Northwoods Alpha

An Inconvenient Trip

    *BEEP BEEEEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP* 

    A car horn honked obnoxiously in the skyscraper-lined streets of Englewood, while the traffic continued to move at a snail's pace. Allistair Stone slammed his fists frustratedly into his steering wheel, his futile honks still ringing in his ears.

    Allistair couldn't believe his rotten luck. Not only was he running late to return home and be forced to take over as Alpha of his pack, but he had also hit the morning traffic jam trying to get out of the city. This traffic was exactly why he had purchased a luxurious condo just two blocks away from the office. Allistair drummed his fingers impatiently as his Escalade crawled along behind the long line of cars. He hadn't been home to Silver Moon since last Christmas, and he wasn't looking forward to his reunion with the pack tonight. After he had spoken to his mother on the phone this morning, he felt a brief moment of guilt for not seeing his family more often and worry about his father's condition. This was quickly replaced, however, by his frustration at being called away from work and annoyance at having to take over the pack as Alpha. If his father's condition wasn't so uncertain and his mother so distraught, Allistair never would have agreed to return home and take over as his pack's Alpha. The last thing he wanted in the world was to be responsible for the pack, especially with his business doing so well. He didn't know how he could possibly balance his workload with pack duties, especially with the stupid Alpha summit this weekend. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Allistair reminded himself he needed to figure out a way to get out of his Alpha duties without further upsetting his mother. While his business was a top priority, he did still care deeply for his parents and didn't want to put any more on his mother's plate right now.

    As his SUV finally left the downtown area of Englewood, traffic started to pick up. Allistair looked at the time on the clock: 8:15 am. It would take him just under two hours to make the rest of the drive home. Although he would have preferred to arrive just before the ceremony this evening, he knew an earlier arrival would mean he could spend a bit of time with his father. Allistair knew this was time he would come to appreciate. Being away was tough on their relationship, and Allistair hoped it wasn’t too late to make up for some of the lost time. His mother was also pressuring him to come back sooner, but Allistair had a feeling her motives weren’t restricted to his father or the alpha ceremony. 

    At 30 years old, Allistair was still an unmated werewolf, and he preferred to keep it that way. It was among the few reasons he moved the family business to Englewood when he took over at 21, and why he purposely limited the number of werewolf employees. Even his rare visits home to his parents were planned strategically so he wouldn’t have to interact with females in the pack, and instead he “treated” them to luxurious stays in Englewood under the somewhat true guise of a busy work schedule. Allistair knew a mate would hold him back and prevent him from continuing his company’s growth trajectory. He couldn’t imagine dealing with a mate nagging him to move back to the pack territory, be home more often, or give her more attention. A mate just didn’t fit in with his plan, and it would just add to the pile of unwanted complications that were starting to build up in his life. He would just have to do his best to avoid unnecessary interactions with any she-wolves until the Summit, where he was fairly certain he could avoid unwanted female attention by arriving late, hiding out in his room, and departing early. Allistair ignored the feeling in his gut telling him he could only control so much and sighed internally at the thought of what his mother might have in store for the day and what interactions she may attempt to orchestrate.

    The rest of the drive went by quite quickly. Before he knew it, Allistair was arriving at the gates to his pack’s sprawling territory. The guards greeted him formally, and he started to drive along the tree-lined road through the rolling hills. Houses and cottages were speckled across the land in the distance, well off the main drag. After a few miles, the Escalade climbed over one last hill. At the top, Allistair took in the breathtaking view of a vast lake surrounded by trees, next to which stood a grand castle. With a facade of weathered, grey stone, the large structure served as the territory’s packhouse. Within its halls were a gym, an indoor pool, kitchens, a grand dining hall, a library, a few hundred bedrooms for the warriors and single, young-adult wolves, and his family’s private quarters. Allistair hoped he could make it to his room uninterrupted for a quick shower before going to see his father.

    Allistair parked his car in the circular driveway near the front door. One of the pack guards approached with a wave, and Allistair tossed his keys to him and asked for his bags to be brought to his bedroom. The guard gave him a curt nod and began unloading the bags from the back of the vehicle. Allistair gazed up at his childhood home and couldn’t help but feel an unwanted rush of warmth and nostalgia. These stupid feelings were exactly what kept him from coming back more often, and he felt even more grateful to himself for deciding to move all business dealings so far away.

    Allistair shook his head and pushed open the large, dark brown wooden doors with wrought-iron trimmings, and stepped into the grand entrance hall. He breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed it was completely empty. His relief, however, was short-lived as a figure came around the corner just a moment after he had stepped through the door. 

    “Oh my god, Al, you’re back?!”

    Allistair’s heart sank into his stomach as he realized his plan to avoid any contact with female wolves had failed so suddenly. Addison Rain, one of Allistair’s former classmates who had run in the same circle he did back in the day, stood before him way too dressed up for a normal Saturday morning. Her thick, blonde hair had been curled meticulously and her makeup, complete with false lashes and bright pink lipstick, was done as if she were going out clubbing rather than having breakfast in the packhouse. She wore an extremely low-cut shirt that exposed her large breasts and was tucked into a tight miniskirt. Although her overall demeanor and look repulsed him, Allistair had to admit Addison had a banging bod. He had a feeling her appearance this morning was not at all a coincidence.

    Addison seemed to take Allistair’s shocked silence as a good sign rather than the dread that it was, and she stepped closer to him so their bodies were just inches away from each other.

    “Al, it’s been way too long since you’ve been home. We’ve all missed you, and I’ve been especially lonely.” Addison blinked her false eyelashes in Allistair’s face, making him want to take 10 steps backward.

    Allistair smiled as he realized his repulsion toward Addison could only mean they were NOT mates. Relief washed over him momentarily until it was replaced again by his disgust as Addison threw her hands around his neck in a hug. She must have taken his smile as an invitation. In the hopes of hurrying this encounter along, Allistair wrapped his arms around her back, and accidentally placed his hand along the curve of her ass, making his d**k twitch uncomfortably in his pants. While Addison definitely repulsed him as a person, her body was making him extremely horny.

    Cursing himself internally for not relieving some of his pent-up s****l frustration before leaving Englewood, Allistair started to apologize, “Sorry, Addison, I didn’t mean to…”

    “Shhh.” Addison placed her finger seductively over Allistair’s lips as she gave him a wink.

    Don’t you f*****g dare. Allistair heard his wolf, Leander, practically growl in his head. Although Allistair had no interest in finding his mate, his wolf’s opinions on the matter were quite the opposite.

    Leander, I’ve got needs. We still don’t know where our mate is, and if I’m lucky we’ll never find her.

    You know how I feel when you f**k other she-wolves. You should be waiting for our mate. She deserves better than this, and I swear if your play-boy ways screw up our mate bond, I’m going to completely cut you off…

    Allistair cut Leander off mid-sentence with a mental block. He didn’t need to listen to this speech again; he had heard it multiple times before. He didn’t enjoy hurting his wolf, but it was a small price to pay to get his own needs met.

    Ignoring the slight feeling of guilt that crept into the pit of his stomach, Allistair allowed Addison, with a smirk of glee on her face, to grab his hand and lead him upstairs to her bedroom on the second floor. Allistair glanced around to make sure no one was watching before entering the room so he could finally get a bit of release after such a shitty start to his day.