Winning Over the Alpha

Chapter 16

~Tessa~

As much as Tessa wanted to stay in Dainin's bed all morning, there was a lot of work waiting for her at home. Dainin entered her life like a whirlwind of change, disrupting her usual strict schedule, and Tessa could feel herself falling behind. She even skipped last night's training to find him tracking something along his border.

"Let's sneak out while he's sleeping," Tessa suggested, replacing her body with a pillow after slipping from his arms. She snickered when he pulled the pillow closer, inhaling her scent in his sleep.

"Our mate is adorable," her wolf sighed. They both admired the way his tanned muscles flexed across his bare back to his glorious ass beneath the sheet.

A soft moan passed her lips and Tessa found herself reaching out to pull the cloth lower, needing to see the hidden treasure, but froze, inches away when Dainin moved. "Get it together," Tessa scolded herself, quickly getting dressed to leave the room before she jumped him. She never thought in a million years she would end up being a mate-obsessed she-wolf.

"Yet, here we are," her wolf giggled, mimicking a young schoolgirl. Tessa ignored her and rushed out into the cool air, clearing her mind of dirty thoughts.

The sun was just starting to peek over the distant snow-capped mountains, displaying a beautiful mixture of the lingering darkness of night with a soft pink swirl of the day to come. Tessa shifted into her wolf and ran into the dark forest which led to her territory.

Even with all her responsibilities weighing on her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what Dainin was so worried about last night. She didn't like the way he dismissed her questioning and he did everything in his power to keep her pleasurably distracted.

Something was wrong and the fact that he was already hiding his concerns from her had her questioning whether he felt she was strong enough to confide in. The thought made her wolf bristle with resentment.

"We can't jump to conclusions," Tessa declared, surprised to find herself being the voice of reason. She had to follow her instincts and not let her pride get in the way. It was important to focus on the tasks at hand and that was making sure the Leadership Conference ran smoothly.

Tessa cringed at the memories where she witnessed countless packs fighting in the fields due to rivalries. As a child, she never understood why neighboring packs would turn against each other and cause unnecessary harm to those who could help against a larger threat. White Sand was the perfect example of why forming alliances was so important. They may have been warned of the encampments sooner and could have avoided the bloodshed.

"Hey! That attack brought our mate to us," her wolf argued.

"A mating bond is not worth the lives or well-being of others. Think with your Alpha brain and not your lovesick one," Tessa scolded, but both quickly broke out in laughter at how pathetic her wolf had sounded, until a strong scent of decay filled the air, ending their gleeful banter.

"Of course, we're targeted the one time we don't follow our own advice," Tessa complained, hardly concerned with the threat. Her wolf stopped running to take in their scent while listening to the low rumble of footsteps in the distance.

"I'm counting about eight wolves," her wolf stated, and Tessa agreed quickly mind linking Cadence.

"Bring warriors to the border closest to White Sand. We have unwanted guests," she ordered, taking off in a slow canter.

"Let them catch up. I'm ready to sink my teeth into some Rogues," her wolf growled. They sensed the Rogues quickened pace meaning they must have found Tessa's scent and were closing in. Now she knew they were looking for her.