An Alpha's Claim

Invade

J's wolf lingered in her fingertips as she casually prowled through the forest. Well, as casually as a deadly predator could prowl through the forest at night.

The wind caught on her hair and clothing. The breeze warming her skin. J was always the most relaxed when she was on her own and surrounded by nature. And right now, she needed some peace.

One of the reasons she liked these packlands so much, was that there were dense parts of the forests that didn't get many visitors.

A leaf danced past her as summer faded into a burning autumn. Watching the leaf dance freely in the wind reminded her of a night three months ago. The moon had hung high like it did tonight, gracing her surroundings in its glow.

In the distance, the murmurs of the ongoing celebration had carried across the wind, surrounding J with the soft, fading music from the band. Jake and Cassidy's mating ceremony had been beautiful, but her moment alone in the forest had been better.

It had been hers. Just her and the night. No expectation or judgment, no history. Just, her.

She'd danced, danced more than she had in years. She'd moved as the music directed, fallen with the changing of the winds. She was its puppet, its muse. When she'd been caught, pinned beneath a heavy gaze, she'd thought it was a wild animal that watched her.

It was only as the creature moved to go, that she'd heard its heartbeat and realised by the pace that it was a person who'd watched her. A person, who for the first time in a long time, her wolf hadn't seen as a threat.

If anything, she'd danced even freer beneath that gaze. Safe yet challenged, watched yet alone.

J sighed, tearing apart the memory and centering herself back in the moment. Her wolf was growling low in her throat, she'd sensed the threat before J had.

J blinked and reigned in her wolf, "come on out Liam. Say what it is you're waiting to say."

Liam's small noise of surprise didn't shock J, most people underestimated her ability to hear their approach. "J." He said by way of acknowledgement.

Although he sounded casual, his hesitant stance showed otherwise, as did the tick in his jaw and the hunch of his shoulders.

"What?" J snapped, already bored with the conversation. Her wolf tolerated Liam as she knew he was Kelsey's mate, but it didn't mean that J liked him

He steered himself against an invisible force. "You know they aren't going to leave, right? No matter what you do. Where you go, they go."

J froze, her wolf's growl slicing through the air between them. Liam took a step back as he watched J warily. She glared at him, her eyesight narrowed and monochrome from her wolf.

"Have you told Cassidy?" Liam continued, pushing his luck and J's restraint.

"No. She doesn't need to know." Her wolf growled, twisting her voice into a deeper, darker version of her own.

Liam stared at her silently, she'd watched him do this a lot with Jake. He was waiting for her to continue, hoping she'd open up to him. He was going to be waiting a while.

Seconds ticked past and still, the silence stretched until Liam made an impatient sound, "I assume the night terrors are still happening? You know it's because they call to you, right? They're calling to their alpha."

"I'm not their alpha."

"I think they'd disagree."

Anger flushed J's veins, "I'm not. I'm not anybody's alpha. I killed Caine, that's all."