The Howl

A/N.

Hi guys :)

Just so you know, English isn't my first language so there will be mistakes here and there. Hope you'll survive :)

You should also know that some characters from my story Monster is going to pop up in this story. Monster is a dark fantasy story and it's not for everyone but you don't have to read it to follow this story, so don't worry :)

Much love to you all.

Tina.

I wiggle my way out of a pair of arms, get off the bed, and silently put my clothes on. When I’m about to take my biker boots and sneak out the door, the guy asks, “sneaking out? Really?”

I curse under my breath and look at him over my shoulder. “Sorry, Ted. I need to get home to my dog.” He looks at me with an offended expression. “It’s Todd.” I curse under my breath again. “Todd, right.” Pointing to the door, I say, “I really do have to go. See you around.”

With that I quickly leave the bedroom, grab my bra and leather jacket from the living room floor, and hurry the fuck out the front door. When I’ve closed it behind me, I breathe a sigh of relief, put on my jacket, and stuff my bra in the pocket. Then I put on my boots before I go over to my Harley, get on it, and put my helmet on. Then I start the bike, kick it in gear, and drive out of the driveway and onto the road.

I hate when they wake up when I’m trying to sneak out.

I hooked up with... Ted? Oh, who cares. I hooked up with him at a party yesterday. We made it to his place where we had a night of sex. Well, not exactly. He could only go one round and it was kind of boring, but hey, bad sex is better than no sex, right?

Oh, who am I kidding. Bad sex is as much fun as watching paint dry, but that’s the chance you take when you hook up. And I hook up. A lot.

What can I say? I like sex and I like a lot of it. That doesn’t make me a bad person. Easy, yes, but not bad. Well, maybe not that easy. I pick my target and go after it. Of course, I get hit on, but I don’t care about that. If I have someone in my sight, I go after him and I usually get what I want.

I’m not used to feelings and shit like that. I had a crush on my Beta when I was a teenager but that was a long time ago and I haven’t felt that way about anybody ever since.

After about twenty-five minutes, I arrive at the border to my territory and drive up the long dirt road before I come to a clearing in front of the big pack house. Then I stop my bike and get off it, take off my helmet, and go inside while I put my blond, wavy hair up in a messy bun. On my way to the kitchen, I bump into my Beta, Craig.

“Hey, Jade. Another fun night out?” he asks with an amused smile, making me grin. “You know it.”

“How many have you been with now? You must have quite the collection of notches on your bedpost.”

I grin again and flip him off. “You’re just jealous.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Not even a little. There's leftover breakfast in the kitchen for you.” We bump fists as I say, “thanks, man.”

Going into the kitchen, I take out bread and bacon from the fridge. My two favorite foods. Well, not counting a juicy grilled steak. That’s fucking fantastic.

Spreading butter on the bread, I take a piece of bacon and pop it into my mouth. As I’m about to take a bite of the bread, my Luna, Kirsten, walks into the kitchen and when she sees me, I slightly bow my head in respect. She clicks her tongue before she says, “you’re home early.”

I can’t help but smirk. “Yeah. Let’s just say that he wasn’t all that fun.” I’m not shy about the way I live or what I do. People can think what they want. I don’t care. They still respect me as Gamma, so why should I? If my Alpha sees me unfit for my rank because of the way I live, then he can just strip me of my rank. If he chooses to do that, I’ll respect it, but I’m sure as shit not going to change who I am because of it. I am who I am, and people can take it or leave it.

Luna shakes her head and gives me a stern look. “You should be more careful, Jade. What you’re doing is dangerous. You don’t know the men you go home with.” I take a piece of bacon, put it on the bread and take another bite before I say, “you know I can handle myself, Luna.” She shakes her head again. “Still.”

“Look, you know I’m a great judge of character. I don’t go home with just anyone. I feel them out first.”

She sighs before she says, “I just don’t like it. You should be more careful.”

“I am and always will be careful, Luna. Don’t worry about me,” I say, giving her a reassuring smile. Then I nod at her baby belly. “You have enough to think about than worrying about me. How long is there until your due date now? Four weeks?”

She smiles and rubs her baby belly. “Exactly four weeks. I’m so excited,” she says. I return her smile and nod. “We all are. We can’t wait to meet the little one.”

And I really can’t wait. I love children. I always have and I always will. They’re so cute and fun to be around. I don’t know if I’ll ever settle down with someone, but if I do, I’m going to have a buttload of kids. A whole soccer team.

Taking the last bite of the bread, I brush the crumbs off my jacket and lick my fingers, making Luna smile and ask, “are you full?” I nod. “Yes.”

“Good. Go get some rest,” she says. “Remember that we have a meeting at noon and then there’s training at four.”

