The Possessive Alpha
Chapter 68

ELLE POV

Once the Bronco crosses into New Moon’s territory, my anxiety suddenly skyrockets. Damon grabs my hand, sensing my nerves; tingles unfurl, calming me at once. Reconfirming something neither of us is ready to say out loud; instead, it lingers underneath every interaction.

‘Elle, there is something that we need to discuss,’ Scarlett says quickly, ‘it cannot be avoided. The first chance that we are alone.’

‘Okay,’ I reply, as Damon mutters, “s**t,” his body tensing, staring at Olivia pruning the petunias in the front yard, but he doesn’t release my hand. Instead interlocking his fingers with mine like he is terrified of letting me go.

Damon murmurs, “Stay here.” Stopping in front of the house, parking in the turnaround drive before hopping out to scurry around, hoping to get past his mother. Nothing gets past Olivia. I swear she was a witch in a past life, but I stay put to have a secretive talk with Scarlett.

‘What is so important that we can’t wait?’ I ask, wanting to hurry this along, feeling the need to keep Scarlett’s presence hidden from the rest of them a little while longer.

‘We might call forth a Beta and Gamma tonight,” she explains as if it’s a suitable explanation for whatever the f**k she just said.

“Called forth? Aren’t those birthrights that have to be acquired through b***d?” I ask, not believing what she is telling me.

‘Yes,’ she explains, exasperated, ‘we have no beta or gamma; two wolves, or more, might try to step forward tonight to take one of those positions. Some wolves might even try to force their human into shifting early to be considered for the position.”

‘That’s insane!” I respond, worry starting to cause doubt about my shift tonight. ‘Someone could die with a wolf trying to force a change when the human is not ready.’

‘Some wolves want the clout, some want the power,’ Scarlett continues, like this is to most normal thing in the world, ‘but on the rarest occasion, some are loyal to you as a person, not the power and position you can provide for them. Those are the ones you want to help lead a pack.’

‘And how will I know if they are loyal to me?’ I ask, my mind still trying to wrap around the craziness that has become my life.

‘Don’t worry,’ she says soothingly, ‘listen to your gut, and me, we can help guide you in making the choice should more than two wolves offer.’ Her voice fades as my mind continues to reel from this new turn of events.

‘Wait,’ I ask, my mind starting to catch up with the newest bomb to drop, ‘shouldn’t being in New Moon prevent me from calling forth pack members in another Alpha’s territory?’ My nerves started to calm as the realization hit that we wouldn’t force wolves into possible death.

‘If we had a p***s, that would be the case,’ she says, but I can hear the gleeful undertone in her words, ‘witches have always had a particular bond with Luna borns, and they are our greatest allies. Their decision to make the firstborn Luna immune to the territory spells was a small token friendship. They understand what it means to be hunted for their power.’

‘Okay,’ I say, glancing out the window to find Olivia’s eyes on me with intensity as if she is trying to read my mind. I quickly look away, so she doesn’t see the glaze over my eyes, learning that I already have my wolf. I try to digest what Scarlett is telling when another realization dawns on me, “Scarlett, how are we going to hide my Luna Born status? Once we shift, it will become obvious to everyone else in the pack about who or what I am.’ The panic zipped through my limbs like a car on a crash course.

‘I know,’ Scarlett says as if that is all that needs to be said on the subject.

‘So what are we going to do about it?’ I boom, letting anger and annoyance downpour through our connection suffocatingly.

‘Nothing,’ Scarlett says as if it’s the easiest decision to make in the world. A tap on the window pulls me out of this merry-go-round conversation, and I find Damon’s blue eyes as he waves me to get out of the car and hurry inside.

Opening the door, I hop out of the vehicle, still avoiding Olivia’s gaze as her eyes flicker between her son and me like we are a german code she is trying to decipher, the woman too intuitive for her own good.

We all climb the steps quietly behind Damon into the house, hoping not to alert Alpha Charles of my arrival home or who brought me back. We managed to make it to my room without any major noise. Motioning for the others to follow me inside, Damon grabs my wrist fiercely, shaking his head no, possessiveness dancing freely within his eyes.

‘Slade wouldn’t be able to tolerate it if your room smelled like unmated males,’ he says, shooting a glare at the three men he considers friends. Dropping my and Charity’s bags inside my door, turning on my heel, I walk further along the corridor until we get to one of the empty guest rooms found on this floor other than my suite.

Entering the room, I let the others trail behind me. They are my closest friends and allies; they should be informed of the situation. I stay silent as I look at the others, staring at me expectantly, waiting to find out why I dragged them into this room when we should be resting, preparing for the pack run to celebrate my first shift.

“Elle?’ Damon asks cautiously, and I can tell he is starting to worry from the way I keep pacing back and forth, not saying a word.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He asks, reaching for my hand, the calmness settling over me for a split second until he releases it, a small blush cresting over his cheeks as he remembers we are in the room with us.

As if in a trance, my lips crash onto Damon’s in a passionate fury as my arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer; startled for a second, he delays wrapping me in his own. The kissing intensifies, leaving me breathless and slightly dizzy.

“While I am glad you two are finally starting to figure s**t out,” Matt replies grumpily, “I hope you didn’t just call us in here to force us into watching you two make out. I am hungry, tired, and want sleep. So it better have something important to tell us.” While he talks, Charity rolls her eyes, annoyed by every little thing he does; there was a weird energy between them all weekend.

“Yeah,” I say, pulling my lips away from Damon, but my eyes stay locked on his. Not sure where to start, I let it all rush out in a jumble of words as I stumble through the conversation I had with Scarlett. “My wolf, Scarlett, appeared this morning. Anyways that’s not important. Since I do not know the pack of my birth or have a bloodline beta/gamma by my side, the presence of Scarlett will bring forward individuals whose wolf wants the chance to become part of my ranks.”

Taking in a deep breath, I continue, not letting them get a word in edgewise, knowing if I do, I won’t be able to get out the scariest part of this whole conversation, the part that has kept my stomach in knots since returning to the pack. “My shift can even affect wolves who haven’t shifted yet, forcing them to shift alongside me before their human counterpart is ready.”

I catch Matt glancing at Charity, a worried look crossing his face, before settling back on me like the rest of the group, watching me in contemplative silence for thirty seconds or more, making me think that they’re handling the situation better than I did.

That fantasy dies seconds later as five voices talk over each other, rattling off questions and demanding answers I don’t even happen.

“What?!”

“A wolf forcing a shift can kill themselves! Pushing their weak human body before they are ready is almost a surefire way to death.”

‘How does your wolf call forth a beta and gamma? You don’t even live in your territory?”

“How will we hide this from the other pack members?”

Waiting for them to settle, I watch as they mentally process the information bomb I dropped. After a few minutes of processing, the room starts to settle as everyone finds a place to sit; Damon sits in the armchair, pulling me into his lap while resting his head on my shoulder, acting as if this is something we have done a million times it feels so natural as the sparks from our contact wrap me in relaxing comfort.

“So, what are we going to do about tonight?’ Charity asks the million-dollar question I have been asking myself for the last fifteen minutes.

“I don’t know, but I am going to need your help to figure it out,” I say as I lean back into Damon, gaining strength from his warmth, as we try to plan around a night that wouldn’t be this complicated if I was an ordinary pack wolf.