The Shy Alpha

Chapter Twelve

For just a minute, the only thing that could be heard over the deafening silence was a slight murmur from someone at the back of the crowd, those who couldn't see exactly what was going on. Alexa gulped down the lump in her throat, and clenched her fists, steeling her courage to not move back anymore than she already had. Derek and Alexa were treating Hunter as if he was a wild animal, and in a way, he was. Every young wolf goes through training in order to hone their skills and train their wolves before they're allowed to shift on their own. Even though wolves are a natural part of each male in the werewolf community, they were still a wild animal that needed to be tamed before they could be completely trusted. Hunter had survived for so long with his wolf in check, because Ivan was needed as more of a front than a wolf normally is. Now that Hunter was happy to take over the reigns of his body for a while, his wolf's grip on his body was waning, and the animalistic urges he had once managed to fight off were becoming too strong to handle. Usually when something like this happened, a wolf's mate was brought in to keep them calm and in control of themselves, but Hunter hadn't gone through the normal mating process. Everything that was currently happening was against the natural order of things, and now nature was taking over, painfully.

"Hunter..." Derek tried, speaking calmly. Hunters eyes shot over to him, and Derek started panicking when he saw thin tendrils of red threatening to take over the white of his right eye. It was a rare occurence for a wolf to go completely feral, to lose themselves in the animal that hid within their souls. There were only two reasons why it would ever happen... if a wolf lost their entire pack and was left to wander aimlessly and alone... and if they lost their mate. Hunters wolf was on a mission, and it would take complete submission from not only Alexa, but Derek and the rest of the pack to sate his sanity. "Alexa, you still need to go to him."

"No! He's insane! You can't let her!" Alexa's mother made the grave mistake of screeching.  Hunters eyes darted immediately to his assailant, a low, threatening snarl rumbled through his throat.

"Hunter... please..." Alexa whimpered, now scared for her mothers safety. No matter how idiotic she was being, she was still her mother, and deep down, only had her best interests at heart. Alexa slowly made her way towards Hunter, her arms lifted slightly by her sides to show her mate she meant no harm. A loud whimper tore from his mouth, and he leapt forward, grabbing her arms tightly and pulling her suddenly to him. His arms wrapped firmly around her body, and he began sniffing around the mate mark he had made earlier. Whimpers kept coming from him, but they slowed the more he calmed himself with her scent. The mate mark had a mixture of both of their scents, and it calmed him to know she was still his.

"My mate..." he growled. "Mine..."

"Yes Hunter, I'm yours..." she confirmed. She tried to pull away slightly, and he growled angrily, holding her tighter. "Hunter, you have to trust me." A low rumble went through his chest, but he relented, allowing some more breathing space, and for her to move her arms out of his grip. She lightly grazed her knuckles against his cheeks, and rested her palms against his skin. Alexa looked deep into his eyes and pressed her forehead against his. "Hunter no one will take me from you. Your father won't let it happen, and I certainly won't let it happen."

"My mate..." he growled again. "Alexa... mine?" The red in his eyes was slowly disappearing, not by much, but Alexa knew he was slowly returning. Hunter was winning the fight for control, slowly but surely. He sounded so unsure of himself for a split second, that Alexa couldn't help the tear that escaped. Panic flooded his face, and he was quick to wipe her tears away. "No..."

"Hunter I will never leave you, I'm always going to be yours," she whispered.

"Alexa... Hunter..." Derek called, his voice firm but cautious. Alexa looked away from Hunter, who whimpered and held on tighter again. He was beginning to growl again, and Derek knew he had to be quick. "You both have my blessing, you won't have any problems from anyone again."