Alpha Scarlett

Lost in Thought

Scarlett's POV

I'm sitting in my office with my feet propped up on my desk, breathing in the rich scent of my chair's dark brown leather upholstery and tapping my pen on my teeth in my slightly open mouth when I hear my Beta practically yelling at me.

"Alpha Scarlett"! Cayden nearly shouted, snapping my focus back to him. Cayden Fenn and I have known each other our entire lives. His father was my father Beta and now Cayden is mine. That's how I know I must have allowed my mind to start wandering a while ago; when it's just the two of us, we're very casual with each other, so the fact that he's using my title with my name grabs my attention. The look on his face, with one eyebrow raised while the other is furrowed and the slight scowl on his face tells me that he's both annoyed and concerned by my zoning out.

"Sorry! Sorry, Cayden. I don't know where my mind is today, I apologize. What were you saying." I say, giving him an apologetic smile, while also pushing the sincerity of my apology through our mind link.

"I bet I know what's on your mind." He says, this time raising both eyebrows at me and giving me a look that clearly says, "Don't make me pull it out of you, you stubborn Alpha wolf."

I sigh. "Did you get the invitation to Alpha Merrick's wedding?" I ask, already knowing the answer but using it as a way to open the door to this conversation that I don't really want to have with my best friend but will before he starts to become a pest about it. Weddings aren't common practice in the werewolf community, but Alpha Merrick is mated to a human (also not common practice in the werewolf community) and he wants to give her a wedding to honor her human traditions.

"We did." The "we" referring to him and his mate Zella. "I'm assuming you did, too?"

I nod, slowly.

"Are you planning on going? I don't think he'd be offended if you didn't, but it would be strange for you to not be there since you're both Alphas and we have an alliance with the Blood Moon pack."

"Yeah, of course I'm going." I say, sounding almost bored by it. I'm not bored by it, though. After all, why wouldn't an unmated female Alpha wolf not want to go to a wedding and see all the other happily mated couples with their offspring? "Are you Zella going?" I ask in part because I'll feel better having Cayden and Zella there as a buffer but also because if we're both going, I'll need to make sure our Gamma and Delta will be around to run things while we're away.

"I was going to talk to you about it. That was actually one of the reasons I came in here. I was going to tell you that we're planning on going and see if you wanted to come with us after we were done talking about the strange scents that our patrols picked up last night. But then you started daydreaming and not listening to a damn thing I was saying." He says with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, that would be great. Makes more sense to all go in one car. We'll just need to make sure that Bree and Jacob are all set." Naming our pack's Gamma and Delta, respectively.

"You know, you don't have to be mated to have a pup. It would still be your heir." Cayden says gently, giving me a lopsided smile with his mouth, while his eyes, "just talk to me about what's really going on."

"What? Where'd that come from?" I exclaim, trying to laugh it off. But I already know where it came from. I'm one of the only female Alphas in the country, I'm unmated and I don't have an heir. As my Beta, Cayden is of course aware of this, but as my lifelong best friend, he knows what I don't talk about with other people: that being a female Alpha is lonely. And, despite living in a large pack, I'm often lonely. At 28 years of age, I still haven't met my mate and at this rate, I'm not sure I ever will. I still have several more pup-bearing years ahead of me, so I have time to give the pack an heir, one way or another, but as we all know, the older you get, the greater the risks. So, here I am, one of the most powerful women in the country and I don't have anyone to share it with or anyone to pass it down to. I know my parents aren't concerned – if I never have pups, then one of my brothers' mates can produce an heir. But it's not just that. I may be a tough, badass Alpha bitch, but I also have a lot of love to give. I want a partner, not only in the pack, but in life. And I want our love to give us a family that only allows the love to grow.

