The Tsundere Alpha

Amira Altaha has lived her entire 18 years living in a world where the natural and supernatural coexist with each other. Some areas accept the unknown creatures living next to them, and some banish their existence. Growing up in Morrow Falls, it has always been regarded as an off-charter city despite being rather large and prosperous, it is also surrounded by a thick and foggy swamp that many find off putting.

Beyond that lies Morrow Falls, a peaceful city of coexistence between creatures of all kinds, most of it's quiet dullness due to the guarding bog surrounding it. Amira and the others have learned to live life alongside these mysterious and off beings, having them attend schools and run businesses to form a rather rich land.

Some can't imagine working alongside a supposed person sprouting wings from their back or someone who can turn into a wolf or a bear whenever they want but appears as a perfectly normal human otherwise. For Amira, she can't imagine life without any of that, especially not her own boyfriend, Isaac Lund – what many call a werewolf.

Not only that, he is also the son of the current Alpha of his pack, the Greybane Pack. He is nearing his 18th birthday, the year he will start learning to take over as Alpha from his father and be the leader he has always dreamed of being.

Amira and Isaac met in their junior year of high school and have been inseparable ever since. She was accepted by his family instantly, despite being a human and someone so different from their culture, it didn't take her long to fit right in. The same with her parents, they fell in love with Isaac the first time they met him over a family dinner, always secretly worried deep down that their daughter is setting herself up for disappointment by dating someone from such a different life than her.

It was during their second year together that Isaac explained to Amira what it meant to be a 'mate' to someone of his kind, and also explained that he will start to discover his once he turns 18. Despite knowing this, Amira is willing to stay with him with the promise that nothing will ever tear them apart, even if the presence of his true mate comes.

At first she thought of it as nothing more than a promise to get her to easily fall for him, but as the years have gone on, Isaac has proven time and time again that he will never give up on their natural bond as lovers. With the fast approach of his 18th birthday also brings the end of their high school years together, their future already planned on to keep them as close as possible.

Amira's family runs two successful businesses, her mother several jewelry lines and stores, and her father has made a name for himself in real estate. As their only daughter, she has always been encouraged to study business and accounting so she can one day take over the back end of their combined business name. Isaac will one day have to do the same when it comes to running his pack and their family business as well, making the agreement of their post-secondary education quite simple, there is only one college in Morrow Falls that provides an adequate business class.

With their future in place and just time in their way, Amira can only imagine the day they are living their lives in the pack house and how her live will ultimately change once Isaac becomes the Alpha of the Greybane Pack. She has tried her best to support him through every step of the way, helping him to prepare for every session with his father, whether it be theory or training, and making sure she does her part as the potential partner who will stand at his side.

She knows better than to expect his pack to recognize her as their Luna, seeing how she is a human and can never be the true mate of Isaac, unless fate happens to be on their side, and she is indeed deemed his mate once he turns 18. Isaac is more than certain that she will in fact, but Amira doesn't want to get her hopes up too much, and knowing he will love her regardless is more than enough.

His family already recognizes her as his true love, even if the rest of the pack doesn't, she can still have a comfortable life inside the pack house and outside working her family's business, there isn't anything they can't get through.

Even though his birthday is still a couple of weeks away, Amira has been going back and forth between the Greybane pack house and her own, bringing over gifts and decorations to set up for his party. His parents have been storing and stashing everything she brings to keep it the best kept secret from Isaac.

Just a little bit longer, and they will have their happily ever after.

~*~

It is the day of Isaac's 18th birthday and Amira has been struggling to contain her excitement about the surprise party all day, doing her best to appear her normal self during school hours before bringing Isaac home with her with the excuse of wanting to change into something nice for dinner with his parents. He drives her to the pack house with the thought that they are going to have a birthday dinner with his parents, then watch a movie together for the night.

"I forgot to mention, my father told me yesterday that some of the family members from the Silverhowl Pack will be visiting during dinner to congratulate me on my coming-of-age. They will probably sit with my parents in the drawing room and discuss political things after dinner, nothing you have to worry too much about, I just wanted to give you the heads up." Isaac smiles, picking up her hand to plant a gentle kiss on the back.

