The alpha 2, p.1
The Alpha 2, page 1
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Chapter One
“Consider this my first official order as the Alpha of my very own pack,” I announced to the gathered collective in the dining room. “We have got to figure out some alternatives to take care of dirty dishes.”
Sticky plates, used silverware, and a collection of other glassware crowded poor Aunt Eva’s tiny sink and the counter directly to the left of the basin. The soapy water looked one ill-placed butter knife away from spilling over onto the clean white tiles below, and the dirty serving plates and knives still lined the table behind where we stood.
I’d severely underestimated how much of a mess ten people could make with a waffle breakfast.
“Plasticware is a viable option,” Benji, my life-long best friend and half-brother, chimed in at my side. “Think about it: they’re accessible, if we clean them right, they’re recyclable, and no dishes.”
“Yeah, but you still have to dirty up something to cook whatever you plan on cooking,” Nikita countered with a smirk.
Aunt Eva chuckled as she pushed up her sleeves. “Alternatively, you three could grab rags, and we could be done with this whole mess in just a few minutes.”
“Your aunt might be onto something, dude,” Benji teased.
“We’ll table the issue, then,” I replied, and I sarcastically rolled my eyes at him.
Aunt Eva grabbed the sponge from the curved ceramic holder near the sink, and I snagged a spare rag from the kitchen towel drawer before I passed two toward Nikita and Benji. Once we were equipped, we shared a comfortable grin and got to work cleaning up the space.
I’d always liked the kitchen, and I knew Aunt Eva liked it even more than me. Cooking was a big part of her personality, and the space felt like an extension of her as well. Even with the limited space, she kept the kitchen and dining room combo clean. All our appliances were pushed back up against the wall to free up more precious counter real estate, and she kept the stove spotless.
Today’s festivities were a discrepancy from the ordinarily clean space, and we’d even brought in our extra folding table and plastic chairs from outside to accommodate for the larger group. The additional people in the house ultimately contributed to the mess before us now, but even with the war zone ahead, I offered only a shrug and got to work.
All told, I could deal with a mess when I considered what this was all for.
Just a few days ago, I’d been Jesse Rafe, the nerdy music major who played Dungeons and Dragons in his free time after hours of violin practice and crammed for midterms with the rest of my time like any other guy here in the cozy town of Everleigh.
Now, I was Jesse Rafe, an alpha werewolf shifter, but not just any alpha. I was the Alpha, with a capital ‘A,’ and apparently that meant I was the prophesized chosen one who would lead all shifters into an era of union.
But I still needed to worry about midterms.
Aunt Eva handed me a freshly cleaned plate to dry, and as I started to rub it down with my towel, Nikita and Benji turned their attention toward the dining table.
“I still think you could have asked the werecats to take care of this,” Benji said with a touch of humor. “They seem like they want to… uhhh… do whatever the fuck you tell them to do.”
Benji referred to the seven betas I’d “recruited” to my cause just the night before, but really, they didn’t have much of a choice. Their former alpha, Max Jansen, seemed pretty adamant about wanting to put my head on a silver platter, and I wasn’t too keen on dying. Fortunately, I ended up coming out of the fight victorious, but even that came at something of a cost.
In the rules of shifters, if an alpha beat another alpha in a fight, the winner would get their pack and, if what I’d been told was true, their material assets as well. So, now I had a pack of my own, and Max...
I wrinkled my nose as I put away the clean plate. Well, Max got what he deserved. The dude was a major douchebag, and I knew I did what I had to do, but I wasn’t excited about having to come to terms with the fact that I’d killed a guy again.
“Well…” I let out a sigh as Aunt Eva passed me another plate. “I guess. Seemed kinda lame, though. Don’t they say a good leader has to be willing to do the jobs no one wants to do if they want their team to step up, too?”
“You might be onto something.” Benji paused from his work for a moment, and he clutched a large plate with a few cold waffles on it in his left hand as he pensively tapped his chin with his right hand. “Where did you send the others off to, again?”
“They wanted to clean up their rooms since I told them we’d do this.” I gestured to the kitchen before I shook my head at the other man with a smirk. “Honestly, man, did you listen to me make that announcement or what?”
“Nope,” Benji replied cheerfully. “I was still coming down from waffle paradise. Eva, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Never stop cooking.”
“It’s no trouble,” my aunt replied with a warm smile as she plunged her arms elbow deep in the sudsy water. “You all need some meat on your bones, especially if you plan on keeping up with growing the pack.”
“I think it’s nice, Jesse.” Nikita caught my eye, and the beautiful woman flashed me a loving grin. “Letting the pack enjoy a good meal without forcing them to scrub a kitchen spotless afterwards. You’re treating your pack like something other than a means to an end. I don’t wanna stroke your ego, but you’re already doing better than Max.”
I returned my mate’s smile with one of my own.
Part of this alpha thing meant I’d have to take several omega mates to strengthen the pack and help our numbers multiply. While the idea sounded absolutely repulsive when Aunt Eva first pitched this whole thing to me, Nikita certainly made the prospect seem less weird.
