The New Alpha

JAMES

I’ve been staying in the packhouse of the Red Moon Pack for a week now and have realized I’m going to be here longer than I had anticipated.

The pack has not yet adapted to the change in circumstances, and they still feel loyal to their old alpha.

I get that he was a good man who cared for his wolves, but I had expected them to realize he was no longer up to leading them the way an alpha should.

My pack, the Silver Fang Pack, is large and still growing. We are strong and although I can be harsh, my wolves know I’ll look after them and that their safety comes before anything else.

These Red Moon wolves don’t seem to realize the importance of strong leadership and being part of a pack that can provide security and safety.

The old alpha obviously hadn’t shared with them how close they had been to being annihilated by the Savage Wolves Pack.

He might have thought he was being kind by allowing rogues to attend the university, but it only showed the Savage Wolves what a soft touch he was, and how easy it would be to take over his pack.

Alistair had begged for my help and agreed to let me take over, but he hadn’t shared his reasons with the pack.

Keen to keep his reputation intact, he had made it seem like this was a hostile takeover, rather than me risking my warriors to save his wolves.

So here I am, walking on eggshells, trying to win them over and show them what a real alpha does for their pack.

Unfortunately, that also means I’m forced to follow this pack’s ludicrous traditions and tolerate the rogues he’s allowed to live on pack lands, for the moment at least.

I’m tasked with welcoming the lone wolves attending the university, assessing each new rogue student and determining whether they have my permission to stay and attend the university.

From what they’ve told me, this was just a formality for the old alpha, but I’m damned if I’m going to just give them a free pass. This is going to be a real assessment.

So far, I’ve spoken to five rogue wolves and have banished them all.

The next loner I’m scheduled to meet is a first-year medical student named Allie, sponsored by Jason, the de facto leader of the lone wolves in Linton. He’s been here a long time.

According to the old alpha’s records, he hasn’t caused any trouble, but he has been actively encouraging loners to come here. That needs to stop.

I’m sitting in the old alpha’s chair in his office when they knock on the door. I bark, “Enter” with a scowl, determined to make them feel as uncomfortable as possible.

I want them to know things have changed around here, and that they are not welcome.

Then ~she~ walks in.

Her scent of roses and honeysuckle swamps my senses as my wolf leaps forward. He’s normally calm and firmly under my control, but now he lurches toward her, trying to force a shift.

It takes all my strength to rein him in and pull him back. In my head, he snarls with displeasure. He wants us to make her ours.

As I pull myself together and fight to gain control over my wolf, I watch her and Jason.

There is a look of shock and fear on Jason’s face when he realizes who I am. When I stare directly into his eyes, he bows his head and bares his neck in submission.

Not her, though.

She looks straight into my eyes. She stares me down as though she’s trying to see deep into my soul. It isn’t a direct challenge, but it shouldn’t be possible for her to meet my eyes like that.

No ordinary wolf, let alone a rogue, should be able to stare down an alpha.

“We meet again, Miss…?”

“Rogue, I think was the term you used last time,” she says scathingly.

“Perhaps not the most diplomatic way to describe you, but it was accurate. Please, take a seat.”

Jason rushes to sit, head bent. But she doesn’t. She takes her time, moving slowly, all the while glaring at me, as she takes a seat in the chair opposite me.

She seems unaffected by my alpha power, while I feel completely undone by her.

I swallow and try to recover my composure.

My wolf is strangely quiet. Normally, he would be snarling, demanding that she submit, but instead, he’s almost purring, clearly enjoying being in her company.

~Why?~ She’s just a rogue!

I pull myself together and ask her the question I’ve asked all the rogues I’ve interviewed so far.

“Why should I allow you to stay here in Linton and study at the university when you pose a security risk to my pack?”

“Security risk? Why would you think I was a security risk? I have done nothing wrong. I don’t want to hurt anyone; I just want to be left in peace to study.”

“Those are easy words to say, but you’ll need to do more than that to persuade me to let you stay here. My first duty is to protect my pack from attacks by rogues.”

“I’m not a rogue,” she snaps. I see sparks in her eyes, and her lips curl as she snarls at me. Her anger is all-consuming.

“I’m a lone wolf. I’ve never harmed another person—wolf or human. I’m no risk to you or your pack. I’m here to live peacefully and learn.

“All I want to do is complete my degree in medicine, and then if you and your pack wish, I’ll leave. But until then…”

She pauses and the anger seeps out of her, and then she almost begs, “Let me stay.”

She has floored me. My senses and my wolf are going wild. I long to give her whatever she wants. To pull her into my arms and kiss her. I’m shocked and horrified by my reaction to her.

“Okay,” I manage to say. I don’t want her to leave. I want her near me.

“Okay?” She is surprised.

“Yes. I’ll approve your request to stay, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you until I’m sure I can trust you.”

Anger flashes in her eyes. I can tell she wants to shout at me, but she reins herself in.

“Well, if that’s it…” Jason rises from his chair.

“No,” I snarl. “I need to know more about you. Where you’re living, if you’re working here, who has employed you.”

I can see fear in her eyes, and I wonder why. I’m being slightly obsessive, but these are valid questions that any alpha should ask of a wolf who is staying in their territory.

Finally, she responds, “I’m staying in a house with other lone wolves, and I’ve found work in a bar near the university.”

“Good. Provide my beta with the details when you leave,” I order her. “We’ll be checking up on you regularly.”

She nods.

I want to see more of Allie. I need to know more about her, and not just because my wolf is screaming in my head telling me that she’s mine.

ALLIE

That was weird. I can’t believe the wolf who knocked me to the floor is the new alpha. He was not what I expected.

Now that I had gotten a closer look at him, he was better looking than I had first thought.

At well over six feet, he towered over me. His expensive suit did nothing to hide his toned body, and his large brown eyes seemed to stare straight into my soul. Power rolled off him in waves.

I could tell that during our meeting, Jason had struggled to keep himself in control and that he had been desperate to submit to the alpha’s power.

The alpha hadn’t affected me in the same way. I knew he was powerful, and I felt drawn to him.

My wolf had woken inside me. She was interested in this alpha in a way she had never been with a male wolf before. I felt attracted to him too; there was a definite spark of desire.

But when he started speaking, my attraction quickly turned to anger. How dare he refer to me as a rogue? Without knowing anything about me, he assumed I would be a threat to his wolves and to this town.

I was still fuming as Jason and I drove home.

“You were impressive in there. I’ve never seen a loner stand up to an alpha the way you just did.”

“He’s the first alpha I’ve ever met. I don’t know how to behave around one. I never learned how to be submissive.”

“You don’t ‘learn’ to be submissive; wolves just are submissive when an alpha turns on their power. It didn’t seem to affect you at all.”

“It did,” I admit. “It just didn’t stop me from getting angry with him.” I decide not to tell Jason how the alpha affected me, or that I felt desire, not fear.

“Perhaps you have some alpha blood in you. Anyway, be careful. If he thinks you’re disrespecting him, things could get nasty quickly. He’s a powerful wolf.”

“I will be. Maybe I won’t need to see him again,” I say hopefully.

“I don’t think you’re going to be that lucky. This is the second time you have met him, and you have been here less than a week. Anyway, he seemed intent on keeping tabs on you.”

“I know. I guess my plan to keep my head down and avoid pack wolves is already failing. Now that I know who he is, I’ll try to avoid him.”