A Ridge Mountain Pack Series: Alpha Max

MELANIE

“Max, knock it off. I’m trying to study.” I fling a pillow at him as he stands in my doorway.

Max is always a nuisance, insisting it’s his job as an older brother. Mostly, he just scares away any potential boyfriends.

Max has grown to be almost as tall as our dad, towering at six foot four. He’s a solid mass of muscle, a formidable warrior.

He graduated high school last year and has been training under our dad for the past nine months. Come fall, he’s off to alpha training.

I’m genuinely sad about it. Despite his talent for ruining my love life, he’s my best friend.

Well, most of the time. I can’t help but smirk, though.

He’s about to be gone for four years, leaving me as the oldest at home. Next year I’ll be a senior.

My social life is about to get a major upgrade.

“Melanie, you’ve been at this for four hours. Let’s get some food or watch a movie.”

“You know you’ll be free of me in a few months, and you can go back to being the bookworm you are,” he teases.

“All right.” I stretch out my long legs and jump off my bed, tossing my science book aside.

I dream of becoming a doctor, taking over from our aging pack doctor. I’ve been studying werewolf biology.

Finals are coming up and I’m aiming for straight A’s. I run my fingers through my long dark blonde hair.

I check my reflection to ensure I don’t look too terrible and grab my jacket. “But I’m choosing where we eat. You always want burgers.”

Max chuckles and throws his heavy arm over my shoulder as we stroll down the hall. “Should we invite the twins?” he asks.

I roll my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I love Selene and Jaydon, but they’re fifteen and always at each other’s throats.

Despite this, they’re inseparable. They act like an old married couple, minus the fact they enjoy beating each other up every chance they get.

Both are strong and agile, destined to be formidable pack warriors. Not to mention, Jaydon has a massive crush on Selene’s best friend, Macy.

Macy is the beta’s daughter, just six months younger than the twins. She’s quiet and gentle, the polar opposite of Selene.

Selene is loud and tough, though incredibly beautiful. She’s blonde like me, though her hair is a lighter shade, and she has Dad’s striking green eyes.

Everyone is captivated by her eyes, especially when meeting her for the first time. She always complains it’s creepy.

Despite this, she’d rather knock a guy out than talk to one. She claims having two brothers is enough for her.

I know one day, that will change, but for now, she’s… well, Selene. “If you really want to listen to them bicker, then sure,” I tell Max.

Max shrugs. “I want to spend time with my siblings before I leave. Is there something wrong with that?” he asks, giving my shoulder a shake.

“I guess not. It’s just that Jaydon pesters Selene the entire time about Macy, and she just gets mad.”

“So maybe we should lay some ground rules,” I suggest.

Max laughs, his deep laugh that I adore. “As if ground rules work with those two. Come on, let’s go find them and let Mom and Dad know we are going out.”

We pass by Dad’s office and knock on the partially open door. Max pushes the door open, “Hey Dad. Oh, and Mom,” he chuckles.

We walk in to find Mom sitting on Dad’s lap, engaged in a quiet conversation. These two are always all over each other, still deeply in love, even after twenty years together.

They’re never shy about expressing their love for each other and their children. I can only hope to find that kind of love one day.

They both look up and smile. “What’s up, kids?” Dad asks.

“We’re going to find Selene and Jaydon and head into Billings for dinner, is that okay?” Max asks.

“Of course, honey, but keep an eye on the girls. Don’t let Jaydon get too out of hand,” Mom winks at him, knowing it’s not Jaydon he has to worry about.

“And since you are going out, your father and I will probably take a run up to the waterfall, so if you don’t find us here when you get home, we will probably be there.”

“Right,” Max gives them a little salute and we walk out. He glances at me and we both burst into laughter.

Mom and Dad would go to the waterfall to make out, we knew that already. We had seen it ourselves, though not intentionally.

It was probably the one place they could escape from here and not have to be the perfect alpha and luna they strived to be. We thought it was adorable.

“So, are you nervous about going away?” I ask Max as we walk outside to the training grounds. We know we would probably find Selene and Jaydon there.

They’re always training, sparring or running. Selene is a runner like Mom. I personally hate running.

I prefer yoga and sparring. Cardio isn’t really my thing, which is funny because I have long legs and can actually run quite fast.

I just don’t enjoy it. As my brother said, I’m a bookworm. The brain in the family, I suppose.

Max shrugs, “I don’t know. Not really. Besides, you know who is going to be there with me?” he asks.

“No, who?” I look up at him as we walk over to the field.

“Alpha Damien’s son from Colorado. Grandpa Gene told me last week when we were chatting. So at least I will know someone.”

I’m not convinced he cares about that. Max is very outgoing and everyone likes him.

“Oh, Derek? Ugh,” I grimace at the mention of his name.

