Into The Woods (18+)

Promising

tI would always hold a special place in my heart for Alpha Jerrod and his wonderful mate. When I finally shifted and told them of the tragedy that my remaining pack member's and I had been through, they welcomed me, as well as all my surviving men, with open arms. The gesture surprised everyone. Even surrounding packs – or so I heard. Bloodlust been known to kill anyone who wasn't their own ever since their daughter had been taken. I wasn't too keen on having to answer to someone after being an alpha myself, especially because I had taken an extreme liking to being a Wild, but I was immediately given the position of head warrior alongside their current one. I trained all of Alpha Jarrod's men in war form and had significantly improved their fighting tactics over the last couple of years.

I hadn't realized how long I had been thinking for until I finally reached the dining hall. I ducked under the doorframe to avoid hitting my head and strode over to the designated table for high-ranking wolves.

Although I didn't have an official title, no one dared speak out against me. Smart. Scanning my eyes across everyone who sat before me, I could blatantly see the fear instilled in their orbs due to my presence. I refrained from smirking at their expense, knowing it wouldn't be a wise decision. I began to eat in silence, as always, enjoying the decent enough breakfast that had been presented to me. I was almost finished when a loud commotion from the corner of the room caught my attention.

I recognized the two wolves instantly by their scent. The taller and older of the two was that bastard Alpha Jack of Nightshade. I know I haven't met the boy he's speaking with, but I'm sure by the resemblances they share, that it must be his son. I've only spoken with Alpha Jack a handful of times, but I really only needed to meet him just once to know that he was a huge dick head. He tried to act as if he was superior to everyone he surrounded himself with, but, in all honesty, he was a terrible Alpha. As was his father. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, they say.

It's no secret that he treats his lower-ranks like scum that you get on the bottom of your shoe, and the way he's trained his warriors is flat out comical. I've called him out on it only once before. It was the first time I spoke in my skin form in front of anyone since the accident. I know for a fact that Alpha Jack is scared shitless of me (most people are) and that's why he didn't try and attack me when I said anything.

I was brought back to reality when the yelling between the two became louder. Alpha Jack appeared to be extremely upset with his son for some reason unknown to me. His face scrunched with frustration as he jabbed his finger into his son's chest, then proceeding to part with a few final words. His son turned on his heels and returned to his seat, which, conveniently, was right across from me. I pulled my lips back and released a slight snarl as my canines extended from my gums. His disgusting scent hit me, but then just a fraction of a second later it oddly mixed with another more alluring one that I couldn't quite decipher.

My wolf began to stir in my head as I continued to take big breaths in. I was confused beyond belief. I could tell the strange scent didn't belong to the kid in front of me, which led me to believe that it was somebody he'd been hanging around earlier in the day or possibly even last night. My wolf's relentless whining finally got to me. I abruptly pushed my chair back, with enough force to push it over, and stalked out of the dining room. I shifted right when I reached the entrance of the building and darted off into the woods that surrounded that building. I ran for hours, only stopping once I realized it was growing increasingly darker, meaning I need to start getting ready for tonight. Why the hell did I say yes to Jarrod?

Once back in my confined room, I quickly showered to rinse off the sweat and dirt from my body before letting my shoulder lengthy wild hair air-dry like usual. I located the only pair of decently nice clothes I owned that I brought with me and put them on. I fiddled with the buttons on the black dress shirt for far longer than I should have, but with massive hands it's quite impossible to get the tiny buttons in their respective holes. I did a quick once over in the mirror, examining my matching dress pants and a black tie for wrinkles, not that I actually cared if I even had any. I was in the middle of putting my snug suite jacket on when my Alpha burst through the bedroom door. I growled at him for the intrusion, highly annoyed with him already because he'd forced me to participate in this ridiculous event. My growl was cut short when I saw his red-rimmed, puffy eyes.