The alpha 7 protect proc.., p.2
The Alpha 7: Protect. Procreate. Prevail., page 2
“But the chili was amazing.” My mouth salivated at the thought. “You couldn’t even tell it was vegan.”
“What?” Benji asked in horror. “Was it vegan?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “She didn’t tell you that?”
“No!” my beta captain gasped. “That’s probably why it affected me so badly. I’m far too used to meat, and I need it in my diet on a daily basis.”
“Sure, blame it on the lentils,” Serena chuckled.
“Speaking of food, if I don’t get something to eat right now, my baby is going to have a fit,” Nikita said as she rubbed her swollen stomach.
“Oh, my goodness, you won’t be far off from having the baby when classes start up again!” Gemma squealed. “Time is going by so quickly!”
“Tell me about it,” I chuckled.
“Dude, you’re going to be even bigger by then,” Benji added. “We’ll need to help you squeeze through doorways and everything.”
I knew Benji meant it as a joke, but his small audience looked away awkwardly and cleared their throats as Nikita shot my half-brother a deadly look.
“Excuse me?” she asked as she closed the distance between them. “Even bigger?”
“I, uh… I mean…” Benji cowered away as he tried to think of a response. “I just meant, y’know… bigger than you are… now?”
That didn’t help his case, and our campus security scrambled into their car as Nikita grabbed Benji’s ear and twisted it sharply in her hand.
“Ooooh,” Christopher said from the car. “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.”
“Do you want to repeat that?” Nikita asked.
“No…” Benji squeaked. “But I’d like to apologize?”
“You have three seconds to shut the hell up and get into that car before you’re left to walk home,” my omega said. “But remember, unless you wanna keep your balls, never say anything about the size of my stomach, unless it’s along the lines of me looking like a fucking goddess. Got it?”
“Got it.” Benji nodded his head like a frightened mouse, and then he jumped into the car and slammed the door.
“Aah, that was fun,” Nikita giggled as she wiped her hands clean.
“But do you really think he’ll learn his lesson?” I asked with a grin.
“Yes!” Benji shouted. “I’ve taken it all in, and I apologize!”
“Hmm… we’ll see.” Nikita shrugged.
“I’m giving it two weeks before it happens again,” I laughed. “Or he’ll make some childish joke about your body after you give birth.”
“Fucking hell, no!” Benji called out. “Dude, Nikita’s like my sister! I don’t want to know what’s going on downstairs! Or hear about how sore her tits are!”
Nikita and I just laughed as we jumped into the front of the Range Rover, and Benji mumbled quietly to himself in the back seat.
“What about when I get so horny that I can’t control myself?” Nikita asked as she reversed from the parking spot. “Would you like to hear about that?”
“Not really…” Benji replied.
Fortunately, the subject quickly changed, and we no longer talked about the goings-on inside Nikita’s body. Instead, Benji mentioned how he had been studying all night for weeks, so he felt like he hadn’t had a proper sleep in a long time. Nikita was just looking forward to sleeping until she was ready to wake up and living a free life until summer was over. I didn’t want to burst her bubble and tell her that dream might be harder to achieve than she first thought.
In the four weeks since we had slaughtered Theo Finch’s werewolf betas, my pack and I had been keeping a close eye around my territory and even further outside it. Nothing had happened since then, and the alpha who’d murdered my parents was still out there somewhere.
But he was going to show up sooner or later. I had no doubt about that.
I’d had patrol groups working around the clock to make sure no one slipped into my lands, and they’d broadened their searches just in case they missed something. I even had one group check out the field where the fight took place, but all they came across were the abandoned bones of the werewolf betas. Surely Theo Finch knew his betas would never be returning by now, so I couldn’t work out why nothing had happened in that time.
Did he even care that he had lost over a hundred members of his own pack?
No one had been near the area in the last four weeks, so my betas had started to feel positive that nothing was going to happen. But I still kept them patrolling, just to be on the safe side.
