Alpha lost Luna

CHAPTER 1: Genesis Ana's POV “Ana! You clumsy pup! Look at what you’ve done!” I flinched with the heavy wooden tray tipping dangerously in my hands. The mugs of ale wobbled and one toppled over. Its dark foamy contents cascaded over the edge of the tray and onto the floor of the great hall, splattering the boots of the nearest warrior. The voice belonged to my father, Alpha Ion. Huge, fierce and currently staring me down like I’d just declared war on a rival pack instead of spilling a drink. “I’m sorry!” I muttered, my voice barely a whisper against the chatter of the feast. “I’m so sorry, Father. It slipped.” “Everything slips with you lately!” he boomed, his voice echoing off the stone walls. “Clean it up. Now! Or you’ll be scrubbing the kennels for a month!” I dropped to my knees, fumbling for the rag tucked into my apron string. The hall was packed with the strongest warriors of our Transylvania pack with their laughter loud and their appetites larger while the air was full of the smell of meat and ale. I knew the real reason my hands were shaking.. the real reason my focus was shot. It was him.. seated right next to my father at the high table was Alpha Stefan. He was Alpha of the rival Bucharest pack.. our enemy and the most devastatingly handsome werewolf I had ever seen in my life! I dared a glance up from the puddle of ale. His dark hair was swept back with a few strands falling over his forehead. His jaw was strong and his shoulders looked broad enough to carry the weight of the world. But it was his eyes… Gods, his eyes. Even from across the room, I felt their intensity. They were the color of a stormy sky and right now they were watching me! I quickly looked down, scrubbing at the floor with a ferocity it probably didn’t deserve while my heart was pounding. How could someone so forbidden be so… so hot? It was a special kind of torture! “Get up and stop gawking at the floor!” my father snapped. “The guests need serving. And try not to drown anyone this time!” Serving.. I could do that. I was Ana, daughter of the great Alpha Ion and I could serve ale without causing an international incident. I grabbed a fresh mug from the side table and made my way back to the high table. My feet felt like lead and each step brought me closer to him. The noise of the hall seemed to fade away and all I could focus on was him. I stopped behind his chair and I could smell his sweet scent! My hand trembled as I reached forward to place the new mug near his plate.. and then it happened! As I set the mug down, his hand moved to adjust his knife and his long warm fingers brushed against the back of my hand. White-hot electricity shot straight up my arm and it was like being struck by lightning. A gasp caught in my throat and my entire body went hot and then cold and then unbearably hot again. A dizzying aching warmth pooled low in my belly and I swear my knees actually buckled. I was getting wet under and it was happening too fast! The world tilted and my elbow knocked into the mug I’d just set down. It teetered for a heart-stopping second before tipping over. Ale, again spread across the table this time, heading straight for Alpha Stefan’s lap. He moved with an impossible speed, leaning back just in time and the ale soaked the floor instead. Slowly, those stormy eyes lifted from the mess to me and one dark eyebrow rose, just a little. He didn’t look angry.. he looked… amused and intensely curious. My father however did not look amused. “That’s it!” he roared, slamming a fist on the table and the entire hall went silent. “Out! Get out, Ana! I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight but you’re a disgrace! Get out of my sight!” Humiliation burned through me hotter than the arousal of a moment before. I didn’t dare look at Stefan again. I just turned and fled, pushing through doors and stumbling out into the cool night air. I gulped in deep breaths, leaning against the wall of the pack house. My heart was still racing with my skin prickling and I could still feel the ghost of his touch on my hand. “Well, that was a spectacular performance. Even for you.” I didn’t need to turn around to know that voice.. Rodica! My cousin emerged from the shadows with a nasty smirk on her pretty pinched face. She was my permanent rain cloud and she lived to make my life miserable. “What do you want, Rodica?” I sighed, not even looking at her. “Oh, just enjoying the show,” she chirped. “Two spills in five minutes. Quite the record. Though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s hard to concentrate when a certain… guest… is in the room.” I froze. No. She couldn’t know. She leaned in closer with her voice dropping in a poisonous whisper. “Was it him, Ana? Was it the big bad Alpha from Bucharest that made you so clumsy? Did the great Alpha Stefan make you all weak in the knees?” I felt my face flood with color and that was all the confirmation she needed. She laughed cruelly. “I knew it! Oh, you pathetic little thing. Don’t tell me you’re actually dreaming about him? He’s way out of your league. A powerful Alpha like that? He needs a real she-wolf by his side. Not a clumsy pup who can’t even hold a tray!” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Besides, I saw him first. A man like that… he’s made for fantasies. Dark delicious fantasies. You’re just in the way.” With a final condescending pat on my cheek, she turned and sauntered back toward the pack house, leaving me alone with my humiliation. I slumped against a tree with the rough bark scraping my back. The full moon overhead was huge and brilliant, bathing the forest in silver light. Rodica was hateful but she wasn’t entirely wrong. What was I doing? Stefan was the enemy. He was here to argue over land and over borders. He was on the wrong side. Or… was I? The thought crept in, unwelcome and confusing. My father’s way was always anger and always strength. But Stefan… he hadn’t shouted. He’d just looked…. he’d been… calm. Ugh. I was losing my mind! I heard a twig snap behind me. Rodica was back for round two. “What now?” I snapped, spinning around with all the annoyance I could muster. “Haven’t you had your...” The words died in my throat. It wasn’t Rodica. It was Alpha Stefan! Moonlight shone out the sharp lines of his face making him look both god-like and dangerously real. How long had he been standing there? “I… you… wh-what are you… how…?” I stammered nervously. He took a step toward me and my heart immediately tried to beat its way out of my chest. His expression was serious and blank but then, the most unexpected thing happened. The stern line of his mouth softened just a little and a small almost imperceptible smile touched his lips as he raised a single finger and pressed it to his own lips in a universal sign for silence. My own mouth snapped shut. He then pointed up, through the canopy of leaves at the full moon hanging heavy in the sky. “It’s a beautiful night,” he said with his voice vibrating right through me. So much deeper and smoother than my father’s roar. “Good for a peaceful quiet stroll.” He took another step closer, closing the distance between us and my breath hitched. He smelled even better out here! He suddenly did the unthinkable.. he held out his hand to me palm up in an offer. “The grounds are… unfamiliar to me,” he said with his stormy eyes holding mine captive. “Will you be my guide?” I stared at his outstretched hand with my mind screaming a dozen different things at once. This is a bad idea! He’s the enemy! Your father will kill you! But my body… my body was humming and leaning toward him like a flower to the sun! I glanced back toward the pack house, toward the light and the noise and the rules and then I looked at his hand.. his offer. I was at a crossroads and I had no idea which path to take…