Alpha Maria

Maria stepped down from the stage and walked straight for my mother. Maria stopped a foot away from her and extended her hand, which my mother shook. Maria spoke, "Mrs. Archer, I wanted to bring you here to show you that we are people, not animals. No one here wants any violence, we just want safety."

"You're very young to be taking on this kind of responsibility," My mother said.

"I'm needed here," Maria replied.

"Isn't there anyone else that could do it?" My mother asked.

"People have tried. I am the only current success," Maria sighed.

"I'm proud of you," My mother said sincerely.

Maria's face was completely stoic, however, her eyes began to water and she said a hurried thanks before removing herself. In her absence, I looked to Isaac, who had been staring across the room. I clapped him on his shoulder and he didn't budge, so I shook him until his eyes moved away from whatever he had been looking at.

"Dude, what are you looking at?" I asked.

"There's a woman over there, and I know it's crazy, but she looks like my mom," Isaac said quietly.

"Let's go over there," I suggested.

"No, I don't think I can," Isaac rushed out.

"Then you just come with me and I'll do all the talking," I said and started to walk towards the woman.

"Hey, I'm Dylan, this is Isaac, we're new to the pack," I introduced us to the woman.

"I'm Alyssa, nice to meet you." Alyssa smiled.

"Do you have any relation to Tabitha?" Isaac asked.

"She was my sister, how did you know her?" Alyssa asked.

"I'm her son," Isaac whispered.

A tear dropped from Alyssa's eye and she enveloped Isaac in a hug. She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him an arm's length away to look at him before saying, "I knew she was pregnant, but I never got to see her child."

"Why not?" Isaac asked, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Well, we were raised pretty religiously, and when your mother found her mate, our parents demanded she reject him because he wasn't of the same faith. When she didn't, and went into heat, your father felt so bad and he knew he needed to help her, but back then there wasn't much communication with the human world so condoms weren't much of an option," Alyssa explained.

"When our parents found out she got pregnant, they kicked her out. She found a place in your father's pack, and I hadn't heard from her since.  I was the only one from my family that attended her funeral, but I couldn't stay long because it just hurt to see her like that for the last time," Alyssa quieted.

"I couldn't stay either, so I don't blame you," Isaac assured her.

"It's so wonderful to see you," Alyssa gushed.

"You look just like her," Isaac whispered.

I decided it was best to leave them alone. I walked outside to search for Maria, and I found her sitting on the hood of a car. I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. I decided it was best to just sit in silence until she was ready to talk. Maria sighed and leaned into my embrace. I rubbed her shoulder and placed my chin on her head.

"I haven't had anyone treat me like a child in a long time," Maria spoke after a long silence.

"You haven't acted like a kid in a long time," I replied.