An Alpha's Alpha

Finally

*

"Stop it." He raised his hands in surrender, a smirk slipping onto his lips.

She huffed quietly and then turned back to Doc, a tight smile on her face. The old man's face was filled with warmth and something else that she couldn't quite read. He smiled wide and delved back into his story of how he'd met Darcy.

It had only been about thirty seconds when she felt it again. A light tug at first, followed by a sharper one.

Anger bubbling under her skin, she held up a finger to Doc, "just a sec." She promised before she turned and slapped Jake's hand away from her hair.

"Will you stop it!" She whispered furiously, aware that she had everyone's attention in the diner, just like she had since she'd walked in here.

Jake was driving her mental, ever since they'd sat down he'd done nothing but try to touch her. First of all, he sat really close to her and had only moved when Doc sat down and they had to shuffle around the booth seat. Then, his hand kept brushing her leg, so she'd moved away. In the end, Darcy had told him to 'leave the girl alone', as she'd walked over and sat down next to him. That had made him stop for a while, until now.

Jake stared into her eyes, so deeply that she briefly forgot how to breathe, regaining her composure and eager to avoid mounting him like a dog in heat, she narrowed her eyes. "Stop pulling my hair."

Again, the picture of innocence, he could only smile, shrug and whisper a false apology.

Getting cranky, her wolf eager to run, Cassidy cricked her neck and reached for her coffee that Darcy had kindly given her, pausing to glare at Jake when his arm began to rise before he slowly dropped it back onto his lap.

Satisfied he wasn't going to move, she picked up her mug, caught off guard by Doc and Darcy bursting out laughing.

She watched as the old woman wiped her eyes and the couple shared a knowing look. A pang of sadness echoed through her, she both adored and envied their love. She'd never have that, no matter what her wolf was trying to convince her, she would never have a true mate.

Wolves were simple creatures, they lived to run, feed and mate. Lord knows Cassidy had done enough running in her lifetime. Whilst most wolves enjoyed a healthy sex life in their early years, once they'd found their mate, they settled for life.

There were two ways of finding a mate, Cassidy's parents had been a product of the most comment method. Finding your Moon mate was unlikely, predestined soul mates don't tend to grow up just down the road, so instead, most wolves opted to choose a mate, just like her dad had. Human attraction leads to wolf attraction which ultimately leads to a mating.

Although similar to Moon mates in the strength of their bond, chosen mates had the advantage of surviving even if their mate dies. Which is what had happened to her mother, yet her father kept going.

She grew up in a home where her parents adored her and she'd been the alpha's daughter, a coveted position. Her father had been a great man and her mother, the strongest woman she'd ever known. When she got sick, it was the darkest time Cassidy ever thought she would face, and watching her death affect her father had nearly been too much to bear, but he had retained his sunny optimism and had thrown himself into his life's work, training her to lead his pack.

Unlike most alphas, her father never had an interest in ensuring the alpha title passed to a male heir. No, he wanted Cassidy in charge and so she had grown up being shown how to lead one of the biggest wolf packs this side of the Pacific.

However, not everybody agreed that a woman should be in charge. Some saw her father as weak, as foolish and as a target.

Her father was challenged multiple times for his place as alpha and every time he'd won, until one day, one of his wolves killed another pack's she-wolf.

She remembered the day they'd arrived like it was yesterday. She'd been young, maybe only 16, when strange wolves had poured out of the trees surrounding their pack lands, like rough ocean waves.

Her father had been challenged the night before by the same man who'd committed the crime. It had taken her many years to realise that the invading alpha had forced him to challenge her father, to weaken him.

The alpha had declared war on her pack, stating the murder as the cause. Her father, ever the alpha, stepped forward and challenged the invading alpha. None of his wolves would die in vain.

Unable to watch and yet transfixed, Cassidy had watched the invading alpha tear her father's throat out. It hadn't taken long before the new alpha was told of her existence, and soon the wolves she'd grown up around and called family, had dragged her kicking and screaming to the centre of their territory.

Forced to her knees in front of her entire pack, she was beaten and clawed until she agreed to submit to the new alpha. She remembered looking up into the new alpha's eyes and promising herself that one day she would kill him and avenge her father. One day she would be free of them all.

At least she'd managed to keep one of those promises.

"Cassidy." Jake's insistent whisper snapped her out of her own mind, a shudder working its way down her spine as the memories and emotions of that day lingered in her body.

"Cassidy, we are leaving." He repeated, she assumed, based on the confusion in his voice. She gave him a small, fake smile and nodded briefly, turning to find Doc and Darcy stood by the table, watching her curiously.

She ducked her head in embarrassment and stood up, stretching out her aching limbs. She turned at a noise behind her, to find Jake giving her an intense look again. Unable to cope with it, she looked away and fixed a breezy smile on her face.

She followed as Darcy and Doc walked out of their diner. Owning and operating it for 39 years, Darcy had finally opted to retire last month, now only occasionally popping in to see how it was all going. Cassidy couldn't comment on the business side, but damn if that wasn't the best waffles she'd had in years, so they were doing something right.

As they walked out into the quiet street, eyes followed them from every direction, with mothers pulling their children behind them. She could understand why, she'd never trust an invading wolf on her territory either.

She took two steps, noticing that she was falling behind, when a sensation slammed into her head, sending her doubling over in pain. She groaned without realising and rubbed her head as she righted herself, Jake already there, rubbing a soothing hand down her back, whilst he barked at Doc to fix her.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She mumbled, words drowned out by Jake's incessant talking. Why wouldn't he just shut up?

It took a very long time for her to notice that Jake wasn't actually talking at all. In fact, all three of them stood in absolute silence, watching her and waiting for her to speak.

The voices in her head grew louder and louder, deafening her almost.

For the first time in a long time, Cassidy smiled a broad, bright smile. "My pack." She whispered, "my pack are here."

Her head filled with messages from each of her girls, as they sensed the reconnection of their pack link. Speaking over one another, she could barely make sense of what they were saying, but in a way, that's what made it feel so normal.

She'd missed this, missed them and the connection. An empty space inside her filled with warmth as she heard their voices and sent back confirmation that she was OK. She'd longed to hear their voices, but knowing they were so close only made it better. Any memories of before faded with their words.

"Alpha! Finally! Oh my god you have to hear where we've been-"

"Yes! Alpha Dog! We are on our way, open the beer-"

"Did you know that they have maple trees here. Did you know that it takes 30 years for a maple tree to be able to produce maple syrup? In fact-"

Her girls. Her girls had made it.

Finally.

___

A/N

Hi!

Sorry for the delay, this should have been up yesterday, but I'm house hunting, so got back late :)

Hope you enjoy!

Have a great weekend!