Bear Tooth's Alpha

My lungs are burning, and my legs feel like they are going to give out at any second, but I have to keep running. I dodge a low-hanging branch as I run through the forest, thankful for the full moon lighting my way, but that also means light for whoever is chasing me. The growls get louder and closer behind me. I make a risky move and look over my shoulder, tripping over a root in my path. I fall face-first to the ground but I have to keep going. I jump up and start running. My wrist is definitely broken after my fall. As I’m about to run into a clearing, a brown wolf tackles me from the side, raking its claws across my back. “Now now, Kaycee, there’s no point in running from me. I WILL have you.” A cold voice says from the dark. “No! My mate. He will come for me and you will die, whether by his hand or mine. You will not use me for your own gain. I will never let you!” I shout and try to keep my voice even. “Well then,” the voice says with disappointment, “I guess there’s no reason to keep you around. All you’ll do is cause trouble. Plus, I can take your pack with or without you.” I hear him snap his fingers and in a second the brown wolf has its jaws around my throat. “I love you” I whisper before I feel pressure. I bolt upright and look around me. I’m covered in a cold sweat and my heart is pounding, but I’m safe in my room, safe in my pack. I roll over and check the time, 3:27. Well, there was no point in staying in bed. I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. I slip into some warm clothes and grab my boots in my hand. After sneaking through the pack house, I pull my boots on and head for the barn. The frost crunches under my feet and I take a deep breath of the cold September mountain air. The Bear Tooth Pack sits in the bowl of a mountain range in Wyoming. We have been here for 150 years since my ancestors came here to ranch and make a new life for themselves. Our pack lands or ranch, according to humans, is almost 1 million acres and is right next to an animal preserve which adds another 50,000 acres for us. Most of our money comes from the ranch where we have 70,000 head of beef cattle. We are cowboys through and through. I walk through the door and head for the tack room. I know the horses are going to want treats as soon as they see me. With a bucket in hand, I walk to the stalls and give treats, saving my horses for last. Dusty sees me and nickers trying to get my attention. “Hey buddy, I didn’t forget my handsome boy!” I say as I give him his treats. Dusty is a buckskin my mom found running wild. He was covered in dirt and looked well, a little dusty when she found him and it stuck. After he was content, I move to where my new colt was. She was a three-year-old blue roan filly with a white moon on her forehead. Her name was Lucy. My mom always wanted a filly and when she came kicking out of the trailer the day I brought her home, my dad laughed and said I’d have my hands full with Lucifer, so I called her Lucy for short. She was a sweet girl but if you crossed her she could be a real nightmare. I threw a halter on Lucy and went to the round pen to do some groundwork. The sun had risen a while ago but I was lost in my thoughts. “Kayce? How long have you been out here with that horse?” My dad's voice made me jump. “And don’t even try to tell me only an hour or so the sweat on Lucy tells me differently.” He said with an amused look on his face. “Well, what time is it?” I ask. “Almost 7:30.” He replies and by the way his smile wides I can tell he saw the look on my face. “Well.. about three hours I got her haltered at 4 ish,” I say with a sheepish look. “Well get her cooled off and fed, Weston already took care of the other horses. I need to go to town for some things if you want to come?” I thought about it and a grin reached my lips. “We’re you planning to go to Brown Bear for breakfast?” I ask. “I was unless you don’t want to go there?” He replied with a matching grin of his own. “ And miss out on Aunt Linda’s hot cocoa?! I would never!” I say faking pain. "Alrighty get ready, we"ll leave in about 20 minutes. Weston is coming with us. He said the same thing about Linda's hot cocoa." Amusement was written all over his face. Aunt Linda was best friends with my mom and dad when they were little. She was like a sister to both of them, the same as my cousin and beta Weston's dad, Sam. He is my dad's brother. I finish up with Lucy and head for the packhouse where old blue is sitting out front warming up. "Hey cuz!" I hear Weston shout. "Hey Wes, you ready for some of the best hot chocolate ever made?" I ask like a total child. Weston and I were both 20. I was nine months older but he defiantly acted like an older sibling. Neither of us had siblings but we had each other and had a sibling bond. Not to mention we were happy with just the two of us, it was a lot easier getting