The Alpha and Her Secret Mate

The Packless

I wish all day could feel like this. All of the pack dynamics are overwhelming. The Senate makes me feel completely incompetent. Hiding here with Alex is the only thing that feels right. He holds me close to him and nuzzles his cheek against my hair. I sigh happily when he runs his fingers along my hips. Warmth radiates from his touch. I close my eyes and rest my head against his chest, letting my breathing match his.

“We could run away together?” I mutter.

“And deprive the pack of having you as an amazing Alpha? Nah!” he says. He laughs when he feels my dramatic frown against his chest and pulls away slightly. His hand catches my chin and he nudges me up to look at him. I do, mostly because I love looking at him. “You’re doing great.”

I start to lean towards him again. I want to rest my head on his shoulder and forget the day for just a moment. Alex's posture stiffens, and I quickly register that something has changed. Before I can figure it out, Alex is gone, and I'm left swaying in his absence. My knees are weak and I grasp onto the wall behind me for support.

"Layla, there's a problem."

I recognize Penny’s voice a second before I see her. "What's wrong? Is it my mom?" I sound out of breath, and the question is out of my mouth before I can think to moderate it.

"What? No," she says. She gives me a concerned look, and I stand up straighter. I let go of the wall, even though I still feel disoriented. When she speaks again, I expect questions, but I'm relieved when she ignores my state. "It's the rogues."

I'm moving towards the door as soon as she says this. I still feel Alex's touch lingering on my skin, and I ache to feel him again, but not like this. Not when my pack needs me. “What happened?” I demand as she falls into step beside me.

She hesitates, but a sharp look from me prompts her to speak. "It's the building plan." She coughs uncomfortably. "The rogues don't want to build houses for someone else, and the wolves who used to live on Fourth Street don't want to give up their land to the rogues."

I blow out an exasperated breath. "We can't all stay here like this. It's too crowded."

"Well, I know that!" She says, sounding offended.

"I know, I know. You're not the problem, Penny," I say. I glance towards her to make sure I haven't offended her and I’m relieved to see that she seems to have recovered.

In the yard, I catch a lot of angry looks, but I ignore them, walking closer to the house. I hear the argument before I see them, so I’m not surprised to find the rogues banded together. A few of them have already shifted, and the ones in their human form have their hands clenched in fists. Several of my wolves are surrounding them, and I snarl an order to stand down. Only some of them do.

“Oh good, you’re here to kick out the packless,” says an older wolf I’ve only seen around but never spoken to. I think his name is Shawn. “Why are we supporting them anyways? Freeloaders!” The last, he spits at the crowd of rogues.

I look back and forth between the rogues I know we need to keep on our side and my pack members whose support I need to be an effective Alpha. My thoughts race with indecision, with panic. I don’t know how to keep everyone happy. I don’t know how to keep the pack strong.

I see Alex slip into the crowd. His posture is casual, like he belongs there, like he was there the whole time, but his face is flushed with the memory of our last few minutes. Hiding away to kiss him felt right, but we were nearly caught, and I can see a similar dilemma in his expression.

Alex’s brother, Aaron whispers something to him, and I can’t help but wonder if Aaron knows. About us. I can’t worry about that right now. Every wolf is either watching me or eye each other warily, ready for a fight.

Alex nods to me encouragingly, and I know I can do this. “Excuse me!” I call. I immediately have their attention, but I leap up to the porch railing to give myself a height advantage over the crowd. I cross my arms in front of me, then say, “We are a pack on the brink of war. You are all above this in fighting.”

I sense the tone shift, and I immediately realize I’ve said the wrong thing.

“Not quite all of us are a pack,” someone calls.

One of the rogues snarls, and my sharp glance is enough to silence him but not to wipe the aggressive threat from his face.

Internally, I flounder, but keep my face stern. “As long as the rogues are here, they are under my protection.” I say to the pack. Then I turn to the rogues and say, “As long as you are under my protection, you’ll need to contribute to my pack.”

The reactions from the rogues are mixed. For some, my protection means nothing, but others are desperate to be here and terrified of being kicked out. One girl in particular, she can’t be much older than me, looks like she’s on the verge of tears. I, again, curse the fact that I haven’t had time to learn how any of them became rogues, whether by choice, by pack conflict, or as punishment for their crimes. Older wolves have told me that being made a rogue is hard on a wolf. They—we need the camaraderie of a pack to keep us whole. Looking over this group, I think that need only applies to some.