Chapter 2

As far as the pack is concerned, I always have Cayden, Bree and Jacob to turn to, and while I love all three of them, it's not the same as having your fated mate. That person who is the other half of your soul. Someone who supports you, challenges you, encourages you and loves you. Yes, I get all of that from Cayden, Bree, Jacob and any number of our pack members, but I'm also having hot, marathon-like sex with any of them, which is another draw of being with your fated mate. Which isn't to say that I don't get laid. I'm still a woman after all and I have needs. There used to be a couple of warriors in the pack that could scratch that itch as it were, but after my dad decided to retire and I became the Alpha, I knew those booty calls couldn't continue. Eventually, someone would have found out and that's the type of thing that breeds resentment within a pack.

That's when Alpha Raul Farkus entered my orbit. Also unmated, Raul leads the Dark Sun Pack. We met at my Alpha ceremony. (Knowing that I'd be one of only a few female Alphas, my parents made a point of inviting pack leadership from ALL the packs, all over the country. Not all of them came of course, but a lot more did than I had originally expected. And Raul was one of them. We knew right away that we weren't fated mates (neither one of us felt the pull of the mate bond) but we still spent the entire evening talking and dancing, discovering that we have a lot in common, from the movies we like to our beliefs on leading a strong, prosperous pack. We had completely lost track of time until we noticed the reds, oranges and yellows of the sun rising over my pack lands. That's when we acknowledged that while we're not fated mates, there's a definite attraction and we acted on it. And, boy, oh, boy did we ever act on it! He may not be my fated mate, but that guy knows how to make my body sing. From his mouth to his fingers to his damn-near magical cock, he ever leaves me lacking. Since then, we've maintained a supportive yet casual dynamic. We're not in a relationship but I think many people know that we have sex, (we are wolves after all. Something like that is hard to kind amongst a bunch of shifters with enhanced senses of smell and hearing), our packs are in an alliance, and we genuinely do like each other. The Dark Sun Pack is about a 4-hour drive from the Crimson Snow Pack so it's far enough away that our "situationship" will never be anything more than what it is but also close enough that it's not completely unreasonable to make the trip when the need arises. And while Raul and I have some kind of connection that includes fantastic sex, he's not my fated mate. That knowledge, when we part ways after one of our trysts, sometimes leaves me feeling even lonelier. There's a sad irony in knowing that Raul feels the same way. And Cayden is the only person I've told this to.

Look, I really do love being an Alpha and being one of the only women in the country to hold such a rank. I feel like trailblazer, like I'm helping to shape a future where all she-wolves can be in leadership positions without question. And it just makes me feel like a badass, which at only 5'2", I don't necessarily look like one, so I appreciate the contrast of my small frame and my big rank. I love my parents for taking a stand and basically saying, "fuck the patriarchy" when I was born, by naming me my father's heir since I'm the oldest, despite being a she-wolf. Fortunately, there wasn't anything in our laws that prohibited them from naming me the heir. Rather it was a societal thing-generations of older wolves clutching their pearls and saying, "but that's just not how it's done"-so my parents were able to drag the other packs kicking and screaming into the 21st century without causing any wars. Had they not done that, it would be my brother Ronan sitting in this office.

Ronan would have been a great Alpha had our parents stuck with tradition, but luckily, he always knew that I'd be the Alpha of the Crimson Snow Pack and never harbored any resentment towards me about it. Quite the opposite in fact – he's proud of his big sister, boasting about me whenever he can, to anyone who will listen. I had originally thought that I'd make him my Beta and name our youngest brother Dax as the Gamma. But as time went on, Ronan realized that he wasn't interested in a pack leadership role. No, he had his eyes set on something bigger – being involved in wolfpack politics at the national level. He started out serving as our pack's alternate male delegate to the Congress of Werewolves and Shifters (COWS), to being the male delegate to now being a COWS representative, representing all the packs of the Northeastern District. So, yeah, he's also a badass, it just looks different than my form of badassery.

