An angry Alpha in his boxers
The next few days rushed by in a flurry of meetings; everyone seemed to want Seph, Kayla and Theo to do different things. They didn’t seem to get much time together until they collapsed into bed. Seph was being forced to find a dress to wear and resisting with every ounce of her being. She wanted to be herself; she didn’t want the pack to see her as anything but herself. Eventually, the elders agreed to compromise. Seph designed an elegant cross between a catsuit and a gown for herself; it was loose and flowy around the pants, which gave the impression of a skirt, with a top, almost corseted, covered with diamanté on the front. Spaghetti straps and no sleeves. The material was a striking blood red with streaks of black. Theo would be wearing a black tuxedo with a red tie and Kayla a red dress with a similar flowy bottom to Seph’s suit; only hers would be shorter and actually a dress. The three of them would stand out in the colour scheme they were dressed in against the primarily silver decor that Seph had chosen for the room.
Kayla was on the food; she was forever trying to drag someone in to make her decisions. Literally, anyone would do. Kayla couldn’t choose a flavour of ice cream, let alone a cake design and menu. Seph secretly did most of it for her while watching her flap around, feeding tasters to half the pack to try and decide what tastes better. It was exhausting for both of them, especially since they had put it all off until the very last moment and now had about 5 days before the event. The dressmakers and tailors the elders had hired were regularly seen chasing around after the trio to get an idea of shades, material textures and double-check measurements. Seph would have found the whole situation hilarious if she wasn’t so wrapped up in the affair.
No one knew what Theo was doing, but they could feel the stress rolling off him in waves when he returned each day. While Seph still hadn’t forgiven him for how much he hurt her with all those other girls, the things that he said and his general disbelief, she couldn’t leave him in that state. Seph and Kayla tried to get him to share what was on his mind, but Theo refused to spill and said he couldn’t tell them what was happening. Theo seemed to relax when he walked into their room, though he would take a deep breath, almost like he hadn’t smelt the girls, well, mainly Seph, all day.
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Finally, the day was looming ahead of them, and there was nothing left for the trio to do except rest. Though it seemed life had other plans for them. They were woken far too early; it was only 8:30, by a knock on the door. One of the wolves on duty today had taken a package for Theo and, being new, had tracked him down to hand it over. The poor boy looked to be about 13. This was probably his first day and maybe even his first job of the day. Unluckily for him, he had just woken Archer from a dream, not Theo. At least he had the sense to wait outside the door and not try to cross the wards. Archer growled loudly, untangling himself from his mate who was reading or trying to; Kayla was trying to sleep on Seph. Seph giggled at the pair of them; it reminded her of the first time she met them. “Archer, play nice; they probably need us for something important”, she told him, tugging the covers up to hide her still-healing hickies. Her mates seemed to have found her weak spot and used it to their advantage, not that anyone was complaining. Archer pulled the door open roughly, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts that he slept in. Looking down at the boy, he growled, “what?”
“Please don’t hurt me, Alpha… you have a delivery…” the boy whimpered, clearly terrified and unsure what to say or do when faced with an angry alpha wolf in underwear. Seph remembered that feeling all too much; the first time she met her mates was a little overwhelming, to say the least.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Persephone aged 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After an uneventful journey on trains, a plane and a bus, Seph arrived in the village. The sun was just coming up. Finding the B&B, she checked in. The following 6 months were a whirlwind of learning the ropes, managing humans and hiding her powers. She still managed to find time regularly to head out into the woods to draw or shoot some photos or just let Dextra loose to play and try to train.
Once or twice, unbeknownst to Seph, patrol wolves would catch her scent or see her while she was trying not to scare various wild animals and get a photo of them. She wasn’t on their land, though, and Lorcan had told them that if it was just her, she would hardly cause a problem. It wasn’t worth starting a war over one witch; if only he had known the truth of the situation, he would have approached her to offer her some extra security; well, no, he likely wouldn’t have at the time. He would more likely have tried to scare her away.
Once she had been in the village about 6 months or so, settled in, and gained confidence, she ventured further into the woods than usual. Some fantastic wildflowers were growing that she wanted to draw. Seph was lost in her own world, settling down on a log and pulling out her sketch pad. She hadn’t even felt the slight change in the environment, not that it was negative. The power in the land from the moon goddess recognised her as the twins’ mate before they did; it was the only explanation.
She was utterly oblivious to the group of wolves who were silently surrounding her. That was until a half-dressed man stood before her. He had scruffy-looking, shoulder-length dark hair and dark eyes. A slight tan covered his upper body with an obvious garden path snaking out of his pants. He had typical bad boy vibes going for him; Seph couldn’t deny that it was intriguing. What girl doesn’t fantasise about a bad boy every now and then? But everyone knows that bad boys will burn you. “Ma’am, you are trespassing. You need to come with me,” the man said, his accent clearly American though Seph couldn’t narrow it down any further.
“I apologise if I am on private land, there was no sign. I will leave now. No need for trouble,” Seph replied, packing her things away without taking her eyes off the man.
“I am afraid that will not be possible. You must come with me to meet with my boss,” he said once more, reaching to take her bag for her.
Seph shook her head, snatching her bag out of his reach and throwing it over her shoulder. “I’m afraid that will not be happening. My boyfriend is around, he knows where I am, and if I am not here when he comes back, he will phone the police.”
The man sighed, motioning for the wolves to come out of the trees. “Ma’am, there is no one but you in the area, no one who isn’t already known to us. You are not a part of our group, and you need to come with me before things become more difficult.”
