My Alpha, My Protector

Chapter Four - Awake

Dominique's POV

To say that I was angry was an understatement. I knew that Rick had my best interest at heart but the pack knew that I had no control over when I mated. What bothered me most was the fact that I had finally found my mate but was unable to tell anyone. The pack, after such a devastating long wait, had a Luna and the possibility of her being a rogue was becoming too much to bear. How can an alpha mate with a rogue? This was a great shame for any pack. The moon goddess sure had a funny was of doing things but I wasn't the one laughing. I knew in my heart that I couldn't make a rogue the Luna of my pack. If this was what she was then I'd have to reject her. A fact that I had not really come to terms with, but knew I had to do for the sake of the pack. The weight of it all was becoming too much for me to bear and I needed answers. I needed to know who she was. I needed to know that she belonged somewhere and that I could take her as my mate. But all these answers could only come from one person. And that was from the deathly woman lying before me. She held the key to what determined my future and that scared me.

I knew that the pack was worried about their alpha. More than anything they were worried about the well being of the pack. All these years without a Luna...gosh how many years had it been? I knew that I had to go to that meeting. I couldn't let Rick face the music alone. Since I'd rescued the woman in the woods, Rick had practically been doing my job. He had pushed and pushed but there was only so much that a Beta can do. This time I needed to be there. I stole one last glance at my supposed mate. Gosh she was beautiful. There was no denying that. Even in her deathly state, her face radiated beauty. Silently, I stepped out of the room and headed towards the conference room.

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"The alpha must have a mate! The pack has been going on for far too long without a Luna....without his mate he is nothing. We have tolerated Dominique's incompetence. Haven't you made up enough excuses?" I tell ya without his Luna he's nothing but a big bad wolf! He's weak I tell ya!"

I winced at the words I'd just heard. I was standing outside the conference room contemplating weather I should go in. From the raucous I was hearing, it was clear that the elders had made up their minds concerning my cause. I was deemed unfit to be alpha because I was mate less.

"You know the alpha has no control over when he mates..." Rick's attempt at defending me sounded a bit haggard. I felt sorry for my Beta. In his defense he really had tried. And he had done so without having a clue as to why I had been the way I was lately.

" Says the better with no mate! You're both a shame to the pack. You have no Morales. You go around parading as alpha and Beta. Both mate less!"

I was about to badge in when I was stopped by the sound of my Beta's voice. He went from zero to a hundred percent Beta mode really quick.

"You watch your mouth Lance. You may be an elder here but Dom is still your Alpha and I your Beta. Don't you dare forget the rules. Dom has been nothing short of a strong leader. He has not only led this pack with the alpha's strength from generations before him. But by his own physical strength. This is the reason for which we are still standing. And everyone in this room knows it just as much as I do."

The room grew silent. Anyone who knew Rick knew better than to cross him. His words weighed enough authority to place order.

" Why should we keep silent?" someone interjected. "What about the strength of his Luna? You know very well that an alpha with no Luna is considered weak. Dom has been alpha since he was eighteen years for pit sake! What does he have to show for it. In my eyes he is nothing but a weakling!"

I'd heard enough. My Beta needed his alpha's voice. "Enough!" I bellowed as I made my way into the conference room. On whose authority do you call your alpha a weakling?"

Again, the room grew silent. No one dared to look up at me. I had gone full alpha mode and anyone knew better that to stare me in the eye. To do so was considered a challenge and anyone who dared to challenge an alpha knew what their fate would be. Elder or not I was their leader.

"Al-alpha we didn't know you would be here.." another whimpered.

" I have said time and again that I have no authority over my choosing a mate. I've told you time and again. I've been nothing short of a good alpha to this pack. If it were that easy to choose a mate,  that would have been my first priority." I said with resignation.

" Alpha .." Edgar, one of the oldest amongst the elders quietly spoke. He was considered an old soul. A man of great wisdom far beyond his years. One whose opinion was greatly valued. " I've watched you grow up every since you were a pup into the man that you are today. I has there when your father became alpha, I was there when he met his mate your mother and I was there when you yourself became alpha. Tradition states that an alpha should have a mate before he hits twenty five. You've been alpha since you were eighteen. You're older now. In fact you're almost thirty and have been nothing short of an exemplary Alpha but ....." He paused as If lost in thought.

" We.." he motioned with his hands," the people have been patient over the years and we understand that finding your mate is out of your hands. But, it is time alpha and we can't go on much longer without a Luna. An alpha without a Luna is considered weak. His Luna strengthens him. And if an alpha has no Luna then that makes him weak. If he is weak then his pack is considered weak. And if others view us as a weak pack then we will lose favor and respect amongst other packs."

"This Is why.." he continued, " that you finding your mate right now is detrimental. Not only for you but for the pack also. And alpha you cant deny tradition. Our laws depicts that should an alpha reach the age of twenty five without a mate, then after the elders are called, the people will decide who will be their next alpha."

The finality in his voice made my blood run cold. He was right. I couldn't deny that fact. But I couldn't accept it. I had come from a long generation of alphas. I couldn't possibly let it end with me. I needed to do something fast. The sound of my phone pulled me out of my thoughts and I glanced down at it. It was a text message from Brenda the pack nurse. I felt my heart pummel inside my chest. The words seemed foreign to me but every bit of hope I had felt slipped out of me a minute ago, was fueled by these few words. " The patient is awake."

I looked up at the elders surrounding the table. There was only one thing on my mind. " Do your worst." I said and dashed out of the conference room.

**************************************************************************************************************My heart thundered inside my chest as I made my way towards the pack clinic. I felt like all my hopes and dreams were tied into this one person. She held the keys to what determined my future. In that moment I didn't know what to think. All I knew was that I had to get to her and I had to do so quickly. I felt my wolf's excitement as the clinic came into view. "Hurry!" he said.

I gasped as suddenly the sweetest scent hit me. I knew it was her. It filled my nostrils and seeped right into my very soul. I felt strength pour into my body with every step I took. The type that could only come from an alpha's mate. Her desires were being poured into mine. Her entire being was being laced with mine. And I knew in that moment that I wouldn't be able to let her go. With just her scent, this woman, my mate, had some how become the beginning and ending of me. A quick shudder escaped me as I reached outside her door. The inevitable was here. With a deep breath I opened the door and stopped dead in my tracks. My jaw dropped, for sitting upright before me was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. She appeared to have been waiting for me ." Took you a minute to get here, " she said. "you've made me quite famished....your scent...it smells most delicious."