Our youngest brother Dax is currently the pack's Lead Warrior, which means he works closely with Gamma Bree in running trainings and sparring sessions, and with me when it comes to battle strategy. Thanks to my parents' leadership, leadership which I at least hope I'm carrying on, there's been little reason for the latter, but I like knowing that I have one of my brothers, someone whom I trust implicitly, in that role. And, my parents, while retired, still live on pack lands while they enjoy their retirement. So, I'm really very lucky. But it's still not the same as what I see Cayden has with Zella or Bree has with her mate Asher.

I hate to admit it out loud, because I like being this tough, Alpha badass bitch and I don't want to give the men reasons to doubt me by falling into female cliches-the woman who can't wait to get married and have a family-or showing weakness. So, I don't admit it out loud, I keep my loneliness to myself. Except for times like now when Cayden decides to be a pain in my ass.

"Scar", Cayden says simply, looking me right in the eye.

I sigh again. "I know you want me to talk about how I'm feeling and maybe it would make me feel better about Merrick's upcoming wedding, but I think we have bigger things to deal with right now. Like those scents that our patrols picked up. I know you were telling me about them when I zoned out, so catch me up.

Cayden narrows his eyes at me for a moment and says, "Okay, but we're nowhere near done talking about this, Scarlett." Oh, goodie, I think to myself. Want to bring Zella, too? How about your parents and siblings? Let everyone in on my private life. "Anyway, our patrols haven't been able to identify the scents. They aren't rogue wolves. They aren't wolves at all. Some trackers went out to see if they could follow the scent – they'll let us know what they find."

"Hmmm." I say. Not wolves? Well, it's certainly not uncommon for humans who are camping or hiking to wander onto pack lands. But that can't be it because my warriors would know the scent of humans. "Are there any other animal shifters coming into the area?", knowing that in this country we at least have bear, fox and cougar shifters.

Cayden just shakes his head. "It didn't smell like any shifter we'd find in this country. And it wasn't a purely animal smell and. It definitely wasn't human."

I narrow my eyes slightly and tilt my head, looking at Cayden. "Not a shifter. Not an animal and not a human? What the hell else is there?"

Chapter 2 coming soon

Scarlett's POV

"Tasha! Channing! What do you have for us?" I call out to two of my trackers as I walk toward the pack land's northern border. They had gone out, following the unknown scent that the warriors had picked up. Cayden, Bree, Jacob and I are on our way to meet them as they return home.

They both shift from their wolves into their human forms as Jacob tosses them both a shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"Well," Tasha says as she jumps into the sweatpants Jacob gave her, "it's interesting."

"Fucking weird is more like it." Channing says as he uses the t-shirt from Jacob to wipe some sweat from his face. "We lost the scent."

"What's unusual about that?" Bree asks. "Doesn't that always happen if you don't catch them? Their scent starts to fade as they get further away until you don't have it any longer?"

Bree, my Gamma, is another life-long friend, whose father was, you guessed it, my father's Gamma. Born only a few weeks behind me, Bree's parents decided to follow in my parents' footsteps and declare that as the eldest Bree, she would be the Gamma heir. Granted, once I became Alpha, I could have named whomever I wanted to the ranked positions, but it's tradition for those to be inherited positions just like an Alpha. Fortunately, much like Cayden, Bree and I have always been friends and being in a similar position herself (she's one of the only female Gammas in the country), she understands the pressures that I sometimes face. But, unlike me, she has Asher, her supportive, loving, can't-keep-his-hands-off-her mate. I'm happy for Bree and Asher, truly. They were childhood sweethearts, always hoping they'd find out they were fated mates. And then, on Asher's 18th birthday, just a few months after Bree's, they felt a pull toward each other like nothing either had ever felt before – or at least that's what they tell me. They knew they were fated mates. After we graduated from high school, they went to the same university (there was one stipulation that Bree's parents put on her inheriting the Gamma title - mate or no mate, she was going to college) and then the night of their graduation, they marked each other. (My parents put the same stipulation on me, but to be fair, my brothers and I were all expected to go to college if we ever want to inherit any of our parent's money, so I never felt like it was something that my parents or Bree's parents did simply because we're women.) And they've been deliriously happy ever since, and Asher, the son of two warriors, took to his new role of male Gamma, like a fish to water, never once trying to overshadow his mate or undermine me.