Amira smiles back, loving how thoughtful he always is toward her but a little irritated that he didn't tell her yesterday when she was putting the finishing touches on the party at the pack house while he was hunting with his father. She could have at least added extra seating if she knew how many people to expect, not it might seem rude when they show up.

She always tries to go above and beyond to help Isaac make a good impression and stands out from the crowd, knowing exactly how special he is but he easily allows himself to get overshadowed and becomes a wallflower everywhere they go.

"I just hope they don't get offended if there aren't any seats," she mutters.

"That dinner table is huge, what do you mean? There should be plenty of seats for them."

Amira didn't realize she spoke her words out loud and covers her mouth, hoping she hasn't given away a small hint of the party. Thankfully the pack house comes into view, her thoughts spacing her out the entire way.

They climb out of the car and walk toward the front door, Amira waiting for Isaac to notice how dark and quiet the house looks but he doesn't seem to pay much attention to it and walks through like nothing. The room bursts with light seconds after and everyone jumps out to yell surprise, completely catching him off-guard.

"What the – what is all of this?" he cries out, a smile creeping on his lips.

His mother is the first to rush forward. "Happy Birthday, my son. This is your party, of course!" She throws him in for a large, suffocating hug then kisses his cheek and backs away.

"How did you put this all together?" he asks.

"It was Amira, she helped plan everything and made all the decorations."

Isaac turns to her with a grin. "This is amazing, Amira."

"You can thank me later, go say hi to everyone and enjoy your party," she says and gives him a quick kiss before pushing him toward the awaiting crowd. While Isaac is speaking with his guests, Amira wanders around and makes sure everything is still in order from last night and that no decorations have come down or unappetizing food has made it out of the kitchen.

Everything feels like it is going perfectly when a prickling feeling creeps up the back of Amira's spine, a foreboding sense that something bad is about to happen, but she looks around and people seem happy, the party in full swing. Isaac approaches her from the crowd with the biggest smile on his face, looking like he is having the time of his life, and quite a few drinks.

"This has been a great night, Amira. I can't believe you put it all together," he says with a slight slur. He ropes an arm around her shoulder and buries his face in her neck, nibbling on her skin lightly.

She giggles and tries to push him away, her chest swelling at the tender moment between them. She is thinking that she hopes this night never ends, when the ballroom door suddenly opens, and an employee of the pack house announces the arrival of new guests.

"Arriving, Alpha Morin of the Silverhowl Pack and his family, Lady Morin and her daughter, Eris."

Isaac suddenly stiffens in her grasp and whips his head up, his pupils dilating. He turns toward the gathering crowd at the door and grabs Amira's hand to wade his way through to the front. Standing in the doorway is a tall and brutish looking man with light white hair and a bushy beard to match, standing with an equally tall and slender woman with peach-colored hair and fair features, looking rather regal in her dark green floor length dress.

But Isaac's attention is narrowed on the petite girl standing next to them, sharing the same white-blonde hair as her father and pretty, fair features as her mother with sparkling green eyes to accentuate her beauty. She looks like an expensive China doll people get for mere decoration.

Her emerald eyes lock onto Isaac and her face splits into a beaming smile. Before anyone can react, she crosses the ballroom floor right up to Isaac – and kisses him. He is quick to push her off in shock, but not quick enough for Amira's heart not to crack just a bit.

You can hear a pin drop with the silence in the room and cut through the tension suffocating the room like a brick of butter. All eyes are on the three standing in the middle of the room now, the girl Eris seeming none the wiser to what she has just done, but Isaac not reacting the way Amira is hoping he would.

He should be angry and appalled at this random girl kissing him right in front of his girlfriend, yet he is standing there like a statue.

"Isaac, what the hell is going on?' Amira whispers.

He suddenly turns to her with a guilty look on his face.

"Amira, I...I'm sorry, but I think I've found my mate."

She barely hears the end of what he says before she feels the floor collapse beneath her and the depths of sleep overtake her.

