The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

It was close to noon there, so they knew it was the middle of the night for me. “We arrived at the station to meet everyone, and things went bad. My dog Fiona bit the owner’s wife. I’ve got her tied up in back until the test results come through.”

He didn’t say anything; I was speaking in code with the open line. I couldn’t openly say that his Pack Warrior went full loco werewolf on the human. “Will you send her home?”

“I was going to ask you about that after we know how bad Margaret’s bite is.”

“Keep me posted; when there is a chance, we should probably have another videoconference. In the meantime, I’ll defer to Leo’s judgment on things if it can’t wait until you get home.” That was the kicker; it would be dangerous to bring Fiona home with a death sentence on her. Leo would make the call and would carry out the sentence here if needed.

“I’ll let him know he is acting for you locally. Thank you, Steven, I’ll call you when I know more.”

“Thank you, Vicki. Good luck.”

I hung up the phone and went inside through the door to the kitchen. Margaret was sitting at the table, tears streaming down her face as Craig finished taping the dressing down. “Margaret, I’m Vicki, Nicholas’ mate. I wish we had a better meeting than that, but thank you for opening your home to us.”

“She’s killed me,” Margaret said as she looked at her arm.

“Maybe not. Come on, let’s join the others, and we’ll unpack everything that just happened and what it all means.” Craig and I helped her to her feet and brought her into the living room. Adults packed the room, maybe fifty of them, most of whom had just woken up. Every horizontal surface had someone on it, including the floor. Joseph was sitting in his recliner, and Craig moved his Mom to sit on his lap. Although his arms held her, I could see in his eyes how conflicted he was.

Well, I might as well get started. Since I was likely to be the Australian Alpha, Leo thought it would be best I linked my hands with Nicholas and faced the crowd from the kitchen entrance. “Hello, everyone. My name is Vicki Lawrence. Arriving with me tonight are Alpha Leo Volkov, from my home Pack in Miesville, Minnesota, in the United States.” Leo waved and smiled, but few met his eyes. They’d felt his power when he shifted, and everyone knew it was more than their wolves had. I quickly introduced my mother, Amy, the twins, and Carly. “It is late, so I thought I’d answer some of your questions quickly tonight, and we can go over them in more detail when we’ve all gotten some sleep.”

“What is happening to that wolf who attacked Margaret for no reason? He’s killed her,” one person asked.

“That wolf is Fiona, a warrior in the Three Sisters Pack in Oregon. She is my bodyguard and my responsibility,” I said evenly. “I’ll explain what happened soon, but she is tied up out back until we can set her punishment for attacking a human.” I looked out among them. “What is your experience with bites?”

“They are always fatal,” Ian said.

“Not for us,” I said. “When a werewolf in its wolf form bites a human, a transformation begins. My mother used to be human until a werewolf bit her during an attack on our car. She survived, but not all do. We don’t know why some make it, and some don’t, but we DO know that an Alpha needs to be present at the change. If the person is strong enough and in a Pack structure, about half make it.” There was some grumbling. “We will be here for Margaret to give her a chance.”

“Why was she attacked?”

“I should first explain what mates are,” I said as I put my arm around Nicholas. “When the Moon Goddess created our kind, she gave us mates. Your wolf recognizes its mate by the smell, and the attraction between you is strong and immediate. The bond is until death; it is deeper and more satisfying than any marriage. Since we have some new mates here, maybe they can explain what it felt like.” I gave Nicholas a chance to describe it. It was all new to them, and I could see it on their faces. None could deny what was in front of them, though. “Joseph is Fiona’s mate. She saw Margaret as a threat to her mating and tried to eliminate it.”

Margaret stood up, looking at her husband. “You knew?”

“It all happened so quickly,” he said. “At first, I was defending you, and then my wolf refused to harm Fiona.”

“And this is the problem your isolation has created. Just because you don’t interact doesn’t mean Luna hasn’t placed mates in the world for you. Fiona waited for a quarter-century for her mate to find him married and living here. Marrying a human doesn’t break the attraction to a mate; only by rejecting the mate, the death of the mate, or claiming another wolf as your mate does the attraction go away.”

It was a lot to take in, especially for Joseph. “What happens next,” he asked.

“You, Margaret, and Fiona will hopefully have choices to make,” I said.

“Hopefully?” Margaret asked.

“Well, if you don’t survive the change, Fiona will be executed, and there aren’t any choices left. When you become a werewolf, you will not be Joseph’s fate mate. That is Fiona; you’ll have a fated mate out there as well, someone we don’t know yet. If the two of you decide that your life together is more important than your fate mates, you claim each other and become choice mates. Your mating breaks the bond with Fiona and whoever your fate mate was, allowing Luna the chance to find another wolf for them. That is what happened to me; my fated mate rejected me for another, and Luna gave me Nicholas instead.”

“What if I want Fiona,” Joseph asked nervously.

“If you choose to mate with Fiona after her punishment ends, you would divorce Margaret in the human world and allow her to go around other Packs to find her match.” It caused another round of murmuring.

“What about me,” a woman asked while being held by her husband. “I don’t want to risk death for him, even if it is a coin flip.”

“No one can make you risk the change if you don’t want to, but there are other people affected than just you,” I replied. “You all live your lives with human spouses, but your true mates suffer because they never find you. They might die, frustrated and alone, never knowing why.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.