The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

“We owe it to them to help you find each other, even if only to reject them so they can get a second-chance mate,” Leo said. “What we would do is send a piece of clothing with your scent around to the Packs until someone recognizes it. We would then bring the two of you together so you could reject them in person, or claim them and put your wife aside.”

“It’s a lot to think about, and nothing must happen immediately,” I said. “I think we should all go to sleep and pick this up tomorrow. Make sure you spend time with Margaret, as once the fevers begin, it won’t be easy on her.”

“And tomorrow we will talk more about Pack structures, Alphas, and our wolves,” Leo promised.

There wasn’t much room, and there was so much unrest that Leo and I decided our group would shift and puppy pile in the living room. It didn’t take long for others to join us; it was natural for wolves to gravitate to the dominant wolves under stress. By morning, the majority of the assembled wolves had joined us on the carpet.

***********

My wolf woke to the smell of bacon frying. Untangling myself from the puppy pile, I trotted over and grabbed my bag before heading to the bathroom. Emerging clothed in shorts and a T-shirt, I walked into the big kitchen where Margaret was cooking up breakfast. “Good morning,” I said sleepily.

“Not a morning wolf, are you,” Margaret teased as I wiped the sleep out of my eyes.

“No, but I never sleep through a meal. Can I help?”

“You can take over pancakes,” she said. I started making platefuls as I chatted with the other women helping out. Olivia joined us, pitching in with eggs. Honestly, I was surprised Margaret was here at all. I would have thought she’d be with Joseph or her family. “How are you feeling?”

“The wound tingles, but no fever yet,” she said. “Is there anything you need to prepare?”

“Ice. Lots of ice, and if you have a bathtub-sized cattle tank or tub, that would be good. It’s better to do this outside on the grass.” I talked through what would happen during the change; one way or another, it would end tonight. “I believe that those who make it through the change do so because they are too stubborn to die.”

“You’ll want to, trust me,” Olivia added. “I had a daughter to live for, and my mate was there. I didn’t know how important that was, but my new wolf did. It was the most painful experience of my life, but it’s like having a child. As soon as I was in my wolf, I didn’t mind the pain anymore.”

Margaret nodded her head at the thought. “Joseph isn’t my mate. I could see it in his eyes; his wolf wants Fiona, not me. He’s going to leave me.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps, but your family is here. Your son and daughter will find their mates, and they will give you grandchildren. Your mate is out there, waiting for you. Today doesn’t have to be the end. Make it a new beginning.”

She nodded. “They’re beginning to wake up.” There was no way everyone could eat at the table, so instead, the food went into warming trays on it. As people came through with their paper plates, they would find a place inside or outside to eat. I kept making pancakes with the other women until Margaret stopped me. “Grab a plate; we need to talk.” She asked my Mom and Leo to come with her, ending up in her sitting room with our food on the small table. “I want to talk to you about Fiona,” she said.

“Why?” Fiona was still chained up in back, and Amy had taken her some food.

“What is she like?”

I told her what I knew about her. I talked about Fiona’s degree and service, her retirement from the Secret Service, her time as my bodyguard, and her family. “I think she came along because she was frustrated,” I said. “Imagine going to gatherings year after year to find your mate, and it never happens. All she had was her work, and the girls and I became her family to protect.”

“She sounds like a tough woman,” Margaret said.

“She is. I know she regrets what happened. It wasn’t you that she was mad at, it was Joseph. She thought he rejected her without giving her a chance.” It was a crappy situation all around.

“I don’t want Fiona to die,” Margaret finally said. “Even if I don’t make it, I don’t want you killing her on my account. It’s bad enough Joseph loses me; don’t take away his mate, too.”

“That isn’t how it works,” Leo said. “We have laws on this.”

Margaret laughed. “Laws? What laws of yours apply to an isolated group of werewolves who had no idea what mates even were?”

“Fiona knows the laws,” Leo said.

“And I’m the one she harmed. I forgive her for what she did, and I’m asking you to show her mercy. Surely she deserves that after the life she’s lived for others.”

I looked at Leo, glad that I wasn’t the Alpha who had to make these decisions. “You’re a good person, Margaret. You’re going to be a better wolf.” We saw a shiver run through her; the fevers were coming. “You should eat all you can now as you’ll need the energy for later. Go, be with your family.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and got up, taking her plate with her. When the door closed, I turned to Leo. “Can you reduce the sentence?”

“I’ll have to talk to Steven first, but yes. As long as the Council is not involved, there is flexibility with this.” We didn’t talk for a bit as we finished our plates. “This is only the start of the problems. Margaret and Joseph are willing to let each other go, but what happens to the husband who chooses his mate, and his wife doesn’t want the change? What do we do then?”

“I could ask the vampires to help. Wipe their memories?”

“I don’t know how that would be possible,” Mom said. “We’re not talking about removing a single memory from something a person saw or did. We could be talking decades of living with and among wolves. What are we going to do, wipe out everything back to their high school days? And what about their families? Everyone knows who they are and who they were married to.”

It was a dumpster fire. “We’ll deal with that later. We’ve got a whole group of people out there who don’t even know what an Alpha is.”

“Or a Pack,” Leo said. “You are right; mates can wait. Forming a Pack out of them is a higher priority. I think we should demonstrate by bringing you girls into the Miesville Pack again.” My eyes got wide. “Alpha Steven suggested it, and it makes sense. You and Nicholas may end up being Alphas here, but you have other commitments. I agreed to stay down here and help get these wolves settled. I can bring them into the Miesville Pack for now, and you or another Alpha can split off with them later.”

It solved a lot of problems that I’d been unable to resolve. “Thank you,” I said as I hugged my Unky Leo. “Nicholas isn’t ready to be an Alpha yet.”

“I’ll keep him with me while you continue on your tour, and he can learn as we go. We should get going,” he said.

I made sure Margaret was getting what she needed first. Her daughter Bonnie was using cold rags to help her since drugs didn’t work on this fever. Mom volunteered to stay with her, while Craig was setting up a cattle tank outside and filling it with water. Olivia would be able to listen in on our training through the link and keep the two updated.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

One of the cousins had collected every Esky they could find before making heading into town for ice. With everything set and the morning dishes cleaned, Leo gathered everyone in the back yard for class. I noticed that Joseph was sitting alone, keeping himself between the families and Fiona as he scratched her neck. He’d made his choice.

Leo started with the stuff I learned as a pup. “Leadership in a Pack flows from the Alpha,” Leo said. “The Alpha has the power to bind the Pack together, to enforce discipline, resolve conflicts, and to keep everyone working together as a unit. Packs have a minimum of five members, with the largest Packs having close to five hundred. My Pack, the Miesville Pack, is a common size with about a hundred members.”

“How many Packs are there,” one of the young men asked.

“Over two hundred in North America, each claiming an area of land as their own,” Leo answered. “Another eighty-seven scattered across Europe, Russia, and Asia. Each Pack governs itself, but the Alphas elect a Council to resolve conflicts between them, set and enforce laws for the Packs, and protect our secrets.”

“Membership in a Pack is a mutual agreement between the wolf and the Alphas,” I said. “Movement between Packs requires relocation, so it isn’t something done on a whim. Most transfers happen when mates find each other, and the female goes to the male’s Pack unless she is of higher rank. You can also transfer because of school, jobs, or a desire to move. I grew up in Leo’s Pack, then transferred to Alpha Steven’s Three Sisters Pack when I started college.”