Claimed by the Alpha

The Pack

The silence is definitely not as quiet as I remembered it to be. Now it was deafening. The moment the members of the crescent pack bowed down to me was the time I realized that I had a huge responsibility as their Luna now.

The generality of the Crescent Pack is not what I expect to welcome me by bending on one knee as their curtsy. They are a lot, much more than I hoped actually. I thought that Lincoln only ruled a pack of only a hundred, but it was a quad more than my partial calculations after I realized that the others were situated on the second floor.

Lincoln held my hand and I flinched before I caught his eyes. He then knelt on one knee which made my eyes widen.

“Lincoln no...”

I was prepared to halt him from doing the pack's curtsy but I was too late when his knee already touched the ground.

“Moon Goddess save the Luna,” Lincoln echoed the pack’s slogan before he raised his head, patiently waiting for my response.

I looked at Lincoln with no idea at all. I had never been in a pack. I know nothing about the pack's rules and responsibilities, including the function of a Luna. I am clueless as to what Lincoln wanted to make me comply with as he looked up at me with his inquiring but proud eyes.

“Make everyone rise by doing what I did,” he whispered.

I hesitated, and then examined the packhouse entrance. Everyone was patiently waiting for my command, including Lincoln, and yet I couldn't do it without fretting that I might sound weak since I have always been one.

It was too much for me to handle. Too much for me to grasp the current situation since I was only a stray for two decades, living in the streets wolfless and unappreciated. My voice has been kept for a long time that I can't easily voice my thoughts without minding others' opinions.

After all, who would have thought that I was destined to be a Luna of a huge pack?

Not me, surely.

Not someone who knew me in the streets.

Only Lincoln, after he located me.

The expected introduction is making my head spin, unsure of what to do at the moment, or to command, or to just face all of the members firmly and my new responsibility all at once.

“Rise,” I said, making sure that it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Lincoln smiled before he rose and then everyone followed. I clung my hand to Lincoln's arm to hide from everyone when I felt that eyes were on me. Lincoln must have understood what I was facing so he turned to everyone and made them continue what they left off.

Everybody scattered and went back to their respective jobs.

“I didn't mean to scare you,” he said before he motioned me to walk with him which I obliged. “Believe me. But I thought that it would be best to meet half of my pack.”

I halted from taking a step.

“Half?” I inquired with great disbelief. “So it’s not all of them yet?”

“Yeah, we are here in West Crescent Packhouse where my distillery is running. The other packhouse is located in East Crescent where the winery business is also doing well,” Lincoln explained, and then we got on a private lift that only the Alpha can use.

“Must you also introduce me to them as well?” I queried when I couldn't help myself.

“Yes, but not now,” he answered, and then the lift opened towards an extravagant office, Lincoln's probably. “I know you're still tired because of last night.”

My cheeks heated when he made me remember the mating. He made me sit on the sofa and checked my feet on both sides.

“Does it hurt?” Lincoln asked as he pierced his eyes on my heels. “It seems like it was painful to use.”

“It was, but the pain is bearable. When you are a woman, beauty is pain. I don't know if you will understand that but it is what it is,” I said and then walked towards the full-length mirror beside the coat rack.

I looked at myself in the mirror and traced my hand on the soft black fabric adorned by lace on the end of the dress. It seems like the dress was made for me, also the cut-out heels that were prepared by my personal valet.

The person I’m looking at in the mirror was a stranger. But I liked her. I liked her that she finally deserved to be treated like a woman and to be dressed like one, even showered with a good fragrance like a woman should smell.

I twirled around in front of the mirror for the last time before I gazed at Lincoln, who was leaning on the sofa with his legs crossed as he stared at me like I’m the woman of his dream.

“You look nice with that dress,” he muttered with a smirk, a naughty one. “But I'm most certain that you would look nicer if you don't wear one.”

A shy smile escaped from my lips after Lincoln's devilish remark before I sat down with him. I don't know if that was a good idea since Lincoln hinted me a pint of his craving even though he wasn't in heat... or was he?

I turned to him with curious eyes only to find out that his iris had turned yellow. Just an ordinary color yellow but not bright, indicating that his urges for s****l desire are not strong, unlike last night.

Lincoln remained sitting beside me as he calmed himself down until his pupil went back to normal color. His blue ones are more radiant because of the morning light passing through the clear windows of his office.

