Mated To The Alpha

Chapter 5

Damien

Irritation coils in my gut, hot and restless. I leaped over the fence, landing hard.

“You didn’t have to treat her like that. Her feelings might be hurt,” Damon said, his voice echoing in my head.

“Shut it, Damon. No one asked for your opinion.”

The moment my feet hit the ground, I stripped down without hesitation. Clothes folded neatly to the side.

Bones cracked. Muscles stretched. My body bent and reshaped itself with practiced ease. The pain was familiar, and comforting. Seconds later, I stood on all fours, black fur rippling in the breeze, streaks of white flashing down my back.

And then I run.

The wind kisses my muzzle, the earth blurs beneath my paws. Freedom floods my senses, raw and exhilarating. Giving into my true form.

But even out here, my mind wandered.

Five years ago.

Blood moon pack

Another day ruined by whispers.

I had tried to ignore them. Pretend I didn’t hear. But I always did.

They let their mouth run.

“The man is a shell of himself.” Sheila muttered, a pack member I recognize.

“Ever since the death of his mate. He’s like a different person.”someone else added.

“But they had it coming. It is the order of things and has been that way for generations. The Luna of the Moretti clan must die in childbirth. It’s proof of the strong lineage, descendants of the great Lycan Damieno Moretti”

“He could mourn her demise till death. Poor young master”

I felt the fury coil in my chest. I was ready to step forward, to shut them up, to make them see me

But a hand stopped me.

I turned to see Thronas.

Father’s closest friend. Our Beta. His brows are raised, calm but commanding. He’s a handsome man in his mid forties, calm, sharp eyed, carved by experience.

“What difference does it make, trying to prove a point to them?” he asks.

“But-“

“It’s alright son”

It wasn’t alright. Not then. Not now.

My mother had to die for me to live. That’s what they said. That’s what the legacy demanded.

But that truth never sat right with me.

I never truly knew my father.

I grew up on whispers. Stories about the man he used to be. Strong. Loyal. Loving. But the man I saw wore a blank stare. That look stayed with me. It etched itself into my memory like a scar.

Lucien Moretti barely acknowledged me. “Father” was just a title. He felt more like a distant pack member than a parent. We shared blood, but not much else.

They said he loved my mother, his childhood sweetheart, his mate. They were an inseparable pair. They said her death broke him. I believe them. A part of him died with her.

And I was left to grow up in the shadow of a man who had shut the world out.

I stared at the cliff ahead.

Rumors of his weakening grip on leadership began to stir. But they were silenced before they could spark a rebellion

Our pack had firm standing. Beta Thronas was reliable and the Gamma Mikael was loyal.

My relationship with father shaped me for sure. But I was raised by a pack member who doubled as my nanny, ranked below me. There was only so much she could do.

Safe to say, I raised myself.

That day, Father left for a meeting with the Alphas at Silvercrest pack. Warriors went with him. Gamma Mikael at his side.

I stayed behind. I wish I hadn’t.

If only I had gone with them.

“You should head back in” someone said

I nodded and followed. The door closed behind me.

Then came the news. There had been an ambush. Rogues. Too precise, too coordinated for any unsuspecting party. Bodies turned up. But not theirs. Father and Mikael were missing.

I was 16

For the first time, I held a meeting.

“They are both strong, anything could have happened. They could be buried in some forgotten prison, their bodies rutting away. Maybe worse.” I paused, then continued, “We battle Silvercrest. Eradicate all members present at the gathering.”

“Permit me to speak, young master,” Thronas bowed respectfully. “Now is not the time to battle blindly and make enemies. Protecting you, and fortifying border security is most important. Order that a few men be deployed as search party for the Alpha.”

A group was setup. Months went by, ten months.

We had nearly abandoned the search.

Then Father returned.

But he wasn’t the man who left

His black eyes once hollow, now burned with something unfamiliar. He looked… alive.

He had survived.

Relief hit me first, sorrow, then confusion.

He had found a mate. A human, Sera. And somehow, he looked happier than I'd ever seen him. That stung more than I expected.

We had no dealings with the humans. Our worlds didn’t cross. There was no need.

A second chance mate was a myth. A tale that never happened.

Yet father was here, alive, changed, and telling me something I couldn’t grasp.

Having a wolf mate was acceptable, but a human! Their fragility made the entire possibility of a wolf having a human mate seem irrational.

Somehow he and Mikael had escaped. They were badly wounded when they stumbled into human settlement. Mikael didn’t make it. He gave his life for Father, loyal to the end. His service was complete.

“Humans are advanced beings, understanding them will help us serve a greater cause. They have built thriving businesses we can learn from and benefit. Imagine a fusion of our ancient knowledge and their modern systems, Moretti Corp.”

Running for what felt like hours. Maybe an hour. Maybe more. I just needed to move, to breathe, to feel something other than the weight that pressed down on me whenever I came to that house.

Eventually, I slowed near the edge of the property. My heart was pounding, my breath steadying. I pulled my clothes back on, grounding myself again.

Then I heard it. Deep, commanding, unmistakable.

“Meet me in my study.”

Father.