The Alpha's Unrecognised Mate

Chapter 8: Duke

Clint paused before he answered my question.

“There’s actually a few rogues in our territory,” he started. I balked a little at the news.

“Are we in danger?”

“No, we’re fine,” he answered quickly, patting the air in a calming motion. I hadn’t even realised I’d said that last question out loud. “They’ve been there for years and mean us no harm. We’re just the only pack not territorial enough to force them out. They come here for asylum.”

“You believe that, even after today?” I questioned, not totally comfortable with rogues on my home turf. He nodded earnestly.

“The rogue in the woods today was more scared than you. He has never seen so many wolves at once in our forest, and with me stepping up as alpha he was worried we may be planning to push them out. I’ve seen him around before. He’s the closest the local rogues have to a leader,” Clint explained. I hadn’t considered that. It made sense that my human lifestyle had kept the rogues hidden from me, but with Clint protecting our territory as alpha, and training amongst it aggressively in his fight to become alpha, it made sense he had run into them before.

“Then, why didn’t you…” I cut myself off quickly. Fated mate, future luna- even forgetting we weren’t recognising those titles openly right now, neither of them gave me the right to question my alpha.

“Go on,” he coaxed, not quite smiling but still not showing any signs of being upset or insulted. I paused, but decided to ask my question.

“Why didn’t you meet with them when you became alpha?” I asked. He nodded, considering my question.

“Even now, I’d like to, but it’s too dangerous,” he replied simply.

“I thought you said they weren’t dangerous,” I shot back quickly, biting my lip as I realised I’d just gone up against him again. He didn’t seem bothered by my breaking rank, at least not in this private setting.

“I don’t think they’ll hurt us. Us ignoring their existence is the only thing keeping them safe. That said…” he paused, looking for the right words. Eventually he grimaced, realising there wasn’t a good way to say it. “If that rogue wanted to, he could have killed you today, no question.” I gulped loudly. Even Lyra whimpered a bit at that.

“But could you have… taken him?” I asked, avoiding harsher terms.

“Yes, I could,” he answered comfortably.

“Then why are you afraid to talk to them?” I asked.

“Because I have no back up,” he answered tiredly. “I can only talk to them in human form, and that makes me vulnerable. I don’t have a pack, or even a beta, to defend me. If they take me out, if they wanted to take over our pack and make this land their own, they would be able to destroy most of our pack before Leo could step in, and I don’t know if he could handle another pack massacre.” Clint had been light and happy when he arrived at my door, but now the alpha version of himself sat heavy on my couch. I forgot how much he had taken on trying to resuscitate our pack. I’d kind of forgotten about the battle that had put us in this position, too. I was so young when it had happened, and my parents hadn’t gone into details at the time. As I got older, their lips stayed sealed. I knew it had taken Clint’s parents away, and our luna, Leo’s wife, among others. I didn’t really know much else. This wasn’t the time to ask, though.

“I’m sorry,” I said eventually. Both of us had been lost in our own thoughts for a few moments. Clint seemed to break from his at my voice. “I didn’t mean to ask you hard questions like that. I know we don’t know each other that well yet.” He nodded slowly in response.

“Thank you,” he replied eventually, smiling at me. It was forced, but it was better than his grim expression from before. “But, I promise you, if ever there’s something you want to know, I will be honest with you. If you want to lead this pack, or decide whether you want to, you need to know all of its history. And I think you realise that most of that is less than cheery.” I nodded solemnly. “The same goes for me,” he forced another smile, looking into my eyes. “If there’s something you want to ask, even if it’s a bit personal, I’ll always answer you honestly."

“There is something, actually,” I answered. Clint braced himself, his body tightening slightly, before he nodded slowly. “What is your wolf’s name?”

Clint smiled, genuinely this time. If his smile was powerful, knowing I’d put it there was overwhelming. Lyra was practically howling with delight, both at my question and his reaction.

“Duke,” he responded.

“Duke,” Lyra repeated dreamily.

“What’s yours?” he asked.

“Lyra,” I replied. Now it was my turn to smile, and that was just a shadow of the happiness Lyra was feeling.

We chatted mindlessly until the sky began to colour. We avoided wolf topics for a while and focused on the human element of our lives, like my work. Unfortunately, Clint didn’t have a lot of activities outside of wolf life to share, so I found myself doing most of the talking. He soaked it all up, though, listening intently and asking questions that suggested he was genuinely interested.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” I asked eventually, noticing the time. He’d been equally as entranced, and looked around for a clock.

“No, no, I don’t mean to impose. I actually came over to talk about how the training went,” he chuckled lightly. He’d loosened up a bit over the last few hours. While he was feeling loose, his statement had me taut.

“Are you giving us all training reviews separately?” I asked nervously.

“No, just you,” he answered easily, like he didn’t know the answer would make my heart skip a beat. I gulped nervously.

“Uhh, so? How’d I do?”

“Well, there’s lots of room for improvement on fitness, but that goes for everyone,” he started. I appreciated him softening the criticism for me. “What I really wanted to talk to you about was that you didn’t howl when you were in trouble.”

“Oh,” I blushed. It had seemed like the right call at the time. Would he agree? “I was worried Trixie would get caught up in the attack,” I answered quietly. He nodded.

“I thought that had been the case,” he smiled at me. He could see how nervous I was. “I’m not upset, Tori. You did well. You made the right call.”

“Really?” I asked, looking him in the eye. There was only sincerity in them, and I softened. He nodded again.

“Really. It was a very scary and selfless call to make. Some would even say, very luna-like,” he teased, and I blushed again, looking away but unable to fully hide the grin pushing up my cheeks. I wasn’t sure yet if I saw myself as a luna, but I appreciated that I wasn’t the only one trying to get familiar with the idea.

“I’d better get going, it’s getting late. Have a good night, Tori,” he smiled, standing up. Without needing me to offer, he drew me into a tight hug, but he released me quickly. Still, it made me breathless to be so close to him, to be cocooned in his scent.

“See ya,” I mumbled back, disorientated by his sudden embrace. He headed out the glass doors and gave me a wave, and I took that as my queue to head into another room. Maybe I needed to get curtains…

I hadn’t even made it out of the room when I heard him shift behind me, and I instinctively turned to look. His large wolf form looked uncomfortably intimidating standing on my cosy back deck. Duke was easily twice the height of the safety rails, making him seem even larger than when he stood beside the giant trees in the woods. He jumped the stairs and raced off into the woods, wrap held in his jaw. As his scent disappeared, my longing for him grew. I wasn’t sure how long it would be before I’d get a chance to see him again.

“Bye Duke…” Lyra called dreamily after him. That name would find its way into both of our dreams.