The Alpha's Call

LYLA

My heart pounded in my chest as Caspian’s words echoed in my mind.

Let’s run away together.

Time seemed to stand still as we stared at each other.

The light of the setting sun shone through the canopy of the cypress trees above us, its golden light turning the bayou into a magical place.

The sashay of the leaves in the wind and the murmur of the slow running waters were like nature’s song.

Caspian’s words hung in the air between us, charged with hope. I found myself being drawn into his eyes, and I tore my gaze away from him before I could drown in them.

“If only we could.” I smiled, trying to laugh away the butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

“We can,” Caspian said. “What’s stopping us?”

“So many things…” I stepped away from him and looked around at the bayou. “This place is home, Cas. Where would we go? It’s not like we could just go back to our pack and pretend nothing happened.”

The Summit was a werewolf ceremony steeped in tradition.

No wolf would willingly choose to abandon their true mate. It was taboo. It was spurning the gift of the Moon Goddess.

And that would put a target on the Blue Moon Pack.

“We can’t just do that to our families,” I said.

Caspian stepped closer to me and took my hands in his. His touch was warm. Comfortable.

“Sure, our pack might take some heat for a while,” Caspian began. “But only for a little bit. The Royal Pack has way bigger problems than two wolves that eloped.”

His easy smile quelled some of the fear in me, and suddenly it didn’t sound like all that bad of an idea.

“Imagine it, Lyla,” Caspian whispered. “Just me and you. Anywhere in the world.”

My heart raced at the thought of it. We could pack our bags and be out of there by the next morning.

Where would we go?

What would we do?

“I was thinking we could go to France first,” Caspian said. “See the Holy City.”

“We’re going to commit something seriously taboo, and the first thing you’d do is go to the werewolf Holy City?” I asked, giggling.

Caspian’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Yeah. I’d shake the Moon Goddess’s hand and tell her ‘thanks for nothing!’”

I rolled my eyes. I could imagine Caspian doing it with a shit-eating grin to boot.

“And after they let you out of prison, then what?” I asked.

“Then we’d tour Europe,” he said. “Or maybe Asia. Or both, why the heck not?” He smiled and pressed his forehead to mine. “I don’t care where we go, Ly. As long as we’re together.”

I closed my eyes and indulged myself in the fantasy.

It all sounded terribly romantic.

The stuff that dreams were made of.

Who wouldn’t want to travel the world and spend the rest of their time with the love of their lives?

But that’s just the thing.

Is Caspian the love of my life?

A thorn in my mind popped the pleasant bubble of my dream.

A prickle in my heart of hearts.

“We can’t, Cas,” I said, my heart heavy with the words.

Caspian sighed, the fragile happiness exiting out of him with the breath.

“Aren’t you curious?” I asked, thinking about the Summit. “Don’t you want to know for sure?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m curious…” Caspian stepped away from me, and I already missed the warmth of his touch.

“I’m sorry.” I felt wretched. “I just need to know, so I can put all of this behind me.”

“Okay.”

“Please believe me, nothing would make me happier if it turned out we were each other’s true mates,” I said. “It’s just—”

“Stop, Ly,” Caspian cut me off with a gentle smile. “Don’t feel guilty. You aren’t a bad person for wanting to know for sure. We’re werewolves. It’s in our nature.”

Caspian squinted against the glow of the setting sun.

I turned away from the glare, too.

Weird, just a few moments ago I thought the sunset was beautiful.

Now it just hurt my eyes.

“I want to find out, too,” he admitted. “But I’m more scared than curious. I guess I was just trying to avoid it.”

“Scared that we’re not truly mated?” I asked.

“That, but more of what it would mean if we weren’t.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “Would that mean that all we had was a lie? That my feelings for you weren’t real?”

I gasped as I felt my heart breaking.

“No!” I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around him. I pressed my face into his chest. “Never.”

I felt tears glistening in my eyes, but I blinked them back. I looked up at Caspian when I was sure they wouldn’t spill over.

“I love you, Cas. And nothing is ever going to change that…mating bond or not, you’ll always be important to me.”

“Thanks.” We smiled at each other, misty eyed. “You too.”