When Amira finally comes to, she awakes to see she has been placed in Isaac's room to rest, cuddled up in the very bed she has spent countless nights in before. The memories of the party just before she fainted come rushing back to her, and she suddenly feels sick to her stomach.

She runs to the ensuite bathroom and pukes up the little contents of the drinks she has had so far tonight. Once her stomach is empty, she slumps to the ground and begins to sob, replaying Isaac's words over in her head.

"I think I've found my mate."

This has always been a possibility she has known about, but that doesn't make it sting any less finding out she isn't Isaac's mate, and it is in fact another girl, one much prettier than her and of his kind rather than a useless human. Not only that, but she is also the daughter of an Alpha, the perfect Luna to rule alongside her own Alpha mate.

What can a human like Amira do for someone like Isaac if they were to get married? She isn't his true mate, and she isn't even a werewolf, she has no supernatural powers or even any mortal talents as a human.

She is utterly useless. Even more so in the face of someone like Eris.

"But he promised we would always be together," she mutters, but the ignorance of the truth just makes her weep harder.

"Amira where are you?" she hears Isaac call out. But for some reason, she doesn't have the strength to call back to him and remains in her huddle on the bathroom floor.

It doesn't take him long to wander into the room and find her.

"Hey, are you all right? What are you doing in here?" he asks, crouching on the ground to try and get her to sit up.

She pushes him off, her sadness quickly turning to anger and paranoia.

"I felt sick to my stomach remembering what I just saw and heard. Is it true what you said? That girl...is she your mate?"

Isaac looks down and goes quiet, his silence answering her question.

"She is, isn't she? So, what are you going to do now?" she asks.

He shoots his head up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Do I have to remind you of the promise you made me?" she scoffs.

He opens his mouth to speak but quickly closes it with a sigh. "You want me to reject her?"

"Yes, of course, it's what you promised me. I always accepted the fact that I might not turn out to be your mate and you might find her one day while we're together. But it was you who made the promise on your own that you will reject them if you do ever meet them. You just turned 18 and you've already met her, are you really going to break your promise the second you have?"

Panic fills his eyes and he back away a little, every movement and second of hesitation from him breaking her heart bit by bit.

"You have to give me time to think about it, Amira. I wasn't expecting her to be the daughter of Alpha Morin, he is one of the few other packs here and we don't want to make enemies with them during our first family interaction. His family has never visited our pack, this is a step forward for us and we need to take advantage of it while we can."

Amira starts chuckling to herself, not believing what she is hearing. Not only is he trying to use things she can't comprehend or understand because she has never been included in pack politics or responsibilities, to justify putting off his promise – he is using the party she put together for him and his family to strengthen relations with another pack.

His future mate's pack.

Isaac and his family have frequently complained about the other packs in the city, never understanding why they all need to be conjoined with one another and work together, having Alpha meetings every month to discuss concerns and needs of the other packs. Most of their complaints have been aimed at an unknown group, the High Moon Pack, but they have said their pieces about the Silverhowl Pack also.

Now, they want to do everything they can to make a perfect impression on them using everything she has put together. She wants to get angry and feel selfish about her efforts that they are exploiting, but she can't bring herself to.

"Amira, sweetheart, even when I do reject her, she will feel a great deal of pain. I can't put her through that right here in the middle of a party, I should at least give her the chance to prepare herself and give her a heads up."

He has a point; she isn't so heartless to put an innocent girl through such pain without at least giving her a proper warning. Isaac is the only person she should be angry with, Eris has no idea what is going on and only recognizes that she has met her mate, someone she might have been waiting for all this time, it would be cruel to take it away like that.

"Fine, I can agree to that. But the longer you put it off the worse it's going to be for all of us, it's not fair to anyone to keep them hoping and waiting," she scolds.

Isaac beams at her and kisses her cheek. "Understandable, sweetheart. Now, it's a party, we should get back."

Though she isn't in the partying mood anymore, Amira also doesn't want to give Eris the satisfaction of her tapping out. She may not blame her for much of this, but it doesn't mean she is going to sit back and wait for the girl to pull her claws out when it's already too late.

