Alpha's Inheritance

Ashwood Hollow was a small town with a secret.

Tucked deep in the pine-covered hills of northern Montana, it was barely a dot on the map. Just a scattering of weather-beaten buildings, a single diner, a schoolhouse that hadn't seen fresh paint in decades, and roads that turned to gravel the moment you left Main Street. Outsiders passed through now and then, but they never stayed long.

If they had, they might have noticed the peculiarities. Like how the town went still during the full moon. How the people moved with a strange grace. Alert, powerful, their eyes always watching. Even in the dark. They might have heard odd noises echoing through the trees at night. Or seen how the townsfolk flinched from anything made of silver.

Because Ashwood Hollow belonged to werewolves.

They had lived in secret for centuries. Descendants of European wolves who had fled persecution and silver blades, they crossed oceans to find safety in the New World. They built their haven at the edge of an ancient forest and vowed to protect it, and each other, from the outside world.

The town remained small and isolated, its secret guarded through generations. They traded with nearby towns, lived among humans when necessary, but never revealed what they truly were. Their numbers stayed low. Their loyalty ran deep.

Liam Greyson was the only son of Mayor Oliver Greyson, who, behind closed doors, had also served as the Alpha of the pack. Liam had always been destined to follow in his father's footsteps.

The Alpha led the pack. He was the strongest male, the one everyone in the pack obeyed. His word was law. His strength was unmatched. And his bloodline mattered.

Liam's mother, Sophia Greyson, was the Luna. His father's legal wife and fated mate. The Luna stood beside the Alpha as the female leader of the pack. She was more than a lover. She was the mother of the Alpha's heir. The true mate. The queen.

Alphas could take other mates, lesser ones, for the good of the pack. The Alpha's seed was strongest, his pups born hardier, more likely to survive the harsh winters. Oliver Greyson had fathered several children through these lesser mates. But Liam was the only one born of the Luna.

There had never been any question. He was the heir.

Until now.

Oliver Greyson had died suddenly at the age of fifty.

And everything had changed.

Liam was twenty-one. Tall and broad-shouldered, with thick dark hair that curled at the edges. His eyes were a cold, piercing gray, just like his father’s had been. He was strong and athletic. But he hadn’t completed the rites. He hadn’t shifted into his true wolf form until two nights ago. He hadn’t led a solo hunt. And he was still a virgin.

The pack whispered. Some said he was too young to be the Alpha. Too untested. A boy, not yet ready to lead.

If his father had lived, Liam might have had more time to prepare. But time was the one thing he didn’t have.

He had twenty-seven days.

Before the next full moon, he had to prove himself. He had to shift into his wolf form in front of the pack. He had to hunt alone and return with a kill. He had to take a mate and sire pups.

As the Alpha's only legal son and heir, he had been trained his whole life in combat, tracking, and leadership. But emotionally, he was inexperienced. Still learning what it meant to lead. Still learning what it meant to be a man.

Now, smoke curled into the sky above the northern clearing. The wind caught it, dragging it higher like a prayer.

Liam stood before the funeral pyre, his father’s body wrapped in ceremonial hides, the flames rising with every crackle of dry timber. The pack had formed a wide circle around the fire, silent, their heads bowed.

The scent of burning fur and pine filled the air. Earthy and bitter. Liam’s throat tightened. Not from the smoke, but from everything he had yet to become.

He was supposed to be the Alpha now.

But was he ready?

His wolf form was still new. A large black wolf. Wild. Hard to control. He hadn’t hunted. Hadn’t mated. Hadn’t proven himself in any of the ways that mattered.

His mother, Sophia Greyson, stood beside him. She watched the funeral pyre of her husband. Not crying. Not mourning. With the old Alpha dead and the new Alpha yet to be crowned, the Luna was the highest-ranking member of the pack. She looked strong, regal as a queen. Legally, she had already been appointed as temporary mayor to handle matters with outsiders.

“You have to speak now, Liam,” she said, her voice firm, proud, and commanding. “They need to hear your voice.”

Liam looked up. Every citizen in Ashwood Hollow was watching him. Men, women, teenagers, children. All with the werewolf mark in their blood. Some stared with sympathy. Others with suspicion. A few with open challenge burning in their eyes.

Liam stepped forward.

“I am Liam Greyson,” he said, his voice steady despite the knot in his chest. “Son of Oliver Greyson, Alpha of Ashwood Hollow. Born of Sophia Greyson, Luna and first mate.”

A ripple passed through the crowd. Energy shifted. Tension crackled.

“My father is gone. But his blood remains inside me. His strength runs in my veins. I vow to take my father's place as Alpha, to defend and lead the pack as he did before me. And I will not let this pack fall.”

No cheers.

No howls.

Just silence. And smoke.

It wasn’t enough.

Not yet.

Twenty-seven days. That was all he had to prove he was strong enough to lead. Brave enough to hunt. Dominant enough to rule. Virile enough to father the next generation of leaders.

He felt eyes on him.

