Alpha Welcome

Bambi

It started storming after Hunter Blackwood arrived. A bad omen, probably.

As I pulled on my pajamas, I shuddered, thinking about sleeping under the same roof as him.

When he’d sniffed me earlier, he wasn’t trying to smell my perfume.

He was a depraved and lecherous wolf, and I’d give him no opportunities to sniff me again.

I’d even doused myself in bath oils and body wash to mask my natural citrusy scent, just to be on the safe side.

I jumped as lightning flashed through my window and thunder cracked through the air so loudly that it felt like it was on top of me.

~That creep could be wandering the halls right now, looking for my room…~

~Looking for a chance to sniff my…~

“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat behind me.

I whipped around to see Ekon standing in my doorway.

“Wh—what are you doing here?” I stammered.

“I’m here to…uh…to check on you,” he said sheepishly.

I smiled to myself. He didn’t trust Hunter being under the same roof as me either.

I couldn’t blame him, and honestly, I already felt safer with him standing here in front of me.

“So, do you need anything?” he asked, taking a step into the room.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind if you stayed for a little while. The storm is kind of scary,” I lied.

“Yes, of course…the storm. That’s why I’m checking up on you,” he mumbled.

Neither of us was going to admit that Hunter Blackwood’s legendary cunt-sniffing powers were scarier than the storm, so we might as well use it as our excuse.

I got into bed and pulled the blankets up to my chin as he sat at the edge.

“You’re coming with us to the Northern Pack tomorrow,” Ekon said. “I’d like you to see how I work with other packs. As my Luna, it’s something that you’ll also be involved in eventually.”

“Are you sure it’s not that you just don’t trust me here by myself?” I teased.

“That may also be a factor.” He smiled. It was strange how much softer his rough face became when he smiled.

The thunder boomed outside again, and I flinched, glad Ekon couldn’t see me looking like a little girl, hiding under her blankets.

He calmly placed his hand on my leg.

“Why are you smothered in scents that aren’t your own?” he asked, wrinkling his nose, suddenly.

“No reason, just had a shower,” I replied nervously.

As a flash of lightning lit up my window, I had an image of Hunter wandering the halls again...sniffing the air.

“Ekon, would you be opposed to sleeping in here tonight?” I blurted out.

He looked surprised, but in a good way.

“If that would make you feel better…because of the storm,” he said.

“Yes, because of the storm.” I smiled, relieved.

Ekon removed his shirt, and I caught a whiff of his pleasant woodsy scent.

As he turned off the lamps and crawled into bed next to me, my eyelids began to get heavy.

My worries melted away as I drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and secure.

***

Despite it being so early in the morning, I felt fresh as a daisy.

Last night I’d slept better than I had any other night since I’d gotten here. It surprised me that a man so gruff could be so calming lying next to me.

I walked outside, where the caravan of vehicles was being loaded up for our trip to the Northern Pack.

Hunter Blackwood was leaning up against his car, smoking a cigarette.

When he saw me, his lingering eyes ran up my body, and he gave me a devilish wink to match his grin.

Were the stories about him really true? I didn’t ever want to find out.

I slid into a limousine-style car, where Ryland and Ekon sat across from me.

Ekon glared at Hunter through the tinted window. I was thankful he’d insisted on taking separate cars.

“Driver, let’s go,” Ekon yelled, tapping the divider. “The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

As we left the compound, I felt a surge of excitement. This was the first time I’d gotten to leave the city.

Maybe Ekon would treat me more like an equal if I continued to show my strength?

My phone began buzzing, and I discreetly checked it.

Victoria

Bambi have a great time on your trip!

Victoria

Give my love to Ryland 💖

Victoria

Wish I could’ve gone with him.

Bambi

Thanks, wish you were here too!

Ela

I heard HUNTER BLACKWOOD is with you

Victoria

That’s why I wasn’t allowed to go…

Bambi

Yes, he’s a huge creep

Ela

But kinda hot, right?

Bambi

EW, NO

Victoria

👎👎👎

Ela

KIDDING, GODDESS!

Ela

🙄

Ela

But on a more serious note…

Ela

The Blackwoods come up a lot in the Werewolf Chronicles

Victoria

And none of its about charity or good deeds

Ela

They’re warmongers

Bambi

Yeah, I’m well aware of his family’s reputation

Bambi

There’s def bad blood between Hunter and Ekon

Victoria

Just be careful. I’m glad you’re with Ekon and Ryland.

