Valerie

It isn't easy being alpha... especially a female one. No, no, don't you DARE call me Luna. I have nothing against Lunas, but I am not one. And yes, a female alpha exists, big deal.

Well, in all honesty it is a big deal. I'm the only one, and though I never asked for this, I wouldn't give it up even if there was a gun to my head. Well... if there was a gun to my head I'd just break a few knuckles and a wrist... and maybe a skull if I was in the mood.

Exactly sixteen years ago my parents; Alpha Paris and Luna Paige, changed all the rules when they made me their heir. Valerie Dumas, future Alpha of Feu.

It had caused riots within the pack, and mockery outside it. A woman wasn't meant to lead, not in the way a man was. But that crappy stereotype meant nothing to me, I would rule, and I would do an excellent job.

From early childhood I was trained under the most renowned trainers, was educated by the most successful scholars, given the highest security and the most luxury affordable. I was the freaking 'diamond' of my parents' eyes, I was top priority.

Six languages, five martial arts and twenty three weapons.

And then at sixteen when my wolf; Ari, came out, I became basically the ultimate warrior. My physical strength and speed far out-weighed that of every other pack member. So, that was the reason all the riots in the pack stopped. They accepted their alpha.

And thereby, in sum, I earned my position as alpha, and anyone who thinks otherwise can challenge me. I love a good challenge.

*****

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.... 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘚𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦... 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.

𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦... 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩. 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥. "𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨" 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘗𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴.

𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳... 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴... 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥... 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥.

𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯... 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯... 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵... 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭.

𝘋𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱.

*****

I woke up to a scream. My body jumped out of bed, rigid with adrenaline, slick with sweat. My eyes swept the room and my senses picked up anything and everything.

Teak bed, 7 inch mattress, cotton quilt, feathered pillows. White ceiling, cream walls, floor length windows that lead to a balcony. White curtains, invasive sunlight, grey carpet. Slow ticking wall clock reading 7.03, cool morning air.

But the scream was gone.... it was gone and now replaced by a collection of bubbling laughter. Warm and pure.

"Daddy!! Pick me up too!!!" A squeal echoed through my carpeted floor... it was maybe 3m below me. There was shuffling and bouncing, heels clattering and the smell of fresh pastry wafting slowly invading my sinuses.

"No, no. It's my turn!!!"

'Those brats... ruined my sleep.' My wolf Ari gave a low complaint, yawning as our adrenaline died down. I could still feel her anxiety though, past trauma putting us both on the edge.

"Luis!! Get off of that Vanderkolff!!! I swear to God I'll hang you by your ears if that's ruined!!!"

"But mommy, Montego had his turn!! I want upsies!" He whined, and I could already imagine his big blue eyes begging her.

I smiled, letting go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. They were fine. He wasn't here. Nothing was wrong. I had just overreacted... nothing wrong with that.

'Drama queen, you always overreact.'

I scowled at the lie, I was a completely rational being with minimum unnecessary reactions. But i guess that's what you get for having an animal in your head, and a monster in your dreams.

I blinked slowly and let my posture loosen, allowing my muscles to slack.

Why hadn't I set an alarm to wake today? Why was the sun up before I was?

I looked through the past events and breathed. This always happened after a nightmare. Confusion, anxiety.

"Breathe, Valerie," I murmured, rubbing my neck as I lowered myself onto the edge of the bed... because only I could comfort myself.

My wolf hummed within me, slowly warming me against the cold sweat that glistened on my arms and legs. I exhaled loudly and searched my head, accessing a mind link I knew I could rely on.

*****

Today, according to Loid, was my twentieth birthday.

Today, I could celebrate my year long reign, during which I had become the ruler of one of the most deadly pack in the western world. And today... today is my one holiday. The day I'm going to breathe freely and move around in shorts and horrible, over sized t-shirts. Horrible, but comfortable. I deserved a break, especially after the stock market crash last week... those responsible would be dealt with later.

"Valerie, I just got reports of a pack of rogues at the edge of Flamedale forest." My beta's familiar voice approached me. I groaned... what was wrong with these wolves, would it kill them to find another day to cross the border? I frowned and slowly turned to see the familiar form of Loid Paige.

Despite the weight of the what he had said, I noticed that Loid looked relaxed, as always. Clad in casual blue jeans and a printed white t-shirt. His sea green eyes were calm and his white blonde hair was perfectly styled. If I hadn't known him my entire life I would have thought of him as a surfer; hot, cool headed and perfectly tanned.

And lately, ever since he met his mate; Gwen, he looked even happier. There was this peculiar glint in his eyes that hinted something like humanity. And every time I witnessed that glimmer, I wanted to slam his head in with a poker.

Yes, I was jealous. I had yet to find my mate. All hail me, an Alpha who craved the intimacy of the mate bond. No one admitted it out loud, but I think that was the one thing that wolves dreamt of day and night, the hope they hold on to when everything turned bad.

Ideally, I should have met him or her, by the age of 18, but no... I hadn't. I had thought over a 100 reasons why we hadn't met yet. The thought that he or she may not be alive, brought shivers down my spine, it was excruciating.

I didn't deserve love. But I did, right? A mate was the only promised in a wolf's life. And it fell in the hands of our mythical deity the moon goddess; Selene. And if she didn't have a living mate for me, well, I'd have to find a way to put her on her knees and make her beg for my mercy.

"If I'm right, we have Bryce at the edge of Flamedale."

Loid nodded.

"Inform him to interrogate the rogues and get back to me." I began to turn my back to Loid but just to be sure I added.

"And tell him not to be too nice. Feu doesn't tolerate threats."

I felt Loid frown and nod grimly, but he didn't question my judgement. Mercy wasn't a weakness... but it wasn't all that great either.

"As you wish, Alpha."

Good beta.

I lazily walked on, passing a series of tall, bulletproof windows and various Da Vinci like oil paintings; towards the smell of frittata and toast. The mouth watering fragrance lead me to a pristine wooden door. A smile touched my lips.

On a normal morning, Father would be seated at the head of the table narrating war stories for the five year old twins, Luis and Montego, who would scream in delight every time Daddy impaled someone.

And at the far corner of the table, fifteen year old Angela would be on her phone, texting with either her 'boyfriend' Loren or her 'BFF' Tilda. Her sometimes bespectacled blue eyes swore at every possible comment they made.

Nicolai would sit next to Angela, at eighteen years old he was obsessed with racing. He would be either browsing the internet for an illegal contest or looking at the latest gear. No one approved of his obsession.

And monitoring them all, Mother would sit, wearing a look of disapproval. But now... Nicolai wouldn't be there, I reminded myself. He had temporarily moved to Texas for his higher studies and... to be with his mate.

My wolf sighed at the thought of a mate. My little brother had one, but I didn't. I shook my head... jealousy got you nowhere. I pushed open the doors and walked in.

".....and then Luna Sara went crazy and she killed herself with her Lucas' sword and your sister and i tried to save her but then the machine engine...." Father was saying.

"Daddy, did she really?" Luis gasped, his chestnut hair bobbing up and down across his forehead.

"Woah." Montego exclaimed, equally thrilled at the thought of brutal suicide.

I frowned. I didn't like that story. But this was home. I liked it here.