Winning Over the Alpha

Chapter 2

~Tessa~

A bright flash of lightning and the pitter-patter of rain against her window woke Tessa from her restless sleep. She rolled to her side and checked the time on her phone. "Looks like I win again," she muttered, waking long before her alarm once again, but the date caught her eye.

"I can't believe it's been seven years. Now I know why my dreams were haunted by memories," she sighed, missing her family, but she wouldn't dwell on it. Nothing would have been accomplished if she kept herself trapped by despair, and ignoring her emotions has worked in her favor so far.

Instead, Tessa threw the covers off her body and sat on the edge of her bed with her arms stretched above her head and her toes buried in the thick plush carpet. When her fingers failed to untangle the knots in her hair, she sighed in frustration and met her gaze in the mirror.

"An Alpha must be strong," she whispered and stood, walking into her bathroom.

Her wolf gave a reassuring growl, feeling Tessa's anguish through their bond. It was moments like these Tessa loved having a wolf. She always knew how Tessa was really feeling, no matter how hard she tried to hide it on the outside.

After stepping into the shower, the hot water began releasing the tension trapped in Tessa's body. It was just what she needed and as the steam rose, her mind drifted to the past once more, taking her back to her 18th birthday. The night she became an Alpha.

                                                                                         ***

"This is way too much," Tessa gawked, seeing her Grandmother spared no expense in hosting the most extravagant Blood Oath Ceremony she'd ever seen.

Crystal chandeliers hung throughout the packhouse, casting a mystical amber glow over the aerial acrobats entertaining the guests. An abundance of servers with every hors d'oeuvre and cocktail imaginable roamed the halls ensuring nobody had an empty glass or plate.

"At least we won't go hungry," her wolf said, salivating over the aromas wafting through the packhouse, but Tessa was watching the hungry eyes of the unmated male wolves around her.

Her body was adorned in a backless red silk gown that fell to the floor. The thin fabric hugged every curve and her hair was meticulously styled over one shoulder, exposing her bare, unmarked neck.

"I feel like the last piece of dessert up for grabs instead of a new Alpha," Tessa grumbled to her wolf, cringing when her Grandmother began praying beside her for the Moon Goddess to bring Tessa a mate that night.

"Please don't," Tessa begged the Goddess, even though a rejection on her first night as Alpha would prove she was meant to be taken seriously. Her wolf agreed, too obsessed with thinking about their next meal.

The ceremony went by in a blur and as the night went on, Tessa couldn't deny her bold style worked to her advantage. Every unmated Alpha was instantly at her beck and call during the reception, ready to do anything she asked.

"Pathetic," she thought, growing tired of their advances. They all knew she wasn't their mate. None of them had an alluring scent like all mated wolves claimed to notice in their mate's presence and she wasn't about to let any male, even her mate, dominate her that night or any other night.

In the end, the party wasn't a total waste of time. Tessa felt a glimmer of hope when the mated Alphas showed her respect because of her family's legacy. New alliances were formed with packs her father could never persuade and new business deals were made that would financially benefit Blue Ridge for years to come. John was speechless when he saw the line of Alphas waiting in front of her office to finalize contracts that night.