"That's just it – the scent starts to fade as they get further away. These scents just...stopped." Jacob says, shaking his head and throwing the now sweat-stained t-shirt over his shoulder.

"What?" Cayden, Bree, Jacob and I all say unison. Even when we're not actively using the mind link with each other, we're still linked to each other. I love my leadership team.

"He's right, Alpha. We had the scent, we had it, we had it but instead of slowly starting to fade, like Gamma Bree said, it just suddenly disappeared." Tasha explained, her already big, brown eyes, now the size of dinner plates.

Myself and my three ranked members just stood there, staring at Tasha and Channing, our heads tilted, brows furrowed and mouths slightly open, like we're dogs staring at a ceiling fan. After a moment, I shake my head, bringing us all back from our states of confusion.

"It just disappeared? I don't understand, how could that happen? Are you sure the scent wasn't starting to slowly fade but because you were running so fast in your wolf forms, you didn't notice it until it was entirely gone?" I ask, knowing the answer because these are two of my best trackers who know how to do their jobs and do them exceptionally well.

"Yeah, we're sure, Alpha. We went back over the area for miles, checking and double-checking. One moment, we have the scent and the next it's gone."

"Did you see or hear anything near the scent? Unusual footprints? Strange sounds?" Cayden asks as he runs his hands through is mop of curly brown hair, still looking confused.

Tasha and Channing glance at each other and then both take a deep breath. "We saw footprints, yeah. Human footprints."

"That doesn't make sense. There is no way humans can outrun two werewolves." Jacob replies.

"We know. But what makes it weirder is the footprints were like men's shoes. Not boots or sneakers, dress shoes. Like you'd wear with a suit." Tasha says, looking at Channing who nods in confirmation.

Suddenly, I feel my cell phone start to vibrate in the back pocket of the jeans I'm wearing. Pulling it out, I see a text message from Raul, asking if I'll be around this evening because he's in the area. I can't help but smile to myself as I type out my message to him that yes, I'll be around and I'll call him later because I'm dealing with some pack stuff right now."

"His reply only a few moments later, "Perfect. Hope it's nothing too serious. Dinner out at that new Italian place in your town and then dessert in your bedroom." He follows it up with an eggplant emoji and a happy face with its tongue sticking out. I feel my core becoming hot and slowly exhale, forgetting that I have five werewolves with me who can probably smell my arousal as it pools between my legs, knowing that Raul is planning to do with his "eggplant" and tongue.

"Raul?" Cayden asks with a sly smile. I know he worries about me being lonely and while he's certain I'm going to find my fated mate, he's happy for me that I'm at least having some fun until then. The others stand around, smiling their knowing smiles at me.

"Mind your own business." I growl at him. The growl is partly because I don't want pack members talking about my personal life (even though I already know they do), but mostly it's because I'm aroused now and can't help it. Cayden, knowing me better than anyone besides my own family, just snorts at me. "So, there are humans running around who are faster than werewolves and apparently they're well-dressed?"

"That's about the size of it, yeah." Channing says.

"Alright. Well, that's a new one. Beta Bree, add some more warriors to the patrol tonight and let's have some trackers on standby who can immediately go after the scent if the patrols pick up anything." I tell her, knowing that she's probably already making a list in her head of the wolves to add to patrols and the trackers to have ready and waiting.

"On it, Alpha". She says as she pulls her own cellphone out of her back pocket and begins texting someone. Like I said, we're always linked, even when we're not. The six of us turn and start heading back to the packhouse.

"Any ideas as to who or what this is, Alpha?" Jacob asks.

"No. Do any of you?" I have a suspicion, but I don't want to say it aloud until I can get more information. The five of them also claim to have no ideas. "Alright. When we get back to the packhouse, I'm going to make some calls. Cayden come with me and Jacob, call around to the neighboring packs and see if they've experienced this, too."

