A Different Pack

Alpha Tate

I’m in my office, buried under a mountain of paperwork that seems to multiply by the minute. The soft scuffle of footsteps outside my door catches my attention, followed by a timid knock on the wooden door.

“Enter,” I command, reaching for the next document.

My Beta, Soloman, steps in, shutting the door behind him with a soft click.

“Good evening, Alpha,” he greets, bowing slightly as he approaches my desk.

I glance up at him, curious about his interruption. I had made it clear that I wanted to be left alone for the rest of the afternoon. My gaze lands on a card in his hand. I put down the document I was reading and gesture towards the card.

“What’s that?” I ask, pointing at the white object.

He hands it over and I quickly scan the words. “This was discovered near the front entrance. Someone found it in the mailbox and left it on the table. It was brought to me just a few moments ago.”

I scrutinize the invitation, my eyes narrowing at the name. “This is an invitation for me from the Silverleaf pack. Why would they invite me to his daughter’s party?”

“Alpha Sherman has extended an invitation to all high-ranking, unmated wolves. He hopes his daughter might find her mate at this event. It’s not compulsory, but since you haven’t found your Luna yet, I suppose you made the list?”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Sherman should know better. I want nothing to do with his pack. My half-sister is the Beta’s mate there. I can’t stand her. She tried to manipulate my father into raising me harshly because I took over the position she coveted. She was the apple of our father’s eye, not me. She lied constantly, trying to get me into trouble with our parents.”

A smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. “I’ve heard they treat your niece terribly. It’s only a matter of time before the Alpha steps in to correct the behavior he doesn’t tolerate.”

I put the card down. “That’s a girl I’ve never met. There have been rumors about what she’s endured since my sister couldn’t have more children to secure the future Beta position for that pack. If Alpha Sherman discovers any of it and there’s proof, she’ll lose everything. They’ll be demoted or even expelled. I doubt they’d have the nerve to beg me to let them join this pack. They know how I feel about them.”

He settles into the chair. “This party is for an Alpha’s daughter. She’ll have to be paired with another Alpha or Beta. I noticed my name is also on the card, and all unmated males in your pack are invited. I was going to ask for your permission to attend. I haven’t found my mate yet. If she’s the one for me, it would be nice to fill that void in my life. Wouldn’t it be strange if I ended up paired with your niece?”

I tap my chin thoughtfully. “She’d be better off with this pack than with my dreadful sister. I wonder what would happen if the birthday girl ended up paired with me? That would force the two packs to cooperate. This could be the revenge I’ve been waiting for against my dear sister. I know Sherman has a son who will be the next leader, but if his sister were with us, he’d have to work with us to ensure her happiness.”

Soloman grins. “It could work out for the best if she did end up paired with one of us. I’ve heard that finding your mate changes people. She becomes the center of your universe and you’d do anything to make her happy.”

I let out a long sigh. “Yes, I know. Why do you think I’ve been cooped up in this house, avoiding going out? I don’t want people to see me as weak after all the work we’ve put into getting this pack where it needs to be.”

He chuckles. “Your pack will never see you as weak. Having a Luna will only make you appear stronger in their eyes. She could help you with things you don’t want to deal with, handle the members who come to you with petty issues, and even some paperwork. It might free you up to return to training the warriors. Having a female by my side would also strengthen the pack’s female Beta. The Luna and my mate could work together, taking some of the stress off us.”

I miss training the warriors, pushing them to new heights of defense when they challenge their Alpha, trying to take me down for bragging rights.

“Alright,” I say, sliding the card towards him, “tell the unmated males they can go, and we’ll go too. I don’t plan on staying long, so they need to be ready to leave when we do. Some might find a mate since females are scarce in our pack. It seems that females from our pack have been finding mates elsewhere, moving to their territories. We need to increase our population, so if necessary, we can crush anyone who tries to take over the pack. Having this female here would be another advantage; if we need extra warriors, her brother would send them to defend the pack she transferred to.”

He stands up and heads towards the door. “What time should I tell the males to be ready?”

“The party starts at two, so we’ll leave at twelve. Make sure they dress appropriately, not in our usual attire,” I say, gesturing towards the window.

“We’ll make sure the mated warriors are on duty while we’re gone. Someone might try something foolish if all the packs are at this party. Another mated Alpha might try to attack a smaller pack while most of the young males are away,” he says, looking over his shoulder.

“Good thinking. Double our patrol while we’re gone, and have every remaining male patrol the borders. They’ll be relieved when we return with males who didn’t find their mate. Those who do will be occupied for the night, I assume,” I say, thinking about how they’ll be taking their mates to bed that night.

