Our Beloved Luna

The Cowboy Alpha

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ALPHA JACOB

I f.ucking hated the Capital. We drove through the armored high gates tipped with silver and wooden stakes in our blacked-out SUV. Ryan, my Delta, was driving. Ryker, my Gamma was seated in the passenger seat and I was brooding in the back. I left my Beta in charge of the pack back home. Ryan let us know we were a few minutes away from the palace and I groaned in my displeasure.

We were here to return Ryan to a Delta conference he was attending. All the Deltas of the kingdom had been called to discuss new information received regarding battle with other supernatural species. He had been training at the palace the entirety of last week, but we picked him up for a pack business meeting and had to return him the same day.

I had also received an invitation to the palace to meet with the Royal Beta to discuss crop rationing for the struggling packs. I planned on suggesting we assist them with establishing their own farms and crops so they weren’t so dependent on importing from ours. We enjoyed the business, but it was crucial that the kingdom was better prepared to supply itself. One bad harvest could be detrimental to packs across the kingdom.

I dragged my hands through my hair and tried to pull on my poker face. Maybe we’ll find our mate today? My wolf, Jericho, suggested. That thought added a little pep in my step, no matter how much I doubted it. I’d been searching for her for a decade. Traveled all the packs in our kingdom and in France, where my mother came from. Attended every mating ball to no avail. But I wasn’t giving up. More and more wolves were failing to find their mates, and it was taking a toll on our species overall. We were all turning into grumpy a.ssholes.

Staring out the window as we got closer to the palace, I rolled my eyes at the extravagant extra bull.shit this pack socially thrived on. Metallic stairs leading to modern, architectural homes, inlaid with precious metals and gemstones. The styles were all over the place, each house more bizarre than the next, stacked on top of each other with no room for grass yards, trees, or plants. As we neared the palace, the houses became more extreme- the more wealthy living closer to the King. Everything here was fake. The structures, the fashion, the manners. She-wolves walked down the sidewalks in heels taller than six inches, uncomfortable cinched cocktail dresses and oversized hats sticking out at weird angles. The men, all decked out in patterned three-piece suits with pointed dress shoes, despite the heat.

“f***k this shit.” I growled seeing a group of she-wolves in neon colors waving seductively at our SUV passing by. My men chuckled under their breath at my frankness. We pulled up to the roundabout of the palace, the drive studded with a gemstone mosaic and sparkling under the blazing sun. If not for the outrageous outfits of the subjects of the palace, this place might actually be pretty.

The Alpha King ruled the palace like an actual traditional monarchy. The Omegas working here were in full garb, women in knee length matching floral dresses with white frilled aprons, stockings, and white bonnets. The men were in matching pastel knickers and jackets with pressed white shirts and collars, white gloves holding silver platters and pressed, starched linens draped over their forearms. The stark contrast of the modern luxury of the Capital inhabitants versus the old royal luxury of the palace always confused me.

“Let’s get this sh!t over with.” I grumbled as I stepped out of the back of the SUV, with my favorite black cowboy hat dipped down low close to my eyes. I had on my Levi’s and boots, my teal plaid button-up shirt rolled up to my elbows.

“Alpha Jacob, thank you for joining us. We didn’t know if you’d received our invitation?” Bartholomew, the head of house, was bustling after me as I took long strides across the drive and up the gold marble steps.

“Yep. Got it. Clearly, I’m here.” I grabbed a glass of champagne off the silver tray one of the staff was holding and downed it one gulp. Swapping the empty glass for a full one and downing that too.

“Maybe I could show you to a room, Alpha? Surely you’d like to dress in something more appropriate?”

“These are my good boots, Bart. Give me a break. Ya’ll have me for three hours. Take me to him.” I shot him a look to show I wasn’t holding him accountable for that, but that I was one hundred percent serious. He harrumphed in response but bowed stiffly, leading the way.

The Grand Hall was lined with Ladies of the Court and their Omegas, all seductively smiling, biting their lips, and curtsying, keeping their full chests on display, whimpering their acknowledgement “Alpha,” submissively as I passed. I kept my eyes trained ahead, not interested in the title chasers the Capital has to offer. But not to be rude, I stiffly responded. “Ladies.” I replied to them as a whole with finality in my voice. I’m pretty sure I heard at least two of them faint behind me. I rolled my eyes internally and kept my hard façade as we stormed through the Grand Hall.

Once upon a time, a younger me had feasted on the stunning visual of the palace. Crystal chandeliers, white marble with inlaid gold, plush white furnishings, and hand painted portraits lined the hall. The large stained glass windows were encrusted with diamonds and other rare gems, causing the light to rainbow and glitter across the floor. Huge ballrooms flanked the Grand Hall, all in different colored themes of gold, silver, ruby, sage, and navy. Butlers bowed their heads in respect as we finished our trek toward the King’s Room. Two guards opened the massive ornate wooden doors, inlaid with gold and silver filigree, leading me into the Hall of the King. His throne sat at the end of the room. Like the doors, it was wooden, polished down to a shine and was decorated with metals and gems in a filigree pattern. But it sat empty. I had heard rumors that he had not been home in quite some time.

His Beta, Cornelius, stood to the right of the throne, tapping his foot impatiently, obviously not impressed with my attire.

“Cornelius,” I nodded, getting straight to business. Ryan and Ryker flanked me on each side, just a half step behind my shoulders.

“Alpha Jacob, Delta Ryan, Gamma Ryker, thank you for meeting with me. As I stated in the invitation, I am hoping to gain some insight on your harvest for the year so we can best plan our rationing strategy.”

“And I would like to discuss helping some of these struggling packs get crops established of their own, in order to support them in time of need.”

