Rise of an Alpha Female (Two Moons Book 1)

by A. C. Gruptay

  "Why did you have to sit beside him? There is an entire free bench across the alley!"

  "That was rhetorical, right?"

  "I'm going to ask you in advance to forgive me; our customs are a little different where I come from..."

  "You mean turning into giant wolves and running around? That's quite the understatement, Lana!"

  "OK, I guess. I'll try to keep an open mind."

  "Do you believe in..."

  "Don't tell him like that! You'll make a fool of us even more!"

  "... love at first sight?"

  "I think it's possible. I mean I've heard and read about it. So why not?"

  "So isn't it also true then that 'love at first sight' is possible because the two souls instantly recognized each other as part of the same whole? You could call them soulmates."

  "Sounds logical enough."

  "So two people who fall in 'love at first sight' are soulmates, right?"

  "Right, soulmates."

  "Like we are – soulmates."

  "Right."

  "See Jena? That was easy."

  "WAIT! What did you just say?"

  "You were saying?"

  "I'm saying my soul recognized yours! I'm saying this," she says and grabs his hand, a spark zapping them both as they touch, "this is not just another electrostatic discharge, it's our souls recognizing each other. We are soulmates!"

  "..."

  "I think you broke him. This was such a bad idea!"

  "Say something, will you?"

  "I'm not... I don't think... I mean this is not possible..."

  "You just agreed it's logical and you also just agreed to keep an open mind."

  "Yeah, but..."

  "But what? You DIDN'T feel it? The heat I feel in our touch now," she places her free hand on his chest, "you think this heat that seems like it's itching at our skin where ever we touch is random? This is our bodies recognizing each other!"

  He gets up and starts pacing in front of the bench.

  "This is crazy! I mean don't get me wrong, you are extremely beautiful! Smoking hot actually! But something like this just doesn't happen to a guy like me. I'm more than half tempted to believe this is a practical joke. The thing is I already have a girlfriend and we've had a wonderful relationship for years. I'd jump at the chance if I were alone. Hell, I think most guys would jump at the chance to be with you either way. I don't know, maybe we should get to know each other a little bit first? Maybe we aren't compatible or something."

  "Do it, Lana! Push on! It's too late to back down. I agree with you now, we HAD to do this!"

  "I have to leave tonight and get back to my... country. So I'll ask you one thing. Put the thought of your girlfriend in the back of your mind, freeze it as it is and turn off the light. Come back with me to where I'm staying. We'll be alone. And I promise I will show you just how compatible we are in every possible way you can think of. And then you can take an informed decision."

  "You really believe in this soulmates thing, don't you?"

  "With all my heart!"

  "Both our hearts!"

  "Indeed!"

  "I can't believe I'm going to say this but... Jena? Jena! Where did she go?"

  He looks around startled to find her gone as if she was never there.

  "I must have fallen asleep! While standing! Kind of an awesome dream though."

  Back on Calla, an angry Alpha materializes out of thin air.

  "No, no, no, no, wait, NOOO!"

  "Welcome back Jena, welcome back! Weren't you supposed to let me know when you were done? You waited until you were completely out of time, so I kind of had to drag you back. The bucket is behind the door."

  "What bucket? Oh, shit!" Jena curses and runs for the door, grabbing the wooden bucket hanging by a nail on the back of it and then starts heaving the content of her stomach into it.

  "If you hadn't forced me to yank you back in the last possible moment, this wouldn't have happened you know... Eating their food and not wearing your own clothes on the seventh day. Tsk-tsk Jena! No wonder you are but naked and puking your guts out."

  "You never told me I should do that on the seventh day!"

  "I didn't? Oh well, must have forgotten. There is a glass of water by the window; some mint leaves to chew on so you smell less like a dead animal's rear end, and some loose clothes on the chair there. Go get yourself civilized!"

  Jena does so reluctantly.

