Rising Alpha

6

"John, I'm so glad you could come." A greasy, black-haired guy heads toward us. His stark, white shirt has red stains all over it and when he gets close, the stench of tobacco and musk erases the scent of the angel. He reaches back and puts his shoulder length hair into a ponytail causing the shirt to lift up from his dark slacks. "My mate is getting ready at my house and the witch performing the ceremony should be here any second so it shouldn't be much longer."

My stomach drops and a coldness washes over me. "Does she have long, black hair and striking hazel eyes?" Please tell me no.

His soulless black eyes land on me and he sneers. "Yeah, that's her. She just walked past here a minute ago so you probably saw her." He straightens his shoulders and puffs out his chest. "She'll be mine very soon." His tone takes on a threatening cadence.

See, this is what happens whenever something good seems to be going my way. My wolf is confused and is now sensing my mate when it's not even a possibility. She's the one that’s going to tie herself to this dumbass in front of me. My wolf whines in pain, but there isn't anything I can do about it. She's not ours.

"Well, that's why we're here. To celebrate in your bonding." John pats his arm and nods. He glances at me and even though he's playing the politician, worry is coming off him.

I need to say something to prevent this from escalating. She's promised to him, not me, so I need to be the bigger man. "Yeah, I'm his plus one." I move my head in John's direction and force my body to relax.

"Ahh, okay." His demeanor changes and he holds his hand out to me. "I'm Kevin the alpha of this pack."

Even though she may be his mate, I can't bring myself to shake his hand. Yeah, I may come off like a jackass, but I don't care.

John steps forward and grabs Kevin's hand for me. "Well, we are honored that we can be here and watch you perform the sacred bond. It's one of respect on both sides in a relationship."

"Uh... yeah." Kevin bunches his eyebrows together and drops his hand as he takes a step back.

"Speaking of the ceremony, I'm going to go check on my mate. Make sure she doesn't need anything."

The message John was trying to deliver went over that guy’s head. He doesn't deserve to be in charge, he's a self-serving jerk. I can tell that in the two minutes I've had to suffer through his presence.

"Of course." John scans the area and points in the direction a few feet away from us. "We will make our rounds while you check on her."

"Uh... What do you mean the rounds?" Kevin stiffens and his eyes scan around the area moving at a frantic pace.

Serves the ass right. He should be nervous. You can't treat people like s**t and then invite outsiders into your home.

"Yeah, sure." He turns his head and looks back at a guy that's standing to the side, arm crossed while watching some women carry more chairs in to put in the back. "Dederick, can you come over here and help show them around?" He points at John. "This one is our regional pack leader so he wants to make his rounds."

"Make his rounds." The guy saunters over and his brows furrow. "Okay, I can do that."

A snort tries to escape but I hold it in. That guy has no clue what to do, but he doesn't want to come off like an i***t.

"This is my beta." Kevin narrows his eyes at the guy and then begins stepping towards the house. "Let me know if you need anything."

Savannah

The door swings open and another woman from our pack enters the room. It's a tight squeeze with both of us in here.

"Are you okay?" Megan and I don't talk often so her being here is weird.

She shakes her head causing her short, red hair to whip her in the face. "I... I had to talk to you while I could. Alone."

If that's not a red flag, I'm not sure what is, but she's acting squirrely so I don't want to scare her off. "All right. I'm listening." Whatever she has to say must be important.

"Look, my family, we're having it rough. Dad got on Kevin's bad side, and now we barely have enough food to eat between the four of us." She looks at her feet and wrings her hands together. "My little sister is fifteen, and he's already threatened to give me and her to his beta. They're just as cruel as him."

This girl can't be more than seventeen and she's already got the stress of the world on her shoulders. She's smart blunt, and reminds me of myself when I was that age. "I'm sorry. That's horrible." There must be something I can do for them somehow, but the problem is, the whole pack is in a similar state of duress.

"I... I guess what I'm asking is when you become the alpha female, will you do something to help us?" Her green eyes fill with tears and she sniffles.

Holy s**t, I want to help her... everyone, but I don't know how I'm supposed to. Yes, I may be mating with the alpha, but it's not about love. It’s about him conquering someone.

"Please, no one is doing anything." She stomps her foot like a toddler and bites her bottom lip. "We need someone to care."

That's the thing. The role is just an illusion of power. It's not something we actually have, but this young woman doesn't understand that yet. She will soon, which breaks my heart. "I'll do everything that's within my power." I can't make false promises to her. That's what happened in my last pack and look where it got me. I'm not sure if I'm better or worse off here.

She glances around the room and steps back into the hallway. "I guess that's all I can hope for." A tear slides down her cheek, leaving a trail of moisture behind.

All-too-familiar footsteps sound from outside as they make their way to the door. My nightmare is coming to see me.

Shit, he doesn't need to find her here. That will make things worse on their family. At least with Alison and Abigail we talk often so it would make sense they were here helping me get ready.

"You need to go out the back door." I should be able to distract him long enough for her to slip away unnoticed.

Her eyes widen and she stumbles as she hurries to the exit at the end of the house.

If she slips out the back, she should be able to fall under the radar. I step into the hallway so I'm blocking the direction she was running in. The door behind me shuts almost in sync with the front one opening.