The New Alpha

The New Alpha

Chapter 1

Alana

I was sitting in my favorite hidden clearing. I sat watching the butterflies flit from flower to flower. The trickling spring I sat next to under the willow tree was the fastest way to calm myself. It had been a long week due to the fact that the entire pack was preparing for the alpha ceremony. The current Alpha Paul was getting ready to retire and turn it over the his son Anthony. The ceremony was set to take place the day after Anthony's twenty first birthday. A wolf's twenty first birthday was significant because they were able to recognize their mate.

Finally I was relaxed enough to enjoy the tranquility of this beautiful place. All of a sudden to my surprise I heard footsteps approaching my secluded spot. I peek around the edge of the tree hidden by the cascading branches of the willow tree and see a large figure coming closer. Their scent reached me before they came into the sunlight that illuminated the clearing. They smelled of fresh pine and fresh baked cookies. It was warm and inviting but I still didn't know who had come here. They emerged from the shadows and I immediately recognized who had found my sanctuary. Anthony was walking slowly into the clearing obviously consumed by his own thoughts so much so that he didn't even notice me until he was only a few feet away.

Anthony

My mind was full of doubts and concern for the upcoming ceremony. It was just days away and I am worried that I will fail as Alpha to our pack. I have been in training to take over the pack since I could walk. My father pushed me hard to learn how to fight and also how to resolve conflicts that arose. He always told me that a good alpha was strong, honest, and above all else compassionate to those in his pack no matter their rank. My feet continued to move along automatically. I had no real place in mind, I was just wandering aimlessly while lost in thought.

As I walked through the forest I noticed a change in the light coming through the canopy of the forest. As I moved closer to the light I could tell it was a clearing and I heard the babbling of a small stream. The sound was calming and at that moment I needed to calm myself before going back to the pack house to finish helping with the arrangements for the ceremony. I continue to move closer to the light and sound hoping to find a little bit of peace to work through my concerns. I was a few feet away from a lone willow tree when I realized that I wasn't alone in the clearing.

I looked up from my thoughts when a scent that was out of place reached my nose. The smell was the most inviting thing I had ever smelled before. It was a combination of strawberries, lilacs, and pastries. It was so unique in a forest full of mostly pine and sycamore trees. The lovely smell was coming from the base of the lone willow tree. I look to the tree and see a pair of sky blue eyes peeking at me from the far side.

The eyes seemed to pull me in and capture my full attention. As I came around the tree, I realized that it was Alana Martin. Alana was younger than me but not by much from what I could remember. She was a quiet girl who never tried to be the center of attention like the majority of girls in the pack house. The few things I knew about her was that was intelligent and graduated early to go to college ahead of her class. I also knew that her parents were loyal hard working omegas in the pack. Other than that she was a mystery to me.

Alana

Anthony looked at me and I couldn't help but to hold his gaze until he began to come around the tree. Once he was in front of me I asked if he was alright. He looked into my eyes like he was unsure of what to say. He nodded and said he was fine and asked if he could join me under the tree. I said yes and moved over to give him room to sit beside me. We sat together for awhile in silence listening to the stream and watching the butterflies around the flowers. I felt odd sitting here alone with him. Usually Anthony was surrounded by his friends. His best friend and soon to be beta was Will Michaels and they were hardly ever apart. They did a lot of training and studying together. They both had to be ready to run the pack once Anthony takes over after the ceremony.

Chapter 2

Anthony

As we sat by the stream, I had this overwhelming urge to tell her what was on my mind. I knew it was irrational but it just felt right, so I began to speak. At first it all came out in an incomprehensible rush and she just stared at me with a confused look on her face. I took a deep breath and started again. "I'm afraid that I won't be a good Alpha to the pack. What am I suppose to do if there is a rouge attack or an issue with another pack?" I stared into her sky blue eyes waiting for her to say something, anything. A thoughtful expression appeared on her face before she began to speak. " To be honest with you Anthony, I think you will do well as Alpha. You have been preparing for this your entire life. Mistakes are bound to be made as you learn from experience and right now you don't have as much as your father. I'm sure he made a few mistakes in the beginning and grew from them just the same as you will." she said.

