- Alpha Mason

ALPHA COLE MASON'S POV

This is one thing I hate about my job, I hate having to travel to the other packs and having the Alpha's of those packs kissing my arse, but if I want to keep my allies and my treaties up to date either me or my brothers have to visit each one. Unfortunately, I drew the short straw today and I'm the one that has to do the visit to the Midnight Lake Pack. On the bright side, I might find my mate. We each believe we will, one day, meet our mates on one of these alliances or treaty updates. We, or should I say I am hoping that we won't have the same mate. I don't know if I or my wolf Xander would be able to share her. My name is Cole Mason and I am one of 3 Alphas from the Royal Blood Moon Pack.

I am traveling today with our Beta Max Fight. It's a long 6-hour drive from our pack to the Midnight Lack Pack. I hate these long drives. I would have preferred to have run in wolf form, but I am traveling to this pack to renew our alliance and our protection for them. So, they would see my arrival in wolf form as a threat. So I just stare out the window trying to imagine what my mate will be like. Will she be strong-willed or will she be a submissive? Will she be beautiful or plain... I smile as Xander growls at me for that description of our mate, but most of all, I want her to be loving.

I must have dozed off with images of my ideal mate running through my head because the next thing I know we have pulled off of the highway and are pulling up the driveway to the packhouse of the Midnight Lake pack. Once the car has stopped, I open my door and climb out of the car, along with Max, and stretch, thinking again that there must be a better way to keep everything running smoothly and up to date without all the travel involved. Ha! I can dream, can't I?

As I make my way to the door, Xander starts to pace and is getting really restless inside my head, making me feel rather nervous and giving me a slight headache, so I turn inward.

"Xander, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, but something good is about to happen."

"Xander, what do you mean, something good?"

"I don't know, it's just something good!"

"You really are no help."

I finish talking to Xander and cut him out as much as possible. I lift my hand and knock on the door. A young female opened the door. Once she sees us, she bows says politely.

"Welcome, Sir! Please do come in, the Alpha will be down shortly."

As soon as I enter the packhouse, I am hit with something smelling heavenly of forest and flowers, but I am interrupted and pulled back to reality by the booming voice of Alpha Jackson.

"How are you doing, Alpha Mason?" Alpha Jackson asks, extending his hand for me to shake. I reluctantly take his offered hand.

"Not bad.." I replied, shaking his hand for the shortest time possible. I didn't like this guy, he just felt off. He seemed to change after his mate died.

"Lunch has been served in the dining room, awaiting your arrival. Shall we go and eat? Then, we can move to my office and conclude our business. Oh! This is my son, James. He will be taking over from me in a couple of months so he will be joining us."

"Thanks. This is my Beta Max. He will be joining us as well." I say as I follow Alpha Jackson to the dining room, after shaking James's hand quickly.

We enter the dining room. It looks to be set up perfectly and that heavenly scent of forest and flowers hits my nose again. Xander whines in my head. I look around but can't tell where it is coming from. After a little while of eating, Alpha Jackson yells.

"SKYLER!!!!"

"SSKKYYLLEERR!!!!"

After a short amount of time, I hear light footsteps coming from upstairs, making their way down to us. I turn around and see the most beautiful girl ever enter the dining room. She has her long black hair over her face and long baggy clothes on.

"MATE! MATE! MATE!" Xander is chanting and growling inside my head at the top of his lungs. Giving me the start of another headache.

As I massage my temples, trying to relieve some of the pain. Once I manage to quiet Xander down enough, I pay attention to what is now happening between Alpha Jackson and this Skyler girl.

'SMACK' I now see Skyler holding her cheek, and Alpha Jackson is saying, "Where are the drinks? I thought you told James that everything was done to perfection!... If that was so, why don't I have a drink in front of me and I certainly can't see any drinks on this table?." 'SMACK'

Xander was growling loudly inside my head now, as the Skyler girl whimpered a "Sorry Alpha!"

