wasn't sure if I was strong enough to face going back. Moonlight paced in my mind, also distressed by the news.

"You lied to me," was the next thing Alpha Kyro said to me and I closed my eyes, dropping my shoulders as I remembered telling him that I had been formally dismissed and was no longer a part of the pack and therefore free to join a new one. I told him this so he wouldn't contact my pack to come and get me.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I just really didn't want to go back there." Alpha Kyro knew I had been rejected by my mate but he didn't know who my mate was. He also knew about my father. I had told him I'd asked the Alpha for a formal dismissal from the pack and had been given it.

Alpha Kyro sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Because you're still a member of their pack, I have to send you back at their request. You yourself also can't ignore the summons of your Alpha or it is desertion and they can punish you."

"I'll go and I'll ask for formal dismissal. Ill demand it," I told him, panic setting in my chest that I could be taken away from the pack I now considered home.

"That might not be as easy as you think Lena. You're a strong and smart fighter. You're an asset to any pack. You certainly have been to mine," he said with a sad smile. "You'll need to give me names, recommendations of who should take your place as General while you're gone."

"Do you know why they've summoned me?" I asked and he shook his head in response. I hoped that the summons was to offer a formal dismissal or perhaps Archer had asked his father to call me back so he could try to get me to accept his rejection.

"You will always have a home here Lena, I promise you that. If you could contact me and update me about what happens, I would appreciate it. I may not be your Alpha but I care for you deeply."

I ran to him to embrace him in a hug, dropping the professionalism. He welcomed my embrace.

"Of course I'll keep you updated," I told him. Alpha Kyro pulled back to look at me and smiled, "You better go get ready Lena"

_________________

Later, I frowned looking at the suitcase I was packing for my journey. I hoped I wouldn't need half of it as I hoped I'd be home soon but my Aunt was insistent that I packed for every possibility. I looked up as that very same Aunt burst through the door to my room. She bumped the door with her hip to close it.

My Aunt Lyla was a tall slender woman with jet black curly hair and striking green eyes. She was my mother's sister and had been looking after me since I arrived here. Spending time with her had made me feel so much closer to my mother even though she was so very different from my mother. Aunt Lyla has said that they were often told they were like 'night and day' with my mother being night and Lyla being day. Lyla was a loud, flamboyant character who dances her way through life, sometimes quite literally. My mother had been more serious and a quieter personality but deeply caring and nurturing. Lyla often commented about how I was so like my mother and it felt like the biggest compliment.

My Aunt Lyla looked from me to the suitcase and back again. "Why do you think they've called you back now after all this time?" she asked. My aunt was the only one who knew the truth. I'd even told her who my mate was.

"I don't know," I replied honestly, "But it doesn't matter. I'm going back to break ties with my mate and ask for dismissal."

"What if your mate doesn't want to reject you anymore?"

I rolled my eyes at the idea, "Trust me, he will."

"I don't know," she mused, "You're not the same girl you were seven years ago."

"You don't know him," I grumbled.

"He must be an i***t to reject you,' My Aunt said confidently.

True, Moonlight huffed in agreement. I just smiled and put some more items in my case, "Regardless,' I said, "I don't want him. I never really did. I truly do believe the moon goddess might have made a mistake in pairing us. I'm better off alone."

"Wow, is he that bad?" My aunt asked causing me to bring an image of him to my mind. The memory of him breathing in the scent from my neck, his breath tickling my skin. I could feel my heartbeat quicken at just the memory. I shook my head to clear it.

"Yes," I replied, fully aware I was lying to myself. I frowned looking at the packed case. "I don't want to go," I said.

My Aunt came to stand in front of me and placed a hand on both my shoulders. "You'll come back," she said confidently. "We'll see each other again even if I need to hunt you down myself. I'm not as good of a hunter as you or your mum but I do still have skills you know," she chuckled.

"Thanks for everything," I said as she pulled me in for a hug.

"No, little one. Thank you for letting me see a piece of my sister again," she said into my hair. "It's truly been a pleasure watching you grow and honestly, I'm glad you now get to show your old pack what a star they lost."

I laughed into her chest, "Maybe not. Remember the idea is to get them to let me go willingly."

I pulled away from her looking back at my case. "At least this time I have a carriage and don't need to go on foot."

____________________

I tried to sleep for most of the journey, trying so hard to not think about what was happening. As a result, I was not aware of the exact moment I entered my old pack territory. The first I knew that we had entered my old home was when the carriage had to stop suddenly. I learned from the carriage man that this was due to a group of young wolves playing football. I peeked my head out from the carriage and looked at my old town for the first time in seven years. It looked at though very little had changed. There was a grocery shop that had changed names, everything looked slightly more worn and the things that didn't had been repainted, sometimes in a different colour. My school still stood, it's bells for lunch still chiming the same sound. When we passed by my old home, my stomach dropped. I hadn't seen it since I left. The garden was overgrown with weeds and the paint looked like it needed refreshed. The windows were dark and devoid of life. A piece of rope still hung from the branch my dad had made a rope swing on for when I was a young pup. I was hit by a large wave of grief as I thought of the memories I had shared with my parents in that house. I was lost in those memories as we continued the rest of the journey. It wasn't long before the carriage was stopping outside of the packhouse.

The packhouse looked identical to the last time I saw it. A large looming building that was aged but still stood strong. It was grand without being obnoxious. Above the door was the symbols of the clans we had an alliance with. The symbol for the Crescent Moon pack was one of the symbols that hung above the doorway.

I was escorted by two men I had never seen before. They said very little to me apart from that they were taking me to see the Alpha. I didn't remember a lot about Archer's father. I had more meetings with Beta Greg than the Alpha. From what I had heard he was a good man and a powerful man. I was told that he was a man of few words and could be quite guarded. In my head I had a speech prepared that I had memorised on the journey here.

I walked with my head forward and shoulders straight. The men stopped at a door and knocked. "Come in," said a voice on the other side of the door.

The minute the door opened, I was hit by his tantalising scent. Archer.

Dammit I forgot how good he smells.