Page 54 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

brYN

I’m a wolf. I kept repeating that simple fact over and over in my head, occasionally mumbling it out loud while Night continued to hold me.

Shortly after I’d shifted back under his command, I began to cry hard from the shock of both my first shift and the way his voice had forced its way into my brain.

Night held me so gently and kissed the top of my head.

He apologized for commanding me like that, said that he hoped I wasn’t scared of him.

But how could I be afraid of him? I trusted him when he said that he hadn’t known what else to do.

It was my first shift, and I had no idea what caused it, let alone how to return to my human form.

I’d since calmed down. I let myself melt into his arms as I told myself over and over again that I was a shifter—a wolf!

And I realized that I sensed another presence in my mind.

It wasn’t the lingering effect of Night’s Alpha command—it was something that paced back and forth and scratched and panted within me.

It was my wolf. But the only thing I understood from her was a single word—Mate.

I wanted to ask Night why my wolf, who I had just met, kept repeating the word like it was the only thing she could convey. But before I could speak, Night kissed me softly.

“We need to get dressed,” he told me, tenderly wiping the remainder of a tear from my cheek. “You have to see my mother and the Elders.”

I had never met the Elders before, and the thought of doing so made me nervous. “Do you think they’ll be able to tell us why this happened?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. The answer made me even more nervous, but I appreciated his honesty. “But they might be able to give us some clue.”

“Okay.”

He pressed his lips to my forehead, and I felt some of my anxiety disappear.

He was so gentle with me, so careful, as though I would break to pieces the second he let me go.

But I held myself together. I was nervous about the elders, but Violet and Night would be there.

I knew I didn’t really have anything to worry about as long as they were with me, but my concerns lingered.

Eventually, we separated long enough to get dressed.

I put on one of his large t-shirts and a pair of leggings I’d grabbed from Violet’s cabin the night before.

I quickly washed the remainder of the makeup off my face, brushed my teeth, and pulled my hair up into a messy bun.

When I emerged, Night took my hand, holding it gently in his.

We headed for Violet’s cabin and walked in without knocking, finding Violet waiting for us at the kitchen table.

She beamed at us both and quickly hopped from her chair.

She pulled me in to give me a tight hug, much tighter than any she’d given me before.

I noticed that Violet’s herby scent had grown deeper now that I had sharper senses.

It was something I would always be able to pick out of a crowd.

When she stepped back, she tapped her nose and let out a quick breath as if to say I smelled potent. My face burned bright red while Night rolled his eyes.

“Mom, stop that.”

“Fine, fine. But you can’t blame an old woman for having her fun.” She gave me one last, lingering smile and then turned back to the kitchen. “I made enough coffee for you two. Come sit with me at the table.”

Night and I sat together at the small table while Violet served coffee. We were both quiet as Violet sat across from us; neither of us were sure how to broach the subject. Violet, for her part, just set her chin in her hands and kept smiling at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“So, Bryn,” Violet said, “how was your first shift?”

The question shocked both Night and me. We exchanged a quick look, but neither of us had expected Violet to ask such a thing.

“How did you know? Did you…” My eyes widened as I recalled some of the cryptic language Violet had used around me. “Did you know this would happen the whole time?”

Violet shook her head and sipped her coffee. “I suspected, but I didn’t know for sure. Actually, Bryn, I tried to tell Night, but like I told you before, he’s not as good a listener as you are.”

I giggled, and Night, to my surprise, actually turned a bit red. He sat back in his chair, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Great, you two are going to gang up on me all the time.”

The comment just made me and Violet laugh harder. When we calmed down, I heard footsteps outside the front door. I tilted my head. It was more than one person, but I couldn’t determine the exact number of visitors.

“Don’t worry,” Violet said, giving me a knowing smile. “It’s just the Elders.”

I ducked my head, a bit embarrassed that I had been so distracted by the noise. “Oh. Gotcha.”

Soon, two older gentlemen and one elderly woman walked inside without pausing to knock.

The first man was bald. An old, brown scar ripped across the top of his head.

I knew better than to stare, but I was curious about how he’d received what could have been a mortal wound.

The second man had tufts of gray hair starting at his temples, which wrapped around to meet at the back of his head.

The woman had a full head of gorgeous hair that was almost as white as Violet’s.

She kept it short and curly—it looked like a cotton ball on top of her head.

They began to seat themselves at the table but needed another chair.

I started to grab a chair from the living room, but Night caught my wrist. He pulled me to his side and sat me in his lap.

It was an unorthodox way of providing an extra chair, but I wasn’t upset; I was just as eager to stay close to him.

I leaned back into his chest, and he immediately wrapped his arms around me.

The Elders smiled at us, not at all perturbed by our public Display of Affection. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bryn Hunter,” the woman said. “And Alpha Night, it is, of course, always a pleasure when we get to see you.”

Night nodded in acknowledgment of the greeting while I stuttered out, “It’s nice to meet you all too.”

“I am Elder Patrice Woods,” she said.

“I am Elder Neil Thread,” the bald man said.

“And I am Elder Jacob Westley,” the final man said. “We three are the Elders of the Wargs pack.”