Nikita was perhaps the most beautiful woman I’d ever met, and as my first omega, we’d already bonded pretty well. I didn’t consider myself the kind of guy to fall head over heels for someone after only knowing them for a few days, but Nikita and I had something special, and that wasn’t just the animal hormones or whatever talking. I felt like we were destined to be together.
The sex was awesome, too.
“I’m gonna make that a personal goal,” I told my lover. “Always try to be better than Max was.”
The omega giggled, tucked her hair behind her ear, and continued to collect dishes.
To my left, Aunt Eva scrubbed another plate and flashed me an approving grin, and her ice-blue eyes glittered as she nodded.
“That’s my Jesse,” she cooed in a maternal way. “And you were worried this whole alpha thing would be too much to handle just a few days ago.”
It was true. Honestly, it still was a lot for me to wrap my head around. I never thought something like this would happen in real life, but I also never thought I would end up doing pretty okay with it. I still had plenty of room to develop and get a hold of my somewhat separate identities, but hey.
At least I had a rock-solid group of people in my corner to help me get there.
“I think the support network has helped,” I said with a laugh.
Benji and Nikita brought over the plates they’d collected from the table and set them to the side of the sink before they joined me in the drying efforts.
“Well, then, fearless leader,” Benji said with a playful nudge. “What’s the next move?”
“Huh.” I wiped another plate dry and passed it off to Benji to set up on the cabinet shelf. “Well, if what you all were saying at breakfast was true, then I guess we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Aunt Eva chuckled. “Eliminating Max and inheriting his former beta werecats gives you a great start, but I’m afraid there’s still plenty more to accomplish. We’re not out of the clear just yet.”
“Your aunt’s right,” Nikita chimed in as she dried a fork. “You only have control of Max’s pride. There’s still other werecats in the area, and I have a feeling Aiden is going to be pretty livid when he finds out what’s happened.”
Right. Max had an older brother named Aiden, who controlled the larger portion of the werecat pride. I thought Max was a pain in the ass, but if what Nikita had told me about the man already was true, then it would be safe to say Aiden was much, much worse.
“Nikita is right,” Benji agreed. “Aiden’s brother is dead, and a portion of his pride has been acquired by a wolf. Aiden is going to want revenge. And he’s going to come right for you.”
“Yeah, no thanks,” I said, and then I stepped momentarily away from the counter so Benji could put a serving knife back in the right drawer. “I guess the next logical step is going to be making sure we’re ready. Strengthen our numbers, hone our fighting skills...”
“Find you more omegas,” Nikita added.
“Uhhh…” I felt a blush creep up onto my cheeks and tried to laugh it off. “Y-Yeah. That, too.”
“You don’t need to be ashamed,” Nikita insisted. “As the alpha, you’re expected to mate with others and breed to help keep our pack alive and strong. And, as the chosen Alpha, mating with omega
“Jesus, Nikita, no need to beat around the bush,” I said in a sarcastic tone.
“Well, it’s true.” The omega smirked. “You’re the one getting all shy about it.”
“Forgive me if I’m still adjusting to the polygamy thing,” I replied with a laugh as I put away another plate. “And, by the way, you still haven’t mentioned how I’m going to find another omega. You can’t expect me to just wander the streets of Everleigh with my nose in the air until I catch a whiff, right?”
“Certainly seemed to work the first time.” Nikita winked.
“You know, I hadn’t considered it before, but there is a clan just outside of Everleigh,” Aunt Eva interrupted, and she threw me a wistful glance. “Bigger than Max’s, but not too big.”
“Really?” I asked.
“You mean the werecoyotes?” Benji perked up at my side, and I noticed a hint of pride in his stature from being in the know.
“The very ones,” Aunt Eva confirmed. “They’re strong fighters, and it’s seeming like you’ll need all the help you can get for this fight with Aiden.”
“And another clan means another omega,” Nikita speculated. “Or two.”
“I can’t complain about all of that.” I put away the final plate and put a hand on my hip. “That’s our next move, then. Recruiting these werecoyotes.”
We finished up the dishes a minute or so later and admired our handiwork. Benji even wiped down the dining room table, just to get everything picture perfect.
“Thanks for the assist,” I told my counterparts. “This looks great.”
“It doesn’t go unappreciated, either,” Aunt Eva chimed in.
“You know, I was thinking.” I looked between my aunt and Benji for a moment. “Is there a rank for the right-hand people to the alpha? Like, whatever that is, I want to make you both like that.”
“Hell, yeah, dude! That’d be killer.” Benji broke out into a grin and looked over at Eva.
“Your father used to have similar folks in his pack.” Aunt Eva put a hand to her chest and smiled, and her voice was fond. “He liked to call them his captains, or just cappas. It depended on the conversation.”
I started to smile, too. I didn’t have much time at all to connect with my parents, since they passed away when I was so young. Aunt Eva was the closest thing I had to a mother.
