Nobody would tell me or some of the other women what was going on.
Once Kieran got me back to my house. My mother ushered me inside , my father and several other men and women already shifted in form. I watch as my mother takes my father's gray and silver fur face in her hands and kisses his head. Telling him to be safe.
I swallow nervously watching as the pack of black , grey haired, red , brown and white wolves run off one after another.
“What’s going on?” I ask knowing that there was no planned gathering or shifting run.
“I’m not sure. But. I don’t think it’s good.” She says and shuts the door and I watch her slam the dead bolt over to the side.
Stories from my past. The ones I thought were all fairytales and make believe come back to me. Stories of other packs fighting for land , intruding on other packs like a fucking gang war except with fricken wolves. Stories of the “dead ones”. Vampires.
“What do you think it is though?” I ask my mother who just shakes her head.
“I don’t know Lena” she says her voice frustrated with worry for my father and the others.
“There wasn’t time to talk to your father” she says.
I nod.
We sit in silence for an hour or two waiting for my father to come back. Waiting for Kieran and the others to return. Then my mother insists I try to get some sleep. I tell her to do the same and she nods. But I know she won’t.
I lay down in my bed and stare at my ceiling. Pulling the covers up over myself as I think about Kieran. How he’d shifted. How he looked so beautiful. How when running away with the rest he was the largest of them by far other than my father who was the alpha and leader.
I fall asleep, but wake to the piercing scream of my mother. Shooting up in bed I scramble out of the covers and run barefoot across the wooden floor to my door and into the hall and come to a full stop when I see my mother collapsed into the arms of Rudy , my fathers best friend. My eyes search the room. Full of the pack in their human forms. My eyes looking everywhere through the somber faces that don’t meet my eyes as I stand there in panic when I don’t see my father anywhere in the room of faces. It hits me like a knife in the gut , my heart feeling like it’s been twisted in my chest. And I already know. I feel it. Feel it in the pain and sadness in my mothers cries.
Kieran is the only one who meets my eyes.
I shake my head. My eyes filling with tears. Don’t say it. Don’t say it.
“Lena…I’m sorry” Kieran says and I shake my head.
“No” I say. My body refusing to move. My breath caught somewhere between my lungs and throat.
Kieran moves over to me.
“I’m sorry Lena. We couldn’t save him.” He says and I just look at him. My mind not wanting to accept it. I shake my head.
“Where is he?” I ask and Kieran just looks down.
“You can’t see him Lena” Kieran says.
“Where is he?!” I scream making every powerful woman and man in the room flinch.
“WHERE IS HE?!” I scream and shove at Kieran's chest and pound on it with my fists as he tries to console me.
“WHERE IS HE?!” My voice cracks as I scream.
“Lena. He’s gone” Kieran says softy.
Pain. Sadness. Anger. All of it courses through me and I scream. Just scream. No words. Just pain and anger. If he wasn’t a fucking werewolf. He’d be here. If he wasn’t part of this pack. He’d fucking be here.
As I fight against Kieran who pulls me out of the room and back towards my bedroom. None of others make a move or say a word. Kieran throwing me over his shoulder as I cry and scream and he takes me to my bedroom and closes the door.
He forces me into his hold. Holding me as I cry and scream , saying nothing as he just sits there with me in his arms until my last tear is shed and I’m nothing but soft whimpers and exhausted breaths. He holds me until I fall asleep in his arms.
—-
It’s two days later and we’re all standing in the large barn type building where they hold the gatherings. The service for my father ended not even an hour ago. And here we were , about to have it announced who the new alpha of the pack was.
“It happened the moment we lost him.” Rudy my fathers best friend says. In my mind it made sense that Rudy would be the first in line to step up. Apparently though, that’s not how it worked.
“I think we all felt it.” Rudy says speaking to the other members of the pack and I notice his eyes on Kieran beside me.
He nods his head low at Kieran.
“Everyone bow your head to our new leader…our alpha …Kieran.” Rudy says as the heads of everyone capable of shifting lowers their head in Kieran's direction. I take a deep breath. Holding it as my arm hooked through his drops and I look at him as he raises his chin into the air.
I watch him move forward to the front of the group. He’s talking but I don’t hear a single word of it. Everything sounds muffled and I feel my heart rate pick up. He gives a speech. I still don’t hear the words.
