The Return of the Prodigal Alpha

01. Den of wolves

DAVINA

A short lady with light brown hair waited for me at the main entrance with the platter in her hands, offering me a glass of water. She must have been one of the Omegas who served high-ranked wolves. She was smiling though, as if she was enjoying her role.

I followed the Omega lady, observing the colorful decorations inside the mansion. Everything flourished with various flowers and green plants. The Luna of this pack must like nature a lot.

“Welcome to the Black Forest pack.” The train of my thoughts was cut when I heard the voice of my tutor. She looked stunning in her salmon pink dress which nicely fit her curves. She was swaying her hips and I noticed a few guards secretly checking her out. If only I could walk with such confidence. I had just plain jeans on me and a simple light-blue shirt.

“Good morning, Mrs James.” I bowed my head slightly, although it must have looked quite ridiculous. I was not a werewolf. Witches did not bow their heads at all.

“Enough with the formalities, Davina. We are not at university. Just call me Theresa.” She touched my shoulder, her index finger lifting my chin up. Such a nice lady. I was already very fond of her.

“Before we start with your program, you should meet the Luna of this pack. She’s waiting for us in the garden. Are you a coffee or tea person?”

“Tea. Anything herbal.” I answered simply and walked beside her.

The garden was a true masterpiece. I thought the Black Forest pack was a dark place, but there was so much life in such a small piece of land. Majestic magnolia trees blossomed with beautiful flowers as big as a person’s palm. I liked those flowers. They were not just nice decoration but carried very important substances in their petals. I loved studying herbs and flowers in general. That was why I so much enjoyed being a potion maker.

Luna was sitting on the grass below her magnolias, chatting with a redheaded woman. She had dark brown hair and nice ringing laughter. She seemed to be a lovely and kind person. The two of them noticed our presence and stood up from the ground.

“Hi Theresa. Is this the student you were talking about?” She gave me a genuine smile and my cheeks blushed a little. I didn’t like to be the center of everyone’s attention.

“Hey, Ami. Yes, this is Davina. She is the one who cracked the riddle which I assigned to the annual competition.” Theresa stated proudly.

“Oh, splendid! You must be so excited to be here!” Luna stepped closer to me, hugging me briefly. Um, strange…

“Frankly speaking, I’m the excited one here.“ Theresa winked at me and my heart skipped the beat when being appraised by my idol of the whole world of magic.

“I am Amelia, by the way. Luna of this pack. You can call me Ami, Lia, hey you there…I react to all of those.” Luna giggled and the tension from my muscles slowly faded. She had a warm heart and made me feel very welcome. Something that rarely happened in the witchery community.

“Thank you for the opportunity. I hope to learn a lot in this internship.” I stated a bit awkwardly, biting my lip.

“Sigrid, darling. Would you please ask the kitchen staff to prepare a soy cappuccino for me, black espresso for Theresa and a tea from local herbs for our guest?” Luna rotated herself, facing the redheaded woman. She nodded politely and left. I was taken aback that Luna knew what I usually drank. But on second thought, she was a she-wolf with enhanced hearing abilities. She must have heard the dialog between me and Theresa. Or maybe she could just read others and make assumptions.

“I just need to point out some ground rules. This is a werewolf pack, Davina. Sometimes we can be very raw and impulsive. But we are good people, and no one will harm you. You don’t need to fear us. You are allowed to walk freely on our premises. Just please avoid the training arenas. Warriors get distracted very easily, especially when there’s a pretty girl walking by. And the top floor is a restricted area as well.”

I gulped hard. Warriors. That sounded scary and hot at the same time. All my life I was only among wizards or humans only. I have never met a werewolf man before. I heard stories that they are very tall and muscular, like those guys on the cover of Men’s Health magazine. The Moon Goddess finetuned their physical appearance into perfection. I was curious if the rumors were true.

“Of course, Luna Amelia. I won’t bother your warriors.” I didn’t plan to make any provocation and certainly I did not plan to date anyone from this pack. I came here to study, to gain experience and some good recommendations for my future career. I had to do something in my life in order to provide for my family. My parents had a hard life due to their choice of love.

We stayed in the garden for a while, drinking coffee and tea. Several servants came around, asking Luna for instructions or advice. It was great to interact with Luna, but I wondered where her Alpha was. Usually, it was the Alpha of the pack who was in charge of everything. This pack seemed to have it vice versa. Or maybe the Alpha was just busy with some other important activities.

“Davina, you can return to the mansion now. Ask one of the Omegas to show you into my office. I still need to accompany Luna somewhere. She needs my help. But it won’t take more than 30 minutes.” Theresa guided me close to the mansion entrance and I could see how Amelia’s face sank. Suddenly, the cheerful Luna looked sad and depressed. I didn’t want to pry so I just nodded in agreement and went inside on my own.

“Theresa James’s office?” I asked one of the servants who was polishing some cutlery. She jumped on her feet straight away and led the way. We passed the big hallway and entered the western wing of the mansion. It was clearly an office area with various conference rooms. Omega left me in the spacious office room, explaining where the kitchenette, rest rooms and showers were.

Good. I could use some refreshment. I felt that my armpits were sweating. That was quite typical for me because I always got super nervous during first meetings.

I poured myself a glass of water and decided to take a quick shower. It may have been rude of me for using their shower, but damn was I nervous and sweaty! If I was fast enough, no one would have noticed, right? I let the warm water rinse the tiny drops of sweat, the warmth cocooning me in a comforting way. A male’s shampoo was the only type of soap available, but I didn’t mind. I cleaned myself thoroughly and took the fluffy towel which was resting on the hanger. Did they always keep it this nicely prepared for unexpected guests who needed a quick shower?

I wrapped the towel around my wet body just to remember that I left my clothes in the dressing room. But I was alone here, so it was not a problem for me to be completely naked. I dried my skin, hung the towel back to its original place and opened the door abruptly.

To my huge astonishment, I bumped into someone. I felt how my bare breasts pressed against the muscular chest. The person in front of me was as much naked as me and he looked at me with his brows arched high. A tall, tall, freakishly tall man who could be around my age, with hair almost black and eyes so green like two emerald stones. The same eye color as the one of Luna’s eyes. My sight travelled from his handsome face to the perfectly chiseled chest muscles and tones of his abs, all the way down to…

OH MY GOD!

“Enjoying the view? I must say, I am.” He said with a slight chuckle, those green eyes scanning me from up to down. And only then did I fully realize I was standing there like a frozen statue, showing myself to this dangerous wolf completely nude.