Bambi

What else did you find?

Bambi

Anything on my parents?

Ela

Not yet

Ela

But we’ll keep looking while you’re gone

“Bambi, take your nose out of your phone,” Ekon growled, pulling me out of my chat.

“Sorry, just…making book club plans for next week.”

“Well, make yourself useful,” he said, shoving a folder into my hands. “Read this for me.”

I preferred the version of Ekon that was dead asleep and silently comforting.

I opened the folder to find a brief on the Northern Pack.

“It says there are roughly three thousand members in the Northern Pack. The Alpha is Jeremy Rudolph, his wife is Nora Rudolph, and… she’s several months pregnant.”

“Four hundred of their soldiers are assigned to our pack’s training regime,” I continued, “and they pay you an annual fee for your protection services until their pack has completed training.”

“In other words, they’re a bunch of weaklings,” Ekon grunted. “Their boundaries aren’t secure, which means they’re prime targets for rogues. Vulnerable to all kinds of attacks. They haven’t taken my training program seriously. Their militia is a joke. And their Alpha too.”

“What does Blackwood want with them?” Ryland asked.

“Probably trying to poach them for his own army. Over my dead body.” Ekon grimaced. “The last thing we need is the Blackwoods gaining more power.”

I continued flipping through the files and noticed a log of their accounts. Their funds were almost completely drained, and they had almost no source of income. These people were not living in the lap of luxury like Ekon or my brother.

They were struggling just to survive. Maybe they were about to make some kind of deal with Hunter?

I wouldn’t blame them. They needed help, and no one was giving it to them. They had run out of options...

***

The hours passed slowly, but as I leaned up against the window, a blurry building began to come into focus.

“We’re here,” Ryland announced. “I can see the gate up ahead.”

This was the first time I would be received by another pack as a Luna...

The mate of a powerful and feared Alpha…

I’d only held this title for a very short time.

~What if I say the wrong things or embarrass Ekon?~

As our caravan pulled up in front of the Northern Pack gate, it seemed my fears were irrelevant.

No one came out to greet us.

~No welcome.~

~No Alpha.~

~No anything.~

What was going on?

“What the fuck is going on?” Ekon voiced my thought loudly, getting out of the car.

As I followed, Hunter and his group also exited their vehicle.

“What kind of incompetence is this?” Hunter growled.

“More like disrespect,” spat Ekon, his eyes turning black with rage.

“I’ve visited packs with less than half the members of this one, and they still gave me an Alpha’s welcome,” Hunter said angrily.

“I don’t even smell any soldiers keeping guard,” Ekon said, disgusted. “Their patrol regimen is non-existent.”

“King Dmitri will be hearing about this,” Ryland said bitterly.

As the men complained amongst themselves about their lack of a welcome wagon, I walked ahead and pushed through the gate, which had been left open.

Rows of dirty and unkempt buildings lined the streets. These people were living in poverty. I’d never seen anything like it.

I wished there was something I could do for them.

~Ekon might only see people who are weak, but I see people who need help.~

~Compassion is not a weakness. I have to remember that.~

I kept moving through the city until the buildings became so filthy that they were pitch-black.

This wasn’t dirt… It was ash.

I flinched as the charred remains of a wooden door frame collapsed next to me.

A pungent stench filled the air the farther I moved into the city. I was almost at the town square.

~What is that horrible smell?~

~It smells like something is burning…~

~It smells like…~

~Oh my God.~

~Burning flesh.~

In the center of the town square were hundreds of charred corpses, some of them still burning.

The entire town had been ransacked and massacred.

~No one left alive.~

“Bambi!” Ekon shouted in the distance. He must’ve scented the corpses.

I was frozen to the spot. I couldn’t stop staring at the countless bodies surrounding me as tears formed in my eyes.

~Who could’ve done such an unthinkable thing?~

“He—help me…”

I screamed as a charred, black hand shot out from the pile of bodies and grabbed my ankle.

A man with half the flesh melted off his face pulled himself toward me as I backed away in horror.

“He…he did this.”

“Who?” I asked, terrified.

He was barely alive, hanging onto the final moments of his life.

“Ma…”

He struggled to lift up what was left of his chin.

“Matthias.”

His head collapsed onto the ground as he uttered his last breath.