Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“Yet you’re trying to hamstring me about the testing.” Malachi said.
I shook my head and made sure to address each member at the table as calmly as I could. I remembered once seeing my father shouting during a pack meeting. Totally losing his sh it. I’d vowed back then that I’d be careful how I approached people, and I wasn’t proud to realize I hadn’t been doing a great job of it. I was going to try extra hard today.
“We understand that you know all this stuff, Malachi, but we don’t. And Lanie doesn’t. And, honestly, man, you’ve said yourself that there are things you haven’t seen before. It’s not out of line to work within a set of parameters,” I told him.
“Ones you’ve set, along with your brother,” Malachi said.
Mason nodded. “You’ve trusted us enough to take our counsel about your security measures. Why wouldn’t you trust that we can come up with safety procedures that will allow you to do what you have to for Lanie’s growth, but also protect her? And anyone else she’s working with.”
Malachi rolled his eyes but then nodded. “Very well. No more testing of her abilities until you’ve managed to come up with something. But you must get her permission as well, do you understand? I realize wolves are rather more…” He paused. “Patriarchal, shall we say. In terms of how you deal with your mates. But although. we welcome your kind here in the enclave, we do not hold by outdated gender standards.”
I barely kept myself from rolling my eyes right back at him. “This isn’t about gender. As our Luna, Lanie is given the utmost respect. We just want her to be safe. I would think you’d want that, too.”
“I do.” Malachi sighed. “The hours have passed, and fear it’s time to do more than feed our minds with ideas. My stomach is empty, and I’m sure all of yours must be as well. I move we adjourn for meals and reconvene this meeting tomorrow. Mason and Xander, I expect you to have come up with something to start with by then. The longer we wait to help your Luna reach her full potential, the more potentially damaging it might be for her.”
This was the first I’d heard of that. “Huh?”
Lanie’s grandfather raised an eyebrow. “To put it more simply for the two of you. The longer Lanie goes without being able to harness the full array of her powers, the more likely it is that it will begin to affect her body. And worse..her mind.”
Lanie–
It had been a little over a week since I’d been able to compel Greyson, but I hadn’t done anything like that since. Mason and Xander had been called to take part in the leadership council, which had been taking up a lot of their time, and I knew my grandfather and Charlotte were also busy with that.
Zane had been finding ways to spend his time, and so had Gabriela. The children were all in school. I was the only one without a specific task or job. I was starting to get really bored.
At the same time, I was glad to have the time to figure out what, exactly, I wanted to do about all of this new power I could feel burbling up inside of me. After seeing how it made my mates feel to watch me, and knowing how it had made me feel after, I wasn’t really that eager to have Malachi test me again.
In fact, I was kind of nervous about it.
The only way to stop yourself from worrying about something was to make sure you knew as much as you could about everything that could go wrong. My mom had told me that once, a long time ago, and I’d never forgotten it. At the time, I’d thought she was being too overprotective, maybe even a little bit paranoid. Now, as a mother myself, I thought I understood her a lot better.
Today I’d decided I was going to start setting goals for myself. The enclave had so many resources available. Libraries crammed full of books, a computer cafe where you could access the internet that was blocked in much of the rest of the place, and even classes you could sign up for. Because there were so many types of supernaturals living here, I was far from the only one who didn’t know a lot about the different ways things worked.
Of course, only the wolves had been specifically kept in the dark, but I wasn’t going to let that keep me back any more. I had a wealth of information at my fingertips, and I was going to start learning.
But first….a meat pie.
There were things I didn’t love about living here-not having my own ‘stuff’ for example. Our rooms were grand, but I missed having a yard. Trees.
The food, however, was amazing. Plenty of it, and I never had to lift a finger to cook it.
I’d stopped at the main library on the way to this cafe and found a few texts on the history of vampires. I figured I’d try to learn as much as I could about that side of me. I had another book about vampire physiology and psychology, too. There wasn’t an equivalent book for wolves, and the only information I’d been able to pull on hybrids was more like a pamphlet than a full research book. It was a start, at least.
I ordered my meat pie and a lager, then dove into the books. I’d brought my own notepad, and as I bent over the words on the page, I scribbled my thoughts down. I made a little chart and a diagram as things started to become more clear to me.
So much to learn, so much to know. And the High Council had kept all of it from me.
Me at lust ma Allahun Hatred burned in my gut like a volcano when I thought about how arrogant they’d been. And how st upid, too. To think they could hide an entire world of history from us because…why? Wolf psychology meant we trusted our leaders?
Vampires didn’t run in packs. They formed groups, usually family based, but it wasn’t the same. The Ancients were more powerful, but they didn’t rule over everyone the way our Alphas did. I found it fascinating. especially when I started to read about how vampires mated. How they reproduced.
How they made other vampires.
I hadn’t been thinking much about Braden and Malachi being together because it still kind of squicked me out. But I did want to find out if I would be able to turn anyone into a vampire. I didn’t want it to happen by accident, that much I knew for sure, and I really didn’t know how I felt about the idea that if I ever did do it, that new vampire would have to rely on me for everything for an untold number of years. Since vampires were basically immortal, it could even be centuries.
“Way more responsibility than having a pup,” I murmured to myself as I flipped the book’s pages.