I presume she then ran to the kitchen to get drinks for everyone. I was starting to get quite upset at seeing Jackson strike our little mate.

I watch Skyler re-enter the dining room, carrying a large tray full of drinks. She served the Alpha, then me and then made a round of the table giving one to everyone else, then made her way back to the Alpha, except as she walked past James, I saw he had this evil smirk on his face as he put his foot out just a bit and made Skyler trip. The last of the drinks on the tray went flying and landed all over Alpha Jackson.

Alpha Jackson growled extremely loudly, causing the whole house to shake. He jumped up and grabbed Skyler by the hair, and dragged her out of the room. I also jumped up, knocking my chair over, and followed them into his office.

"Sorry!.. Sorry!... Sorry!... Sorry!!!" I could just make out Skyler's soft whimpering words.

Ignoring her whimpering sobs, Alpha Jackson throws Skyler into the office. She lands with a crash and a crack on the floor in front of his desk. She lets out a soft groan as she tries to move. He walks up to her again, grabs her by the hair, and is about to punch her in the face when I walk into the office behind him. I move with the speed of Xander and grab his arm before he can make contact.

"YOU WILL NOT HIT MY MATE AGAIN..."

I yell as I pull him away from a whimpering Skyler. Xander was pushing to come out and protect his mate. I move to be in between him and Skyler.

"I will treat my daughter, however, I feel like treating her... It is not your place to tell me how to discipline a member of my pack, let alone my family!" He resorts back to me.

I couldn't stop him. Xander took over as I turn around at his words and punched him hard directly in the nose, knocking him out, before he had a chance to do or say anything else.

Xander then backed off just a little as we crouched down next to Skyler, whispering, "I will not hurt you, little one!"

I slowly picked her up, bridal style. She whimpered again but cuddled in closer to my chest. Which made a small smile grace our lips.

"MAX!"

I then yelled, walking out of his office and back towards the dining room. Max stops just outside the dining room doorway in front of me.

"Alpha Jackson and the Midnight Lake Pack are no longer under our protection. We are leaving."

I growled at him as I continue walking towards the front door. I also continue to fight with Xander as he is still very close to the surface, wanting to go back and beat the crap out of Alpha Jackson just for the fun of it.

Max looked at me, then at the girl in my arms in confusion. Something must have clicked after a few seconds as he then started to follow after me. I walked out of the house and over to the car with Skyler in my arms. Max runs over and opens the back door so I can climb in without removing my arms from around the precious little package within them. Max then makes his way around and climbed into the driver's seat. He speeds off down the driveway onto the road, heading back to our pack, back to our home.

- New Life and Love

SKYLER'S POV

I hear someone say something softly to me but I can't make out what is said over the pain running through me. I think he just re-broke the ribs Alice had just finished healing. I then feel two arms wrap around me and lift. I feel like I'm floating. I know that they are not the Alpha's as they are not cold like his have been since I was 7. These arms are warm and then I am surrounded by this divine scent of chocolate and rain. That is when I realize that I am being carried in a pair of strong arms belonging to someone that I don't know. I feel sparks everywhere his arms touch my body even through the thin layer of clothes I was wearing, but now instead of feeling scared, I relax as I feel comfortable and safe like nothing can touch or hurt me. I snuggle closer to the warmth, inhale deep, and fall back into darkness.

I jolt up with the sun in my eyes, looking at the time to see that it is 11 am and panic. I go to jump out of bed but get caught up in the sheets. I then hear laughing coming from the door.

"What's so funny?" I question before I can stop myself and look up at the unknown man in the door frame. His divine smell of chocolate and rain entered the room, and he had a powerful aurora coming off of him. He was an Alpha. Oh no! I thought, once I was able to get myself untangled from the sheets, I got to my feet. I backed up to the wall slowly and lowered my head and eyes as a show of submission to him. Whispering "Sorry Sir! It won't happen again."

"MATE! MATE!"

