Page 5 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

I had heard talk around the pack that Mom had always possessed a spiritual, magical connection that allowed her to know the land like no one else.

When I was younger, I had imagined that she was a fairy or a nymph—like the creatures in the fairy tales I loved to read.

I believed that Mom’s fey blood allowed her to grow plants even in the winter.

As I grew, I understood that whatever connection she had to the earth, it wasn’t fey.

No, Mom was a shifter through and through.

Still, the respect and dedication she showed to the land and the care with which she looked after not just the plants in the community garden but also the vegetation and fauna that surrounded the pack grounds—these were the things that allowed Mom to form her bond with the land.

Unfortunately, life had done more than enough to convince me that if magic was real, it didn’t want anything to do with me—and honestly, the possibility of magic was beside the point.

The benefits that Mom’s green thumb provided for the Kings’ pack were evident.

I liked to think that I had some connection to the land, but it wasn’t as strong as my mom’s.

I could only hope that I would one day accumulate a fraction of her knowledge.

As we stepped over the tilled fields, I switched out my winter gloves for the old, worn gardening ones. They were designed for hands larger than mine, but they fastened at the wrists for easy adjustability.

The garden expanded for acres. Corn, squash, and even tomatoes and cucumbers were among the plants that spread across the ground.

Though we were well past the last frost of the season, it still got cold at night in the mountains, so the vegetables that required the warmest temperatures grew in a greenhouse of PVC pipes and green-tinted plastic.

I had designed and constructed the greenhouse myself; it was one of the few things I was really proud of.

The pack had no clue that the small building had been my idea.

I worried that the Terrible T’s or Troy would quickly see to its destruction if they knew, despite how useful it was to the pack.

Mom was reluctant to take credit for it, but at my insistence, she did.

That was why, as safe as I felt in the garden, it was yet another reminder that I didn’t fit in with the Kings’ pack and needed to escape.

Mom and I entered the greenhouse, which was already warm enough that I didn’t need the jacket while inside. After I took it off, I looked at the tomatoes and touched one of the ripe fruits with my fingertips.

I can’t stay here anymore.

“What was that, love?”

I flinched. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Nothing, Mom.”

I plucked the round, juicy tomato from the vine and took a bite.

The savory, sweet taste spread across my tongue.

The greenhouse was about twenty feet long and seven feet wide.

With the abundance of greenery growing on either side, there was just enough room for Mom and I to stand shoulder to shoulder across the path.

“Look at them.” She pointed to the peppers. There was a variety growing from the vine—shishito, bell, and jalapeno. “You’ve done a great job already. And they’re thriving.”

I finished off the tomato and touched one of the green bell peppers.

I gently prodded the skin and found it to be nice and firm.

I grinned. Mom had tried for months to convince the pack to purchase a greater variety of seeds when they bought supplies from the humans.

When they finally agreed to do so, the peppers were the first plant that Mom let me grow totally on my own.

Now that the peppers were here, I had no doubt they’d add a ton of flavor to the meals that we prepared for the pack.

Not that this pack deserves the hard work that we put into this garden. The thought put a cynical frown on my face.

“I’m proud of you, baby,” Mom said, tugging at the corner of my mouth. She smudged a bit of dirt across my cheek. “One day, I’m sure you’ll be even closer to the land than I am.”

“Mom, stop,” I whined, though my mom’s ministrations coaxed the grin back onto my face. I hated the people who bullied me and who wronged me, but I could be proud of what I’d accomplished here. I’d worked hard to grow something new, and things had paid off.

Mom smiled and put her arm around my shoulder. “Let’s get started, shall we? If we have enough peppers, I’ll make some salsa and tortilla chips. Sound good?”

I perked up even further. That was a special treat, a favored snack that I’d enjoyed when I was younger. With the peppers, I could only imagine how delicious it’d be.

I grabbed one of the wicker baskets from the back of the greenhouse and began to harvest the peppers.

As I worked, I put aside my excitement about the salsa to think about what I would do if I managed to get clear of the Kings’ territory.

Where would I go? I didn’t think another werewolf pack would accept a human, and even if they did, there was no guarantee that another pack would treat me any better than the Kings.

Not to mention, I could run across a member of the Wargs pack.

The Wargs were an awful, borderline-feral wolf pack that occasionally plagued the Kings while out on patrol.

When the basket was full, I wiped away the sweat that had collected under my chin with my forearm. I placed the heavy basket to the side and retrieved an empty one from the back.

If the wolves won’t accept me, maybe I could try living with the humans?

It was the first time I’d tried to think about how I would make it among other humans.

I remembered the story that Mom had told me about the lone wolf shifter who fell in love with a human man and wondered if something similar could happen to me.

Not that I’d fall in love, of course—I didn’t believe there was anyone (outside of my dreams) who could love someone like me.

But maybe a nice human would take me under their wing and teach me how to fit in.

The truth was, the pack was all I’d ever known.

I had no idea what it would be like to live among humans.

The little I’d heard about their ways made me doubtful that human life was for me.

Then again, maybe I would only struggle if I were a shifter.

Humans might protect their own, just as wolves did.

If that were true, I think I could make it work.

I entertained the idea for the duration of the pepper harvesting. As I set the basket to the side, Mom called out to me. I pulled my jacket on again as I went back out into the cold. She had already assembled a large pile of pumpkins, butternut squash, and other gourds.

“What’s up, Mom?” I asked.

“Do you mind checking to make sure that the root cellar is unlocked?”

“Yeah, I’ll be back soon.” I pulled off my gloves and stuffed my hands in my pockets as I walked along the outskirts of the pack.

There wasn’t a lot of activity going on.

Some who were on cleaning or landscaping duty zipped here and there, but the majority of the pack was holed up in their houses.

With so few out and about, the community was uncharacteristically quiet.

If the Terrible T’s or Troy were looking for me, they would find me easily.

I felt exposed as I reached the shed that sat on top of the root cellar.

Once I was done here, I’d need to hurry back to the safety of the garden.

The shed was made of pine, and it held a few landscaping supplies.

The trapdoor that led to the root cellar had a heavy-duty brass and iron lock on it, but it was kept unlocked during the day. Today, fortunately, was no exception.

I turned back to the door, but before I stepped through it, I heard voices on the other side. A pair of women, from the sound of it.

“—mate told me that the humans just get worse and worse,” one of them was saying. “Did you hear about them?”

My eyes widened at the word human. I stepped closer to the door and pressed my ear against it.

“No, what happened?”

“Well, apparently, when he went into a nearby city, he learned there was a major sex-trafficking ring busted.”

The other woman gasped. “No!”

“Yes! They’ve been trading young girls and boys of their own kind to the highest bidder, and so many of the poor things are runaways or sold by their families.”

The second woman clicked her tongue. “That just goes to show that humans can’t be trusted. They’re so greedy and wasteful, even their own kind suffers.”

“Makes you wonder if that sort of thing is innate. It’s no wonder that girl doesn’t belong. The human species just isn’t as noble or as prideful as us wolves.”

“What a shame.”

I winced. It was obvious they were talking about me.

I waited until the two women walked away before I ventured back out.

I fought tears as I jogged back to the garden.

If humans treat their own young that badly, maybe there isn’t a place for me among them either, I thought, biting my lip hard. Maybe I’m doomed no matter where I go.