Alpha Grayson

My assistant turns from where he was facing the board and looks at me with confusion. He’s not really my assistant.

In fact, he hates it when I refer to him as that, but I wouldn’t go as far to say that this man, Adrian, is my friend.

“Cross him off the list,” I request.

“Why?” he asks as he balances a red permanent marker between his fingers. Rolling my eyes, I back up a few steps and sit on the edge of my desk.

I try to be mindful of the papers scattered across it.

“You think the Alpha of Love is my mate?” I ask while trying to hide my laughter.

He tilts his head. “Possibly.” I kick my feet together as I stare up at the board mounted on the wall.

We are in my office, trying to narrow down who my mate could be. I know he’s an Alpha, which gives me 12 options.

Unless the Moon Goddess decided to play a personal joke and pair me with the female Alpha of Independence.

“You’re being ridiculous. Picture me with Malik!” I shiver at the thought as I look at his name on the board.

I’ve met Malik before, although only briefly. When I walked into that room and our eyes met, there was nothing there.

At one point, our shoulders touched and no sparks erupted. He’s not my mate.

“Are you even sure your mate is an Alpha?” Adrian asks again as he draws a straight red line through Malik’s name.

“Yes, our current Luna told me herself, and she was once a Purity Pack member. Those freaks don’t lie,” I tell him.

He shrugs, placing the lid of the pen back on. Adrian scrunches his face up.

He wasn’t always stuck here in the Vengeance Pack like me.

While he was originally from the Wisdom Pack, I was from the Discipline Pack. Neither of us wants to go back to our old Packs.

We belong here now, completely bound to the Vengeance Pack. Even if the only reason I am here is because I was kidnapped at the age of 13.

Now that I’m older, I have become a leader.

Kaden, the Alpha of Vengeance, allowed me a small portion of his land after I released his brother and told him where his parents were.

I didn’t mean to put my fingers into something that wasn’t my business, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Cross off Kaden and Landon while you’re at it. Both are mated,” I request, and Adrian obliges. I stare at the remaining names.

“What about Isaiah, the Alpha of Passion?” Adrian asks, ready to cross the name off.

I think about it for a moment. “I don’t see why not.”

Adrian raises an eyebrow.

“What? I'm passionate.”

He leaves the name uncrossed.

“What about Jasper? Alpha of Devotion,” Adrian muses. I bite my lip. Not an option.

“He’s been missing for years. There’s no way that’s even plausible,” I tell him. The Devotion Pack has been almost empty since the Alpha disappeared.

Rumors of Phantom Wolves roaming around scared Pack members away. Adrian crosses him from the list.

“How about Grayson?”

I hesitate, lifting my head from where I was brushing lint off my jeans.

“Who’s that again?” I ask. The name Grayson doesn’t ring a bell, which is strange, since I’m familiar with most Alphas.

“Alpha of Freedom,” Adrian reminds me. I slip off the edge of the desk and take the pen from Adrian’s hand.

I proceed to draw a thick, red line over the name. Adrian stares at me as I resume my spot.

“Explanation?”

“Easy. I’m from the Discipline Pack. We like order, sense, and reason. He’s from the Freedom Pack. They are advocates of the wild and the senseless,” I reply as I cross my arms around my chest.

Fate is cruel, but he isn’t that cruel. Adrian sighs deeply and we collectively stare at the name.

“There’s always a chance the Moon Goddess wanted to see if a pairing like that could coexist,” Adrian muses.

He knows nothing about the Moon Goddess. While my original Pack worshiped her to an extent, his Pack insisted she didn’t exist. I’m indifferent.

Adrian notices my expression. “What? There’s a science in love too.”

Rolling my eyes, I quickly sum up the remaining Alphas. There are not many left to narrow down from.

I notice Adrian’s gaze linger over Alpha Grayson’s name.

“Don’t worry, there is no way Grayson is my mate.”

“You look great,” Adrian murmurs as he fixes the collar of my blouse. My jaw clenches as his fingers fiddle with the thick fabric.

A massive crowd of people stand on the opposite side of the thin curtain, and the sound of them mulling around is making me nervous.

Adrian pauses as he notices my gaze wander.

“Be careful out there,” he tells me, stepping back.

“Why? It’s just another speech about taking down the Alphas.” Everyone here hates the Alphas.

Sure, I agree with my own words, but Kaden watches me carefully at all times.

“People are starting to get suspicious. They are wondering why, whatever you say, Kaden manages to answer with some sort of cunning plan,” Adrian says.

I close my eyes. It has never been my intention to play them.

Nothing more appeals to me than dragging an Alpha down, but what I can’t tell these people is that if there is any wrong move on my part, Kaden will have me killed.

“Whether it’s a raid on a major public building, or a protest outside his estate, you say, he answers,” Adrian says sternly, but his words don’t affect me.

I know this. He’s right in every way, but there is nothing I can do to stop it.

“I know, I know,” I say as I throw my hands up.

I turn around, facing the curtain that leads onto the stage. Of course, I know. It haunts me every night.

Without another word, I push through the black cloth, revealing myself to the thick crowd of bustling people.