As an alpha, I knew damn well no one would let an altercation like ours go unchecked. It was only a matter of time.
But that wasn’t all that had happened in the past month.
Abigail had made a full recovery after she was left close to death by one of Theo Finch’s werewolves. Her severely broken arm, ribs, and dislocated shoulder had fully healed, and she had a wonderful scar on her side and down to her stomach now. Dr. Stenton was impressed that it only took Abigail two weeks to recover, but he still warned her to be careful, even though she was desperate to get back into action.
The rogue werewolves who joined my pack now had a proper place to live, so they weren’t still camping out in our log cabin. I had managed to purchase two large homes near the main street of Monroe, so the fifteen werewolves split into two groups, and each chose a house. But this still meant they were close enough to Hailey, which I knew made them feel more settled.
Hailey, my newest omega, had totally come out of her shell, especially after she’d told us her large secret. The entire pack, apart from the werewolves, were completely blown away when they heard Hailey was actually Sarah, the were-hunter’s lost sister. They asked her questions about her backstory, and they even asked her which name Hailey preferred, but she just smiled and said Sarah had disappeared a long time ago.
Hailey was still a bit anxious whenever she left the house, mainly because she had been looking over one shoulder for so long, but that was now starting to ease up. It helped that she had Blair, Arielle, and Aunt Eva to keep her company while Nikita, Benji, and I were in Everleigh. But every time I came home and asked them about their day, Hailey would tell me she watched one of her favorite nostalgic movies, or she had spent the afternoon playing on her Game Boy.
The handheld console was Hailey’s prized possession. Blair just about cried when she heard the Mario theme song, but Arielle, who had lived a more sheltered life, had only ever seen Game Boy commercials growing up. Now, they all had great fun sitting together and watching each other play, and it really warmed my heart to know they would spend their weekdays together and take part in each other’s favorite activities.
And now that classes had finished for the summer, Nikita and I could join them in the afternoons, and we didn’t have to leave the house at the crack of dawn every morning.
“I hope Aunt Eva has some muffins ready.” Benji’s words jolted me from my thoughts. “No one makes blueberry muffins like she does.”
“It would depend on if Arielle allows her to make some,” I chuckled. “As long as they’re made with whole wheat flour and honey, then we should be okay.”
Arielle was still on a health kick, and she believed a healthier lifestyle would help her get pregnant, so she’d made everyone join the journey with her.
“Yeah, but why add the honey?” Benji asked. “We’re going to burn off the calories anyway, so does it make much difference?”
“It makes her happy.” I shrugged. “She’s not poisoning anyone, so as long as Arielle is happy, then so am I.”
“And it’s not about the calories,” Nikita said as we neared the cabin. “It all has to do with how our bodies store and use these ingredients, so she’s going for healthier alternatives, even though they’re probably the same amount of calories.”
“I still miss my Lucky Charms in the morning,” Benji grumbled. “I’m a wolf, I need red meat and high energy foods. I’m not a bird like Arthur Mordaine, so I don’t do well with muesli.”
“Feel free to bring this up with Arielle, but she’ll react the same way Nikita did in the parking lot,” I chuckled.
“Hmm… y’know what? I might just leave it,” Benji mumbled. “My ear still hurts from that attack.”
“Good,” Nikita giggled. “At least you’ve learned your lesson.”
“Yes, you look like a goddess, Nikita,” Benji recited for good measure.
“Yeah, I do,” my werecat omega sighed, and she sent me a flirty wink.
Our home was alive with voices and activity as we wandered through the front door.
Blair, Hailey, and Arielle, who had been sitting in the living area, ran over to us and greeted us with sweet kisses and warm hugs. We hadn’t even been out of the house for that long today, but it still felt like we had been apart for days.
“How did the exams go?” Blair asked with her head pressed against my chest.
“It went well.” I smiled. “I’m just glad they’re over and done with now.”
