Alphas Choice

Chapter 4

(Max)

The last place had been perfect. Plenty of people and properties. Our business would have flourished in that city. It would have been beneficial to the human and shifter community alike. No one had ever had a gym like this, which offered a variety of activities.

Our pack wasn't very big by any means, mostly made up of wondering shifters. Some of us had our pasts and others just didn't fit in where they had been. We all got along, most of the time, but we worked good together when it was needed. Our job was important and everyone knew not to fool around during work hours.

Of course that had all changed when our gym was vandalized by a couple of rogues, who we later learned were a couple of kids that we had rejected from joining the pack. So our best bet was to leave and start new in a different place. Yet finding a place was turning out to be a bigger problem than we had thought.

If the town was too small, we wouldn't get enough clients to keep up the gym. In a large city we didn't have the luxury to go running in our natural animal form to stay in shape. What we needed was the best of both worlds. The expanse of the city with nature close by to enjoy being a shifter.

This morning over breakfast we discussed possibilities and our best bet was to go Northwest. There was plenty of open country and populated cities. Even if it was going to be a long drive to get there, Idaho was the next destination. For now we would be stopping in South Dakota in a couple of miles, everyone needed a break and a week to rest would be good.

Of course Silver would be left behind when we all went out. It would be his punishment for disobeying orders. I had told him I did not want any problems but as always he didn't heed my warning. Maybe at our next stop I would kick his ass just to get my point through. I didn't care if he was my Beta, I could always kick his ass until he would take me seriously.

Misty and Star on the other hand, could get into more messes than anyone she had ever known. Mist thought she could get away with anything just because she was my sister. I would have to talk to her too about keeping herself in check, we didn't need any more unwanted attention. Yet when she got together with Star, there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.

They could start a riot in plain daylight and no one would suspect it was them who started it. Their favorite place to go was shopping centers. There they would pull pranks on unsuspecting victims as they walked around. Knocking packages off the shelves in front of a shoppers buggy or causing buggies to move on their own. They never seemed to get tired of their childish games. Misty would pick the victim and their fate and Star would do it.

Star.

Star was unique, a very important member of my pack. Yet she was still a work in progress as Silver liked to say. We still didn't know much about her past and she didn't seem to want to talk about it. It was fine with me because I didn't expect any explanations. When we first met I told her I didn't need to know her troubles or where she came from as long as she obeyed me so we could protect each other.

At first I had found it strange that she had no knowledge as to what she was, but Silver told me that it was possible to go through life not knowing you were a shifter. He had read about cases where the shifter gene in the person could be in a sort of dormant state and could be triggered by many things, including trauma. We didn't know what exactly triggered her gene but we have been trying to fill her in to the ways of a werewolf.

We taught her about the laws of a shifter and the basics of changing from one form to another. We helped her through all of her worries and fears. Misty had helped her through a lot and they became good friends, both even taking same courses of massage therapy to help out in our gym. Yet as new as she was to the whole shifter world, Star was far different from any shifter around. Star is what is known as a Royal, a very powerful and magical werewolf.

Star's 'powers' didn't appear right away, it was about a year after we found her that she showed any type of talent. It had been a slow day at the gym and we were all just lounging around in the back room. Silver had been nagging everyone, trying to get someone to bring him something to eat. It had been getting on my nerves and as I reached for a cushion next to me, another cushion came flying at him from the other side of the room.

Everyone had froze, too shocked to even move. Finally we all turned towards Star, who looked like she had seen a ghost. Then it was like a dam had broke, questions came flying out of everyone's mouth, all looking for answers from her. She hadn't known how it happened but it had, from then on I assigned Silver to help her figure out her powers and how to use them.

They had worked for days and nights trying to figure out how she moved things but nothing they did worked. In the end it just came naturally to her and so far she had perfected that talent. Over the years she has even discovered other things; for one she is able to mask her scent in an instant, even if she had been in the room all day she was undetectable. Another talent, that I think is the best, is the ability to talk to us through her mind. An advantage we had over any other pack. The only thing I did not like about it was that she could also know what we were thinking if she focused hard enough, something she hadn't perfected yet.

In her wolf form she was solid white, except her feet and tail which had a touch of grey. Silver had easily identified her as a Royal wolf, which I had no idea who they were. We did know that at least one of her parents was a Royal and, from Silver's theory, the other a human. According to him, the human parent had only diluted the Royal bloodline but not changed it, like it would have done if the Royal parent had mated with another shifter.

I was pulled away from my thoughts as Silver honked the horn behind me, I could see him in the rear view mirror with a big grin on his face. I drove the car down another street as we made our way towards the town's pack house. We needed to let the existing pack know we would be in their territory for a while and I didn't want any trouble from their members.

As usual, I would head in first, presenting myself as the Beta, not the Alpha. I had learned that not many Alphas respected a female in the Alpha's position. So in our visits to other territories, Silver would present himself as Max, the Alpha of the Black Pack and I as Silver, his Beta. Star and Misty would stay outside and wait for us. We have been doing this for so long that Silver was able to negotiate without needing to confirm with me. He knew what was expected and knew how to handle any situation, including protecting me, his Alpha.