in and out of trouble growing up when there was no one else to rat you out. "Absolutely I am! Also, I have something to tell you," he said with a serious voice, and then yelled as loud as he could, "I CALL SHOTGUN!" Ugh, that brat! Old blue was a second gen dodge truck but it was only an extended cab, so the backseat, if you could even call it that was tiny. "Weston. You are a 20-year-old, brat you know that?" I ask. "Trust me, Kaycee he knows." Uncle Sam walks out with dad and I give him a hug. After mom disappeared, I didn't take my family for granted anymore and showed them how much I loved them every chance I got. Dad says mom is still out there somewhere because he would've felt her death through their bond and, although he tries to hide it, I know he can still feel her emotions sometimes through the mate bond. Mates are your other half, the person the moon goddess herself made for you. "Can we get going, I'm starving!" Wes yells and to top it off, his stomach growls loudly making us all laugh. "Yeah, get in, Blue should be good and warmed up." Dad says climbing into the driver's seat. "Your majesty." Wes has the half door to the backseat open so I can climb through and into my spot. I make sure to step on his toes as I get in. I smirk and get comfy only to have the seat in front of me slam into my knees. Paybacks are a bi*ch, my sweet cousin! I hear Westson's voice in my head. I'll keep that in mind, sweet cousin! After dad's errands, we finally get to The Brown Bear Cafe. We asked the hostess to seat us in Linda's section and she walked over with two hot chocolates with whipped cream for Wes and I and a black coffee for my dad. "You kids are 20 years old and are still fighting over which cup has more whipped cream?' Linda tried to ask in a serious voice but everyone hears the smile. Weston looked up with a grin and his lips were covered in whipped cream, "Yes ma'am and we probably will until we're 92!' he said, and licked the cream from his face. Linda laughed and went to put our order in the kitchen. She came back shortly after with our breakfast. Dad always had the Cowboy Breakfast, which was just two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausage patties, hashbrowns, and sourdough toast. He always eats early in the morning, so it's more like a snack and he knows how much Aunt Linda likes to take care of us. Weston had two of the Cowboy burritos. It was everything from the Cowboy Breakfast, except the toast, wrapped up in a giant tortilla and toast on the side. It was a good thing he was a big guy and could use the "growing boy" excuse when people gave questioning looks at the amount of food he could put away. I had the Brown Bear pancakes. It was a stack of two pancakes the size of a large plate with a side of toast and hashbrowns. Dad taught me to cut a square in the middle of the pancakes and pour the syrup in so they wouldn't be all soggy. The cafe had slowed down after we got here after the breakfast rush, so Aunt Linda sat down next to dad and we started chatting. She looked at Weston with a serious face and said, "Weston, my niece is coming to stay with me for a while and help out around here. She is from a pack across the mountain, another ranch pack. With that being said if you try any funny business,' Wes cut her off, "I know I know you'll skin me alive, or make sure my body is never found, or chop my balls off in the most painful way possible, right?" "No, but she will do all of that, she has two older brothers, twins who will be taking over as Alfas in a few years. My sister was mated to the Alfa over there and raised her as one of their boys. I love you Weston just like family, but she is.... well she is her own person for sure." As a matter of fact, she was telling me about a party tonight a few towns over, a mixed college party. All you. They unmated kids should go." I sighed, I hated parties, especially when they had humans there, they were so dramatic and the guys would always drool over the "hot" she-wolves, not knowing we could hear everything they said about us to their friends and more than likely kick their a** with little trouble. Weston looked at me like a little kid asking permission. "Fine. We can go, BUT I'm taking a truck and the flatbed. We can get a load of hay while we're over there." I stated with a smirk. Dad was trying not to laugh and Aunt Linda had a grin on her face while Wes was pouting. "Your evil Kayce, in that case, let's take some of the younger warriors. If I have to load a trailer of hay, probably hungover, then they do too!" Dad paid the tab and we headed home. After the truck was put away, Weston said what time he wanted to leave and that he would talk to the warriors he wanted to take. That left me a couple of hours to myself. I decided I should try to take a nap since I didn't sleep well last night and I had a feeling tonight would be a long one.