“It wasn't because of the dress,” he muttered after a long silence. “It was perfectly hugging your body, yes. But I started feeling the heat with you inside the limousine. The dress and the heels were only an addition, but your existence, dressed nicer or not, is the only one who can arouse me, even if you will make no exertion on seducing.”

I chewed on my lower lip, looking for the right words to suit his appreciative ones, but I couldn't seem to find one, so I ended up thanking him instead.

Smirking, he brought his face closer and whispered in my ear, “Oh, Anya. You are so innocent and shy I just want to make you beg and squirm again.”

Oh, I almost moan in bliss at that mischievous notion. It was my eyes that turned yellow this time, but I restrained myself, yet I found myself wanting him despite my own restrictions.

My eyes fluttered as I leveled my face at him, eyes dropped on his parted lips, ready to graze my lips on his when I was declined by a heedful knock followed by the swift opening of the door.

I immediately gave each other's distance and I pretended to be occupied by fiddling my fingers on my expensive dress. I had no idea if the man who entered the office saw us almost surrendering to our lust, but all I know one thing.

I wanted him.

We both want each other.

“Damn, I should have locked the door.” I heard Lincoln cuss before he turned to the man who was wearing a suit just like Lincoln.

“Nice timing, Kim,” he said sarcastically.

“Thank you, Alpha,” the man retorted and handed Lincoln a paper. “Your signature is needed here so that we can deliver today's order from the mentioned restaurants written in the paper.”

“Spare us for just a little bit, Kim. Can't you see that I’m with my Luna?” Lincoln asked before his eyes found mine.

The man turned to me and bowed down a little. I smiled back in return with respect.

“Forgive me, Madame. Allow me to introduce myself briefly. I am Ian Kim, one of the highest ranked betas in the Crescent pack and the Alpha's current private secretary.”

”Nice to meet you, Mr. Kim,” I said and then smiled. “And please, drop the Madame. Anya will do.”

“As you wish, Miss Anya,” he replied and turned back to Lincoln. “The signature, please. Make haste so that I can leave you here with the Luna for you to continue what you have left off.”

I straightened in my seat and blushed. Ian Kim definitely saw what we were doing a while ago. Well, who wouldn't notice? Our faces are even fewer inches away.

The casual tone of the two as they talked was enough for me to believe that they were close to each other. The respect remained but they clearly didn't treat one another as superior and subordinate, which was fresh to witness, because Lincoln wasn't that ruthless to his pack just like most of them behave.

“God, Kim. You are always in haste,” Lincoln taunted before he signed the paper. “No wonder you haven't located your mate yet. You are always busy.”

“If I am to locate my fated mate, the moon goddess will lead me to her, Alpha. No need to worry about me,” Ian ground out and waited for Lincoln to hand him the paper by clasping his hand on his back. “Besides, it wasn't really required.”

“Is it not? Well, not required for you I guess...” he pointed out with a snort. “At least congratulate me on finding my Luna, will you? This is an achievement for me, you know that.”

“Very well, congratulations,” Ian said in a flat tone before heaving a sigh. “Contented now?”

“God, Kim. You really have no happiness in your body,” Lincoln clucked his tongue three times. “And someday, you will regret not requiring a mate for your sake.”

“Then the burden is mine to handle and not yours,” Ian countered in his utmost respectful voice but enough to irritate Lincoln in his seat. “The paper please, so that I will finish my business here. You are starting to annoy me by sounding like my father.”

My lips parted open and Lincoln rolled his eyes, handing Ian the signed paper as his surrender.

Ian accepted the paper with a sarcastic smile. “Thank you. That wasn't so hard, was it?”

Ian didn't wait for Lincoln's reply when he turned his back on him to dip his head at me. Then he made his way out of the office, leaving me amused by his snarky attitude towards the Alpha.

I had never seen such a beta who talked like that to his superior, especially to a leader. Not until I witnessed the exchange of conversation between two good-looking men, which I can say that dazed me.

When the door closed, I craned my neck to Lincoln, who had a remote in his hand. He stood, and put his vacant hand in his pocket before he walked toward me. Then, he crouched down, settling himself in between my now parted legs before pointing the remote towards the door.

The door was instantly locked by the power of his fingertip. Lincoln's eyes turned bright yellow, which eventually turned mine the same color when I figured out what he was about to do.

Lincoln smirked before looking up at me with lust dancing in his eyes. “Let’s continue what we left off, shall we?”