I nodded reverently. I felt meeting them was an honor even though I was sitting casually in my mate’s lap. The three seemed nice enough, but their dark eyes were filled with eons of knowledge and wisdom. I shifted in Night’s lap, uneasy that their attention would soon be on me.

After the Elders had taken their seats, Night cleared his throat and began the conversation.

“Bryn shifted unexpectedly this morning,” he said.

He didn’t mention that we’d had sex or that he’d taken my virginity, but if Violet’s reaction to our hug were any indication, the Elders would likely already know that from our scent alone.

I tried not to sink into myself with embarrassment.

“Is this something that can happen between a shifter and a human?” Night asked. “I’ve never heard of anything liked this before.”

Violet spoke up. “We have records dating back decades that detail something like this happening,” she said. “But the records are vague. Whoever was taking notes was clearly as stumped as we are, Night.”

I had a vague memory of hearing a story about a human and a wolf mating before, but I couldn’t remember when. It might have been a story my mom had told me once at bedtime, or it could have been something I’d overheard.

When the Elders remained silent, I couldn’t take the suspense.

“So, why did this happen to me?” I asked. “Why did I shift, and why hasn’t it ever happened to me before?”

Instead of answering immediately, the Elders and Violet exchanged looks with each other. They had a full conversation with only their eyes, never speaking a word as they came to a decision.

“Bryn,” Patrice said, “we believe that you are a direct descendant of the original pack mothers.”

Night and I stiffened at the same time. “I…I’m what?”

Violet reached across the table to pat my hand.

“Do you know anything about the pack mothers, Bryn?” Patrice asked.

“Yes.” My mother had told me about them when I was younger, and I reached into the depths of my memories to try and pull the information out.

“They gave birth to the first wolf packs. They were blessed with magic, were connected to each other, and they lived longer than any other creature that we’ve seen since. ”

“You’re exactly right,” Violet said, smiling at me.

Night’s arms tightened around my waist. He adjusted in his seat so he could lean forward and rub his nose along the back of my neck and behind my ear.

He was breathing me in, which made me feel giddy and a little light-headed.

It was hard to believe that we’d gone from denying any and all attraction to each other to being totally addicted to each other’s touch.

It was a surprise, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Neil cleared his throat, snapping me out of my thoughts. “By the way,” he said, “has anything strange happened recently, Bryn? Anything that stood out to you or that could help us verify that you are a descendant of the pack mothers?”

When I hesitated, Night told them about the way I’d disappeared, how I’d wound up in a cave on a path I wasn’t familiar with, to find our missing tracker. The Elders nodded, but it was clear that they were already familiar with that story. Their eyes were on me, on what they knew I hadn’t revealed.

After a few moments more of deliberation, I decided it was better to tell them. “The truth is that I was led to that cave and to Vince,” I said. “I saw a wolf standing at the tree line, and I followed after it.”

Night stiffened. “Another wolf?” He shook his head. “We tracked you down, Bryn. There weren’t any scents other than yours that led us to you.”

I touched his arm, soothing him with smooth, back and forth motions. “I don’t know how I can explain it better,” I said, “But I know that I was led there by another wolf.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

“I don’t know,” I said. “There was something really strange and mystical about it. I wasn’t sure if it had really happened or if I had just dreamed it.

And then we had that fight, and then I slept for two days, and then we…

” I didn’t need to finish. The memory of last night’s passion came quickly to both our minds.

“Bryn.” This time it was Violet’s voice pulling me back. “Could you describe the wolf for us?” Violet asked.

I nodded. Now that I was sure it hadn’t just been in my mind, I was able to give a detailed description of the wolf’s russet-brown coat, the slice in its left ear, and the piercing white eyes that were like melted silver and snow.

Violet pressed a hand to her mouth, and the Elder’s mumbling grew more intense. I turned, sending a worried look at Night, but his handsome face and steady gaze calmed me.

Finally, Violet held up her hands for silence. The Elders immediately went quiet. My wolf whined within me, pacing back and forth. It was such a bizarre feeling to feel another consciousness within me, but it was so amazing at the same time.

Violet looked into each of the Elder’s faces, and they all nodded. She took a deep breath and returned her attention to me. “You mentioned something about seeing a wolf when Night returned with you.”

“I did?”

Violet nodded. “The Elders and I talked about what this could mean, but hearing you describe it confirms it. The wolf you saw was the spirit of one of the original pack mothers.”

My eyes widened.

“This is something very, very few shifters have ever experienced, and it means that you were chosen by fate for a great cause.”

I found it difficult to breathe. “What cause?” I whispered.

Violet shook her head. “It’s not clear. Not yet.”

“Oh…” I lowered my gaze to the table. I felt light-headed all over again.

The words fate, great cause, pack mother, and spirit echoed in my mind.

They smacked into me over and over again, so hard I felt I would fall over if Night hadn’t been holding me.

I wasn’t sure how to feel after everything I’d learned.

After twenty years of feeling like I would never belong anywhere, I had just found out not only that I belonged with the Wargs at Night’s side but also that I had been chosen for something even greater.