Of all the subjects I’d been studying, this was the one that didn’t seem to have much information about it at all. That’s when I saw the chapter I needed. I had to stifle my gasp at what I saw there.
Zane–
Xander and Mason were busy with the leadership council meeting and probably would be all day. The fact that I hadn’t been invited to attend or participate rankled in my gut, and not just because the leadership council didn’t seem to think my presence was valuable.
My own two Alphas didn’t seem to think it was necessary to tell everyone else that they wanted me there.
There were some wolves here at Brightsky, just like there were some of every kind of supernatural. Even some I’d never heard about, much less believed really existed. But the wolves who’d been a part of the enclave for a long time also hadn’t had any dealings with pack business or how things were run in a long time, and most of them had been Rogue before coming here. So even if they did remember how packs were run, they were generally not the sort to hold onto traditional pack structure.
That was why I could possibly forgive Mason for not taking me into consideration. There was no excuse for Xander, though. We’d been partners since we were pups, but suddenly he didn’t seem to need me by his side. As much as finding out about Mason–
also inheriting Orion’s Alpha powers had enraged him, you’d think he wouldn’t be tossing me over for someone he considered a rival.
But here I was, wandering the halls of Brightsky alone to act like I had someplace to go and something to do, while my Alphas ignored me.
I could spend weeks exploring every nook and cranny in this place and still not find where all the corridors. and staircases led. I’d learned quickly enough that the elevators were the fastest way to travel between levels but not the most efficient. There were plenty of places that were still only accessible via back stairwells or tunnels or even through rooms that led to other rooms and had no other entrances or exits…at least none th I could see.
That didn’t seem to be very safe to me. In the event of a full-scale attack, anyone in one of those back rooms would be trapped. I made note of the ones I found and reminded myself to do more than keep a menta map, but also draw a physical one. Of course, the enclave probably had maps aplenty…but making my own would mean I got it right and didn’t have to trust the ones they let us see.
Today I’d discovered a series of stairs behind a nondescript metal door at the end of a hallway with nothing else in it. The stairs went down. They were concrete with stainless steel railings. Very industrial.
Nothing on the walls to indicate floors or location in the enclave overall, but also no signs of any security preventing entrance. Honestly, I’d only stumbled on them because I decided on a whim to take a left instead of a right.
It didn’t look like anyone else had been through here in a long time, either, based on the strings of dusty cobwebs in the corners.
As I rounded one landing to see another three sets of stairs, I considered going back up. That’s when I heard the tiny voice whispering.
The hairs rose on the back of my neck, and my wolf instantly went on high alert. I had one hand on the railing, and I looked over it both up and then down to see if someone had followed me in there. Nobody.
The voice whispered again, a little louder this time.
I went very still and let my wolf rise. My senses heightened. I smelled dust, stale air, and cleaning but old. A faint breeze tickled my cheeks from some overhead air vents, but the circulation in this stairwell wasn’t the best. The lights were also dim behind and in front of me, brightening only where I walked.
I wasn’t afraid. Whatever was lurking in this mostly abandoned stairwell probably wasn’t going to attack me. Not in the enclave.
But still, it was unsettling to hear a voice murmuring and now yeah, it was straight up.
chuckling at me.
“Who’s there?”
“Look up!”
I did, scanning the sloping ceiling but saw only the concrete bottom of the stairs above me. “Where are invisible?” you? Quit fooling around. If you want to talk to me, show yourself. What are you, I didn’t know what kind of supernatural could do that other than a witch. The laughter got a little louder. I looked all around me and still didn’t see anything.
“lm not invisible!” The voice tinkled like a small bell.
“I’m just small. Wait a second. I’ll get bigger.”
Motion caught my attention from a high corner. A shadow stretched. Long legs. Bright, sparkling eyes…
By the Moon..it was a spider!
Mason–
My wolf, Colt, finally had enough of being suppressed.
His growl ripped out of my throat as I felt my canines lengthening. One nipped my bottom lip, and I tasted. blood. I could’ve restrained him, but I let him show himself as much as I could without actually shifting.
“Bro. Impressive as f uck,” Xander thought to me while aloud, his wolf, Hunter, also snarled.
We were both on our feet, fists on the table, leaning toward the ancient vampire. Malachi turned his face. and waved a hand in front of it.
“Boys, settle yourselves. I can smell your wolves all the way down here.”
Xander’s wolf rumbled in his voice when he replied.
“Mock if you want, but you will not dismiss us.”
“Not when it comes to our Luna,” I added with Colt’s growl edging my tone.
Charlotte stood and waved her hands at all of us.
“Let’s have everyone just calm down. Please. Xander and Mason, don’t make me have you removed from the room. We value your contributions to the leadership council, and I understand your concerns about your mate, but this is not the place for antagonism!”
“Tell that to him,” I muttered with a point of my chin at Malachi. The old bas tar d was smiling at us both. I reeled Colt back in by promising to take another long run with him. Outside, if we could manage it. I sat back in my chair.
Xander followed me after a few seconds, but his wolf kept blazing in his eyes. He bared his teeth and shook his head like a wolf shaking its ruff. For a minute, wasn’t sure he was actually going to stop his change.
Finally, he faced Charlotte with no signs of Hunter in him at all.
“Look. We get it. We’re new here, and you don’t have many wolves at all, much less Alphas like us.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?