  "You are way too prepared for this: clothes bucket, water, mint... you knew I wouldn't be ready to come back! And I'm pretty sure I had at least two more hours to get back!"

  "Hmm? No way! I'll just check the time on my astral reader here and... Oh. You had three more hours and 26 minutes. Sooo... Oupsie?"

  Jena looks like she's about to rip the witch's neck out.

  "Anyway, what's done is done. Did you find what you were looking for on Earth?"

  "Yes. I found the person responsible for my father's death and I... and well he is dead."

  "You didn't kill him yourself."

  "No, he... hey, wait a minute! That wasn't a question. How did you know that?"

  "I just did. I know everything. Someone somewhere really loves your soul. He, she or it made sure your hands are clean of the Second's blood."

  "The thing is, I wasn't done when you pulled me back."

  "You mean that thing with your new friend?"

  "Yes! I need you to send me back!"

  "I can't. At least not anymore. You agreed to it."

  "But I didn't know I would find my mate there! I NEED TO GO BACK!" Jena yells at Sandra from her side by the window, but the witch just smiles sweetly.

  "Irrelevant. Not possible anymore. A world hop like that requires huge amounts of energy. Had you waited a year, like I said, you would have been able to do it again after a while, but to move your travel time to the moment you wanted to go, I had to pull energy not just for and from that jump, but from all of your future travels to that world. In short, you wasted all your future tickets in one go."

  "But soulmates are supposed to be together! And mine is in another world! Do you know how long I've been looking and waiting for him?"

  "Of course I know how long you've been waiting for a soulmate. I know everything! Except if I'm not interested. Or I don't ask. Or... but nevermind that. I did, however, tell you what you would find there."

  "You did NOT!" Jena stomps her foot on the floor as she says that, quite exasperated by this point.

  "I specifically remember telling you 'On this trip, you will find what you've been looking for.'"

  "I thought you meant I would find the one responsible for my father's murder!"

  "I guess you could understand that, if your priorities were all messed up," Sandra says and snorts. "Listen to you! Looking for vengeance instead of your soulmate... Ha! So silly!"

  "And when I finally find him, and I was about to talk to him, you pulled me back!"

  "Listen, girly! I know exactly what you did on Earth. How many of the seven days I gave you to sort things out did you waste? Be honest, if not with me, at least with yourself! The only option you didn't have because you burned that bridge yourself, was to bring him back to Calla. You did not decide to stay there with your mate, so I assumed you wanted to come back."

  "I COULD HAVE STAYED?" Jena screams at her almost ready to pull her own hair out.

  "Of course. That's what sorting things meant – decide if you want to stay there with him or come back to your life as an Alpha."

  "You never told me that EITHER!"

  "You never asked."

  "How could I if I didn't know my mate would be there?"

  "You assumed he wouldn't be there."

  "I was going after the Second, not my mate! I wasn't even dreaming he could be on Earth."

  "I can't argue with your truth, but you aren't really saying anything new."

  "Then send me back! Let me fix this! I want to stay there and be with him."

  "I'm going to ignore you on tha
t since I don't like repeating myself."

  "Isn't there anything we can do? Any deal we could make?"

  "You are out of deals for the moment, honey. Sorry. Well, not really sorry but hey, maybe you can convince one of your friends to give up five years of their life so they can go and find your mate, and then maybe convince your mate to give up his life and everything he's ever known to move to another planet for a girl he met twice, whom by the way couldn't be there to talk to him herself.

  Who knows, he may have a really shitty and depressing life, where nobody loves him and think that it is a good idea instead of considering your friend is just a crazy person. Anyway, good luck finding him in that city of two million people with no wolf nose to help your friend scent him out."

  "I could never ask anyone to give up five years of their life for a slim to none chance for me to find happiness."

  "Well said! You'll make a great Alpha someday. Sad and lonely, like your father, but great nonetheless. With all that said and done, I'm bored! Soo... next time you drop by you'd better have your priorities sorted and know exactly what you want. Oh, one more thing: GET OUT!"