"Will do." He says, determined. Of the four of us, Jacob is the youngest; still 18, and as such, takes his responsibilities very seriously so no one thinks of him as still being a pup.

"You know something, don't you?" Cayden asks me in the mind link. I notice that it's just the two of us in the mind link, Bree, Jacob, Tasha and Channing aren't privy to our conversation."

"I don't know yet. But we're going to find out."

Chapter 3 coming soon

Chapter 3 – Meet the Parents

Scarlett POV

The six of us, myself, Cayden, Bree, Jacob, Tasha and Channing are heading back to the packhouse when I realize there's someone I should talk to before I start making calls, so I start veering to the left, heading to the area of our pack lands where individual homes stand for those people who don't want to live in the pack house.

"Alpha Scarlett? The packhouse is this way." Cayden says with a slight laugh as he points when he notices me going off course.

"Before I head back to my office, I want to talk to my parents. Cayden, come with me. Bree and Jacob, you're both good with next steps?"

"Yes, Alpha." Jacob replies

"You bet, Alpha." Bree says as she gives me a thumb up.

"Tasha and Channing, thank you for your hard work today. Stick around and keep yourselves available to the patrols and the other trackers who may have questions about the scent or want to go see the area where it suddenly disappeared." I say to the two trackers as I continue left, getting further away from them, my Gamma and my Delta."

"See you later, Alpha and Beta."

"Let us know if you need anything else, Alpha."

"We'll get this figured out, Alpha!"

Cayden and I walk alone in silence for a moment. As werewolves, we have enhanced hearing, but I can tell he wants to continue the conversation we started in the mind link, earlier.

"Your parents, huh?" Cayden asks, slowly and quietly.

I take a deep breath, "yeah. I want to talk to them about all of this before I make any pack announcements or start calling people in."

"Calling people in?" Cayden says, sounding rather stunned as he stops in his tracks. "What the hell is going on, Scar?"

"I have a thought as to what that scent may be, but it's so insane, I can't believe I'm even thinking it." I saw as I continue walking towards by parents' house. When we arrive at their house, built to resemble an old log cabin, I knock on the door. They must have sensed me coming because the door opens almost immediately, and there he is. My here. My mentor. The man who taught me everything I know about being a good Alpha, taught me how to fight and how to drive a car. The former Alpha of our pack. My dad, Alpha Zeb Lobo.

"Scarlett! The prodigal daughter returns!" He exclaims with a big smile on his face, as though he didn't just see me yesterday. "And Beta Cayden! To what do your mother and I owe this great honor?"

I can't help but roll my eyes at his rather hyperbolic, but still endearing reaction.

"Hey, Dad. Is it cool if we come in?"

"Always." He replies, his voice changing from exuberant to serious, as he picks up on the fact that I'm not swinging by to see my mom and dad. He opens the door wider, stepping out of the way to allow myself and Cayden inside. "I guess this isn't merely a social visit. What's going, Alpha Scarlett?" My father says as he goes into full-on Alpha mode, himself. My dad may be retired, but he still is and always will be an Alpha. And it's only in moments like this that he addresses me not as his daughter but as his Alpha. Fortunately, we haven't had too many opportunities for him to need to use my title in the time since my Alpha ceremony. Largely because of the amazing job Dad did as the Alpha of the Crimson Snow pack, so it's been a pretty easy transition for me.

"Is that my beloved daughter, my first born, the apple of my eye?" I hear my mother's voice call down from upstairs as my dad, Cayden and I move from the foyer into the living room, giving me yet another opportunity to roll my eyes and my parents' silliness.

"Hey, Mom. Yeah, it's me. I have Cayden with me." I call out.

"Lovetta, honey, you should come down here. It seems that our Alpha and Beta need to speak with us." Dad says. Neither one says anything for a few moments and I know my mom must be asking him, in their mind link, what's going on.