I pushed up on my tippy toes and pressed my lips to his.

We stayed like that in each other’s arms for a while, neither of us wanting to let go.

“Damn,” Caspian said eventually. “That got gloomy real quick.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Sorry babe, defense mechanism.” He suddenly frowned. “Well, if worse comes to worst and my true mate is someone else… I’m hoping she’s hot, at least.”

I laughed and smacked him in the chest.

“Asshole.”

He grinned at me.

The sun had fallen behind the horizon as twilight began to set in. The chirp of cicadas and bullfrogs echoed all around us.

“We’d better get back,” Caspian said. “Big day, tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Big day.”

He took my hand in his, and together we walked back towards the Royal pack house.

One way or another, all of this uncertainty would end tomorrow.

I could only hope it would be a happy ending.

SEBASTIAN

“Nervous?”

I turned as Caius sat next to me on the roof of the Fleur de Lis hotel.

“Quaking in my boots,” I said, deadpan. I looked out at the marsh that surrounded the mansion. I surveyed the land that was mine. The families and packs that lived on that land.

All the people I was responsible for.

“As if I had any time to be nervous about the Summit.”

“I have a good feeling about this year,” Caius mused.

“That’s what you said about last year.”

“Yes.” Caius nodded solemnly. “But this year, for sure.”

“Right.”

I shot a sideways glance at my stoic beta. He’d been my father’s beta before he was mine. I’d known him ever since I was a child.

He was never the type to entertain nonsense, yet he was adamant that I’d find my true mate at every Summit.

Every year he’d been wrong.

“You’re a hopeless romantic, aren’t you?” I asked him.

He only stared at me in response, his emotionless gaze the only answer I needed.

“Why are you so insistent on this, then?” I asked.

“You’re the Royal Alpha,” Caius reminded me.

As if I could forget.

“And the pack needs a luna.”

“I’m engaged to Magnolia.”

“That’s different.”

I sighed and slapped a pesky mosquito that bit into my neck.

“How is it different, Caius? Magnolia is perfect for the role. She’s intelligent and fiercely loyal. No one in the Royal Pack would dispute it.”

“You’re right.” Caius nodded. “Magnolia would be perfect for the pack.”

“So then what is your point?”

He stared at me, his dark eyes unreadable.

“But she isn’t perfect for you.”

I blinked, disarmed by Caius’s sudden frankness.

“I care for Magnolia very much,” I said. “She’s one of my closest friends.”

“But she is not your mate. Your true mate.”

I turned away from him and looked out at the hotel grounds. Some people were still outside, making use of the last few minutes of daylight to prepare for the Summit tomorrow.

Eager men and women toured the fields, mingling and talking, hoping for a glimpse of their true mate.

I could sense the anxiety from them. The nervous excitement. Their only concern was whether or not they would be blessed by the Moon Goddess tomorrow.

They didn’t care for politics. For economic logistics or inter-pack relations.

They lived simple, happy lives.

How nice.

“Unfortunately, not all of us have the luxury of waiting for our true mates.” I frowned. “I’ve gotten along fine all these years without one.”

“Have a little faith, Sebastian.” Caius stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder. “The joy of knowing a true mate isn’t something you should dismiss so quickly.”

My beta left me alone on the roof to brood.

I scanned the Summit hopefuls below me.

Could one of them really be my true mate?

But the longer I looked, the less hopeful I felt.

No one I saw interested me.

If she really was down there, I would at least feel something when I saw her, even before the ceremony.

Right?

I sighed and stood up, stretching out my legs.

Caius was wrong. This year would be no different.

Just as I turned to leave, something caught my eye. Two figures emerged from the bayou, walking back toward the packhouse.

Lyla and her boyfriend.

My gaze was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

She noticed me on the roof and did a little wave, and suddenly I found myself smiling.

I nodded at her as Caius’s words repeated in my mind.

This year, for sure.

Lyla flashed me a smile as she disappeared inside the hotel.

I shook my head, coming back down to reality.

“Don’t get your hopes up, Sebastian,” I muttered quietly to myself. “Another year, another Summit.”