Who says she is going to take this decision lightly? Who is to say she won't fight for her mate and remind everyone how much better a fit she is than Amira? Although she appears like a sweet and angelic person, that doesn't mean Amira is going to allow anyone the chance to take away what she has worked hard to build.

Getting back to the ballroom, the party seems to still be in full swing, with the only thing left being the presents people have brought to congratulate Isaac on his coming-of-age. He wanders over to the table after apologizing for disappearing and begins open presents one by one. Amira notices that no one approaches her to ask if she is all right or to say they're glad she is back, not even his parents.

They seem more than happy speaking with Alpha Morin and his wife, looking like the picture perfect family already. Amira can't stand seeing the joyous interaction and turns to Isaac after opening his last gift and saying his thanks to ask if she can go somewhere else for a bit, but Eris cutting through the crowd walking toward them distracts her.

She walks up with a hesitant look and shy smile.

"Hello Amira, I'm sorry for introducing myself so late. My name is Eris Morin, I'm glad to see you're awake and feeling better, I'm so sorry about the incident earlier. I majorly overstepped and did something shameful that caused you pain."

Amira isn't sure what to say in response, conflicted by the girls sweet words and apology, but seeing a sharp glint in her eye as she utters the words. She's not sure whether to believe her words are sincere or an act for those pretending not to listen.

"It's nice to meet you, Eris. I understand you were just overwhelmed and shocked about the situation," Amira begins to say, but Eris is quick to cut her off and grasps her hands.

"I knew you were going to be as sweet as you look! It's such a relief that you are so understanding, I hope it won't cause you too much more pain to see us together, but I'm sure you can be as wise to also understand that a werewolf is meant to be with their mate, it would be morally wrong to keep them apart once they find each other," she says.

Multiple emotions hit Amira at once and she is unable to feel one at a time before they each begin to clash into each other, swirling in her chest like a whirlwind.

"How about we discuss that later? It's a little too heavy a conversation for this setting, the party is still going on," Isaac cuts through the growing tension.

The smile doesn't slip from Eris's smile as she turns her attention to him now, beaming up at him like a puppy to their owner. Amira feels the bile rising in her throat and does everything she can to push it down as she watches her biggest fear unfold in front of her.

Not being able to take the constant stares and whispers from those around her, Isaac disappearing shortly after to speak with his father in private, Amira retreats to his bedroom for the night, having no other way home and no cabs coming to this area of the city due to pack territory. Though she knows the city of Morrowfalls like the back of her hand, she isn't an idiot to know bad people exist everywhere, and it's never safe to wander around in the middle of the night in a city full of all sorts of creatures.

She is also hoping this is where Isaac will return once the party is over, with the small shred of hope she still has.

A short while after the door of his room opens and he thankfully walks in alone, looking frustrated after the talk with his father but also shocked to see her there.

"Why did you leave the party so early?" he asks.

She scoffs. "What did you expect me to do? Another girl told me straight to my face that you're going to leave me for her and I need to be understanding of it, it's the right thing to do."

"She didn't say it like that," he mutters.

"Unbelievable, you're defending her now. I'll only ask this once, Isaac – do you actually want to reject Eris?"

Isaac groans and seems irritated by her question, which only makes her heart sink further. He undoes the tie around his neck and tosses it on the floor before kicking his shoes off lazily.

"I have bigger things to worry about than that right now, Amira. My father told me the Alpha of the Highmoon Pack will be visiting tomorrow and we need to prepare for it, his pack has been the strongest amongst us all for decades and it's going to be my first time meeting with the Alpha."

She rolls her eyes. "You're going to be the next Alpha of your pack, why is that such a big deal?"

"Because he isn't just some Alpha of another pack, he owns half the city and we all practically answer to him like he's a king, it's ridiculous!" Isaac swats at one of the bedside lamps, tossing it across the room.

"Okay, calm down, there's no need to break things," Amira cries out, getting up to turn the bedroom light on to clean up the mess.

"He always has my father squished under his thumb, doing anything and everything he commands but never offering any help in return. We're all scraping by every day yet he sits in a castle of luxury and just makes demands. How am I going to work alongside a man like that? He's going to crush me the moment he lays his eyes on me."