Smiling at her, I slightly bow my head. “Yes, Luna.” Then I give her a quick hug before I make my way upstairs to my room where my pitbull, Nala, is lounging on the bed. When she sees me, she wags her tail before she goes back to sleep, which makes me chuckle. “Come on, sleepy head. We need to go for a walk.”

She just looks at me before she closes her eyes again, making me let out another chuckle. “Did Craig take you for a walk earlier?”

Without opening her eyes, she wags her tail a couple of times, making me smile. He often does that. Even if she doesn’t have to go for a walk, he takes her for one anyway. He loves her, just as much as she loves him. Well, everybody loves her because she’s such a sweetheart.

Taking off my jacket and boots, I strip down to my panties and get into bed next to her. It got late last night so I’m a little tired. I definitely need some rest before today’s training because I’m in charge of the teenagers today, so I need my patience to be high. They can be fucking shits. I love kids and everything, but teenagers can seriously test my patience when we train.

I turn on my side and let out a sigh. Yeah. I’m really gonna need my rest.

~~~~

“We need to get more guards at the border,” my Alpha, Mason, says. “We’ve heard of more and more feral attacks in the state. The last one wasn’t far from here, so we need to be careful and up the security.” We all nod with serious expressions on our faces. With we, I mean; Luna, Beta, me, and a couple of Deltas.

“How many was hurt?” I ask. He’s silent for a moment and we all know that means not many survived. Ferals are very dangerous. They've completely lost their humanity and have gone feral because of it. They're also very strong. Stronger that most shifters and they’re unpredictable.

“We also need to train harder. Add an hour to the schedule from today,” Alpha says, making me sigh because we already train hard. Really hard. But it’s what he demands, so he’s going to get it. I just dread the teenagers training session today. They’re going to hate it.

“We should stock up the safe rooms with food and water so that they’re ready if anything happens,” Luna says. We nod again. “I’ll do that before the party tonight,” I say. There’s another party at a bar in town and I’m definitely going to that.

“Good. Alright, that’s all for today. I’ll call another meeting if I hear anything new about the ferals,” Alpha says. We all slightly bow our heads and leave his office. Nala greets me outside the door and nudges my thigh with her muzzle. I scratch her behind her ear and say, “alright, let’s go for a walk, girl.”

“I can take her,” Craig says, making me roll my eyes with a smile. “She’s my dog, Craig.” He leans down and scratches her head. “I know, but she’s just so cute,” he says, cooing, which makes me smile. “You can join us if you want?” He nods. “That would be great.”

We leave the pack house and go for a walk on the territory. As I said earlier, I had a crush on Craig when I was young but not anymore. He's become a great friend. Besides, he’s at least ten years older than me, so that would definitely not have worked out.

“So, are you ready for The Howl?” he asks and a big grin spreads on my face. The Howl is a gathering every year where wolves from all over the world gathers in hopes of finding their mate. There are also humans that knows about us wolves who participates. It’s a huge event and there are a lot of great parties and that’s the only reason why I go. It may or may not also be because it’s easy to hook up with an unmated wolf. Very easy.

I don’t see the mate thing as a big deal. I’ve seen when mates find each other, and it does look intense, but I kind of think it’s overrated. I’m a free spirit and I seriously doubt that a mate can make me settle down.

“I guess so. It’s always something that it’s being held in America this time. How about you? Are you ready?” I ask. He smiles a bright smile and nods. “Very.”

Craig wants a mate so badly and my heart breaks for him every year because he hasn’t found her at The Howl yet. I hope he finds her this year. I really do.

We go by the training grounds where the wolves in their twenties are training. There’s only one hour until I have to train the teenagers, which makes me sigh, making Craig chuckle. “Not looking forward to training the young shitheads?”

“Fuck, no. You know how they are. They’re impossible,” I say.

“Maybe, but they respect you. They listen to you.”

People in the pack respect me because I earned my rank at twenty-one. I’m the youngest Gamma there has ever been. I’m twenty-seven now, so I’ve been a ranked wolf for quite some time, and I take it very seriously. I would do everything for this pack. I would die for these people.

I was chosen as Gamma because I’m good with people and because of my tactical skills. Plus, I was the strongest fighter in my generation and Alpha saw potential in me. That’s why he gave me a chance to prove myself. I did and I still do.

“They’re doing really good,” I say as I point to the soldiers. Craig nods. “Yes, they’re making great progress, and they'll get even better with the extra hour we’re going to train. It’s going to be hard but it’s necessary. If the ferals really are getting closer to our territory, we need to be stronger.”

We are strong but a pack can never be too strong. We’re one of the strongest packs in the country. So strong that the Elders often asks us to help keep an eye on rogue groups. They’re usually peaceful but there are some that are rotten to the core.

We walk back to the pack house where we go our separate ways. I go up to my room with Nala, get changed into my training clothes, give her a bone, and go back to the training grounds where the teenagers are waiting for me.

Here we go.