He chuckles and nods. “They’ll be busy. I’ll make all the arrangements for our departure tomorrow.”

He opens the door and leaves me alone in the vast office again. I stand up and walk over to the window, scanning the land and watching people go about their daily chores before returning to their homes. This pack runs smoothly now that I’m in charge, making life here much better than it was. The previous Alpha was unfit to lead this pack; he was power-hungry and allowed things to happen right under his nose that were unacceptable. Females were being used as breeders to increase his numbers. This practice was outlawed before I was born, but he had a hidden area at the edge of the territory where it took place. Women who didn’t find a mate by the age of twenty-five were taken to small, single-bedroom homes. Older unmated males or males whose mates had died were allowed to have their way with them—forcing the women to become pregnant with pups in an attempt to produce males for an army. The females were injected with something that induced heat, allowing the males to impregnate them. I was disgusted when I found out about this. His mate couldn’t give him a male heir as he desired, and once a male is mated, they can’t have another female wolf. The high advisors tried to convince me to continue the illegal breeding, but there was no way I would. The council would be alerted if another pack discovered what was happening. I would lose my head over it. He wanted to attack some of the weaker packs, absorbing them into this one, making it larger. An Alpha with a pack that large could have been unstoppable as they swept through the lands, taking out the weaker packs and making his larger. They could eventually attack the packs that he perceived as threats to his—going after larger packs in an attempt to win so they would become one under him. That’s when I took action. When he announced that I would be the next Alpha of our pack and handed over the title, and the Alpha power had settled into my system, I shifted and tore each of them to pieces to protect the rest of the members from their cruel ways. The pack doctor was killed along with the rest because of his involvement with the outlawed breeders. Some people have called me a monster for what I did, but the members here understand why. They don’t fear me the way they feared the previous Alpha. They know I’ll do everything I can to protect every member here from harm. This isn’t the largest pack, but we’re not one of the smallest either. Alpha Sherman’s pack is three times the size of mine.

There’s another knock at the door and I roll my eyes. “What?”

The door opens and a small child walks into the office, looking around. I furrow my brows, wondering why a pup is wandering around my house unattended.

A woman rushes in, bowing her head. “Alpha, I’m so sorry. He slipped away from the group before I was alerted. It won’t happen again.”

She quickly scoops up the child as he reaches out for me. “Alpha! Alpha!”

“Shhh! He’s not to be disturbed,” she tries to hurry out.

“Wait,” I say, walking towards them. “What’s the matter, little one?”

His eyes study my face as his tiny hand touches my cheek. “Alpha. Our Alpha.”

With a smile, I pat the little boy’s head. “Yes, I’m your Alpha. Now, go back to your group and continue your lesson.”

He shakes his head stubbornly. “No, we need Alpha.”

I glance at the woman holding him. “What’s he talking about?”

She avoids my gaze, her eyes fixed on the floor. “We were teaching a lesson about the Alpha. Most of the kids said they’d never seen you. This one must have snuck off to find you.”

I can’t help but chuckle. I extend my arms to the boy. “Come on, let’s go meet this group of kids who think I’m a myth.”

He eagerly climbs into my arms. As I carry him, I can’t help but think about the day my own son will be in my arms like this. She guides us to a small group of young pups perched on a log. Their eyes widen as we approach.

“Peter’s in trouble. He bothered the Alpha,” a little girl points at us.

I sit down on the log with them. “He’s not in trouble. Sometimes, a small reminder of what’s happening in the pack makes a leader reflect on why things happen. I heard there was a story being told about the Alpha?”

She nods vigorously. “We were saying that you’re not seen much around the territory. Questions were being asked why, before he snuck off.”

I set Peter down and look at the wide-eyed pups. “Running a pack isn’t easy. A lot happens behind the scenes to ensure we all live in peace.”

Their hands shoot up, and I let them ask about the work it takes and what kind I do. An older boy asks about my mate. After about an hour, I head back inside to tackle the work waiting for me.

“Alpha,” the woman says softly, “thank you. They’ll all go home and tell their parents how the Alpha took time out of his busy day to talk to them.”

I smile at the group. They swarm me with hugs before the teacher rounds them up and leads them back to the schoolhouse. A smile lingers on my face as I head inside to finish the pile of work I’d started. It took a small child to remind me that my pack needs me. It’s surprising how much I’m missed when I do seclude myself. That’s something I’m going to change—immediately.