Russian Alpha Queen

11

"SURPRISE!"

Mila jumped back into Zeno's arms as her wide eyes took in those around her. The delicious smelling kitchen was filled with people, and it made Mila tense further and take another step back. Zeno subtly rubbed her elbow as she tried to calm her heart and breathing.

"Oh Gods, you scared me," Mila laughed, regaining her composure and stepping away from Zeno. A smile graced her face now as Karine took her hand, leading her further into the kitchen.

"This was all Lada's idea, so be sure to thank her," she said, jabbing an elbow into Lada's side as a blush crossed the second girl's face.

"Everyone helped though," Lada added, tucking a strand of her black hair behind her ear. Dimitri smiled down at his mate, shaking his head.

"Don't let her fool you, she was in here cooking up a storm. I wish she'd to cook like this for me," Dimitri joked. Lada slapped his chest, her blush deepening.

Seeing her friend's discomfort, Karine guided Mila to the smaller group of people standing off to one side. She hadn't met them yet, and they all looked a little nervous to be meeting their Alpha, but they seemed to be around Mila's age, if not a little younger, and despite their nerves they tried to offer her a welcoming smile. Mila returned their smiles with one of her own and the group seemed to calm down a bit.

"Hi, I'm Alpha Mila. It's nice to meet you all."

"Hello Alpha Mila, it's nice to meet you as well. I'm Liza, this is my younger brother Anton and his mate Elena," the tallest of the trio introduced. Mila's eyes hovered over each pack member as she tried to memorize their names and faces. Liza was almost as tall as Mila, probably around 5'7 by her guess, with bright blue eyes and blonde hair. Her brother had similar features and stood around 5'9. His mate complimented his looks with her dark brown hair and green eyes, fitting beside him nicely at around 5'3. The latter two wore shy smiles and held hands as they greeted their Alpha.

"We came in while everyone was cooking for you and offered to help, is that alright Alpha?" the shorter girl asked nervously. "I'm so used to cooking and cleaning all the time, I haven't really known what to do with myself these past few days," she said, wringing her hands nervously in front of her.

"Were you an Omega?"

"Y-yes. I'm pretty weak and couldn't keep up with my littermates, so Ivan demoted me." Her eyes looked down towards the ground, and Mila cleared her throat in response. Elena's eyes quickly shot up, a terrified look on her face. "I-I'm sorry, Alpha. I didn't mean to show any disrespect," she stammered. The whole room must have been able to hear her heart pounding and her mate wrapped one arm around her, wanting to protect her but also not wanting to disrespect his Alpha and make things worse.

All eyes in the silent room were pinpointed on their interaction. Their Alpha had shown two very separate sides of herself. The first was her Alpha side - strong, blood thirsty, and willing to kill someone with her bare hands. The Alpha had made it clear disrespect wouldn't be tolerated when she'd jumped to Karine's aid even faster than her mate. But she was also Mila, the girl who'd gone on a shopping trip with her friends and started laughing with them. Mila had even comforted Zeno, though that was a secret he fondly held in his heart. Remembering back to the milkshake incident, he worried for Elena, as he didn't think either side of Mila would be too fond of being disrespected.

"Please, don't worry about it Elena. There's ways to be strong that don't include your physical strength. Some people are smart or cunning, some are swift, some are leaders, and some are teachers. There's something inside everyone that makes them strong, you might just need a little help finding out what that is for yourself." Elena's body immediately relaxed, as did her mate's, at least until her eyes began to fill with tears.

"Thank you Alpha, I appreciate your kindness. I can already tell this pack is going to do great things with you at the helm."

Mila smiled at that, surprising everyone as she wrapped the young girl in a hug. As far as anyone beside Zeno and Mila knew, the only person she'd touched in a positive way since arriving was Karine. "I appreciate that very much. I want this place to be a home for everyone and I'm glad that atmosphere is already settling in."

"Well how about some grub?" Alexi asked after a short pause. The mood in the room immediately lightened as Mila pulled away, and Lada hurriedly began placing serving utensils in the dishes.

"I know it's technically lunch, but I couldn't settle on what to make so it's mostly dinner type options. Oh, I'm so sorry, I should have asked if you had any allergies!" Lada fretted, rubbing her hands on her pants nervously. Mila simply laughed and waved her off. Lada was a human, which was extremely rare and usually frowned upon. Mila had been surprised by this at first, and wondered how Dimitri had convinced Ivan to let her stay here. It must not have been easy, but the girl in front of her was extremely kind and was quickly growing on her; it was easy to see why the mates made such a good pair.

"It's quite alright, everything smells fantastic. Thank you very much Lada." Lada's worried face quickly began to beam and she tried her best to be subtle as she bounced in place. Though she wasn't a wolf herself, the mate bond between her and Dimitri caused her to feel a connection to the higher up pack members. It also unfortunately meant she couldn't mind link with any of them, including Dimitri, which had gotten her into some serious trouble in the past. Quickly shaking off her darkening thoughts, Lada started walking along the line and explaining each dish.