But if I could honor them, I fully intended to. I may not have had long to know them, but I loved my parents, and it was fair to say they’d had some pretty big influences on the direction of my life already.
“I like that,” I said. “Cappas. From here on out, that’s what you and Benji will be.”
“Hey, sir?” a female voice called out. “I mean, uh, Jesse?”
We turned to the doorway and saw one of the werecats waiting expectantly. She twirled a stray lock of strawberry-blonde hair between her fingers and struggled to keep eye contact with me.
“Hey,” I greeted her.
“H-Hi,” the werecat said. “Uh, we’ve got the rooms all cleaned up, like you wanted. Is there anything else we can do for you?”
“Actually, if you could round up the others, we’ll meet in the living room.” I looked between the people gathered near me. “It’s time to talk about strategy.”
“Yes, Alpha.” The female werecat nodded and ducked away to seek out the others.
Aunt Eva took our rags back to the laundry room as Nikita, Benji, and I went on ahead into the living room, and it only took a minute for the werecats to assemble.
Aunt Eva’s living room was a comfortable mishmash of furniture she’d stumbled upon over the years. The faded, navy-blue couch didn’t quite match the bold patterned armchairs that flanked either side, but then nothing seemed to coordinate with the maroon Southwestern-style rug that had been stretched out over the center of the room for as long as I could remember. It seemed impossible that everything somehow worked together in the space, despite the individual pieces and their idiosyncrasies.
I guess it could have been a metaphor about something being greater than the sum of its parts, but really it wasn’t anything more to me than my home.
When the werecats were settled, I took a deep breath and sized up the group. After a night of restful sleep and a good meal in their stomachs, they certainly looked better than they had last night after the fight. I thought I vaguely recognized some of them from around Everleigh University’s campus as I passed them on the way to classes, but the only one from the group that really stuck out to me was Kristina, the beta who’d given Nikita and I plenty of trouble in the days before.
Nikita locked eyes with the curly-haired girl, and the two shared a tense expression. Then I put a hand on Nikita’s shoulder to steady my girlfriend.
“You two buried the hatchet,” I reminded her in a low tone.
“Old wounds take time to heal,” Nikita replied in an equally quiet voice.
Kristina scoffed and plopped down on the sofa farthest away from us.
Then Aunt Eva joined us once more, and with everyone assembled, I awkwardly cleared my throat and stepped forward.
I took a public speaking class during my freshman year of college. It was a requirement for the music program, and I imagined the point was to equip even the most awkward and introverted of students with some sort of speaking ability moving forward. I remembered liking the course well enough, and I’d liked how the professor brought a bit of fun into the whole experience.
Now, as a room full of people stared at me with their undivided attention, I realized with a bit of panic that I couldn’t remember a damn thing I’d learned in that class.
“Uh…” I tugged absently at the sleeve of my Everleigh University sweatshirt, and then I glanced to the right and saw Benji and Aunt Eve both flash me a thumbs-up.
I shook my head a little and started over. “Well, it’s good to see everyone looking rejuvenated. Last night was… a lot.”
A collective murmur passed through the room, and I noticed a couple heads nodding.
“Anyways,” I pressed on. “That’s all behind us. Max is out of the picture, and I’m going to be the one in charge now. But, if I can help it, I’m going to do my best to not be like him.”
The werecats exchanged relieved looks amongst themselves. Some attempted to be subtle about it, but one or two actually let out a sigh.
A fresh wave of confidence lifted my chest a little.
“It would be kind of insane for me to assume we’re all going to be best friends starting right now,” I confessed. “But I would like to get to know all of you better. Let’s start with names.”
The werecats looked at me silently for several seconds before I saw Kristina stand up, and the beta tossed her curls over her shoulder and looked at me head-on.
“You know me,” she said with a clipped tone. “But, for the record, I’m Kristina.”
Then she flopped back down onto the sofa without another word.
A pair of werecats exchanged a look and then stood up. One was a man with sleek black hair and pale eyes, and the other was a woman with similarly dark hair and matching eyes. The longer I looked at them, the more similarities I found between their faces and their stature.
“My name is Zane,” the male offered. “And this Eliza.”
“Our family has known the Jansens for a long time,” the woman, Eliza, spoke up. “They used to be wonderful, in our parents’ time. But Aiden and Max lack their father’s ability.”
“It’s nice to meet the both of you,” I replied, and I repeated their names in my head a few times to internalize them.
The twins sat down as another man stood up. The new man had long, dark brown hair and a bit of a slouch.
“Sup,” he said. “Name’s Christopher. I’m the new guy, comparatively. But you all seem pretty mellow.”
“Hi, Christopher.” I liked his vibe. It was somewhere between a California surfer and a stoner. Maybe a bit of both.
Christopher grinned before he sat back down. Then the final two female werecats stood up in unison, and they looked at each other and laughed awkwardly.
“You can go first,” one of the women said. She had long, golden hair and a little beauty mark on her pale right cheek.
“No, no, I insist,” the other replied. She was the strawberry-blonde who’d approached us in the kitchen.
