All it Takes is Love

Landon looked at her mark and then stepped back as he asked, “Did you mark him?”

Lynn felt her face heat to furnace levels as she answered, “Yes, I did, even though Mom always told me that the female didn’t need to mark the male. My wolf was insistent that we mark him.”

Landon waved her back to her seat, and both of them sat back down. “Would you like for me to tell you why I think she was so insistent?”

Lynn nodded, saying, “That would be nice.”

Byron offered his agreement too.

“Werewolf law and legend has always interested me,” Landon began. “So, I do a lot, and I mean a lot, of reading. In my reading, I remember coming across a section about dormant wolves, which I believe is what you told me you had. Is that right, Lynn?”

“Yes, and now that I’ve met Byron, I’ve shifted,” Lynn informed him.

“Okay. Well, something else that is sometimes dormant is the alpha gene. While highly unusual, it does occasionally happen, and nobody seems to know why,” Landon explained. “Anyway, the reason that your wolf insisted on marking her mate is that she sees Byron as her Alpha, yet in the way that only a wolf knows, she realized his alpha gene was dormant. Now, you are a beta, not just a half beta, but a pure beta because both of your parents are betas. Your wolf knew if she marked him, it would awaken the alpha gene, and by the smell of Byron, it worked.”

Byron snorted at Landon’s words.

“Don’t you snort at me, mister,” Landon semi snarled, the Alpha in him coming out.

“Sorry. It just seems so… fairytale-like, my alpha gene being dormant and her wolf awakening it,” Byron muttered.

“Maybe it does, but it doesn’t make it any less of the truth,” Landon replied.

“So, his alpha gene was just dormant like my wolf was?”

Landon nodded. “It would seem so, and just as it took you finding your mate to awaken your wolf, it took the mating bite for his. Now, I don’t think he’s just an alpha, but I also believe perhaps he’s a Delta.

“A Delta? Why would you say that? Our Deltas are more of enforcers in the pack. Look at me. Do I look like an enforcer to you?” Byron asked as he stood and held his arms out.

“I know what a Delta usually is, but they can also act as mediators and even counselors at times. From what your father has told me, Byron, I believe that this pack needed a peacemaker at the time you were born. A Delta is needed just as much as the Alpha is, just in a different way. If there is no peace Byron, then soon there will be no need for an Alpha because the pack will be dead,” Landon told him softly.

“Yeah,” Byron huffed as he sat back down. “The pack was in bad shape, fighting and killing—so much bloodshed. By the time my dad took over, there was no disciple here at all. Whatever felt good was what everyone did.” Byron shook his head sadly. “By the time I was eight, I had my work cut out for me, but gradually I was able to calm the pack and bring it to what it is today.”

“Your father said you worked a miracle on this pack. So, you see, Byron, the pack didn’t need another Alpha when you were born. It needed peace, and peace is what you gave it.”

“I suppose it did,” Byron softly agreed.

Lynn kissed his cheek and leaned into him. “See, Byron, there was a reason the moon goddess made you what you are, but she gave you the alpha gene too.”

The door suddenly opened, and the Alpha stepped in. “Ah, Landon. I see you’ve met my son and his mate.”

Landon smiled and stood. “Yes, I did, and I’ve learned a lot in a half-hour, sir.”

The Alpha looked puzzled as his gaze swept over them all. “Oh? I suppose that’s good but tell me what you have learned exactly.”

Landon looked at Byron. “You want to tell him?”

The Alpha focused on Byron. “Tell me what.”

Byron just sat there silently.

“Take a good whiff of the room and tell me what you smell, sir,” Landon suggested.

The Alpha frowned but took a deep breath. “I smell a beta.”

“That would-be Lynn,” Landon said.

The Alpha took another deep breath. “I smell… two alpha scents that don’t belong to me,” the Alpha muttered. Going stiff in shock, he continued, “I don’t understand.”

Landon chuckled. “Your son’s alpha gene was dormant until he mated with a pure beta.”

The Alpha turned to look at his son. “Byron? Do you feel any different?”

“No, Dad, I’m sorry, but I really don’t.”

“It won’t show up unless it’s needed. For the most part, Byron is still a delta, only with a little bit of extra juice. He may never have all the alpha power he would need to run a pack, but he’ll have enough to show authority over anyone trying to mess with him,” Landon concluded.

“Delta?” The Alpha questioned. “Byron has never shown signs of being a delta.”

“Yes, deltas can be so much more than the enforcers most packs use them for. They can also be counselors and mediators, or peacemakers such as Byron is,” Landon explained.

“How did I not know these things,” Alpha murmured as he looked at his son.

“Most Alphas don’t because they have no need for a peacemaker, but as I told them, I like to read,” Landon said with a chuckle.

“Son…?”

“Dad, I-I need time to think about this,” Byron quietly stated as he stood.

The Alpha sighed. “That’s fine, son. Take all the time you need.”

So, with a nod, Byron picked her up, and they left the room.

Byron couldn’t believe it. For twenty-four years, he had thought himself to be a freak of nature. He was an alpha heir who couldn’t be Alpha, he thought. Now, come to find out, his alpha gene had just been dormant, so some of him was an alpha.

“Byron, are you alright?” Lynn softly asked as they walked.

“I’ll be fine, sugar. It’s just a lot to take in, you know. Everything I thought I knew about myself was tossed out the window with just a few words. I still can’t believe I actually have the alpha gene. Landon even smelled the Alpha on me today.”

Lynn giggled and kissed his neck. “Well, at least you don’t have to tell people you’re ‘something’ anymore.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Byron agreed with a self-deprecating chuckle. “Hey, want to go for a swim?”

“Sounds like fun,” Lynn said.

So, changing directions, Byron headed for the lake.

Once there, the two of them shifted into their wolf forms to play and frolicked in the water.

Alpha Raymond snarled at his beta. “I want your daughter back on my pack lands, now!”

“I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know where she went. Lynn snuck out of the house during the night. We haven’t seen her since then,” the beta said as he trembled at the wrath of his Alpha.

Alpha Raymond snarled again. That girl has never been anything but trouble. However, my son has taken a liking to her for some reason, so I need her. Since my son killed his mate in a fit of anger, he’d decided he’s ready for her, and she’s gone.

“You will find her beta Joe, or you may consider your life in this pack forfeited. My son wants that girl, and he will have her. One way or another,” Alpha Raymond snarled. “Now go and find your daughter.”

Beta Joe quickly made his way out the door and to his home. “We have to find Lynn.”

His wife looked up at him. “Why? She’s probably better off wherever she is.”

“Yes, but soon we won’t be. The Alpha’s son wants her for a mate, and the Alpha threatened me if we don’t find her.” He almost sobbed as he sat next to her. “What are we going to do? I don’t want to die, but neither do I want that monster to have my daughter.”

His wife gave a sad sigh.

Both of her other daughters had married good men. Those men were from other packs, so they were safely out of harm’s way. Although, maybe she should call them and warn them of what has happened with their sister.

“I think we need to leave here, Joe,” she whispered. “I fear that even if the Alpha gets what he wants, our lives will still be over. Alpha Raymond is a horrible man, but his son, Chester? He’s three times worse. No, we need to leave and go far away from here. Let’s just hope we can find her and warn her along the way.”

Joe looked at her. “What if he has us being watched?”

“Then we will die. But I’d rather die doing something than sitting here waiting for death,” she told him.

Joe nodded in agreement and getting up. They began to pack what they could fit in their car, hoping they wouldn’t be noticed.