Destined for the Lycan Prince

TheTeenageWolflord

"Alright boys, listen up!"

Hunter Westbrook sighed as his father's booming alpha voice reverberated through the cavernous great room of their ancestral pack mansion. Just another tedious "welcome home" lecture about embracing his Lycan legacy or some s**t.

"My only son and heir has returned to us," Drake Westbrook continued, puffing out his barreled chest as he addressed the rest of the Crimson Hart werewolf pack.

At least fifty brawny men crowded around the crackling fireplace, their eyes gleaming with reverence for their imposing leader. From muscled beta bodyguards to wizened pack elders, all of them hung on Drake's every word.

"As we enter this new moon phase, it's time for Hunter's awakening into our sacred pack traditions. He will undergo the rituals, embrace the wolf within, and finally take his rightful place among us as the alpha heir!"

A rumbling cheer went up from the gathered wolves. They stomped and howled their approval like something ripped from an old-world medieval court.

Rolling his eyes, Hunter leaned back against the ornate stone mantle. As the voices quieted down, his father turned and fixed him with a stern look.

"I trust you've been keeping your baser instincts in check while out among the humans these past few months? We can't risk any exposure before the alignment of the planets for the awakening."

Hunter smirked. As if he'd lower himself to mindless mingling with the random townies at his temporary high school. Not after spending his whole life being mentored as Lycan royalty.

"Of course, Father. I've stayed perfectly aligned with our ways."

Which wasn't entirely true. It wasn't his fault that one of the girls at Shiny Heights High caught his primal instincts a bit...off guard. But he'd never admit the bashful little redhead made his inner wolf keen in a way no female had before.

Shaking off the thought, Hunter turned back as Drake resumed his gratuitous speech.

"The celestial events that kicked off our ancestors' first transformations won't return for another three hundred years. This awakening will irreversibly trigger Hunter's werewolf powers, cementing his place in our ancient lineage..."

As the droning continued, Hunter felt a restless energy thrumming through his veins. After countless years of grooming and discipline to lead the pack one day, this homecoming ceremony almost made it feel real.

Soon, he'd get to shed these weak human kid facades once and for all. Let his full, magnificent beast finally run free under the glow of the supernatural zodiac. Give in to the parts of himself he'd been forced to suppress for far too long.

His heightened senses had already started evolving in the past few weeks, making the mundane world seem sharper and more vibrant. Smells and sounds were amplified tenfold from how humans experienced them. And his awakened eyes could see farther, detect smaller shifts and movements from miles away.

Drake clapped him on the shoulder, snapping Hunter out of his reverie. "You were born for greatness, my son. Our pack's ruling bloodline flows through you. With your awakening, we'll finally release your true power."

Unable to mask his wolfish grin, Hunter felt his elongated canines prickling at his lower lip. Finally, embracing the side of himself he was born to become.

A few yards away, his beefy bodyguard cohort Knox winked at him conspiratorially. Knox and the rest of the other young blood pack alphas were already anticipating the bacchanalian revelries to come. The hunt, the conquest, the glory of giving in to their darker natures once Hunter completed his rites.

Dismissing the others, Drake steered his son toward one of the secluded hallways, a proud smile stretching over his rugged features. "Walk with me."

As they wound through the maze of oak-paneled passages, Drake tightened his grip on Hunter's shoulder. "Son, something's been weighing on my mind since you returned from the human realm."

Hunter tensed, wondering which one of his tamer exploits his father could've caught wind of. It wasn't like he was stupid enough to blow their cover.

"Your awakening as the next great alpha leader has been pre-destined since our ancient pack founder days. There are certain...expectations and obligations you'll need to prepare yourself for."

Ah, so that's where this was headed. Drake lowered his voice, even though they were alone.

"As the ascending alpha, it'll soon be time for you to start considering potential mates who can eventually birth a new heir for our line. A suitable female to produce powerful werewolf offspring and secure our dynasty's reign."

Hunter shrugged nonchalantly, unsurprised by the inevitable turn their discussion had taken. Elite werewolves like them didn't do feeble human courtship. They took mates, sowed their seed, expanded their regal packs.

"You needn't worry, I'll play my part when the time comes," Hunter assured him with total confidence. "I was born ready to accept my path as a true Westbrook alpha."

Drake chuckled, clapping his son's back in a rare show of masculine affection. "That's my boy. Always the pragmatic leader in the making."

Winding their way back toward the great hall's ceilings, he shot Hunter a wolfish grin, all teeth. "Just don't go picking some scrawny human mutt for our line's next supernaturally-gifted offspring, eh? Gotta carry on the family name right and properly."

A flash of that furtive redhead from Shiny Heights flickered unbidden through Hunter's mind at the words "scrawny human mutt." Not in his life would he ever seriously entertain the idea. Leila and her intriguing bookworm spark were merely a mild diversion to pass the idle hours before his grand awakening.

Any wolfborn male worth his musk knew better than to get distracted by random human skirts before taking his destined mate. When the time was right, Hunter would seek and claim his lycan queen as every great werewolf alpha before him had done.

Still, part of him couldn't resist a wolfish smirk in response to his dad's warning about not soiling their bloodline.

"Like I'd ever sully the pack's majesty by rutting with some lowborn mongrel. You should know me better than that."

The haunty redhead's fiery blush flashed through his thoughts once more as he followed Drake out, dismissing the unexpected flare of his bestial instincts. Their kind didn't mix with humans, it was that simple.

No need to overthink it. Once his awakening is done, he'd be free to indulge his most primal alpha desires - with only the finest, strongest she-wolves around to choose from as his awaiting queen.

So why couldn't he completely shake the nagging ghost of little Leila Larson's smoldering gaze from his mind?