Alice was screaming in my head, but I didn't believe her. Nothing good has ever happened to me since that day mum died.

"No! Alice! He can't be. He's an Alpha."

My Alpha, My Dad must have finally caved and sold me to that visiting Alpha after i made such a fool of him at lunch. I just hope I don't disappoint him like I did my dad. I shake a little in fear as I hear him slowly walk up to me and feel him put his fingers just under my chin. I flinch a little, expecting him as my new Alpha to slap me for speaking without permission, being in a room that is obviously not mine, for sleeping in and not doing my chores. I hoped he didn't notice my flinch or my fear, but he does. I feel the sparks again as he slowly put pressure on his fingers to make me look up at him. He had gorgeous sapphire blue eyes that I could get lost in all day.

"You never have to hide your face or anything from me, sweetheart. I would and will never hurt you. Now would you like some lunch?" he dropped his hand from my chin with a smile, then started to walk to the door.

I nodded silently, blushing, as this surprised me and I couldn't seem to form any sort of reply. I followed him quietly to the kitchen, where we came across another male. Again, I lowered my head out of respect and stand by the wall next to the door.

"Hey, Max!? What's for lunch?" The Alpha asks,

"Sandwiches!" Max smiles and continues. "So, Cole, who is this lovely lady?"

So the Alpha's name is Cole, and the other guy is Max. I smile to myself.

"Max, this is Skyler, my mate, and Skyler, this is our Beta Max Fight," Cole states with a big grin, as he holds his hand out to me. "Come sit at the counter. Max makes the best sandwiches ever."

"Gee thanks, man," Max says, blushing

I hesitantly take his hand and he leads me over to the counter. I sit quietly as he then goes back to the other side of the counter. I just listen and giggle as the two males banter back and forth while Max is making lunch. The next thing I know, another male walks into the kitchen. I smell another wonderful smell of mint and sage and hear a low growl coming from the door.

"MATE!"

"MATE!" Alice says again.

My giggles die and my head snaps towards the door. I can't help the fear that passes through me as I look wide-eyed at the male that is standing just in the doorway. He looks stiff as if he is fighting himself to stay in the doorway. I see his eyes flash as he loses the battle and slowly walks over to me. He then moves behind me, leans down, and wraps his big arms around my waist while breathing in my scent.

I freeze, flinch, tense, and whimper all at the same time. Not knowing what to expect from this male, he didn't seem to notice as Cole did in the bedroom. As I take a breath and smell his intoxicating scent of mint and sage, I relax a little, allowing me to feel tingles spread out from where his arms touch my skin; they are just as nice as the sparks I get from Cole touching me, but I don't know him so this still doesn't stop me from being terrified of him, as he could do anything to me and I couldn't stop him, I then wonder as I flick my eyes to Alpha Cole if he would do anything to stop him if he did try anything.

Cole must have heard my whimper as turns his attention from Max, looks over to me, and then eyes the new male growling.

"Elijah? What are you doing with your arms around my mate?"

The male holding me lifts his head from my neck and growls in reply, "She is my MATE!"

He then tightens his arms around me. I whimper again as he hits and starts to put too much pressure on my still healing ribs. The fractured ones are now nearly fully healed thanks to Alice. I just hope he doesn't cause them to break again or make the ones still broken worse.

When the male with his arms wrapped around me finally noticed my soft whimpering, he loosens his hold on me, allowing me to breathe and move just a little, but he doesn't let me go completely. As they continue to growl at each other, I turn inward to Alice,

"Alice? How is this possible? We have two mates?"

"I'm not sure, but they are both our mates and I have a restless feeling that there is still more to come."

"What do you mean? Alice? What more to come?"

After her comment, she doesn't answer me again as she disappears to the back of my mind. I then tune back into what is happening in the kitchen around me. Elijah, I worked out, still has his arms firmly around my waist, while Cole and he kept exchanging growls. This was starting to really scare me as to what they would both do to me or to each other.