“But wouldn’t that take a hit on your income, Alpha?” I tried not to scoff at his comment.

“Yes, it would. But that isn’t the priority. If there are wolves struggling to eat, to feed their children- it’s more important they are set up for survival. Not pinching pennies so they can pay me to feed them.” I answered directly, keeping my eye sharp on Cornelius to see how he responded. Thankfully, he smirked in understanding. Was he impressed?

“Very well, Alpha, let us retire to the War Room. You can walk me through your ideas there.” I spent the next two hours basically word vomiting our strategies to Cornelius, their scribe scribbling notes as fast as he could go.

Cornelius had been quiet, asking questions here and there, but he was receptive and nodded pensively, quite engaged in the conversation. I was impressed with the questions he asked, specifically around crop rotation and fertilizer technique, sending Ryan on a tangent on how crucial livestock is for the operation. It may not be a glamorous business we lead, but it’s necessary and it supports the kingdom as a whole.

As we finished, Cornelius poured us each a small crystal glass of bourbon. I curved my lip up in respect and raised it in a cheers before taking a sip.

“f***k, Cornelius isn’t all this stuffiness exhausting? I’ve been here a couple hours and it’s already drained me.”

“Ha- it’s not ideal. That’s for sure.”

“Well that’s the realest d.amn thing you’ve said all day!” I scoffed back. This got a rise out of my men and we practically guffawed at Cornelius’s expense. The Royal Beta's facade dropped, and he leaned forward.

“Stay for dinner, Jake. I know there are a lot of eager she-wolves hoping to catch a glance of the Cowboy Alpha.” The Royal Beta almost pleaded teasingly. I rolled my eyes, eager to get home and check on how my own Beta was holding up.

“Fine. But I’m not doing it for females, I’m doing it to keep Ryan company.” I slapped him on the back, causing him to spit his bourbon all over Cornelius’s three-piece suit. This sent us all back into a fit of laughter again.

“Will the King be joining us tonight?” I asked, poking for information.

“The King is indisposed.” Was his curt answer, his demeanor changing coldly, and he motioned for us to leave the War Room. Bartholomew was waiting straight-backed at the exit and motioned for us to follow him to the guest quarters to freshen up. Ryan went off to his own designated room for the conference and Ryker and I were shown to rooms on the second floor, next door to each other.

“I’ll be up in a half hour to collect you for dinner, Alpha, Gamma. I took the liberty of leaving you some …fresh… attire in the closet.”

“What a guy, Bart.” I clapped him on the shoulder and entered my room, tossing my hat on the bed. I figured taking a shower would rinse the travel ick off of me, so I headed toward the bathroom. I stepped out of my boots, leaving a little red clay on their white plush rugs.

Bart’ll kill you for that. Jericho, my wolf, snickered in my head.

Oh hey, F.ucker. Where’ve you been all day?

Eh, the palace bores me. So I slept.

Lucky little sh!t. I could feel him shrug in my head indifferently and lay back down in the corner of my mind. Jericho wasn’t much of a talker, but just his presence in my subconscious was more needed than I liked to let on. He was the hard exterior I tried to exude. If other packs feared us, we would be less susceptible to threats. He was a fearsome wolf, larger than most Alphas. But he and I were both the same- formidable and fierce on the exterior, but good ole boys on the inside.

I showered quickly, wrapping a towel around my waist. And inspecting myself in the mirror. My hair was shaggy and black, like Jericho’s fur. I kept it cut short on the sides and back, but let the length grow out on top. It was getting a little long and the tresses flopped almost into my eyes. I slicked it back for good measure, to appease Bart. Dark stubble peppered my face. I’d loaded into the SUV straight from the fields after inspecting our summer crop.

I had my mother’s aqua blue eyes, a rare color here, but quite common in her family line. Dad said he took her to the South Aegean region in Greece for their honeymoon and the crisp teal color of the sea was a perfect match to our eyes. A pang of sorrow jolted my heart as I ran my hand down my bare neck. I wanted my mate so badly. I wanted to bare her mark there, showing that I belonged to no one but her. Tying myself to her in every way possible. But where the f***k was she?

I stepped out of the bathroom, threw my boots and clothes onto the bed and peeked into the closet to see what Bart had picked out. A full black suit equipped with shiny black dress shoes.

Ha! Not going to happen. Jericho snickered.

A few minutes later, a knock at the door let me know Bart was here to collect me. I stepped out in the form-fitting black slacks, a crisp white button-down shirt with sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons undone, my black hat proudly atop my head, and still rocking the dirty a.ss boots.

I could see Bart struggling not to come undone, but I glared at him, daring him to question me. He nodded and walked on, leading us down the hall. I caught Ryker trying to stifle a laugh at Bart’s reaction. But I was trying not to laugh at him in the complete suit getup looking like a total dork, his white blonde hair styled and everything.

You clean up nice, Turd Nugget. I joked through mind link.

Dude, I’m pretty sure Bart is going to have an aneurysm! We both covered our snickers in coughs and continued to follow Bart toward the Dining Hall.

I could hear whispers coming from a side hall up ahead, and kicked in my Alpha hearing to pick up on the conversation.

“They say he is running wild through the woods hunting down his mate, completely unattended!”

“But why would he abandon his position? He’s the KING for Goddess sake!”

“They say he has lost it completely. I have no idea what we’re to do.”

"EH HEM." Bart interrupted the maids and they squeaked, curtseying and running down the hall. Bart shifted uneasily and straightened his jacket. Ryker and I shared a side glance before following the head of house down the stretch of hall.

We walked through the grand doorways, and even though we held the attention of every she-wolf in the room, my heart sank. My mate wasn’t here either. My heart dropped all the way to my stomach, just like it did every time.

Where are you, Little Mate?