Alpha's Beta

I was pissed all week as the hunt finally arrived. Since Jason was the president, he would take charge of the whole event.

My father was right. The whole pack was so happy to see their alpha get ready to run with them. I smiled at them, and I pleaded with my wolf to behave.

We had not been in harmony for two years, but she at least conceded that we should not hurt the humans. Jason looked at me with sadness in his eyes as he watched me get ready.

When he noticed my gaze, the sadness was replaced by a familiar glare.

“Kristen and Chad, stay by your alpha. I’ll be in the group with Taylor and Steve. Everyone, stay with your teammates. Don’t hurt the humans, just scare them a little. Let’s have some fun,” he said.

“Yes.”

I regrouped with my best friends. The other members were assembling the pledges and readying them to enter the woods. We gave them a head start before releasing the wolves. They headed into the woods, and we all waited for Jason to give us the go-ahead.

Jason checked his watch before looking at us with a smile. Every wolf was eager, I could feel it in the air.

The hunt brought our instincts forth, but it was also a show of how much control we had over our wolves.

“All right everyone. Let’s go,” Jason finally said.

I shifted into my light brown wolf while Kristen shifted into her creamy one, and Chad into his dark gray. I turned my gaze to see Jason as his light gray, almost white, wolf.

My wolf wanted to rub against him, but I pushed her into the back of my mind and trotted outside, followed by the whole pack.

We started chasing after the humans, but I wasn’t interested. I followed a trail and my friends followed suit.

I loved to run as a wolf, dig the earth with my claws, and feel the wind in my fur. It was amazing.

I wanted to check on Tom, so I followed his scent and saw him running between the bushes. He wasn’t far from the finish line. Good for him.

I picked up another scent; women’s perfume, and lots of it. I growled in annoyance and followed the new trail.

Sure enough, two human girls were yelling while running. Chad came up to me to try to get me to turn around, but I watched as one of them fell on her behind.

I howled to make her jump back on her feet, and then I smelled it. She had cut her hand during her fall. That was bad.

I started to see red, as I moved toward the girls. Kristen mind-linked Jason to help and Chad tried to stop me, but he was not powerful enough.

I ran toward the girls, and they yelled in horror upon seeing me. It felt good. I started to get dangerously close when a light gray wolf tackled me.

I growled at him as he bared his fangs at me. My wolf did not like that one bit. I got into a fighting stance, and he followed suit.

I shot my paw at Chad’s snout, howling as he bit my tail. It made me come back to my senses immediately, and I took off.

I ran to the house as fast as I could and shifted behind the building before putting on my dress.

At this point, I was fighting back the tears. I had hurt Chad. Fuck, what was wrong with me?

I went to one of the rooms to cool down before I joined the party. Ten minutes later, I heard a knock.

“Not now, Kristen! I’ll be down in a few.” I said, my throat tight.

“Open the door, Arya!” said a deep voice that sent shivers down my spine.

It was Jason. I pondered whether to open the door, and curiosity got the better of me. Jason’s blue eyes were looking at me with sadness again. I bit my lip in frustration.

“I don’t want your pity,” I spat.

“I’m not here to pity you.”

“Yeah? Then are you here to rub it in my face? I know I messed up.”

“Stop beating yourself up, Arya.”

Jason was pissed. He came at me fast and hugged me tightly. I was shocked.

I felt the sparks from the mate bond everywhere we touched as he relaxed against me. He put his head in the crook of my neck, making me gasp.

My wolf was doing summersaults in my mind. She was trying to reach out to her mate, and he responded.

“I’m not your enemy,” he said, his voice husky. “I came to see how you were doing. I told your dad it wasn’t a good idea, but he made me.”

Typical, I thought. I returned his hug, feeling safe and at home for the first time in two years.

He stroked my hair and whispered sweet nothings in my ears while I let the tears fall. I refused to sob, though. I would not show that much weakness, even to Jason.

“How is Chad?” I asked against his chest.

“He’s fine. It was a risky move to bite your tail, but he made the right call,” Jason said softly.

“Yeah, otherwise I would have beat up your sorry ass. It wouldn’t have been pretty to see,” I said, amused.

He chuckled. Goddess, I had missed that sound. It made me warm just to hear it.

“Or I could have won and that would have been embarrassing for you,” he teased.

“What? No way, mister! I’m happy that I didn’t do too much damage.” I smiled.

“It was a small scratch.”

“I should apologize to him anyway. It’s not his fault I’m a feral bitch.”

“You said it, not me.”

I laughed. I parted from him, and he cupped my face in his big, calloused hands, wiping my tears away with his thumbs.

I went on tiptoes and brushed his lips with mine. I didn’t dare risk anything deeper.

“Thank you,” I said. “For trying to stick up for me in front of my dad. That must have been hard.”

“I’m on your side, Arya. Always. You are the one who put us in this situation.”

I sighed and tore myself away from him completely. Of course, he had to ruin the moment. What was I thinking?

“I didn’t mean to hurt you when I said that two years ago. I was honestly thinking about us. I was too young to risk having a child. People our age do that, you know…wait to complete the bond.

“A little time is all I wanted. I knew that we would be busy, and we just would have been miserable not being able to see each other as much as we wanted.”

“Because we are any better right now? Look at us. We fight, you are losing control of your wolf, I’m angry all the time…

“I thought it would make you change your mind when I fucked some random girl but, no. You just had to be stubborn and do the same,” he said, his brows furrowed.

“That was a dick move, Jason. That hurt like a bitch, and I wanted to show you it wasn’t the way. Yeah, it was childish of me, and I’m sorry that hurt you, but I just wanted you to understand.

“I wanted you to understand me, I needed you to understand me,” I said. my voice breaking on the last word.

I left the room because I could not bear to look at him right now. I did not know what to think.

He would stick up for me in front of my father, our alpha, but he would still stab me with his words. He could be so unpredictable.