The Stargazer's Alpha

Ch. 9: The Pack's Outcasts

A petite brunette stepped out, her hands on her hips. "You two need to fake indifference better. Not that the wolves are famous for their sensitivities, but if you two keep undressing one another with your eyes like this, your little secret wouldn't hold in a den of blind moles!"

I swept a panicked gaze at Blake. "Does she know about us?"

He sighed. "Celeste, please meet my sister-in-law, Mie. Yes, she knows. And yes, she's going to help. Right?"

"Hmm." The woman swept her gaze from me to Blake, then to Blake again. "Are you going to stand there, nii chan, or waddle through your overbooked schedule? I can keep the Undersecretary of the Lupine Counsel on hold only for so long."

I wasn't proficient in Japanese, but as far as I remembered, nii chan was a big bro. Blake didn't look a day older than six as he sprinted for his corner office with a yelp of, "Be nice!"

"Always!" Mie yelled at the closing door. "I'm Japanese!"

Then she whirled on me with a strange smile. "Here is how it is, Celeste Crowe. When I came here and met my future husband, Blake offered me the most precious thing a wolf can offer an outsider."

"Which is?" I whispered.

"Acceptance."

"Oh."

She shimmied her shoulders. "Wolves are sexy, no denying it, but their obsession with the pack, and everyone's place in it...It can get to an outsider."

"Their? You're not a wolf?"

"No." She chuckled, probably enjoying speculation in my eyes. "I am a zenko."

"Oh." I leaned back, grateful that she took me into her confidence, but clueless.

Mie smiled wryly, enjoying every second of my confusion. After about a minute of keeping me in suspense, she finally explained. "Zenko is a benevolent fox-shifter. Though you, Americans, are more likely to know all of us as kitsune."

"Oh!" Mie had a pointed chin and high cheekbones. Her feathery eyebrows arched above shrewd, lively eyes. What I thought was flame highlights on her temples, was natural. I couldn't believe I didn't spot the obvious foxiness of her features before she told me. My mind was too busy looking for wolves everywhere.

"Zenko isn't a dangerous seductress, but when you meet my husband, you'd see why a lot of she-wolves called me names and still want the interloper to leave, even though Reed is merely a Gamma."

"Ouch."

"Yes, ouch, but also..." Mie glance turned inward. "The last thing on my mind when I came here was looking for love. I was interested in heritage forests. And here I am, five years later, head-over-heels with my 'stolen' husband."

I nodded, unwilling to speak over an obstruction in my throat, and didn't lift my head up after that. Would I ever be as happy as Mie, and as resilient?

She shook off the dreamy smile. "Blake helped us. And when he climbed the pack's ladder, he helped us even more."

"When he ascended as the pack's Alpha?"

"Yes. Thanks to his grit, our kids are now going to be Alpha's nephews and nieces, not Gamma's mongrels and outcasts. So, Celeste..." she stared at me, as if taking a measure of my character.

I straightened my back, hoping I wouldn't look as lacking as I was. "S-so?"

"Blake is head over heels with you, Celeste. Reed and I will help you as much as we can, but if you hurt Blake—"