Seph jumped a little as the wolves made themselves known. Looking around, everything seemed to click into place. “Ah, I see now. I didn’t realise there was a pack here. Isn’t your land supposed to be protected by the goddess, though? I didn’t feel anything; I didn’t cross any wards or lines. She must have let me through.” Seph was speaking more to herself at this point, looking around at the wolves. They weren’t being overly aggressive, so clearly, they had been told not to hurt her. “I’m no danger to you, I have no intention of hurting anyone, and I’ll try to pay more attention. The feeling must be more subtle than I was led to believe.” She crouched down facing the nearest wolf, “you look stunning. Those eyes are amazing. Can I take your picture? Just for me, obviously, I’ll bring a copy for you when I print if you like.” Seph reached a hand out to let the wolf she was talking to decide if it wanted to come closer or not.
The man cleared his throat. “If you will come with us, Ma’am, we can sort this out and then perhaps some of the warriors would like to meet you.”
Seph stood up again, considering her situation. “Fine, I will come with you, but I want assurances from your Alpha that I will not be harmed and will be allowed to leave. And don’t try and pretend to have the authority to give me them. Only the Alpha can, and you, pretty boy, are not him.”
The look that crossed the man’s face was a furious but impressed combination that made Seph want to do a happy dance. She had demanded the right thing. “I am to take you to the Alpha”, he replied shortly, his lips pressed together in a thin line.
The walk from where Seph had been to the walls that circled the inner pack lands was only about 10 minutes. It was making more sense now why they insisted on seeing her rather than just turning her around. Most of the wolves around them drifted off as they passed into the gates. Presumably to return to their jobs. The wolf she had spoken to was still with them, though. He looked like a giant husky, complete with the black stripe over his electric blue eyes. It was a striking look that made Seph want to take him for a walk and throw a ball for him. Seph was led down a dizzying length of corridor, around an unfathomable number of corners, until they finally stopped outside a door. The man knocked and opened it. Gesturing Seph inside ahead of him and leaving the wolf outside the door.
Seph looked around the room; there were 3 people already inside. An older man sat comfortably in a chair at the head of a long table. His light brown hair was greying gently, and his nose looked like it had been broken and had healed wrong a few times, but he had a firm, square jaw. He was wearing black suit pants and a shirt with a pair of black shoes. Far from movie star, drop-dead gorgeous, but compared to the average guy on the street, he was pretty good-looking. The other two people were seated along the long edge of the table, facing Seph as she walked in. There was a familial resemblance between the 3 of them, but even more so in the younger two faces, Seph found herself staring at now. The young woman was the first to stand up, her own eyes focused on Seph. She was a little taller than Seph, maybe around 5’7 tall. Her dirty blonde hair was braided tightly against her scalp; her eyes were an arresting grey, drawing Seph’s attention from anything else for a few seconds. When she moved, she had the grace of a hunting cat. Her body was perfectly under control. Her leggings and tank top looked almost painted on. A loud growl drew her attention from the girl to the young man at her side, his short, almost platinum blonde hair was cut neatly, and his eyes were the same as the woman’s, a distracting grey. Seph could only assume that they were siblings. Seph didn’t see a cat when he moved; she saw danger. He leapt over the table in one go; the growl was clearly aimed at the man behind her. Seph had inadvertently stumbled back into him when the blonde man had jumped at her. The man behind her mumbled something she missed, bowing his head and moving into a corner away from Seph, leaving her to the two people approaching her.
“Kayla, Theo, you are scaring our…guest. Sit back down right now.” The older man demanded; Seph got the impression that he had decided already that he didn’t like her. Neither of them listened; they looked at each other like they were seeing each other for the first time, a low grumble rumbling from their chests. Something was happening here, but Seph didn’t know what it was. “Mine!” Both Theo and Kayla growled, rushing to get to Seph’s side. They both crashed into her, knocking the breath out of her. Turning their attention to Seph, they both stuck their noses into the crook of her neck, breathing deeply “mate” they both sighed as they exhaled. This once more forced their attention back to each other. Neither would let go of Seph, who was beginning to feel increasingly overwhelmed and off-balance. They were tugging at her; she could smell some kind of sweet foresty smell that was making it very hard to concentrate. Seph didn’t want either of them to let go of her for some reason. Lorcan was leaning forwards in his seat, a look of deep regret on his face.
Something was said, Seph missed what, but it must have pissed off Kayla. She leapt at Theo, teeth bared, dragging Seph with her. They all ended up in a heap of tangled limbs on the floor. Dextra, salamander shaped, sat proudly on Seph’s chest. It was Seph’s turn to growl. She blasted Theo and Kayla to either side of the room, well away from her with a gust of wind, admittedly, it wasn’t as controlled as she would have liked, but it was effective.
“No one touches me!” She hissed, glaring around the room at everyone. Pulling herself into a sitting position against the wall, Dextra in her lap.
Arguments erupted from both sides of the room almost immediately. “But, my mate…” and “I’m going to lose it if I can’t” “not your mate, she’s mine” As Seph watched, their eyes seemed to change. Unsure what to do, she stood, grabbed her bag and made to leave this chaos behind.
She was lost in the hallways when the man from outside came running after her. “No, please, I apologise for the twins’ behaviour. The idiot is my best friend and will be the Alpha soon, but he’s an idiot. It seems that his twin has lost her cool too. Alpha Lorcan will have them behaving in a moment.” The man took a deep breath, catching up with Seph quickly. “Let us explain; you are our destined Luna. We can’t let you leave like this.” The irritation and frustration were gone from his voice, replaced by a hint of pleading. “Come, please, Luna, you will not be harmed.”