"I'll be right down. Alpha Scarlett, Beta Cayden, make yourselves comfortable." She calls down, using the same formality as my father when realizing it must be something serious. As the three of us walk into the living room, I see Dax, my youngest brother and my Lead Warrior sitting in an armchair, leaning forward with his arms on his legs. He's clearly overheard the conversation between me and our dad, and also wants to know what's going on.

"Hey, Baby Bro." I walk over to Dax and lean down to give him a hug. He growly softly at the term of endearment, but I don't care. He may be an adult now and a Lead Warrior, but he'll always be my baby brother.

"Hey, Big Sis." He says, returning my hug with his own. "Whatever this is about, it seems serious. Should I go or do you want me to stay?" He asks, looking anxiously between our father and me. I think for a moment. I don't want my suspicions getting around the pack, creating panic or chaos until I'm certain of what we're dealing with and Dax isn't a ranked member. Hell, I even sent Bree and Jacob back to the packhouse, only bringing my Beta with me. But is also my brother, someone whom I trust with my life and the safety of our pack. And as Lead Warrior, he's a good strategic thinker and, if I'm right, would play a pretty big part in any course of action. Particularly if it means new and additional fight training for our pack. If that ends up being the case, both he and Bree will have their hands full.

"No, actually you stay. It would be good to get your take on this." I saw as relaxes back into the armchair a bit, while still keeping his elbows on his knees, like he's already planning a strategy for whatever is going on. He's a lot like Jacob in that respect, I realize. Like Jacob, Dax, while an adult, is also still young and is determined to do his job well (which he always does), taking things very seriously as to not be looked upon as a pup. That's when she arrives. The woman who taught me about compassion, taught me how to care for a pack, also taught me how to fight, and how to make the best damn chocolate chip cookies on the planet. The heart and soul of the Crimson Snow Pack. My mother, Luna Lovetta Lobo. When she walks into the living room, she immediately gravitates to my dad's outstretched arm that pulls her close to side. The pull of the mate bond. Even after all these years, my parents are still mad for each other. If Cayden and I had just stopped in to say hi, she would have come and given me a hug, but much like my father, she differentiates between her daughter Scarlett and her Alpha Scarlett.

"Alpha Scarlett, Beta Cayden. Is everything okay?" She asks, her big green eyes wide with concern and her chocolate brown hair still slightly damp from a shower. It's like looking into a mirror and seeing my future self. And I'll tell you, I could do a lot worse. My mother still turns heads and is still a beast on the sparring fields. I've never seen her in an actual battle, but I have no doubt she can still kickass.

"Hey, Mom." I say as I sit on the couch with Cayden sitting down next to me. My dad sits in another armchair as my mom rests on his knee. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I wanted to talk to the two of you before doing anything else."

"What's going on, Alpha?" My dad asks seriously, the look of worry on his face, growing.

"Last night, our patrols picked up on some strange scents that they didn't recognize, around the pack lands. Earlier today, Tasha and Channing went out to follow the trail, which they were able to for a while, until the scents just disappeared." I look from my parents to my brother, making sure they're all hearing what I'm saying.

"That's not uncommon though. Scents disappear as they get farther away from us." Dax responds, now starting to relax back into the armchair, while still keeping his brow furrowed with concern.

"That's exactly what Gamma Bree said," Cayden chimes in, "but the tracker insist the scents didn't just slowly start to fade. They just disappeared."

I take a deep breath, "Tasha and Channing also said that there were footprints around the scents," I take a pause before saying one of the weirder things I've said in my life, "of men's dress shoes."

"Humans can't outrun werewolves, especially not in dress shoes." Dax says, just as confused as the rest of us were when we met up with Tasha and Channing at the northern border. Meanwhile, I haven't take my eyes off my father as I watch his countenance change from worry to confusion until finally landing on something I never thought I'd see in my strong, brave Alpha of a father – fear. And then he confirms my own fear.

"No, they can't." He says looking directly at me. "But vampires can."

Chapter 4 coming soon