  Sandra snaps her fingers once more, and Jena finds herself between two of the black fences surrounding the witch's cottage.

  Chapter 17 - Homecomings and politics

  Faring the same as her Beta, Jena cannot reach the witch no matter how hard she tries, the magical fences proving harder to overcome than any defenses.

  Futile after futile attempt, she is forced to accept Sandra is no longer an option, so she eventually heads for the horses.

  "Thanks for waiting for me, Alastair!"

  "Of course. Well, I'm glad you changed your mind, but what could you have possibly talked about for two hours? Because I tried to get to you, but there was no way to get over the damn fences!"

  "I know, right?" She smiles weakly at him. "What do you mean two hours? I've been gone for a week."

  "Not really, Jena. It's only been two hours."

  "Well, at least I didn't miss my father's funeral. Arghhh! I hate magic!"

  "I may have said something along that line a couple of hours ago."

  "Everyone, let's head back to the Oasis Pack settlement! I'll take the rear."

  "I'll join you."

  "No. I want to be alone."

  "You know I can't do that; I'm your Personal Guard."

  "Wrong! You are my Beta now. So go organize the trip back or something, I want to be by myself."

  "Fine! I'll stay in the back of the group to watch you. You might step in quicksand or something."

  "Fine!"

  After reaching the Oasis Pack, Jena goes straight for her home, her father's home actually, since she isn't technically part of the Oasis Pack anymore, but people know her sorrow and they know her, so nobody objects to it.

  Elder Amisha has asked Lindator to send messengers to their allies, and all the other people Alpha Magnus was a close friend to, letting them know of his passing and the fact his funeral would take place in four days time.

  Alastair is appointed Liaison to the Oasis Pack, and Lindator doesn't object when Conall offers to be Alastair's counterpart for Jena's Pack. Between the two of them and the Oasis Pack's well-known prosperity, Jena's Pack is quickly settled comfortable enough for people to relax after what some of the malcontent cats in her group referred to as them running away like cowards. There is still talk, and quite honestly it is happening in both packs, of them being refugees on borrowed land, but nothing serious enough to need attention. Yet.

  Waiting for her father's funeral pyre to be prepared and for all the guests to arrive for the procession, Jena still manages to make public appearances daily throughout both Packs, always keeping her head held high. And that despite still being deeply troubled by his death and spending most of her time in her childhood home, where every little thing reminds her of him and now even her mother.

  "Alpha Jena, everything is ready."

  "Elder Amisha," Jena acknowledges her presence. "Please call me Jena, Alpha feels weird coming from you."

  "I will do that. But only in private because proper etiquette must be maintained. On that thought, call me just Amisha when we are alone as well. I have come to think of you as a very close niece, though I may not have shown it."

  "You didn't, most of the time."

  "It was for your own good. Strictness from a teacher while learning is preferable over too much friendliness."

  "Though I did notice a big change in attitude when you said I was done studying. And ever since."

  "Hmmm, I thought I was more discreet than that."

  "But you taught me as a Diplomat to be observant of both what is said and the unspoken parts."

  "Looks like I did a pretty good job. Sometimes the unspoken parts are more important than the spoken ones. Some say 70% of all information is transmitted without verbal queues."

  "I know. I remember."

  "Good! So, tell me!"

  "I'm sorry! I don't feel like talking about my father right now."

  "No, not that. I may be selfish, but I really want to know how your assignment as a Diplomat went and about how you eventually became an Alpha over a pride of cats."

  "It's actually a pack. I have wolves in it, and I chose to call it a pack. Anyway, it all started with..."

  Amisha manages to distract Jena from her father's death this way, occasionally asking questions as further encouragement and because she is genuinely interested.

  "I see. So when did you decide to take Alpha Mahli's title from him?"

  "Well, like I told you, he accused me of something that was not possibly true. I know Alastair; I trained with him both during warrior training and after."