“I’m sure you are,” Hailey replied. “You’ve all been working so hard.”
“And because of that, I thought you all deserve a treat.” Arielle grinned.
“A treat?” Benji asked with a happy gleam in his tired eyes.
“Yep.” The werecoyote omega nodded. “I’ve tried out a new recipe, so I’ve made some cookie dough for everyone to try.”
“Make way!” Benji cried as he sprinted toward the kitchen. “No one can stand in the way of me and some cookie dough!”
Should I tell him it’s vegan chickpea flour cookie dough? Arielle whispered in our minds alone.
Probably not, I chuckled.
As long as it’s edible, I don’t care what I eat, Nikita said.
Hailey and Blair linked their arms through mine as we joined Benji in the kitchen, and Arielle snuggled against Nikita directly beside us.
My half-brother was found leaning against the kitchen counter with a spoon in his mouth. The cookie dough had a large chunk taken from the bowl, so I instantly knew Benji had helped himself.
“Oh, my fuck,” Benji groaned as he slowly chewed. “This shit should be illegal.”
“Really?” Arielle asked. “It’s that good?”
“Yes!” he cried as he went in for a second scoop. “I was just saying how much I miss this sort of food, and my prayers have been answered!”
We all held back our laughter as we tried Arielle’s new creation, and Benji’s reaction was justified. It was fucking good.
The nut butter and dark chocolate added the right amount of sweetness, but then there was a slight bite from the chickpea flour and maple syrup. I couldn’t even taste the chickpeas, so I would have had no idea they were mixed in there.
We decided not to tell Benji about the secret ingredients, and Arielle was just happy that everyone went in for more.
My family and I stood around the kitchen counter for a few more minutes as we emptied the bowl of cookie dough, and Blair suggested watching a movie or maybe going for a swim. I would have loved to spend the rest of the day in front of the TV, but my day wasn’t over just yet.
The islanders I had been training before had now graduated, so to speak, and they were constantly patrolling the forests without needing my assistance now. My beta captains had assisted me in training the other islanders, too, and now I only had eight more werecats to train. They’d picked things up really quickly in the week since the sessions started, so I didn’t think it was going to take too long before the werecats were ready to deliver the kind of focus I required of all my pack members.
Aiden had made them deadly as hell, but I needed more than that. I needed stealth, careful planning, and incredible attention to detail at all times.
“Hailey, do you still want to come along this afternoon?” I asked.
I had taken one of my omegas to each training session, mainly to help the islanders learn how to track and hunt various shifter species, but it also meant I got to spend some one on one time with each omega.
“Yes, please.” Hailey smiled. “If that’s okay with you, of course?”
“Absolutely,” I replied. “I said we’d meet them in the forest at four, so we’ll need to leave soon.”
“Okay,” she said happily. “Let me just change into a different outfit.”
Hailey ran for the stairs, but I didn’t feel the need to change, so I stayed back in the kitchen with the others.
Five minutes later, Hailey came back downstairs in an outfit that just screamed the 90’s. She wore a pair of purple track pants that had snaps down the sides, a matching purple windbreaker, a white crop top, and a pair of white Kappa sneakers. Her light-brown and blonde hair had been tied up into two space buns, and she kept the fly-aways gripped back in colorful clips which were in the shape of butterflies.
Hailey looked adorable, but she also slightly reminded me of Sporty Spice.
Knowing her, this was probably exactly what she was going for.
Once we were ready to go, I kissed and hugged my remaining omegas goodbye, and then Hailey and I headed toward my silver-blue Porsche.
Apart from Blair and the betas, there wasn’t much I wanted to thank Aiden for. However, his car was incredible, and I drove it whenever I could.
“You’re not wearing your fanny pack,” I noticed as the car roared through Monroe.
Hailey never left the house without her favorite bag, so I wondered if maybe she had forgotten to snap it back on once she was changed.