Rudy says something and I’m stunned in my silence as those capable, begin to shift around me. My eyes darting at all of the giant wolves surrounding me. Without a word they all take off , running. Leaving me and the others who weren’t a part of the actual pack watching them take the run with the new leader at the head of the group. I turn and watch as the last of them leave through the door. Paws hitting dirt, kicking up dust as they race after Kieran.
My mothers hand touches my shoulder and I don’t turn to look at her.
“You’re the lady of the pack now Lena.” She says and I wince at her words.
“No more hiding from your life Lena” she whispers.
“You owe it to the memory of your father , and you now owe it to Kieran to be more a part of the pack.” She says and I feel rage burn inside me. I didn’t want this. I didn’t ask for this life. I didn’t want be the lady of the alpha. I respected my mother for how well she played her part even not being an actual werewolf. They all respected her. But it was no secret that the daughter of the now late alpha wasn’t thrilled of the life she was born into.
I don’t wait for the pack to return. As lady of the pack I should have. But again, like being “mated” to Kieran it was another thing pushed on me instead of something I had chosen.
I’m sitting in my bed in just underwear and a plain oversized black t shirt when the front door slams. I jump. Wondering why my mother would be slamming the door. But seconds later a shirtless panting Kieran is in my doorway.
“You didn’t wait for me” he breathes , closing the door behind him.
“I wanted to be alone.” I say my brows pinching. This wasn’t about him. Today was not Kieran's fucking day. It was my fathers.
“You couldn’t sacrifice a bit of your time to be there for me?” He asks walking over to the bed. His eyes glowing and even though he was still Kieran I could feel the difference in him. Testosterone, power, alpha shit. Whatever you want to call it. It was there and rolling off him in waves.
“Sorry that I wanted to mourn my dead father , and not celebrate it by waiting around for the new leader to return from frolicking in the fucking woods” I bite out.
His nostrils flare and he steps over to the bed and his foot steps seem to shake the fucking floors.
“Mourn his life? The one you rejected at every turn Lena?” Kieran says and I feel the low blow settle a jab right to my fucking heart.
“Fuck you” I say angrily as hot tears fill my eyes.
“If you ever tried Lena, you’d know what tonight meant for me. That me becoming alpha is just as significant as mourning your father. That it’s both a celebration. For his life. And for mine. That’s just how it fucking is. It’s not disrespectful for me and the others to want to have a new alpha. That’s how it fucking works Lena” he says.
“I don’t care how it fucking works” I grit out through my teeth.
“Clearly. You’ve made that crystal fucking clear your entire fucking life” he says.
Both of us glaring at one another
“But it stops now.” He says and I narrow my eyes in defiance.
“You belong to me. And I won’t have the woman I love disrespect me or the pack” he growls.
“Fuck you” I bite out. “I don’t fucking BELONG to you Kieran!” I yell.
My head jerks back as he growls loudly and throws himself forward , making me yelp as he cages me on the bed. Making me fall back as he hovers over me. His hands pushing into the bed at the side of my head.
“Yes” he growls. “You do.”
My nostrils flare as he pushes his hips against me. Grinding into me and even through my anger my body responds and lifts as I gasp. A grin slips across his face and he leans down and drags his tongue up my neck and bites at my ear with a low groan.
“You know you are mine Lena. Your body knows it too.” He whispers and then takes a hand and reaches down and slides a hand up my shirt.
As much as I like defying him , as much as I felt like screaming at him and pushing him off me, there was a new hold on me that came with him now possessing the alpha title. It didn’t matter if I wanted to fight him on it, something new was there that didn’t do anything but surrender as he nipped my neck and palmed my breast, rubbing his hand over it.
“You’re going to be mine in every way Lena” he says against my skin as he squeezes my breast.
We’d been together a year but had never gone all the way. We’d made out plenty and that was the extent. Not only was I weirded out by the fact that Kieran could possibly
Shift at any moment. But was weirded out by the fact I knew they all had a mental bond and could read each other’s minds even at far distances. Only an alpha had the power to block others from reading his mind. I didn’t want anyone reading Kieran's mind during us doing stuff together.
I arch my back as he pinches my nipple between his fingers.
“Tonight. You’re mine.” He whispers.