Max laughs loudly, attracting the attention of a few passing pack members. “Hi, Max,” one of my classmates waves at him, a silly grin on her face.

All the girls are smitten with him. My brother knows it, but he never pays them much mind.

Dad is always reminding him that he’s going to be alpha and he needs to respect women and keep it in his pants.

Max takes that to heart, although I know for a fact he isn’t a virgin. He dated this girl all through high school, and they had done the deed.

He thought he was in love, but then they moved away because her father was offered a position in Italy working for the werewolf king.

She didn’t even cry when they said goodbye, just gave him a half-hearted wave and pranced away, all excited to be moving to Italy.

“I take it you don’t like Derek?” he asks, returning to our conversation.

“I’m not sure. He always seemed a bit arrogant to me. Every time we visited, I felt like he thought he was superior.”

“Alpha Damien isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine either. He’s always scowling. Mom mentioned that he wasn’t always like this, but I think he’s perpetually upset about something,” I say, shrugging.

Max halts suddenly. “Hold on, you don’t know?”

“Know what?” I ask, pulling his arm to get him moving again.

Max lets out a sigh. “Maybe you’re not meant to know. Mom and him were a thing in high school. They thought they were mates, but then she found him and Amara in a compromising position.”

“He shattered her heart. That was before she realized that she and Dad were mates. Grandma Trina told me this when I commented on his moodiness.”

“She believes he was always in love with Mom and never got over her not being his mate.”

“Are you serious? Gross. I’m glad she and Dad were destined, because he’s way better.”

“Plus, look at us—we’re all gorgeous thanks to our parents’ good genes,” I say, winking at him and laughing.

He knows I’m joking, but I’m not really. We don’t have inflated egos, but we’re aware that people find us, and our parents, attractive.

“Anyway, Derek isn’t a bad guy. He just has a grumpy dad as a role model,” Max says, laughing.

We’ve just turned the corner to the training grounds, where, unsurprisingly, we find our siblings. Selene is running laps and Jaydon is doing pushups.

Max waves at them once they notice us.

Selene jogs over, sweat trickling down her forehead. “What’s going on?” she asks, grabbing a towel from the bench to wipe her face.

Jaydon saunters up behind her.

“We’re heading to Billings for dinner. Mom and Dad are aware. So, hurry up, clean up, and change so we can leave,” Max informs them.

Selene squeals with excitement. “Hell yeah, let’s get out of here.” She dashes toward the locker room, disappearing from sight.

Jaydon, however, just shrugs nonchalantly and strolls off.

“Those two, I swear, they’re a handful,” Max mutters, as we sit down on the bench to wait for them.

They’re always quick to get ready. Jaydon is your typical guy—quick shower, throw on some clothes, and he’s ready.

Selene, she’s a no-nonsense girl, always tying her hair up in a ponytail and never bothering with makeup.

Me? I’m the one who loves makeup and fashion, and hates breaking a sweat.

Soon enough, they’re back, and we’re on our way to Max’s massive black Tahoe.

We haven’t even left our pack’s territory when Selene and Jaydon start arguing in the back seat about where we should eat.

Max finally silences them, reminding them that he had already promised me the choice. I can’t resist turning around and sticking my tongue out at them.

Jaydon just gives me a dirty look and crosses his arms over his chest, while Selene complains about it not being fair.

I roll my eyes at her. “We’re getting pizza, you big baby,” I tell her.

That shuts her up—pizza is her favorite food group. Yes, you heard me right, food group.

The girl could survive on pizza alone if she had to.

Max looks at me, sympathy in his eyes. “I feel for you, sis. You’re going to be stuck with these two while I’m away.”

“And I won’t be around to drag you out of your room and away from your books. I’m scared I’ll come back to find you holed up in your room, covered in cobwebs.”

He chuckles as I playfully smack his arm.

“No way!” Selene retorts from the back seat. “As soon as you’re gone, Jared Ryker is going to ask her out.”

“What!” I exclaim, spinning around in my seat to face her.

Jaydon bursts into laughter, while Max shoots Selene a warning look through the rearview mirror.

“Yep. It’s true. He’s been telling everyone that as soon as your big, scary alpha brother is out of the picture, he’s going to make his move,” Selene says, making air quotes with her fingers.

“Ugh,” I groan, turning back in my seat, trying to hide my grin so Max won’t notice.

I’ve had a secret crush on Jared for years. He’s a senior this year.

There were rumors he was going to ask me to the spring dance, but someone warned him off, saying Max would kill him.

Hence, my brother ruining my social life. I steal a glance at Max from the corner of my eye, noticing his jaw is clenched tight, but he remains silent.

This gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, he would finally back off and let me have a social life. He’s worse than Dad.