I thought about what she said for a few minutes and realized she was right. I should be trained well enough at this point to handle almost any situation that should arise. Even if I didn't know how to handle a situation I could always ask for guidance from my father and the other elders in the pack. I was thankful for her words of wisdom in a confusing time for me. I thanked her for her help and began to stand up, dusting off the back of my pants as I did so. We both waved and I trudged back to the pack house to finish up a few things before going to my room for the night. When I got back to the pack house my beta Will found me to confirm some last minute arrangements for my party and the Alpha Ceremony. I signed off on what was needed before going to my room to shower and relax for the evening after asking a member of the kitchen staff to bring some dinner to my room.

Alana

After talking with Anthony in the clearing I sat there a bit longer when he left to return to the pack house. At around sunset I started to head back home. It was quiet in the woods, at least until I got closer to the pack house. Everyone was scurrying about preparing for not only the Alpha Ceremony but Anthony's birthday as well. Inside the pack house was a little more quiet. Some of the younger high schoolers were in the lounge watching movies and TV. The smaller children were being rounded up to get ready for bed. Of course none of them were ready to stop playing their games. It made me think of my future and finding my mate.

As I walked by the lounge towards the kitchen I heard a loud shriek of anger coming from the first floor bathroom. The door flies open and Kim Wilson storms out clearly seething about something. Kim was of our current Beta Phillip Wilson and had always thought herself to be superior to those around her. Kim was known to bully lower ranking pack members into waiting on her hand and foot. I was fortunate enough to be excluded from that after she had attempted to try it when we were in the third grade. Needless to say she was unsuccessful. After that day she just ignored me whenever we were around each other. That was fine with me since apart from a few people I kept to myself. Kim looked at me then without a word stormed past me down the hallway towards the front door. I continued down the hall to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before going to my room to study. I had a paper in my psych class that was due next week. I was only halfway through with it and I needed to finish my english literature paper as well.

I woke up at ten in the morning and was about to start panicking when I realized it was Saturday and that meant it was the soon to be Alpha's birthday. It was a good thing I had worked on my assignments last night. Today there was to be a big party for Anthony tonight. I grabbed my clothes and toiletries and went to the omega showers to start my day. I took everything back to my room before heading to the kitchen to get some breakfast. The kitchen staff had already finished serving food to the dining room at eight, so if you miss the meal you had to fend for yourself and were expected to clean up any mess you make. I get to the kitchen and grab some fruit and granola from the refrigerator before heading back to my room to work on my assignments before the party kicked off tonight. I didn't have to go to the training grounds until after lunch so I had a few hours until then. At noon I went to the dining room to have lunch before going to the training grounds. Everyone in the Black Sun Pack was required to begin training at thirteen when you got your wolf.

My wolf Star introduced herself to me at midnight on my birthday. We had our first shift after that and it was painful. Star told me that the pain wouldn't last. My body just had to get adjusted to shifting regularly. After the transformation was completed I went to the edge of the lake to look at our form. Star was a beautiful wolf, her fur was almost black but had a blue tint to it in the moonlight. Her eyes unlike my human eyes were the color of bright emeralds. We trained together as much as possible to become a strong team. Normally in wolf form Star would have complete control, but we had figured out that both of us could have partial control and collaborate with both of our separate skills. We also learned how to use this ability in my human form and she loved it when we had to train in hand to hand combat, although our opponents didn't. I liked close combat training but my favorite was weapons training. I focused on archery and had become so adept that the Head of Training had asked me to work with the new young wolves who were just getting started. I worked just as hard to train my mind and even finished high school at sixteen.

Most of the pack typically focused on the physical training until they graduate and choose what roll they will fulfill in the pack. I knew as an omega that there would be certain jobs that would be unavailable to me so I worked hard to open up all other opportunities for myself. I loved our pack and respected our current Alpha, since he didn't just see rank when he interacted with members. Alpha Nightstone knew every pack member by name and made a point to get involved in any issues they brought to his attention. It was clear that he looked at the pack as more of a family and not just his subordinates. Knowing my choices as an adult pack member I chose to focus on my academics because I felt I had more to offer than just being a warrior. I did feel it was important to have the training to fight if the occasion should arise but it wasn't the only thing I wanted to contribute to the pack.

Chapter 3

Anthony

Waking up this morning hadn't felt any different from every other day, but I was officially eighteen today and there was a good chance I would find my mate soon.