The Alpha's Unrecognised Mate

Chapter 4: The Stream

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d run alongside another wolf. Hell, the only wolf I’d seen of late was Lyra’s reflection. The thrill of being in sync with another had me flying through the woods. Watching Clint’s wolf was enchanting, too. While Lyra was pushing herself, he wasn’t even breaking a sweat, the black tip of his tail always visible in front of me but just out of reach to catch up to.

My previous run easily forgotten, it wasn’t until we stopped at the stream that I realised how hard I’d pushed myself. Lyra was panting heavily, but the adrenaline pumping through us eased the worst of the pain. Finally able to stand beside him, I was gifted another look at his glowing eyes. They were intoxicating, but so was my thirst. I ripped my glance away down to the stream. Smooth rocks formed a natural staircase as the forest angled upwards towards Mount Gray, and a gentle stream of water flowed down them like dozens of miniature waterfalls. Clint wasted no time to dip his head to the stream and drink from it and I quickly followed suit. It was fiercely cold but had a crispness only pure water could manage. I lapped at it aggressively, trying to drink as much as quickly as I could, only stopping to let out a few more panting breaths and return.

Eventually my desperation was sated, and I looked back to Clint. He looked back the way we’d come, then back at me, tilting his head. I knew what he was saying,

Are you ready to head back?

I wanted so badly to shake my head. By the time we returned, others would be starting to show up. Training would begin, and while I wasn’t against that by any means, it would mean I had to share Clint with the rest of the pack. Here, in this little bubble of space, with the sound of water trickling gently in the background- here was our space. Just the two of us, away from the rest of the world. Being close to him, especially in wolf form, was a level of comfort I’d never felt before. It made me feel warm all over despite the chill in the air. It made me feel safe. It felt like… home. Going back to the clearing meant leaving that behind, and who knew how long it would be before we could spend time alone again.

Unfortunately, that was far too many words to communicate with shakes of my head and taps of my paws. Instead, I nodded at him and followed him back.

We took a strolling pace this time. Had we been human, we could have had some sort of a conversation. As wolves, it was a journey filled with the sounds of the forest instead. As the gurgling of the stream disappeared, the sound of small animals and birds grew to overtake them. All too fast, other sounds joined them. Fast paws slamming against the dirt. The wind rushing as something blew past. The rustling of disturbed leaves. By the time we returned, the clearing wasn’t empty anymore. Several wolves of varying colours stood around uncomfortably. I wondered what the others would think of Clint and I arriving together, and a little ember of pride grew within me, but when I looked around, I noticed Clint wasn’t there. My heart dropped. Our moment was over.

I recognised two of the wolves straight away. Elanor’s wolf Trixie was a deep auburn, with white patches around her eyes and ears. We’d been close as kids and into high school, but had drifted a bit as we became adults. The other wolf, Misty, was a dark, dusty blue with grey accents. I couldn’t remember his human’s name, only his face. There were another three wolves in the clearing I couldn’t place. I didn’t think any of them were new, but I couldn’t recall who they were, either.

Clint returned to the clearing a few minutes later, back in human form. Somehow, I’d forgotten how breathtaking he was in the hour since I’d seen him last and felt myself swooning again. Thankfully it’s a lot harder to read a wolf’s expression than a human’s. I caught some of the other female wolves eyeing him and forced Lyra to hold back a possessive growl.

“Mine!” she insisted.

“Not yet,” I hissed back. The down side of this comment was that it turned her ire from the other wolves to me. She was glowering at me in our head, and she’d had plenty of experience making sure I felt it.

“It’s not quite six yet,” Clint spoke loudly, breaking my internal argument, “so we’ll wait a little longer for the others. I do appreciate your punctuality, though. I hope not to take up too much of your Saturday, but I will not always be able to provide you with this luxury. Enjoy the break while you can.” Misty let out an exaggerated breath, the closest his wolf form could get to a sigh, and hung his head in mock sadness. It was funny to watch wolves try to communicate without words and I noticed myself grinning a little. I’d forgotten how good it felt to be a wolf among wolves. It had been just Lyra and I for so long I’d lost the foundational point of being a wolf in the first place- being a member of a pack. I doubted it would be the first show of charades before the day was over.

Another seven wolves joined before Clint spoke again, bringing our total to fourteen, including our alpha. I tried to count in my head the number of juniors that were at the chapel on Wednesday, but my memory wasn’t clear enough to get a definite number. My best recollection had us one or two short. As far as I was concerned that was a pretty good initial turnout. I wasn’t the only one seeing our alpha for the first time in years at chapel. It wasn’t surprising not everyone was as interested as he was to bring the pack back around. I wondered how our new alpha would handle their absence, but as he started to address the group once more, I shelved the thought.

“Good morning everyone, and thank you for coming,” Clint welcomed, his voice rousing the others from their own thoughts. “Today we will be starting with something simple so I can get an idea of your abilities. We stand here at the base of Mount Gray,” he gestured up towards the mountain that towered over us in the distance. The gesture wasn’t really necessary though- as locals, we all knew of the mountain. “Your task is to meet me at the summit and then descend back down to base camp here. It shouldn’t take more than an hour to reach the top, and less than that to get back down. When you get back, I want you to mark one of these stumps with your claw. If I can’t find your scent on any of them when I come back down I’ll come looking for you, and if I find out you’re at home safe and sound but forgot to mark one I won’t be too pleased.” We subconsciously looked at the tree stumps around us. There was plenty more than one each. I tried not to think back to Clint’s shirtless figure cutting one down just this morning.

“If you get into any trouble, howl out. If you hear a howl, go to it. We don’t want anyone getting injured on our first training session.” Clint paused, seemingly checking with himself if he’d forgotten anything. Convinced he hadn’t, he looked at everyone in the pack in the eye, one by one, checking for any concern. I sat still, waiting for my turn to be noticed. I waited, and waited, as he looked at everyone except me. I started to fear that he would skip me altogether when at last his eyes reached mine, and he winked at me. A goofy grin flooded my face, but it was hard to tell with my snout. In that small gesture I felt special from everyone else. I knew mating would turn me into a horn-dog but I hadn’t realised it would also turn me into a sheepish school girl with a mad crush. How could this feeling be so s****l and so deeply pure at the same time?

“Alright, let the trek begin!” Clint declared loudly. Some of the wolves bounded off immediately. Misty ran off at a full-on sprint, and I could already tell he’d be puffed before long. Even in wolf form it wasn’t a short journey by any means. Others, like myself, startled from our thoughts so abruptly that we hadn’t really figured out what we were supposed to be doing. After the eager ones went off, most of the others clicked into gear and followed them. I looked for Clint but couldn’t see him. His scent suggested he’d gone in the opposite direction, and I realised he would need to transform again. Even if he had still been around, I couldn’t have made the journey to the summit beside him. He needed to be at the top to meet the other wolves and I wasn’t nearly fast enough to keep up with him. While part of me, mostly Lyra, wanted to wait for Clint to return to get one more glimpse at his glorious wolf, I remembered what he’d said about this being a test of our ability. The last thing I wanted to show him was that I was too caught up in my fantasies and obsession to complete the task. If I wanted to become the luna by his side I needed to show I was capable on my own, too. I forced all other thoughts to the side and set my sights on the upward slope ahead of me.

“Okay, Lyra. Let’s run.”