Many eyes.

Some curious.

Some contemptuous.

The girls of the pack stood off to the side. Many of them were potential mates. Some were unclaimed. Others had already been mated to older wolves. Some had even been mated to the last Alpha.

Liam’s eyes turned to the three girls who had been his father’s favorites before his death. The three girls who still lived under the same roof in the Greyson house. Oliver Greyson’s last mistresses.

But one girl held his attention more than the rest.

Aria Thorn.

She stood beneath a pine tree, half-hidden by shadows and firelight. Her dark hair spilled like ink over her shoulders, her lips slightly parted. She wore jeans, a jacket, and a tight T-shirt that left her midriff bare.

She was twenty-one years old, the same age as Liam.

Liam had known Aria since they were kids. They had been classmates at school. Aria had always been stubborn and headstrong, and she often rebelled against the adults as a teenager. At school, she was brash, arguing with the popular girls, often rude to boys, and quick to get into fights.

When she turned eighteen, she shifted into her wolf form for the first time. A quick and savage black she-wolf. A natural huntress. An adult in the eyes of the pack.

The first transformation was an extremely difficult and confusing time for werewolves, especially for females. Aria had been wild and angry, struggling to control herself as a wolf.

The elders of the pack recognized the signs: she was in heat.

They decided she had to be mated soon, for her own safety and for the safety of the pack.

The elders chose her to be Liam’s father’s mate, deciding that only the Alpha could tame the wild young she-wolf.

Aria had refused angrily at first. The Alpha was more than twice her age. The father of one of her classmates. She had known him since she was a child and used to call him "Mr. Greyson." The thought of sleeping with Liam’s father had disgusted her.

But she was in heat. She kept losing control, shifting when she didn’t want to, attacking friends and family. Her body recognized her need, no matter how much she tried to deny or suppress it. In the end, she gave in and agreed to mate with the Alpha.

Liam remembered the mating ceremony under the full moon. His father had claimed Aria before every adult member of the pack.

Aria had been defiant at first, not caring for a mate older than her own father, but her body had submitted to the Alpha as if by primal instinct. Liam remembered how his father had taken her virginity and marked her as the Alpha’s mate. How vigorously he had fucked her before the pack. How he had dominated her. How Aria's moans had turned more and more feminine and submissive with every thrust.

Liam remembered the sounds: Aria’s moans, the way her hips moved. The way his father had fucked the wild, young, and rebellious she-wolf and made her sexually submit to the Alpha. How “Mr. Greyson” became “My Alpha.” How he had spilled his seed into her pale belly again and again.

He had taken her first as a man, then as a wolf, then with both of them as wolves.

Oliver Greyson had been tall, muscular, strong, athletic, and virile. Even in his middle years, he had possessed an almost endless stamina. He was also exceptionally well-endowed, as Liam had seen during the ceremony. Nine inches and incredibly thick. His wolf form had been a great red wolf. Incredibly powerful.

Aria had submitted to Liam’s father in both forms.

The next morning, Aria had officially moved into their house as a lesser mate of the Alpha. For three days, Liam’s father had kept her behind a locked bedroom door and continued what had begun under the full moon. It had been necessary for the girl in heat to be completely sated, her lust fulfilled, the heat that had driven her wild finally burned out.

Liam had heard the moans and gasps, day and night. He had heard his father grunting as he fucked Aria, his dirty talk, her resistance breaking, her begging him to fuck her harder, her voice calling him her Alpha. The sound of flesh against flesh.

Liam’s mother hadn’t cared. She did her chores around the house without flinching as her husband had sex with Aria in the bedroom. Sophia was the Luna, the true mate. Among wolves, it was accepted for an Alpha to take lesser mates to sire pups.

She had told Liam in an amused voice, as they heard the noises from behind the door, Aria panting in pleasure and exhaustion, “Your father is taming the girl completely. No one else will be able to satisfy her after this.” She had said it with an easy, amused smile.

It hadn’t been so easy for Liam. It had felt surreal to have Aria, a girl he had known since they were kids, living in the house as his father’s mate. It had been painfully awkward going to school with her after those first three days, pretending nothing had changed.

Soon, Aria’s belly had swelled with child. It wasn’t exactly surprising, considering how often she had unprotected sex with Liam’s father. She had given birth forty weeks later.

Now Liam had a two-year-old half-brother, Noah. A strong, healthy boy, with their father’s red hair.

The elders had called it a great success. One more pup for the future of Ashwood Hollow. One more child born of the Alpha’s strength and seed. Healthy and strong like his father.

The pack was getting smaller. Many males were failing to sire pups. It had become necessary for the Alpha to father more children for the survival of the pack. Aria had good genes as well. She was a quick and savage huntress in her wolf form, beautiful and dangerous. Her pup with the Alpha was the cream of the crop. Exactly the sort of future generation Ashwood Hollow needed.

Liam, however, still felt grossed out. Knowing that the mother of his half-brother was his childhood friend and classmate.

