Female Alpha's Choice

Evan “Christian, seriously we’re going to be late!” I yelled up the stairs at my brother. “Mum is going to kill you, she has steam coming out of her ears down here” I added via our mental link. I heard him laugh and not even 30 seconds later he was stepping outside, swiftly dodging our mothers attempt at slapping his shoulder, and going to hide behind his future Beta Jarrod. “Christian when are you going to grow up” she growled “if you’re going to be future Alpha then start acting like it or Evan will be given the title.” I looked at Christian and Jarrod and rolled my eyes. If I had a dollar every time she tried that one then I wouldn’t have to be part of the Alpha family to be rich; I’d have my own fortune. When I was younger her threat had worried me but not anymore. Christian and I are non-identical twins so, technically, I could be future Alpha. We look almost identical though- both 6’2’’ with olive skin and light brown hair. We used to look more alike but the older we got the more our physique changed; I was much bigger in my upper body where as Christian was more evenly spread with muscles. If you looked closely Christians eyes are a slightly darker shade of green than mine and his nose slightly wider. Our parents had always been able to tell us apart, but the pack couldn’t. Well, at least until the rogue attack 7 years ago. After that the pack could definitely tell which twin I was and I don’t think any of them wanted me as future Alpha. Luckily for me, Christian was born 6 minutes before I entered the world. Even if I had been older though, I didn’t want the title. Sounds strange I know, surely all male wolves want it? Nope, not me. Too much stress and paperwork. I want to be top warrior and I’m working hard to get there, even with my disadvantage. As we all climbed into the car and started our 6 hour journey, I tuned out our mother giving Christian another lecture. Her Latina side was out with a force today and I was just grateful that it was not focused on me. She hadn’t slipped into speaking Spanish yet so she wasn’t too riled up.  For some reason, my wolf Arion was restless in my mind and had been all week. I’d gone for extra runs as a human, to try and help relax him, but his agitated feelings remained, and it was really starting to annoy me. I was looking forward to when I could finally shift in a couple of months and he could run freely. Maybe then his pacing in my head would stop. Though we meet our wolf spirit at 16, it is mainly a mental connection. We begin to get stronger physically and can mind link and we can find our mates, but our wolves must wait until the first full moon after our 20th birthday before we can shift together. Only then can they take physical form for the first time. It is a big event for a wolf and can be quite painful and distracting. They say having your mate around you helps though. Unluckily for my brother and I, we were just shy of 20 and no mates yet. I really hoped I met her before I had to shift solo. “Arion, whats up man? You’ve been weird all week.” He was quiet and I thought he wasn’t going to reply when he said “I just feel like somethings coming. I can’t tell whether it’s a good thing or not.” “Maybe its our mate and she’ll be at this festival?” I replied, feeling hope blossom in my chest. I wanted to find my mate so badly, though I was nervous too. Arion didn’t respond and I knew he felt the same. We were on the same page with most things- except the Alpha title. Arion loved my brother and his wolf too, so would never challenge them, but he felt we had to have a title of some kind. He had a stronger tie to the Alpha blood we shared. Even being Beta was not a good enough option for him and I would hate to be under my brother that way. I think the power struggle would be too much so I was relieved when Christian asked if I was ok with Jarrod being his Beta. My father had offered us all kinds of options and Christian had been happy to try and share the title, but I knew it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened between my brother and I. Giving him his eldest birthright was, to me, quite simple. If I was honest with myself I knew I wanted to leave my pack eventually and hopefully be head warrior elsewhere. I love my family, and my pack, but I don’t think I’d be happy there forever. I need my own space to be strong, make a name for myself without my dads’ Alpha title hovering over me. I think Christian needed our separation too. I knew he still felt slight guilt when he looked at me… “God mum is killing me, help me out will you?!” Christian begged me mentally. He might be my older brother, but it was always me saving his butt. “Mum,” I cut her mid sentence, probably about to list Christians other flaws that needed work, “why are we even going to this festival thing? Dad already had the meetings there yesterday, why would we need to go?” Mum sighed and eyed me in the review mirror. “Evan haven’t you been listening all week? You boys will be the death of me.” She rolled her eyes and continued, “Alpha Dylan is handing over his title soon and he wanted a festival to introduce the new Alpha. It has been a while since the Alphas in our territory met up so it’s a good chance for us to strengthen alliances with a few different packs. Training with others will help you grow and see areas you can improve in. Maybe one of you boys will find a mate so I can get some grand-pups!” Evan could see the excitement in her eyes from the backseat and groaned internally. Christian shared his feelings “Goddess mum we’re not even 20 yet, haven’t shifted yet, haven’t met mates yet! Calm down woman!” We all laughed together and settled into a comfortable silence. I watched the road for a while. We went from smooth flat highway, turning onto a rougher road that moved us upwards. A little while later I realized we were slowly climbing a mountain. Arion was getting excited, maybe at the new terrain to explore? “Tell me more about this pack mum,” said Christian, actually speaking like an Alpha for once, “why haven’t we seen or heard from the Jamala pack in so long?” “I’m not sure,” she replied, “Your dad speaks to Alpha Dylan at least once a month but they’re a peaceful pack, they never really have trouble. They are slightly bigger than us in number. He and his Luna only have one heir, which I’ve always thought was weird. I think their name is Darcy.” Alpha Darcy, I mused, I wonder what he’s like. It is odd for an Alpha couple to have only one pup. Most Alphas had 3 or more, like our family. My younger sister Bridget was very unhappy to be left at home, and that is putting it mildly. She’d thrown a huge tantrum and dad had to go Alpha on her to calm her down. She was only 18 though, in her last year of school, and my parents took wolf education very seriously. Most packs focused on physical strengths and training, which we did also, but we saw the importance of mental training and learning our history. It also kept the young wolves busy- because we don’t shift until we’re a bit older all that pent up wolf energy has to be forced somewhere. Jarrod’s voice interrupted my thoughts, “If they’re trying to get a mate for their future Alpha why are they inviting all the Alpha and Betas? Shouldn’t he go out visiting to find his mate?” “The families are invited also so maybe they’re hoping it’ll be a high ranking shewolf?” my mother conjectured. I leant back into the car seat and watched as we climbed higher and higher. Arions’ anxiety seemed to increase the further we went, and I couldn’t help but wondering what this weekend would bring. Would my mate be at this festival amongst the families? And if I found her, would she still want me with my obvious disadvantage?