“Yeah, I decided to leave it at home,” Hailey replied. “I didn’t want to misplace it in the woods or forget to pick it up. So it felt safer to leave it in the bedroom.”
“That makes sense.” I nodded.
Our training sessions now took place in a forest further north of Monroe, just to make things a little more difficult for the werecats. They were so used to the surrounding woods that it would have made their tracking much easier, so I decided to change it up a bit. This meant it took a bit longer to get there, but I could have driven this car for hours, so that didn’t bother me.
“What are you going to make the werecats do today?” Hailey asked a few minutes later. “Are they still working on the heartbeats?”
“Yeah, I think we’ll start with that,” I replied. “They need to learn how to differentiate between our heartbeats and someone else’s, so it’s important to keep that fresh in their minds. I’ll either start with that, or we’ll have a chase to warm them up a bit, and then work on the heartbeats.”
“I love going for a run,” Hailey said. “There’s no better feeling than the wind slicing through our fur, and the feeling of our muscles contracting together as we pick up our pace.”
“It must have been so hard for you to properly enjoy a run when you lived with your parents,” I replied. “Not being able to go out when you wanted, and not having that freedom you desired.”
“Yes, definitely.” My omega nodded. “Especially since my parents didn’t understand, and it was like they always knew what I was up to whenever I said I was going for a run. They gave me a look of pure disgust, and they barely even acknowledged me whenever I returned.”
Hailey’s family were non-shifters, so no one had any idea how she’d managed to become an omega in the first place. I remembered her saying that her grandparents were going to look into it, but her parents refused to listen and instantly dropped the case. I was tempted to search for an answer, and I knew Hailey was also interested to know the secret behind it all.
“At least we don’t have to worry about them anymore,” I said as I gave her hand a squeeze. “You just need to tell me whenever you want to go for a run, and we’ll always be happy to join you.”
“It’s funny, I actually no longer have that same desire,” she chuckled. “I think it’s because I felt like a prisoner in my own home, so I wanted to leave whenever I could. But now the opportunity is right there in front of me, so I don’t need to work to get it.”
“I get what you mean,” I replied. “It’s like not being allowed to have chocolate, but as soon as you have your fill, you no longer crave it the way you used to.”
“Yes, absolutely like that.” Hailey nodded. “I feel free now, so I don’t need to free myself anymore.”
“Like a caged bird who has the ability to take flight.” I smiled.
“And you were the one to unlock the door,” Hailey said sweetly.
It always played with my heartstrings when I heard my omegas say things like that. To know I had saved them from their abusive alphas, or the jail cells they’d been forced into. I knew how much they appreciated me, because they reminded me on a daily basis, but it still meant a lot to hear them express their gratitude so openly.
Our conversation became much lighter and happier after that, and I parked the Porsche beside the edge of the forest to see the eight werecats waiting for us.
Jude, Dexter, Kora, Angela, Elliott, Steph, Roman, and Kasia.
All eight of them looked just as pleased and eager to get started, and Dexter, or Dex, already had his shoes in one hand and his shirt in another. He was only eighteen, so he was still like a kitten compared to the others, but Dex was constantly ready to tackle everything I threw at him, and he didn’t back down from a challenge.
He’d also proudly informed me he was ready to fucking slaughter anyone I pointed out to him, so I knew damn well Aiden had at least worked with him long enough to make a killer out of him.
A very eager one.
“Can we go?” Dex asked as he bounced on the balls of his feet.
“Calm down, Dexter, for fuck’s sake,” Kasia sighed. “At least allow Jesse to leave the car first.”
Kasia was like the mother of the group, even though she was younger than most of them. She didn’t exactly take charge, but she made sure to calm down the younger werecats like Dexter, Cameron, and Finn. However, Kasia was currently dating one of my beta captains, Spencer, so she probably got her leadership reputation from him.
I appreciated her help, especially when Dex acted like he’d had nineteen Pixy Stix as a snack before he came here.