  "You mean with Conall?"

  "H...how do you know about that?"

  "I was a close friend of your father, remember?"

  "He knew?"

  "Of course he did. He was the Alpha. Go on!"

  "But it all became clear when he hit his own cat warrior for presenting him with valid information. Mahli was drunk on power. It was either do things his way, or he would punish anyone who disagreed. He was unfit to rule, and if I could excuse his lack of etiquette, I could not stand the way he treated that warrior who has since become one of my most trusted advisers."

  "Weren't you afraid of the Council?"

  "You mean going under the Diplomatic flag and attacking him? Not really. Because technically I defended myself from his attacks, and I have witnesses to testify to that. He made the first physical contact breaking the law, and then he was the one who drew first blood."

  "And from that point onwards everything was permitted since your life was threatened."

  "Exactly."

  "Diplomatically I'd say nicely done. But still, weren't you worried you wouldn't win? I mean he was a fully fledged Alpha, and you were just a pup."

  "Amisha! Not you too!"

  "OK, OK, you were just a young Diplomat."

  "With Alpha training. And apparently, cats don't do that kind of training. I played him on his arrogance by choosing not to shift, forced him to think it was going to be easy."

  "YOU DID WHAT?"

  "Fought him in human form."

  "Why? That is so much more dangerous!"

  "Both as a show of strength in front of his warriors and honestly I wanted to prove to myself that I could. And Conall's training allowed me to move fast and with great mobility, surprising Mahli in his attacks. Though now that I think about it, it may have been a bit reckless on my part."

  "And then what happened?"

  "With his dying breath, Mahli confessed he had betrayed me and possibly his entire pride to someone known as the Master."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, so we didn't have much time. After that, I gathered everyone, and we moved to a different, more defensible position where..."

  For a good number of hours now, Jena has forgotten about her mate and everything else with the help of her former teacher, who seems to have become very
easy to talk to in her absence.

  "Wow Jena, I never expected you to have to deal with so many things. And so soon! I wish I knew that back when you were learning to become a Diplomat so I could have included some books and scrolls on leadership because leading is not just about physically overpowering your challengers."

  "Thank you, Amisha! Actually, if you could still prepare those scrolls and books, I'd like to start visiting you again. I feel like there is still so much I need to learn."

  "Wise words, Jena. Very wise words! And yes, of course, I will help as much as I can. We can also discuss anything you may find unclear."

  "You should give yourself more credit, though. Diplomat training proved more than useful in everything I did, as it has helped me see angles, intentions, and motives that I would have surely missed as a regular Personal Guard."

  "The credit goes to your father as he is the one that came up with the idea. That is the reason why the Diplomat is the actual leader of a Diplomatic party, while his Personal Guard only deals with the security side of things. Your father managed to give you the closest thing to Alpha training he could, considering the laws of our Pack. If only things were different..."

  "You mean if only I were the Alpha's son and not his daughter? You know I think that's bullshit."

  "As do I, but the law is the law. Everyone obeys."

  "An Alpha can change the law!"

  "Yes, with the consent of his people or by force. And even by force, people have to accept the change because if they don't accept the change, the bonds get canceled, and they are no longer a member of the pack."

  "Really? Could you be clearer, please? How would one do it by force?"

  "Well, let's take the example of Sigis the Terrible. He was a mated wolf and an Alpha, respected by his pack for many years.

  His mate died in a sneak attack against the group that was taking her to see her parents from her old pack.

  For a while, he just grieved for his loss, and he wasn't quite himself after. Similar to your father's sadness after your mother passed.

  One day, though, his Beta, Hixxih I think he was named, found his mate. The girl was extremely beautiful and almost an exact lookalike to the Alpha's late mate.

  Sigis went mad. He was convinced that was his mate, and though the girl refused him and was obvious to everyone else she was the Beta's soulmate, he couldn't accept it.