All it Takes is Love

Byron quickly pulled on a pair of jeans, only to frown when they wouldn’t fasten. So, he pulled them off and grabbed a pair of shorts. Then grabbing a t-shirt, he pulled it on and wondered why it also seemed snug.

“Mom must have shrunk my clothes somehow. This is just weird,” he muttered and would almost swear he heard his wolf laugh. “Great, now I hear things too!”

He met Lynn in the hallway, and together they walked into his dad’s office, closing the door behind them.

His dad was behind the desk and sat back to look at them as they entered, asking, “Okay, son, what do you have to say that you don’t want anyone to hear?”

Byron sat down on the couch, pulling Lynn down with him. With a sigh as he put his arm on the back of it and played with her hair as he replied, “It seems that Alpha Raymond threatened Lynn’s parent’s life if they didn’t get her back. Apparently, his son Chester killed his mate, and now he wants Lynn.”

Dad sat back in his chair and stared into space for a moment. “That man needs to be taken out. He should have never become Alpha, but he battled for it when the previous Alpha had no heir. Raymond was always a bit of a loose cannon, and alpha power just sent him over the edge.”

“Wait, you knew him before he became Alpha?” Byron asked.

“Yes, we went to school together,” Dad answered. “Back then, all three packs, Moonscape, Simmion, and Raider, all went to the same school. Back then, the Alpha of the Simmion Pack was Wayne Johns; he was a good man and treated his Pack well. His son, Wayne Jr, was killed in a rogue attack the year before he was to take over. Alpha Wayne was devastated, and when Raymond challenged him, he had no heart to fight. I believe Raymond basically murdered the man.”

“I always knew Alpha Raymond was a creep, but I’m telling you, Chester is much worse,” Lynn stated.

“So, what are your parents going to do, Lynn?” Dad asked.

“They’re leaving. Dad said they would go far enough to break the pack bond, so he can’t find them. They’re hoping he won’t find me here,” Lynn replied.

Dad nodded. “Well, that’s probably a good thing to do because when he realizes they aren’t going to bring you to him, he’ll be out for blood.”

Byron growled. “I want to see his blood all over my claws and muzzle!”

Dad raised an eyebrow, a proud smile on his face. “Son, you sound like a true alpha.”

Byron looked away at his dad’s words. Staring out the window, he cleared the anger from his mind enough to say, “Dad, I- something happened earlier.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“Lynn’s dad called me Alpha. I saw him take a sniff when I bowed up about Raymond touching Lynn, but—” Bryon paused and swallowed.

“The alpha in you is growing stronger if he scented it on you,” Dad commented.

“Then, after they left, one of the guards questioned me about being called Alpha. My wolf took control and told him I was an alpha. I also commanded Lynn to shift.” Byron turned his confused gaze to his dad. “Why dad, why now? What’s going on with me? I’m so confused.”

“I don’t know, son. Perhaps, when your wolf became angered at the thought of Raymond hurting your mate… maybe this strengthened the Alpha in you. Maybe Landon could help you understand better since he’s researched this, and I haven’t. He’s at the packhouse if you want to talk to him.”

“Okay, Dad, I’ll do that in a bit,” Byron said. “What are we going to do about Raymond, though? All it takes is one careless word by someone, and he’ll know Lynn is here.”

“I know, and we’ll have to be extra vigilant. I’ll put the word out for extra patrols on the border. Right now, that’s about all I can do,” Dad told him.

With a nod, Byron stood and pulled Lynn up. “Come on, sugar. I’m hungry.”

Lynn laughed. “Yeah, me too after that foot race we had!”

After lunch, the two of them went to find Landon. He was sitting outside on the porch swing of the packhouse.

“Hi, Landon,” Lynn called out.

“Hi, Lynn and Byron,” Landon called back. As they came closer, he asked, “What brings the two of you my way?”

“Byron wanted to ask you some things,” Lynn answered as she sat down in the swing opposite of him.

Byron continued to stand, and he stared off across the field, his hands on his hips. Finally, after many moments, he spoke. “My wolf is acting strangely. First, he tells a guard he is an alpha, then he commands Lynn to shift. He’s never done anything like this before. He’s never just taken all control from me.”

Landon swayed back and forth on the swing as he stared into space. “Hm… I think something angered him. He was angered to the point the Alpha had to take charge since the delta is the calmer of the two.”

Byron turned to look at him then. “Yes, he was angered. Lynn’s father had just told us that Alpha Raymond’s son wants her for his mate. Neither my wolf nor I liked hearing that.”

“He’s growing as an alpha, Byron. Now that the gene is no longer dormant, it will only grow stronger. It seems as if anger is what sets him off,” Landon explained. “Byron, this may mean that eventually, you will be as strong of an alpha as your dad.”

“So, I might actually be able to run a pack one day?” Byron asked.

Landon nodded. “It looks like it. I’ll do a bit more studying on it, but right now, it looks as if I was wrong about you not being able to be Alpha.”

“I’m curious, will it also cause… um, physical changes?” Byron asked, looking a bit pink in his cheeks.

Landon stared at him questioningly. “What do you mean physical?”

Byron cleared his throat. “Well, my clothing seems to have shrunk on me since this morning when I got dressed.”

Landon chuckled. “Alphas do tend to be a bit bigger than you are, I’ll agree. However, I don’t think you’ll suddenly start growing.”

“So that’s a no to physical growth?” Byron inquired. “Because if I’m not growing, then Mom has shrunk all my clothes.”

Landon shrugged, looking unconcerned. “All I can tell you is that I don’t know, sorry.”

“Take your shirt off, Byron,” Lynn whispered. “I’ll tell you if you’ve grown.”

Byron did as she asked, and Lynn scrutinized his chest. “Yep, you seem to have a six-pack now, it isn’t cut deep yet, but it’s there. Last night you had a slight four.”

Byron glanced down and then ran his hand along his abs. “Hey, you’re right! Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that four? I to go to the gym nearly every day to keep it, yet now suddenly I have six. That is so awesome!”

Landon and Lynn laughed.

“You’re such a kid, Byron,” Lynn told him.

“Hey, you weren’t the one being messed with about being a puny alpha wanna-be when you were sixteen either,” Byron huffed indignantly. “Oh, how I hated going to those alpha meetings because of it. The other Alpha’s sons loved to tease me, and I just wanted to punch them all! But I knew I didn’t have the muscle behind it to do anything but give them more reason to laugh.”

Lynn hugged him. “Byron, I may not have been teased about being an alpha, but I do know what it’s like to be teased. I was basically a human with two wolf parents, so I had my fair share of taunts thrown my way.”

Byron turned to hug her tightly as he kissed her mark. “I’m sorry, sugar. I shouldn’t whine, should I? It’s very unbecoming of an alpha/delta.”

“Yeah, it is, but it’s okay,” Lynn told him. “Sometimes we need to vent, and I’ll always be here for you when you need to do that, okay?”

“Okay. Now come on, we should get going. Believe it or not, I have work today,” Byron said as he turned Landon’s way. “I’ll catch you later, Landon. Let me know if you find anything else out in your research.”

“Will do,” Landon agreed.

Byron took Lynn’s hand and led her back toward his house.