The Stranger's Pack.
1316 Words
The way he said it, cold yet protective, sent a strange shiver down her spine.
“Thank you… Alpha,” she whispered.
Adrian turned and walked out, his cloak brushing against the floor. But his mind wasn’t calm.
Kael was restless inside Adrian.
She’s not just a stray, Adrian.
Then what is she?
Ours.
That night, Leila dreamed.
She stood in a silver forest under a glowing moon.
A deep voice whispered through the wind…
You were not meant to die that night, Leila. You were meant to begin again.
When she woke, her heart was pounding, and her wolf, the one she hadn’t felt since her rejection, stirred faintly inside her.
Outside her room, a woman watched through the crack in the door.
Her lips curved into a cruel smile.
“So the Alpha saved another pretty stray,” she whispered to herself. “Let’s see how long she lasts in my pack.”
Leila silently panicked, ohh, no. Moon Goddess, hope I'm not in another danger?
Later that day, Leila managed to walk out of her room. The halls of the Dark Moon packhouse were carved of dark stone and polished wood, filled with quiet footsteps and disciplined wolves. No laughter. No chatter. Only duty.
Everywhere she went, people stared. Whispers followed her.
“That’s the girl Alpha brought in.”
“She’s human-looking… maybe a rogue spy.”
“She won’t last long. No one survives here unless the Alpha wants them to.”
Leila tried to ignore them.
In the training yard outside, she stopped. Warriors trained in perfect sync, their movements sharp and lethal. The air was thick with dominance. She could feel Adrian’s power even though he wasn’t there, his authority woven into every heartbeat of his pack.
Kara spotted her from across the yard and approached, wiping sweat from her forehead. “You shouldn’t be out yet,” she said, though not unkindly this time.
“I needed fresh air,” Leila murmured.
Kara sighed. “Just don’t wander too far. There are rules here, and the Alpha doesn’t forgive easily.”
Leila nodded, her eyes drifting toward the forest beyond the fence line. The same forest she’d nearly died in. “Does he always seem so… cold?”
Kara’s lips curved slightly. “Cold? No. Calculating, maybe. He doesn’t waste emotion. You’ll learn that soon enough.”
“Why did he save me then?” Leila asked quietly.
Kara’s expression darkened. “That’s what everyone’s wondering.”
As night fell, Leila lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The silence of the Dark Moon packhouse was heavy, almost suffocating. Her mind replayed Darius’s face, his words, his betrayal.
Her chest tightened. She pressed her hand against her heart.
“You were meant to begin again,” the voice from her dream whispered again in her mind.
But how? How do you begin again when everything that defined you, your mate, your pack, your title, is gone?
A soft knock broke the silence.
She sat up, startled. “Come in?”
The door opened slowly, and to her surprise, Alpha Adrian stepped in again. He wasn’t wearing his cloak this time, just a black shirt and pants that clung to his tall frame. The moonlight from the window made his silver eyes glow faintly.
“Are you resting?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said nervously. “I couldn’t sleep.”
He crossed his arms, watching her. “You’re healing faster than expected.”
“Thanks to your healers,” she said softly.
His expression didn’t change. “You’re carrying,” he said suddenly.
Leila’s eyes widened, her breath caught. “H-how did you…”
“I can smell it,” Adrian interrupted. His tone was neither cruel nor kind, just factual. “You’re pregnant.”
Tears burned her eyes, and she lowered her gaze. “It’s… it’s not what I wanted to bring into your pack, Alpha. I can leave once I’m strong enough…”
“You’ll stay,” he cut her off. His voice was firm, final. “At least until you’re safe.”
She looked up, startled. “Why?”
Adrian’s gaze softened just slightly. “Because I don’t abandon the innocent.”
Her lips parted, but no words came. No one had spoken to her like that since before her rejection. Her throat tightened.
“Rest, Leila,” he said after a pause. “You’ll need your strength.”
He turned to leave, but before he reached the door, Kael’s voice echoed inside him again.
She’s ours.
Adrian exhaled slowly. No. She belongs to another.
Not anymore.
As the Alpha left the room, Leila whispered softly into the darkness, “Thank you… for not leaving me behind.”
But outside her door, Kara stood again, her eyes burning with jealousy and suspicion.
“She’s already getting his attention,” Kara muttered under her breath. “That’s not going to end well.”
She turned away, her mind already plotting.
The next morning, Leila found herself being escorted by two warriors to meet Adrian in the main hall. The massive wooden doors opened, revealing him seated at the long council table, surrounded by his Beta, Gamma, and a few advisors.
Her heart pounded as she approached.
“Leila,” Adrian said, gesturing for her to stand before him. “My Beta informs me you wish to stay until you can fend for yourself.”
“Yes, Alpha,” she replied. “I’ll work, help however I can. I just need time.”
“You’ll earn your keep,” he said. “You’ll assist in the infirmary for now.”
“Thank you,” she said gratefully.
The Gamma, a grizzled man with a scar over his brow, leaned forward. “Alpha, with all due respect, taking in strays brings danger.”
Adrian’s eyes flashed. “I decide what’s dangerous.”
The man instantly bowed his head. “Yes, Alpha.”
Leila stood there, stunned by the authority in his voice. He didn’t raise it, but it commanded obedience like thunder.
When the meeting ended, Adrian stood and approached her. “Stay close to the main house. No wandering past the borders.”
“I understand.”
He stopped inches from her, his scent surrounding her again. “And, Leila,” he said, his tone softer, almost unreadable. “If anyone here threatens you, come to me directly.”
Her chest tightened. “Why are you being kind to me?”
His lips curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Because I don’t repeat another man’s mistakes.”
Before she could ask what he meant, he walked away, leaving her with a racing heart and more questions than answers.
That night, as the moonlight bathed the Dark Moon territory in silver, a distant howl echoed through the forest, long, sorrowful, and familiar.
Leila froze by the window, her breath catching.
That howl… it sounded like Darius.
Her pulse quickened. Was he looking for her? Or had he already realized she was gone?
Behind her, unseen, Adrian stood outside her door, his wolf restless, sensing her turmoil.
“She’s not ready to face that world again,” Kael growled inside him.
Adrian’s silver eyes glowed faintly. “No,” he murmured. “But if Darius comes here…”
He clenched his fists.
“…I’ll make sure he never takes her back.”
Leila sat by the window, her hand pressed against her stomach as the wind howled softly through the trees. That sound, it had felt like his howl. Darius.
Her heart squeezed painfully.
She turned away from the window, trying to calm her racing pulse. “He can’t find me here,” she whispered. “Not here.”
But deep down, fear lingered. She had seen Darius’s wrath. His pride wouldn’t allow her disappearance to go unanswered.
A faint knock on her door startled her.
- Writer