“And what if we don’t need your protection?” one of the bigger rogues growls at me. Even from my vantage point on the porch, he seems to tower over me.

I shrink back from him, even knowing that it’s the weaker move. I straighten my spine and say, “Then you’re free to get off our land.” I narrow my eyes at him in a look that I hope looks like a threat.

I glance up, looking for Taylor, but she’s no where to be found. Sammy has joined Alex and Aaron, and I can see mirrored looks of surprise on their faces. This wasn’t our plan. We had a strategy, and this wasn’t it. I regret my words already, but I keep my expression stony. I can’t back down now. I made the threat, now I’m stuck backing it up.

The bigger rogue raises an eyebrow at me then turns to look at each of the rogues around him. For a group without a pack, these wolves have a clear hierarchy. Some of the rogues surrounding him meet his gaze and nod, but others keep their eyes on the ground.

I can’t help but think Dan is going to be so mad when he hears about this.

The rogue clears his throat, making me flinch. “In that case,” he says. “I think we’ll be taking our leave.”

I don’t watch him when he turns. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see varied reactions from my pack. Some of them seem pleased, but many more understand what this could mean for us if they go to our rivals. What I focus on is the few rogues who don’t look pleased. Some of them look down right panicked. The younger girl wipes away a tear. She’s fully crying now and trying to hide it from the other rogues. When she meets my eye, I know I have to say something.

“You may leave, but any of you are welcome to return, should you choose to,” I say. I’m gratified when several of them glance to each other in relief. They may be pressured to go now, but I think at least some of them will be back. “All you have to do is pledge loyalty to the lunar pack.”

“Not likely!” the rogue says, not bothering to look at me.

The pack members part, clearing a path for the rogues to walk through. It’s set up like a gauntlet. One wrong move from either side will end in chaos.

A few rogues look back at me with regret in their eyes, and I try to give them a reassuring smile, but I don’t know enough about pack dynamics, and I’m terrified of doing the wrong thing. I wish Grandpa were here. He’d know what to do, and he’d handle it with dignity.

“Layla, you can’t do this!”

As soon as I hear Gracie’s voice, tension stiffens my shoulders. “It’s fine, Grace,” I tell my little sister coldly. “Go inside the house.”

Gracie doesn’t listen to me. She never did, and I don’t know why I expected her to now that I’m her only remaining gaurdian. “They’re just going to go to the Bassette’s!” she whines.

“Gracie—”

I’m about to order her to go back inside, but she jumped in front of the crowd of rogues walking away from the crowd. “Please, you have to stay,” she says to them.

“I don’t have to do anything,” the rogue leader growls. He pulls back his hand in a fist, and my paws hit the ground before he swings, but I’m not fast enough.

Gracie hit’s the ground, and I see liquid pooling around her head. The rogue leader has shifted now and he stands over her, teeth bared.

Alex gets to them before I do, tackling the wolf to the ground. His teeth sink into Alex’s shoulder, and I trip, feeling a shadow of his pain. I roar and double my speed across the yard. I bite the first bit of exposed fur I can find, and the rogue lets go of Alex with a yelp. He snarls at me, and I clench my jaw tighter on his neck, ignoring the taste of blood.

He bucks Alex off of him, and I lose my grip on his flesh.

I just to my feet, bracing myself for the next attack, but he turns and flees with several of the rogues following behind him. My vision has gone red, and I start to chase them.

“Layla, Gracie needs you,” Alex says to me over the mindlink. When I turn around, Alex has already shifted back to his human form, and he’s kneeling at Gracie’s side. He carefully puts one hand on her neck, feeling for her pulse.

I fall at Gracie’s side, just as Alex tells me, “She’s alive.”

I clasp her hand I mine, but it feels lifeless. She doesn’t move. Someone comes up beside me, and I snarl, “GET BACK!” without even seeing who it is.

“I can help,” he says, and I vaguely register that it’s Alex’s brother, Aaron. “Let me help,” he says before gently pushing me aside and taking Gracie in his arms. Everyone rushed to clear a path for him and open the door as he carried her body inside.