The Shadow Alpha

“Allie cat!” Devin groaned from his position at the opposite end of my desk.

"What, Devin?" I sighed, looking up from the stack of application forms I was sorting through. “Babe, it's late.” He emphasised sounding increasingly annoyed

Our little arrangement had worked out fine for the past week with us alternating between both packs, but like all good things, even that had to come to an end. Devin had border patrol throughout the night, while I had to finish organising the permission applications before tomorrow morning.

“Devin, I have to finish these before tomorrow, I'm sorry, but I cant come over tonight.” I was already frustrated by the amount of paperwork I had to do before Devin insisted that I go to the Full Moon pack house.

“So just bring it and work on it in our office.” He insisted in an obvious tone.

“No Devin, not tonight, please just go I'll see you tomorrow.” I stated with finality, it was too much hassle to take everything all the way there, only to bring it back in the morning.

Plus, I was waiting for feedback from Oliver on the Crescent Moon pack training. Since I'd gotten caught up in resettling the pack after the Full Moon pack moved back and Devin was occupied with getting everyone stable in the new pack house and catering to their last minute needs, neither of us had time to focus fully on training the group. I chose to hand over the responsibility to Oliver, because not only is he an Alpha blood, but he's also very well trained.

“Fine.” He stormed out, slamming the door behind him, causing me to sigh.

It's not like I didn’t want to, because I did, I slept better in Devin's arms. There was just too much for us to do to make that a reality tonight.

He'll get over it. I thought, but deep down I knew that things would only get worse if we didn’t figure out a more permanent solution soon.

000000

“Urgh!” I grunted in exasperation when my eyes became unfocussed for the umpteenth time tonight. Unable to handle it anymore I pushed away from the desk roughly and stood up.

“I need a run.” I muttered to myself as I marched out the door, locking it behind me.

Shadow stood to attention, with that my senses became heightened; the territory was quiet aside from border control and a few forest animals mooching about, doing their business

“I missed this.’ Shadow breathed in contentment, she was right, it had been a while since I shifted and I missed it just as much as her.

Sucking in one last breath, I took off between the trees. The air rushing around me felt like silk against my soft fur. The cool air allowed my thoughts to flow freely.

“Shadow, how are we ever going to make this all work?’ the question had been bouncing around my mind all night as I worked, but nothing made sense. I couldn't forsake my pack and move to his, nor could he move to mine, leaving his people behind.

“Sometimes the answers we seek are hidden in plain sight, yet still we fail to see them.” Her cryptic answer did little to appease me, but I took comfort in the fact that there was a solution, despite my inability to recognise it.

"You're lucky that I'm a patient person Shade.’ I chuckled, feeling calmer with every moment that passed.

“Oh believe me Allison, I know. I love that you're so calm and logical, I've seen a lot in my long life." I didn't doubt that even for a moment.

“Do you ever wish you were mortal?’ I asked her, curiosity getting the better of me.

“At first I did, I wished that I was a normal wolf, who could love and have children; despite having a complete soul, I still felt lonely. As years went by though, I grew accustomed to the loneliness and somehow made peace with being an immortal soul. After all, there was nothing I could do to change it." She explained, I found myself walking slowly through the woods, listening to her soothing voice.

“What happens after me? Finally you have a mate; your wolf is connected to his. What happens when I die?" I wondered and felt her smile in return.

“That my dear is the beauty of our love, we will always be connected. No matter what we will find each other in every life." if that wasn't the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard then I don't know was. “I'm really happy for you Shadow; I'm honoured to have been a part of your journey.’ I truly was, more than anything else.

“As am I, Allison. I know that you feel a lot that has happened was either your fault or your mistake, but that's the beauty of fate, not everything that happens is pretty, but every occurrence is a piece in the puzzle of life." noticing a large boulder up ahead I sped up to jump onto it.

“I'm starting to see that now.’ I acknowledged, staring out at the large open space before me, I recognised the space to be somewhat the midpoint between the border and pack house in the direction of the South border. The area was mostly used as a rendezvous point for border control shift changes and certain training exercises.

It was a calm night; bright white stars littered the sky surrounding the crescent moon. It was every bit a picture perfect sight.

“Allison?" A voice called in my head, catching me off guard for a moment.

“Oliver?’ To say that I was confused as to why he was mind linking me at almost two in the morning would be an understatement.

"Are home or are you with Devin?’ He asked slowly.

“I'm out for a run, why, what's the matter?’ I asked concerned, his voice was wary, but not panicked; I didn't know what to think.

“Where are you? I need to speak to you.’ my interest was piqued, so I told him where I was.

Hardly a few minutes later, Oliver's grey wolf emerged from the trees and stepped into the clearing “On the boulder to your right." I informed him and his eyes snapped to mine before he strolled over to take a seat beside me.

We sat in silence for a few moments, when I realised that he wasn't going to say anything, I spoke, "You wanted to talk?’ My voice seemed to snap him from his daze.

“Uh, yeah, sorry.’ He stumbled on his words, shifting uncomfortably beside me.

“Is this about Yasmin?’ I voiced my suspicion, hitting the nail right on the head noticing how his eyes widened at the name.

"Yeah... She's doing great with training, in fact the whole group is. They trust each other and have learnt to rely on one another, which is exactly what we wanted, but Yasmin. I just don't know..." He trailed off uncertainly.

“What about Yasmin, Oliver?" I prompted and he sighed.

“I just don't think that this is the right thing for her, she’s a strong wolf and she cares a lot about her pack, but her heart isn't in it and that's frustrating, because it's holding her back.’ He huffed loudly, the sound seeming strange in wolf form, but I didn’t comment.

“Passion is something that drives a person to act beyond expectations. It's the same with any pack, no matter how much an Alpha cares for his or her people, if they don't love what they do, they'll never be able to summon strength, when all their strength has been depleted.’ I turned to face Oliver,

“Oliver, when I asked you to take over training the Crescent Moon pack, why did you do it?" without missing a beat he spoke.

“That's what Alphas do, help.’ The words seemed mechanical, but at the same time held so much conviction, as if the answer was obvious.

“Exactly! Regardless of where you are right now, as long as blood flows through your veins, you are an Alpha.’ I voiced and his ears perked up in confusion.

“What are you saying?’ he asked warily, making me chuckle.

“Someone recently told me that not every occurrence in life is pretty, but that's the beauty of fate, it's all just pieces in the puzzle of life. Someday you're gonna look at that picture and realize that none of it was redundant, each step gives rise to the next.” Staring into the distance, it occurred to me just how true the words were even in my own life.

“Do you love her?" The question caused him to tense up, followed by a pregnant pause.

I do. I love her. I love my mate. His voice was breathless, like he was shocked by the words he'd just spoken

“Then what are you doing here?’ I smiled inwardly, watching the emotions play across his furry face. “I've got to go. Bye Allison, thank you!" He rushed off, leaving me to laugh at his retreating figure. “Think he figured it out?" I wondered.

“He's a smart guy, if he didn’t already, he will." Shadow smiled and once again I was left staring at the clearing before me. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath, the cool night air bringing me serenity, but when I opened my eyes, the picture I saw before was gone.

In its place stood a large house, surrounded by green grass and flowers, toys littered the stone path that led to the porch. Before I could register anything else, the vision disappeared. Once again I stared out at the moonlit night. Unlike before, the vision wasn't that of an open clearing, all I saw was hope.