Their growls were getting louder and louder and more and more threatening towards each other. I try to get to my feet from off the stool, but I don't get to move too far as Elijah tightens his hold around me again, stopping me from moving. Now I really start to panic and begin to struggle, needing to get out of his arms. I whimper softly,

"Please, don't hurt me... Please, let me go..."

I jump, stop struggling and quieten my whimpers even more as Max sighs and yells,

"ELIJAH! COLE! ENOUGH!"

He then continues in a normal voice, "Calm down, both of you! Look at her, you guys are scaring the shit out of her. Elijah? Can you please let her go so she can at least breathe and calm down?"

Elijah sighs and lets me go. He then sits down on the stool next to me, leans across, and grabs one of my hands from my lap so he could hold it in his. Cole then walked around the counter and sits on the stool on my other side, lacing his fingers with mine and then moving my hand onto his lap. I relax a little, having both of them touching me, as the tingles and sparks spread from my hands up my arms and mix when they reach the middle of my body. Even though I am still extremely scared, I now feel a little safe.

"Thank you, Max..." Alpha Cole looks towards Max, who has gone back to making the sandwiches. He then looks past me at Elijah and says.

"I guess now that we are not scaring the hell out of our mate, how about I introduce you to her!?!"

"Skyler, my dear!" He brings his hand up and kisses the back of my hand, making me shiver as more intense sparks race up my arm,

"This here is Elijah Mason, one of my slightly younger brothers. Elijah, this is Skyler Jackson. I found her and brought her back with me from my visit to the Midnight Lake Pack yesterday."

"Oh! How did that go? Was the Alliance and protection diameters updated and resigned?"

I don't listen to them talk as I try to think, Mason!?! Mason!?! Where have I heard that name before?... James had said that my Alpha was having a very important Alpha coming yesterday, and that is why everything had to be perfect. I keep thinking, trying to remember where I had heard that name and why a shiver of fear keeps wanting to run through me. I puzzle this information over and over for a little while until it hits me and I start to shake with fear again; we had learned about them in school in the last few weeks as our alliance with them was coming up for renewal.

We were taught that 'The Mason Alpha's are the most feared Alpha's in the country, next to the Werewolf king himself. They were three brothers, all Alpha's, they are known across the country for their ruthlessness, cruelty, cunning, and that they kill any who wanders onto their territory without permission from one of the three. They run the Royal Blood Moon Pack with an iron fist, which gives them the best warriors that are feared by all. Which is what allows them to protect all the packs under their alliances and protection, even the King. They are also known for taking and using any and all females they want, whether the female wants to or not.

I pale and whimper slightly as I come to this realization. I then slowly move and get up off my stool, backing away from the males sitting at the counter. They look at me with curious and confused expressions on their faces as I manage to softly pull my hands out of theirs. Once my hands are free, I turn and run out of the kitchen. I have no idea where I am and I am not sure where to run because from what I learned it wouldn't matter if I run upstairs or out the door, if they wanted me, they will catch me. I make a quick decision and decide that maybe running upstairs and hiding in one of the empty rooms would be the best idea to start with. That might make my punishment a little less when they find me, and I know they will.

I run to the first room that I find that is unlocked and has no one in it, I quickly move inside, close, and lock the door behind me. I lean on the door for a few seconds and then run over into one of the dark corners of the room that is the furthest from the door. I push my back into the wall and then slowly slide down it until I can curl up into a ball on the floor. I allow my tears to slowly run down my cheeks and soft sobs to escape my lips, as I realize that I have not only just run away from an Alpha or two, I just ran from two of the most feared Alphas around. I am sure to be punished badly by both of them for doing so.

I whimper slightly as I hear the door being unlocked and open. I also hear a couple of male voices, so I curl more into myself and I then don't move. That way, if I don't move, they won't find me because if they find me, they might just kill me and not even think twice about it. I hold my breath as I feel someone next to me and then slowly put their arms around me, carefully picking me up. From the warmth and the sparks, I know it is Cole. I whimper and whisper.