Isaac slumps over in the bed with his head in his hands. Amira can see how much this is stressing him out and although she can't seem to let go of her anxiety over their own situation, she has no idea what else he is fighting.

"Can we please talk about this after the meeting tomorrow? Right now, I really just want to lie down in bed with you and sleep," he asks in a small voice. It is the voice he uses often when he is overwhelmed and just wants to be coddled by Amira like a child. She always found it a little silly, but at the same time adorable that when he is sad or upset, she is his safe space.

Her hope may be fading that he will uphold his promise and choose her in the end, but for right now all he wants is her comfort and presence, which is enough to keep her shadows at bay for the night.

~*~

"Ugh, why does it always smell worse on this side of the city?" Malachi, Beta of the Highmoon Pack, whines as they approach the pack house of Alpha Lund.

"Hush Malachi, we are here for a short while and should be on our way again," Alpha Calix grumbles, shooting his Beta a quick glare. "Let's just get this meeting over with."

It is the monthly meeting between pack Alpha's situated in Morrowfalls, where they discuss issues that they are facing and any disputes between pack, useless things as such. To Calix, it is just a meeting where aid is constantly requested from the Highmoon Pack by snakes in wolf skins. He is well aware of what the Greybane and Silverhowl Packs think of them, the vicious words they whisper about them behind their backs, only to ask for their help like scoundrels because they can't help their own greed.

Alpha Lund is all smiles when he greets Calix at the door, though his bloodshot eyes and sunken shadows beneath them tell him the coming-of-age ceremony for his son was a success, and hopefully chances are he isn't up for much speaking today.

"This will be the first time my son joins in my place for the meeting, I hope you can help guide him so he can have a strong voice at the table, though my usual Beta will still be sitting by his side." Alpha Lund rambles on as they make their way to the meeting room, Alpha Morin of the Silverhowl Pack already waiting outside.

"The man of the hour has finally arrived," he says in a booming voice. "How are you, my friend? It has been too long since our last encounter." He holds out his arms to bring Calix in for a hug that isn't returned, but as always the brute of a man doesn't seem bothered.

"It has only been a mere month, you make it sound so lonely over at the Silverhowl Pack."

Alpha Morin lets out a howl of laughter, patting Calix roughly on the back and going out of his way to make a large display of their connection for the others awaiting in the room, telling Calix he has a favor to ask before entering the room himself.

"Shall we get started?" Calix asks and directs everyone inside.

"Hold on, my son should be here any second," Alpha Lund says nervously. He stands outside of the door and waits, Isaac turning the corner minutes after looking like she just rolled out of bed. He stops short when the scent of Calix finally hits him and he meets his gaze with an icy glare, displaying his dislike outright.

"Nice of your to make it, we can finally start the meet–" Calix is cut off when an extremely sweet and alluring scene hits his nose, coming directly from Isaac. He moves closer and the smell indeed gets stronger, his wolf going wild within him.

"Where did you just come from?" he asks Isaac.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" he responds, backing away slightly. He brushes off his shirt after buttoning it off, the smell wafting like waves against Calix now and stirring his wolf into a thirsty rage.

"Isn't there a meeting we have to get to?" Isaac adds and walks past Calix into the room, taking his seat with an irritated look.

Calix clears his throat and tries to shake off his wolf, calming him for the time being. He gets the meeting started so the others can finally voice their concerns and ask their favors to get this over with.

Halfway through the first hour, the smell hits him once again, this time rather faint and far away but coming from somewhere within the house. As Alpha Morin continues his rant about his issues with the running water pipes on his land constantly clogging, and issue that can be blamed on his pack members for flushing any sort of food down any drain they find, Calix tries to focus on the scent.

It seems to be moving closer to his location until it is almost right outside the door, his wolf once again going wild, but he isn't sure why, his whispers ringing clear from deep within.

Mate.

That scent is clearly the one of his mate, they are standing right outside the door about to pass by if he doesn't act fast enough.

"Everyone – get out, now."