BEGINNINGS
Going through life had been difficult for Sam. At an early age she had been deemed the strongest female wolf to be born in a century. This had led to a lot of high expectations for her, from her fighting abilities to whom she would mate with. Sam did not like to think about finding a mate, she had focused more on being a warrior. Her pack was one of the strongest and she wanted to keep that tradition alive.
This was not to be how the rest of her tribe felt. They had been sure that when she came to age that her mate would be the Alpha’s son. This was not to be, he had found his mate nearly three years ago and Sam was relieved. At the age of 21, her mother had paraded man after man in front of her since her 18th birthday. She had been required to go to all gatherings in the local tribes and she would breathe a sigh of relief when she made it through each of them, mate less.
David, now the Alpha of the tribe after his father had stepped down, felt that her finding a mate was more important than honing her fighting skills. He would often escort her, with his Luna Alyssa, to these gatherings. She could see the disappointment in his eyes, he was her best friend in the world, and that would hurt her more than not finding her mate.
Sam and David had been pushed together at a young age, neither felt a romantic notion to the other and this had created a strong friendship between them. At his wedding, she was in the wedding party and she held a genuine smile during the entire event. It was not that David was bad looking, he was the most attractive male in their pack, she just did not want a man to rule over her life.
She knew that she was attractive, the way that all male’s eyes would follow her at gatherings told her that. Sam just did not care for appearances, she wanted to maintain her status as the second strongest in the pack, with David being the strongest. In fact, no one would train with her other than David. Oftentimes, she would join him and Alyssa for dinner after their sparring. Alyssa had originally been wary of Sam, but as they grew their own bond, she found that Sam was not in the least bit interested in her mate.
Tonight, was one of those joyous nights as the three of them sat in the packhouse recounting memories from the past three years. David sat at the head of the table with Alyssa to his right. She absentmindedly stroked her pregnant belly; she was due any day now. Sam smiled at her ministrations, Alyssa was a beautiful woman who truly loved David and she knew that both would make excellent parents.
Sam was in the middle of telling Alyssa a childhood story about how she and David had gotten in trouble for pranking the Delta when there was a knock on the door. “Excuse me ladies” David got up to answer the door. The ladies watched him as he opened the door, from their angle they could not see who had come calling but they could see David immediately stiffen. He glanced at the two ladies and said, “I will be back momentarily” and walked out the door.
David briskly walked behind his Beta, Ian, a safe distance away from the packhouse. He wanted to hear the details before breaking the news to the ladies inside. “What news do you have from the Rogue pack?” he asked Ian. They had been deemed the Rogue Pack several years before when an Alpha had gone rogue and pulled all the rogues together in the region. This had to be a strong wolf to have accomplished such a task. It had led to less attacks of rogues, but those that did occur were devastating.
Rogue’s typically attacked in small groups, but now that they had an Alpha uniting and organizing them, their attacks were brutal. Over the past year, two packs had fallen victim to their forces. The good news was that these attacks resulted in very few casualties, the Rogue Alpha’s goal was not to wipe out other packs, it was to force them to unite with his. In result, he now held the largest pack in the region and the deadliest.
Ian looked to the ground as he spoke to his Alpha, “Our spy in the rogue pack has returned with information, they are setting their sights on our pack next. They see us as the strongest, other than themselves, and want to incorporate us into their pack.”
David thought on this for a minute, Ian not moving an inch or uttering a word. His Beta knew better than interrupt him from his thoughts, this was a serious issue, and he knew his only option was to try and reason with the Rogue Alpha and perhaps create an alliance between their packs. This would save his people, but they would never be accepted into other pack events again. With his mind resolved, David looked to his Beta and said, “Send a messenger to the Rogue Alpha that I would like an audience with him.” Ian shook his head in agreement, this was the best option to try and get out of a forced take-over. He bowed to his Alpha and changed into his wolf to go prepare their messenger.e…
