Captured

It didn't matter what I did to distract myself. No amount of training could prepare me for the nerves I had collected over the past couple months leading up to my twenty-first birthday.

Tradition required that I would take over the family business. In other words, I would be alpha soon.

It's my last day as a mere member of the pack before I ascend in rank, and therefore, my last day of freedom.

For the past year, I have been expected to learn the ins and outs of being leader of the Lunar Peak pack. I have attended meetings, been formally introduced to other pack leaders around the region, and undergone a strict and brutal fitness regimen to ensure my legitimicy as the anticipated alpha.

It goes without saying that I have spent little time on doing anything else. I have never travelled beyond our small community. Never been to college. Never gone to a party. Never fallen in love.

Knowing I would inherit the alpha title since my earliest memory, I didn't have any interests in those things to begin with. Nevertheless, on this day, I felt I had lost whatever opportunity I've ever had to do so.

Technically, I could still find love, but I figured it was out of reach for me. It's known that when anyone of were-blood reaches the age of 16, they are blessed by the moon goddess with a mate. Mating rituals vary from pack to pack, but ours like to hold monthly balls for those who have turned 16 in that month and those who are mateless to attend.

So imagine my dismay when I have been attending dozens of balls at this point.

In light of my promotion to alpha, I decided to stop attending the mating balls and focus on my work. It was a decent way to forget our divine Luna didn't believe I needed a mate.

It was a hard pill to swallow at first, watching all my friends and eventually younger siblings be endowed with a mate, but never myself. I think my father noticed this and offered to train me early to get it off my mind, and I was happy to oblige.

Over time, it was easier to accept my matelessness and adopt my pack as my true love. Which certainly made the brutal training easier.

And since today was the day before my coronation, my schedule was cleared of all meetings and official business. Instead, I decided to spend my last hours of freedom with my closest friends.

My Delta is a beautiful, petite woman of thirty-one years, with long copper hair and striking blue eyes. She has known me since infancy and would care for me growing up.

My Beta is a strong, but gentle man of twenty-five years. His blonde hair coupled with his soft Hazel eyes give his muscular form an angelic appearance. He has always been my partner in crime in our childhood, with him trying to convince me out of trouble.

I would lay my life for these two and I know they would do the same. I trust them beyond reason and know that they would never let anything happen to me or our pack.

It's late afternoon after a full day of fitness training with my Delta and Beta in our gym, so we decide to soak ourselves in our hot pools.

"Would you guys be willing to order in with me and watch some movies?" I ask to no one in particular.

"I'm down" says my Beta.

"I've already told Mike I'd be making it home late, so he'll have to watch the kids himself" my Delta chuckles with a despicable smirk.

"Your poor husband deserves a raise, Lamara" I address my Delta.

She laughs, "He is the one pumping all these babies into me, not my fault he can't keep his hands off all this" she body waves.

I look over to my Beta, "She has no shame does she Jake?“ He laughs.

"More like, she's a horn-dog and uses her husband to satisfy her needs."

Lamara cackles loudly, "Hey! He likes it!"

We all crack up laughing. We spend another hour or two like this, enjoying the hot water relaxing our muscles before stepping out and washing ourselves in the gym showers. After changing into fresh clothes, we all walk back to our house.

The pack lives in one giant building with multiple floors and large rooms with a common area and kitchen. Pack members are allowed the option of owning their own homes detached from the main house, but most decide to live under the same roof.

Lamara, Jake and I take the stairs until we reach my room on the top floor. I unlock the door and throw myself on top my bed. Lamara heads to the cabinet in the kitchenette to start making popcorn, while Jake messes with the remote in search of a movie.

My thoughts begin to drift as I think about what tomorrow brings.

I'm going to finally be Alpha.

And then my thoughts turn dark.

Who will respect an Alpha without a mate?

My heart starts to ache. Of course it's bothered me before that I never found a mate, but my mind has unlocked a new sense of dread called self doubt.

It's very rare that an Alpha assumes position without a mate. It's perceived that an Alpha is most stable with a Luna and taking up the position without one makes you, and therefore, the pack more vulnerable.

I have pledged to be strong, but that promise suddenly seems threatened in the face of my coronation.

I sit up and begin stuffing my face with popcorn, hoping to drown in each buttery bite. Lamara and Jake make a few comments here and there about the movies we watch, while I pitch in every so often to keep them off the scent that I'm out of sorts.

Lamara is the first to leave, claiming that her husband is most likely floundering without her, which I admit, momentarily chuckles me out of my stupor. Jake stays a while longer without talking, making me suspect he must know somehow what I am thinking.

It's past dark with the moon high in the sky when Jake tells me he's off. Before leaving he gives me a hug.

"It's going to be alright, I promise you" I can now confirm that he is psychic.

I hug him back, "Thanks man, I think I needed to hear that." He steps back and gives me a smirk.

"My spidey senses are never wrong" I chuckle.

"Go home to your mate, Jake" I wave him away, to which he laughs.

"I'll give your love to Jesus for you" he walks out the door, the latch closing behind him.

I make myself busy by cleaning up the empty bowls and cups, giving them a quick scrub before drying them with a rag and placing them back in the cabinet. I turn off the projector and sit at my bay window, looking up at the moon.

"Luna, please give me the strength I need tomorrow and calm my nerves, cause you know I need it" I sigh to end my plea.

I sit there for a while until pins and needles in my legs take me out of my trance. I walk to my bed and wrap myself into my blankets with my last conscious thought being how I will be Alpha by morning.