Liam’s relationship with Aria had never been the same since she became his father’s mate and started living in the Greyson house. They hadn’t spoken after his father’s death.

She was still standing beneath the pine tree, half in shadow, the firelight flickering across her bare midriff. Her eyes hadn’t left his. There was no shame in them. No apology. Only challenge.

It was strange. And familiar. And something else too. Something heavier. Like tension pulled tight between them, waiting to snap.

Liam looked away first.

His heart thudded in his chest as he turned back to the fire. The pyre had burned down to blackened wood and glowing embers. His father’s body was gone. All that remained were ashes and bone.

The pack had started to drift back into the trees, speaking in low voices. A few younger wolves lingered, casting glances at Liam. Testing him. Measuring.

He was alone now. And the clock had started.

Twenty-seven days.

He walked into the woods, ignoring the crunch of needles beneath his boots and the stares that followed him. The night air was cool against his skin, and he welcomed it. He needed space. He needed quiet.

But she followed him.

He heard her before she spoke. The steady, almost defiant rhythm of her steps. No hesitation.

“You held your ground,” Aria said, her voice calm.

Liam stopped walking. "Was I supposed to run?"

Aria stepped out from the trees, arms crossed over her chest. Her hair gleamed like raven feathers in the moonlight.

"Some might have," she said. "You saw how they looked at you. What they expect from you."

“I don’t care what they expect.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

He didn’t answer.

She took a step closer.

The scent of her hit him. Not perfume or soap, but something deeper. The scent wolves knew. It was warm and wild and familiar. His stomach clenched.

He hated how well he remembered it.

“Things aren’t like they used to be when we were kids, are they?” Aria asked.

“No. Not since you became my father’s mate,” Liam said quietly.

“I didn’t ask to be.”

“You didn’t say no.”

She stared at him. “Do you think I could have refused? I was in heat after my first transformation. I couldn’t control myself. I might have shifted in front of an outsider, torn someone apart, and put the entire pack at risk. The elders made the decision. Your father accepted, as Alpha. I didn’t have a choice, Liam.”

He looked away. The memories were sharp. Raw.

They had grown up together. Played behind the schoolhouse. Climbed trees. Fought. Teased. Laughed. Once, he had thought she might be his mate someday.

Then she turned eighteen. Then came the full moon.

Liam remembered it all. The flickering torches. His father placing hands on her hips and declaring her his new lesser mate. Aria flinching, then standing tall. Proud. Defiant. Until the claiming began.

He remembered her cries. The gasps. The moans. The way his father took her as the Alpha. And afterward, the way she walked through the house like she fully belonged to him.

"You stayed with him," Liam said. His voice came out harder than he intended. "You moved in. You carried his child."

Aria’s jaw tightened. "You think that made me his?"

“You gave him a son.”

"I gave this pack a son," she snapped. "You think I wanted that? I did what I had to. For the pack. For our survival."

He swallowed. The wind stirred the branches overhead. Neither of them spoke for a long time.

"He should have cared more about how you felt," Liam said. He wasn’t sure why he said it. Maybe he just needed to hear it wasn’t her fault.

Aria’s voice softened. "He was the Alpha. He did what he thought necessary to protect the pack. That’s what Alphas do. Now it’s your turn."

Liam flinched. “I’m not him.”

“You are not,” she whispered. “But you are still his heir.”

The silence between them turned heavy. Charged.

She stepped closer.

Close enough for him to feel the heat of her skin. Close enough to see the faint crescent scar above her collarbone. The place his father had marked her. A reminder of what she had been.

Aria reached out. Her fingers brushed his chest, right over his heart. Her eyes locked on his.

“They’re going to expect you to choose someone,” she said. “Soon.”

“I know.”

“And they’re going to want you to breed her. Fast.”

Liam’s breath hitched. Her hand was still on him. His heart thudded beneath it.

“They’ll want bloodlines,” she said. “Strength. Fertility. Proven females.”

“You mean like you.”

She didn’t smile. “I already gave this pack a son.”

“Would you give them another?” he asked.

Her expression didn’t change. But her fingers curled slightly, gripping his shirt.

“You tell me,” she said. “Are you Alpha enough to take me?”

Liam didn’t move.

He couldn’t.

Everything inside him was at war. Memory. Lust. Rage. Curiosity. And something deeper. Something old. Something wild.

She leaned in, close enough for her breath to touch his skin.

"You’ve got twenty-seven days, Liam," she whispered. "You better figure out who you are before the clock runs out."

Then she turned and walked away. Her hips swayed with every step. She didn’t look back.

Liam stood there long after she was gone. Breathing hard. Burning inside.

And he knew.

This wasn’t just about proving himself to the pack.

It was about inheriting the legacy his father had left behind.

The fire cracked louder, as if it, too, felt the shift.

And deep in the woods, something howled.

Liam knew what had to happen next.

Before the full moon rose again, he would hunt.

He would take a mate.

He would become Alpha.

Or die trying.