"So for starters we have salad and milestone soup. The main dishes are chicken parmesan and spaghetti. For sides we made garlic bread, garlic and rosemary roasted vegetables and potatoes, grapes and sliced strawberries, bananas, apples, and oranges. There's soda, bottled water, juice, Gatorade, and milk in the fridge; or if you'd like I can make some tea or coffee. Then for desert we have devil's food cake, peach pie, brownies, and a few different tubs of ice cream to choose from."

Mila nodded as the dark haired girl talked, her eyes widening at everything the group had prepared. She was touched that they'd all shown so much consideration to make such a taxing and well balanced meal for her. Her wolf yipped excitedly inside her as she felt her connection to the pack grow. She'd initially been worried there would be far more kickback on an unknown wolf taking over, but it seemed that everyone at least respected her, and those that she'd gotten to meet separately had appeared to like her. She found both halves of herself excitedly taking everything in as something inside her started to relax. For now everything seemed to be going well, though she bit her lip as she allowed herself a moment to fret about the possibility of that changing after training.

Quickly her moment was over and she excitedly thanked the group for all their hard work. Mutual appreciation vibrated through both the air and the pack link as Mila lead the way down the line buffet style, at the insistence of her posse. The group all reconvened in the large dining room to the right of the kitchen with Mila sitting at one end of the table. To her left was Dimitri and Lada, followed by Zeno, then Liza. To her right was Alexi and Karine, followed by Anton and Elena. The group had naturally sat in the standard pack seating, and Mila frowned a bit as it came to her attention. She wanted everyone to feel comfortable and equal, so it was quite clear this was a tradition she needed to erase. Making a mental note to bring that up the next time they all ate together.

All eyes were on Mila as she took her first bite, choosing to skip the starters and get right into the chicken parmesan with the spaghetti underneath. Her face lit up as the symphony of flavors danced across her tongue. Her sense of taste was going crazy with all the new sensations after living on nothing but unheated cans of vegetables or tuna and water for the last six years, and the excellent cooking definitely increased the experience of her first real meal she'd had as a free woman.

The fresh tomatoes and shredded parmesan complimented each other beautifully, with the garlic in the sauce providing a nice rustic flavor as it folded around the perfectly crisp chicken. Mila excitedly moved her fork to try the vegetables on her smaller plate and was again met with an explosion of flavor. Garlic was again present, tying the two dishes together nicely, though the mix of red and orange bell peppers, onions, thinly sliced carrots and potato mix was drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and rosemary, providing it with it's own unique flavor at the same time. She was shocked to see how hungry she was as she quickly scarfed down two dishes, dipping the garlic bread in her left over sauce before eagerly enjoying her fruit. She then circled back to her salad before leaning back in her seat and patting her bloated belly.

"Thank you everyone. That was absolutely delicious. You all did a wonderful job." The whole group beamed at their Alpha's compliment, Elena especially gratefully for the praise and inclusion. The meal passed quickly as they all chatted amongst each other, the girls all eagerly planning a gender exclusive movie night as Mila had given everyone the day off to rest and relax before their exam tomorrow. The mated men of the group had began sulking slightly until Zeno suggested they all get it on in the gaming room for some pool, air hockey and video games.

After they'd all somehow found room for desert and washed their dishes, the groups all split off to their destinations, the girls' group without Mila who had an appointment with the pack doctor to check her leg. Making her way down through the compound, Mila smiled and greeted the many pack members who bowed as she walked by. She didn't miss the admiration in their eyes, though the fear many tried to hide did not go unnoticed. Standing in front of the hospital doors and sure nobody could see her, Mila's smile transformed to a frown as she wondered if her previous actions had been too much. She knew exactly how primal and bellicose she had appeared as she showed up covered in blood before suffocating one man and ripping the jaws of another. They were right to fear her, she supposed as she opened the doors. More bows greeted her, and the office worker immediately rose from her seat and guided the Alpha to the x-ray room, a nurse meeting them there with a dressing gown, quickly taking the pictures before guiding Mila to a patient room.

After making sure Mila was fully comfortable, the nurse took her leave. Mila had seen the male workers on her way through the hospital, and mentally thanked the workers for providing her with all female staff during her experience. It was only a few minutes before Dr. Morozova entered the room with her scans. "Well Alpha, it looks like that run yesterday put a little more strain on your leg than I thought, so you should take it easy and try to get lots of sleep so your body can heal. It should be back to normal in a day or two as long as you stay off it." She gave Mila a look that told her the run really meant the shopping trip everyone had seen her group return from with an SUV full of bags after being gone for the whole afternoon. Mila gave her a slightly sheepish look but appreciated her more professional attitude this time around.

"Will do, thanks Doc!" she called, quickly hopping off the table and shuffling out the room. She'd hurried off so fast in fact, that she didn't notice Dr. Morozova shaking her head with a wistful smile on her face. Mila also certainly hadn't heard the doctor's whispering.

"She's more like her mother than she could ever know."