The lost alpha

Chapter 2

The sun shone over Tristan’s cabin, the rays passing through the lush green trees and casting shadows as they did. There was a silence surrounding the cabin, occasionally interrupted by the sound of chirping birds.

It was now afternoon and a visitor walked down the bushy path to Tristan’s cabin. The beautiful guest walked down the stone path, occasionally kicking a rock or two on the path any time she came across them.

The visitor now stood on the porch of the cabin, as she climbed the wooden steps to stand in front of the similarly wooden door. She drew her hand back and knocked on the door 3 times.

“Tristan, it’s me Mackenzie” she said as she waited for a response from the inside. Seconds passed, then she knocked again…. Still no response.

“Tristan?” She called out once more, her concern growing within her. “Tristan, if you don’t open the door I’m gonna break it down” she said, doubting whether her petite physique would be enough to break down the sturdy oak door before her.

“Okay, I’m coming in!” She said as she took a few steps back, running forward expecting to hit the firm door but instead, hearing a grunt and crashing into the ground.

She looked up and saw Tristan looking down at her. “Care to explain why you want to demolish my house this early”. Mackenzie quickly got up and moved to help Tristan up as well.

“Early? It’s 2PM. I’m here because you haven’t answered your calls all day. What’s wrong with yo-“ her voice caught in her throat as she saw Tristan’s shoulder and the nasty injury on it.

“Oh my gosh Tristan, what happened” she said as she reached for his arm but hesitated, realizing she would cause him more harm than good.

“You should’ve seen it last night” he said with a sigh as he sat down on the wooden dining table chair directly opposite Mackenzie. Truly, the wound had healed up a great amount. Now it looked as if he had been attacked by a wild dog instead of a 600 pound wolf.

“I’ll get the first aid kit” said Mackenzie as she got up to rummage through the kitchen cabinets. Why don’t you fill me in on how you got that injured while I do?”

Tristan looked at her as she searched for the first aid box. A part of him wanted to tell her she was searching in the wrong place. But another wanted to watch her as she searched frantically for the first aid kit to try and patch him up.

She wasn’t her usual sassy self, instead she was genuinely worried about him and his well-being. “Bottom drawer”, Tristan muttered. “What?” Mackenzie asked him. “I said the first aid kits in the bottom drawer” he said in a clearer tone.

She opened the drawer, grabbed the first aid kit and got to work disinfecting the wound. “Tristan grimaced as she applied the disinfectant to his gaping wound. “You know this’ll heal before the end of the day, right?” He asked her in between groans.

“You know you don’t always have to be so stubborn, right?” She shot back as she began bandaging his shoulder.

Mackenzie Skaler was one of the librarians at their town's local library. She was among the third generation of Skalers to run the library. Although it was a public library, the last 3 generations had been run by the Skaler family.

Mackenzie was an average-height woman with pearl blue eyes and jet black hair, her body the desire of many men and rightfully so, as she was simply a work of art. Freckles on the side of her face and dimples so deep whenever she smiled any man could get lost in them…. Any man except Tristan, that is.

Tristan had grown up with Mackenzie since they were kids, so he saw her as more of a sister than anything else, although the thought of something more had occasionally crossed his mind.

Tristan was raised by his single father, Emory, without knowing anything about the other members of his family. Whenever Tristan asked, his father would always reply “we’re not a part of that family anymore” and would end the conversation there. Even at a young age, he could sense that he shouldn’t ask any further.

“Hello?”. “So you’re just gonna flat-out ignore my question? Mackenzie asked, bringing Tristan back to reality.

“Ah… my bad, I’ve just been thinking about what happened last night,” he said. “Are you gonna tell me anytime soon Tristan, or should I add more disinfectant to your shoulder to make you talk?”

She asked with a mockingly threatening tone.

“Yesterday, in the woods, I saw another wolf… it attacked me and gave me this injury, but he wasn’t interested in finishing me off. He said he wanted to confirm something and talked about my dad’s absence. I think…. I think another pack might want to invade our territory, Mackenzie.”

Mackenzie’s body turned cold and she got goosebumps as she heard those words. She had known Tristan was a werewolf since they were teenagers when he first transformed in front of her.

But this was the first time she had heard about another wolf aside from Tristan and his father. She swallowed hard, thinking of the right words to say.

“He knows about your father’s absence?” Mackenzie uttered with shaky breath as she realized what that meant for Tristan.

At this point, you could almost hear Mackenzie’s panicked breathing. The information that had been passed down through her family described werewolves as powerful creatures that were greatly territorial and family oriented. The fact that this wolf had simply waltzed into Tristan’s territory meant one of two things.

Either the wolf was a wanderer just exploring the area…. Or the second and most likely option… word had gotten out that Tristan’s father, Emory, hadn’t been seen for months.

Werewolves operate on a pack-based mentality. The bigger the number, the stronger they are and the better they could protect their territory. Tristan, as a young wolf pup, only had his father as the other member of their pack, but his father was one of the most powerful Alphas ever seen.

His strength alone was enough to rival an entire pack of wolves and stop them from attempting to encroach on his territory.

Emory had gone out of state to see his family, who had supposedly cut ties with them 6 months ago, and Tristan hadn’t heard anything from him since.

“That’s the most likely option. This is the first time in 20 years another wolf has entered our territory since the last gathering. They were too scared of dad to try it.”

Both Mackenzie and Tristan knew what this meant. The other packs had found out that the alpha of Brettman Oaks, Tristan’s father.. was missing. The alpha protecting them was no longer there and Tristan had to step up and protect his territory.

Tristan sighed as he got up and stretched himself out. “Well, there’s no use moping about it now, but we need to find a way to strengthen our territory. I’m not the pup I once was, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to defend against other packs yet.”

“So what are you going to do?” She quickly asked him.

“Well, we need to strengthen our forces if we’re going to stand a chance against them.”

Tristan got up and walked into his room. He opted to enter the shower but the water would just soak his newly covered wound and make Mackenzie’s work almost useless. Instead, he went to his wardrobe and got a plain grey t-shirt with black jeans and changed quickly.

Coming back into the dining area, he saw Mackenzie deep in thought, staring at the hardwood floor and playing with her nails unconsciously.

He moved towards her, got down on one knee and placed his uninjured hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, the uncertainty visible in her eyes. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I can promise you I’ll do everything in my power to protect you and your family” he said reassuringly.

He got up and moved to the kitchen where he picked a plush green apple from the fridge. “But first we need to find out more about where we can get help. We need to go to your family’s library. Your nana could have information that we need”

Mackenzie got up more composed than a few moments ago, Tristan’s words had given her a little more confidence. “You’re right, my family’s the only one that knows about werewolves in this town after all.”

Tristan tossed her an apple at her which she held with both hands as he walked out the door leading to the front porch while holding it open for her. “Come on let’s go.” he said, nodding his head toward the exit.

She followed suit and exited the cabin as they both made their way to Tristan’s truck. “Something tells me things are about to get really crazy from now on.” Mackenzie said while leaning back into her chair.

“Something tells me you’re right” replied Tristan as he put the car into drive and slowly pulled onto the main road leading to the city, the features of the red truck becoming more obscure the further down the road they went.