Instantly, heads turn and submissiveness settles over them.

This must be what it feels like to be an Alpha.

My strides are confident as I find the center of the stage. This is what I enjoy.

Not the attention, more like the sense of order that finds these criminals the moment I am in their presence.

“Thank you for coming.” My voice carries over the shadowed faces in the crowd. I try not to make eye contact with anyone specifically.

Instead, I try to address them with one sweeping gaze of the courtyard.

My speeches have become a sort of tradition. Many have told me themselves that I bring a familiarity to the bleakness.

This place is like a prison, with walls tall and consuming. I don’t mind it. Call me institutionalized, but I’ve begun to rely on these walls.

“Protests are going well, and I believe we are making progress,” I tell them.

I don’t need a microphone. My words radiate off the silence like a speaker. Someone coughs, but I ignore them.

“In no time, we will be leading this Pack collectively!” This time, people cheer. That’s what they want to hear. They want to rule, and they will.

What Kaden doesn’t know is that there is more of this rebellion going on behind the scenes. Some of it, even I don’t have a handle on.

When it comes to my overall goal, I want to find my mate and take over his Pack.

People shouldn’t be born into power! No matter what Pack it is.

Even so, if my dream doesn’t come to fruition, there are people that will mount my head to the wall if I don’t obey them.

“We will not stand for oppression!” People surge forward, trying to get closer to me on the stage.

I don’t take a step back. I won’t be intimidated by my own kind.

“We will not be shut down by these self-entitled men that call themselves Alphas!” Passion surges in my veins.

It expresses itself in my voice, my movement, and my entire being. What they don’t realize is that it is a trap.

Except for one. He stands at the front of the crowd. My heart stops and I feel paralyzed from the neck down.

The color of his eyes is unique. For a moment, it flickers through my mind that he could control me if he wanted to.

However, that is not what he is after. It is something else. The way he looks at me is puzzling.

Is it out of frustration, or admiration?

I glide my gaze over him, from the silkiest head of obsidian hair, to his strong jawline. I don’t allow myself to glance at his body.

Instead, I look up, trying to regain my composure.

At that moment, I realize I can’t go on. There is an Alpha here.

“I... I... I...” My words stumble over each other, my equilibrium thrown off from his presence. Everyone stares at me expectantly, including him.

“Well...”

Why am I struggling to find my words?

“She’s a fake!” Someone yells from the crowd.

I suddenly see a single man pushing his way through the crowd. He shoulders past the Alpha, causing a look of confusion to cast across his face.

All I can do is concentrate on this stranger as he accelerates towards the stage.

“We know you are working with Kaden,” the man spits, climbing over the edge of the stage.

No one has ever bothered assigning guards to me at these events.

We never really saw the point since I thought everyone was on my side. I guess not.

“I’m not...” I whisper, hoping no one can hear the fear in my voice. No one stops him as he crawls up onto the stage.

Before I can react, he is standing inches from my face, staring at me with hands clenched at his sides, breathing heavily.

His isn’t just mad, he’s livid.

“Hey buddy,” someone says from behind the man. “I don’t think you should get any closer to this lady here.”

The strange Alpha I’ve never seen before is clutching the stranger’s shoulder.

His eyes are staring directly at me, despite his words being directed at the stranger.

“Don’t you see what she’s doing? She’s lying to us!” The stranger yells, probably wishing he were taller, since his height hardly compares to the Alpha.

Before any further action is taken, someone grabs my arm and begins dragging me backward.

“We need to get you out of here,” I hear Adrian say in my ear.

His hand on my arm pulls me behind the curtain, sheltering me from the chants from the crowd outside. Once I’m fully concealed, Adrian lets me go.

“Why the hell is there an Alpha out there?” I question as I run my hands through my hair. I just completely embarrassed myself.

I have never been so flustered, but the moment I saw the Alpha, I couldn’t move. I became an incoherent mess, and I hate myself for it.

“An Alpha?” Clearly, Adrian didn’t see him.

“There’s an Alpha out there! He heard everything!” He must think I’m such a freak.

I was talking about overpowering the Alphas, and he still stood up for me when that stranger rushed the stage.

Sure, I can look after myself, but I don’t want my slowly thinning number of followers to get any fewer by watching me fight a protester.

It will diminish any respect that I’ve gained from them.

“What Alpha?” Adrian questions with shockingly wide eyes. Closing my eyes, I remember exactly how he looked. The image of him is imprinted in my mind.

“I don’t know,” I mutter honestly.

“He had silver eyes like I’ve never seen before.” Adrian pauses.

His expression suggests I just told him the most shocking news, and he’s struggling to grasp it.

“That’s Grayson, Lexia,” Adrian insists, making my heart sink in my chest.

“Grayson, as in the Alpha of Freedom?” That man is the last Alpha I want to have here right now.

I would have preferred Noah, Alpha of Harmony, to be at this speech despite the way it went.

“Alpha of Freedom indeed,” a soft, silky voice says from behind me.

I spin around, desperate to see who owns that beautiful voice.

As I turn, glancing over my shoulder, my eyes meet those silver ones again.