Page 134 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

It’s a long path, it seems, and I’m starting to question why it’s taking him so long to heal. What the hell is going on in Blood Snow?

While everyone else headed to the pack house for food, Garret decided to skip lunch and go for a walk. I figure this is the perfect opportunity to talk with him and easily find him sitting at a bench in the park a few minutes later. “Hey, sad man,” I sit down next to him, and hand him one of the sandwiches I’d brought along.

He smiles thankfully, unwrapping his sandwich. We munch on our food in quiet companionship before he asks, “Why is it so difficult?” he mutters.

“You mean Elias?”

He shrugs.

“What happened?”

“The usual.”

“Okay…” I start carefully. “Elias comes from a different background. He grew up in a ruthless pack, where men, in particular, had to shove their feelings aside. You know that better than I do.”

“He doesn’t talk about it much,” he admits. “But when he does, I wish I could go there and beat them all bloody. He grew up as an orphan, did you know? He told me that, apparently, as an orphaned wolf you either fight your way up the ranks, or end up a slave. They’re mistreating the orphans, saying they have weak blood in them because their families died. They even enslave their omegas. He was beaten regularly as a child, and if he cried, he’d be hit some more.”

“Emotional wounds like that need time to heal,” I say softly, but inside I’m raging. I had a feeling things were bad in Blood Snow, but I never realized how awful they truly are. “He’s slowly healing from a huge trauma.”

“I know,” he admits with a hint of a smile. “It’s just… sometimes I get hurt along the way, and I don’t always know how to handle it.”

“Then tell him,” I urge. “Tell him when he hurts you! His trauma might be the reason he hurts you sometimes, but it’s no excuse. You’re still a person with feelings, and you’re allowed to feel hurt and angry too.”

“I don’t want him to get fed up with me,” he admits.

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe the Moon Goddess mated you to him because you’re exactly what he needs? The mate bond works both ways,” I tell him. “Most of the time, Elias probably doesn’t even realize that he’s been shitty to you.”

“True,” he muses, before he chuckles slightly. “Thanks for the D&M, Alpha. I can’t believe I needed someone to pep talk me.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure approaching us. Well, that was fast. I stand up quickly. “Harmony’s calling me,” I lie.

I link Elias as I start to walk toward him,try not to fuck it up.

His eyes nearly pop out of his head, which almost makes me chuckle. He’s not used to me intervening in their relationship. He bows his head respectfully, then nods.

“When you two are finished, join us in front of the pack house. I’m making an announcement in an hour,” I tell them as I walk away.

On my way back to the pack house, I think about the advice I just gave Garret. I genuinely believe that Garret and Elias were mated for a reason. But if that’s the case… what reason did the Moon Goddess have to mate me with Marius?

We are not particularly a match made in heaven… but maybe we aren’t so different from Garret and Elias. There are things Marius is hiding, an underlying trauma he couldn’t talk about before. I know that, although I don’t know any details. I hope he sticks to his promise and is honest with me once we meet.

Elias and Garret arrive at the pack house just in time for the meeting. We have these meetings regularly to discuss milestones achieved and other news within the pack. This is also the time when new pack members like Luca are introduced to everyone. Today, I have something else I want to tell everyone, so I’ve left it until last on the agenda. Only Harmony knows what I’m about to say, and she can’t help but shoot me a beaming smile as the moment arrives.

“Before you all go back to your work, please allow me to give you a final piece of news for this week. It’s taken a while for me to decide who should hold the position of gamma of this remarkable pack, but I have finally made my decision on the perfect candidate.” I smile slightly. “You all know him well, and I think he will do a fantastic job as my third in command. Please, Garret, come on over.”

The crowd goes crazy at the news. Garret is probably one of the most well-liked people in the pack. He’s genuinely nice, fun to be around, and a skilled warrior. It took a while to decide, and I wanted to give everyone a fair chance. Marcel was a close second choice, but he lacks experience and isn’t good at making decisions without me prompting him.

However, he’s very skilled, which is why… “Furthermore,” I continue. “Marcel Sanders is officially promoted to elite warrior status and will now be in charge of some training classes.”

Again, the crowd claps and cheers. Similar to Garret, Marcel is well-liked for his kind and warm nature and hard-working attitude. I wait for the present pack members to finish congratulating Marcel and Garret for a while, before calling an end to the meeting. For the first time since I’ve known him, Garret is rendered speechless. Only after everyone has left, he addresses the topic. “Did the others know?” he asks us curiously.

“No,” I smile. “I only told Harmony.”

“Congrats, man!” Marcel beams.

“You’ll be fantastic,” Harmony agrees.

Garret blushes from all the praise. “You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you! I won’t disappoint you, Alpha!”