Alpha

"He's your what!?" The room shook with the ferocity of Annabelle's father's roar. Annabelle winced as her eyes welled up. His tone was making her ears hurt.

"Calm the fuck down!" Ethan roared back. Annabelle flinched at the bad word. Ethan noticed the soft whimpers escaping her cute little mouth and immediately apologized. "You're scaring her," he said, more softly this time.

"You're the monster here," her father snapped. "if anything, you're the one scaring her. This is why I didn't want her to be around you." Ethan bristled as his fingernails became darker and his eyes started to turn to black. He was clearly angered easily. Annabelle's eyes widened. She had yet to see her mate's wolf and was sure this wasn't the way she wanted to.

"Calm him down," Annabelle's mom hissed as she darted to her daughter's side of the room.

"H-how? I ba-r-ely know him." Annabelle stammered, her hands shaking. By this point, his bones were beginning to crack and reshape. She took a step back, her sandals making a light clicking noise against the hardwood floor.

Ethan immediately swung his head around at the noise.

"I-it's okay, please don't get in a fight," Annabelle managed to croak out. Her bottom pink lip was wobbling and her tears threatened to spill over.

Ethan's face softened and he retracted his claws. He hated himself for scaring his beautiful mate. He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her tiny figure, hiding her from sight.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl. But they were trying to keep you from me. You're mine." He said as she nuzzled her face into his broad chest.

"The mate bond cannot be broken. There is no way to keep Annabelle home with us without her feeling devastated and sick," her mother said as she placed her manicured fingers on the Alpha's shoulder. He melted into the delicate touch but kept his steely gaze on Ethan. They both knew it was too dangerous to keep them apart. Annabelle's father's gears turned, processing the situation.

"She'll call us. Whenever she wants. She'll visit. Whenever she wants. If you hurt her in any way, I'll send my whole pack on the mission to slaughter you in the most painful way. Are we clear?" His voice clear, strong, and oozed enough dominance to make almost anybody to submit. Ethan clearly didn't like being spoken to that way but the tiny breaths of the angel to the side of him made him keep his cool.

"Fine. You have a deal." Annabelle audibly exhaled in relief. But, that relief quickly drained out of her when she realized what was going to happen.

"I-I'm leaving you?" She quivered to her parents. The question came out like a whisper but everyone heard her with clarity.

"He's your mate, sweetheart," her mom said as she wrapped her arms around her. "It would be too risky to keep you apart and Ethan must return home. He has an entire pack to run."
Her mother's words soothed Annabelle ever so slightly. It had been less than twenty-four hours and she already felt a tremendous pull towards her mate. However, the mention of his pack caused the information to immediately come to light.
Ethan's pack, the Blood Moon pack was known for their possessive and protective behavior for their mates, especially humans. Annabelle was shocked she hadn't remembered this earlier when he had staked his claim on her. This thought seemed to dawn on her parents too, as their expressions became less than pleased. Annabelle also wasn't happy with this news.
Sensing her discomfort, Ethan started to rub soft circles on her upper arms. The tension of the room grew as thick as an elephant. Her father began to shake with fury as he realized what could happen to his daughter. Yes, she was fragile and innocent, but she had the right to be independent.
"My daughter will not become a trophy," the king said, struggling to get his words out. " For you to place on a shelf forever." He finally said. Ethan drew taller at his sudden and random proclamation.

"I do not understand," he said as he miraculously kept his temper under control.

"Your pack," the Luna spoke up, "is controlling of their mates. My daughter isn't an object." The werewolves had abandoned their possessive nature centuries ago. It was frowned upon everywhere. Everywhere except for one pack. Ethan's pack. He emitted a low growl. Annabelle's mouth jutted into a nervous grimace, making her look like a disturbed koala.

"She's mine," he snarled. His gruff tone did not match his eyes, however. His chocolate brown orbs held a mixture of affection and adoration when they reached his tiny mate. Silence swept through the room as everyone grasped for words. Annabelle shifted from one foot to the other, toying with the bottom of her hair.

She was hungry but was too afraid to ask such a mundane request such as food when there were clearly bigger problems happening in the room.

Ethan pulled himself even taller, now towering over everyone in the room. "She's mine," he repeated. Her father made a move to argue but before he could do so, Annabelle's stomach couldn't bear its lack of food anymore. It finally let out a gurgle, causing everyone to immediately whip their heads to her. Her cheeks flushed a deep firetruck red, the fire starting to crawl down her neck.

"Um..." she started, not quite knowing what to say now that everyone's attention was on her. Ethan's eyes showed panic at the sight of his mate's hunger.

"Food! Get her food!" He roared. Everybody stepped back in shock at his overreaction.

"It's okay, I ca-n wa-i-t," Annabelle stammered out. He leaned down to her eye level in concern. He was a whole lot more gentle with her than everyone else.

"You should never, ever feel discomfort," he murmured, his breath tickling her diamond adorned ear. "I will make sure every one of your needs is taken care of." He pulled Annabelle up in his arms and tangled his hands in her champagne colored locks. Annabelle's parents seethed in resentment.  They did not like male hands all over their pure daughter but the happy look on Annabelle's face kept from saying anything that could cause another argument.

"Shall we all have lunch on the deck?" The Luna asked in an effort to make peace.  "I think we have all gotten a little hungry." She took Ethan's slight move of the head as a yes and gestured to her husband to follow.

After a quick walk through the winding hallways, they reached the deck where water and lemonade already sat. The Alpha and the Luna sat down at each end of the table leaving one seat for Ethan and one seat for Annabelle across the table from him.

But, Ethan furrowed his thick eyebrows at the seating arrangement and held his mate closer. Everybody stared at him expectantly. Finally, he sat down in his chair, bringing Annabelle down with him. 

Hello everybody! Hopefully, you liked this part. Hit that star button if you did!

- Hannah