His Little Human Mate

Chapter 1

Nixx

It had been 7 months, 3 hours, and 13 minutes since I became the Alpha of the Shadowed Sunset pack. It had also been that long since I lost my father. The one person who was supposed to help ease me into the role of Alpha bled out on a forest floor. Alone.

It seems worse every time I remember it, but it's the truth.

It had been a surprise rogue attack right when my father decided to take a walk. He didn't even have time to blink before they jumped him.

I like to try to convince myself that it was painless for him, but I know it wasn't, which is why I made sure that their deaths weren't either.

I had probably a million things to do other than stare out this window, yet I couldn't tear my eyes away from the view. It was all mine, the whole pack and land, but no matter how many times I said it inside my head, I couldn't utter the words out loud.

I couldn't say that he was gone and let the words ring back, solidifying the fact that it was true. Like maybe if I never said the words out loud then he would come back.

It's a stupid thought, but I don't dismiss it. Let my delusional hope be one thing that I don't change about myself.

My eyes drift to the maps strewn across my desk. Yet another delusional hope. I've searched every crevice of most of those maps for the one person who's supposed to make me whole, but I don't think she's here.

Maybe she just doesn't exist. It's not unheard of, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be a miserable bastard without her. Heck, I'm already starting to harden in ways I'd never imagined.

The door bursts open, and I rip my eyes away from the window, discreetly shaking my head, and donning the mask of the Alpha.

"Our borders were infiltrated again, Alpha," My Beta says.

I'm already grabbing my jacket before he finishes speaking.

"Is it bad?" I ask as we walk.

It's the third attack this month, and they've ranged from a complete blood bath to a simple punch in the face, so I really don't know what to expect at this point. I would think killing an Alpha would win them a day off, but I guess not.

"Actually," Kyler says as he rubs his neck. "It's just a girl."

My steps falter and then stop completely as I turn to face him.

"You want my help for a girl?"

Kyler runs his hands through his hair and then down his face as he blows out a breath.

"I tried to talk her out of it but she's adamant about speaking with you. I think she may be injured, but she won't tell me where. And she's just standing at the border, not harming anyone or anything, so I have no grounds to lock her up."

A frustrated sigh forces its way out of my mouth.

"You lock her up on the grounds of trespassing and refusing to leave, Ky."

He shifts awkwardly on his feet before saying, "it just doesn't seem right. All she wants is to talk, that's all, and she's hurt."

I make an incredulous sound, staring, waiting for him to laugh, but he doesn't.

"Kyler, if we kept every rogue out of a cell because all they wanted to do was talk then we wouldn't have a pack anymore."

"You don't know that she's a ro-"

"She's standing at the edge of our border, faking an injury, and claiming she wants to talk! What else could she be? differentiate between your head and heart for once, ok?! Put her in a cell and be done with it. If she wants to talk to me, it can be behind bars."

I leave him standing there even though every instinct I have tells me to turn around and apologize.

Becoming an Alpha means hardening more than exterior expressions. It means conditioning yourself to do hard things even when they don't seem right, pushing people away even when all you want to do is hold tight. It means becoming a new person, a leader.

A/N
I know this chapter is short but it's just to test the waters a little. Let me know what you think!