"I'm sorry Alpha! I won't run again!! Please don't hurt me!"

I feel as a low growl runs through his chest but he doesn't say anything as I curl up more into his hold while he carries me back to his room from the scent. I wait for his punishment as he lays me on the bed and covers me with the blankets, saying.

"It is okay, Skyler. Relax. You have been through a lot, just rest and we can work it out later!"

I guess he will punish me later. He places a soft kiss on my forehead and leaves the room. I let a couple more tears fall as the last person to put me to bed and kiss me like he just did was my mum the night before my birthday. I then fall into the darkness of sleep, but it doesn't last long.

- Sister Shopping

SKYLER’S POV

After falling asleep thinking about my mother, I wake up the next morning from a restless sleep. I didn’t get more than an hour’s sleep at a time due to my nightmares. I haven’t had the nightmare about the rogue that killed my mum for nearly four years, but last night he kept coming back. The difference with last night’s nightmares was that each time I woke and then went back to sleep, the rogue kept changing, first one was of the original stinky brown rogue, in the next one the rogue was my dad attacking me, then it was James. In each nightmare, the rogue changed and I would wake up just before they killed me, as in my dreams there is no one there to save me. The next one was Elijah and then the final one was of Cole. This terrifies me, to see Elijah and especially Cole as the rogue attacking me, since he was the one to actually save me from my living nightmare. I shake with fear as I don’t know how things will go with my mates and with facing them both this morning after what I did... I climb out of the bed and head into the bathroom; I use the toilet and wash my hands, I then splash my face, dry it and head back to the bed. Then finally, after all that, I managed to slowly calm down enough to fall into just the plain darkness of sleep. I am then woken up after what only seems like minutes by a very loud female’s voice barging into the room.

“Come on wakey, wakey, I’m taking you shopping.” the voice chirped, as she went straight over to the window and threw open the blinds, letting in the bright morning light.

I groan and stretch. “What’s going on and who are you?” I say, still tired.

“Hahaha!! I said I’m taking you shopping silly, cos you definitely can’t keep wearing the same clothes or keep wearing Cole’s. They are way too big and not very ladylike.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes to freshen up.” I smile. “But you still didn’t tell me who you are?”

“Oh sorry silly me, I’m just so excited that my brothers have finally found a mate. Maybe then they will back off on my protection and just focus on you... It will be interesting to watch them have to share; You! They were not very good at sharing when they were just boys.”

“Brothers!!!” I gasped and moved back against the wall with my head down. Just what I need, another Mason. Is she going to hurt me? Kill me? Run me out into the woods? Am I good enough for her brothers? Did they send her in to punish me for running from them last night? Maybe that is the real reason she is here! I fight my fear and whisper,

"Did they send you to punish me?"

She walked up to me slowly now. “Hey! hey, I didn’t mean to scare you, my name is Katie Mason... Wait! What?? No... I’m not gonna hurt you and they didn't send me to either. I was hoping we could be best friends. As you can probably guess, I don’t get to have many friends. Overprotective brothers. They always scare them off....” she sighed and laughed after saying the last bit, putting her hand lightly onto my shoulder.

I lifted my head at the contact, looking her in the eyes to see the truth of her words and give her a small smile. She then pulls me off the wall and with her encouragement I went and had a hot shower for the first time in years and got ready to go shopping with my new best friend.

“I’m Skyler Jackson, by the way,” I say as I close the bathroom door.

I couldn’t believe how much better I felt after that hot shower. I look in the mirror and I am really pale; I guess that is what happens when you are not allowed outside other than to go to and from school. I run my fingers over the rogue’s scars on my shoulder and then take a closer look at the smaller ones that have joined them over the years, but they don’t stop at my shoulder. They continue down my arms and all over my body. After seeing exactly how many little scars my father and brother have put on me, I wonder if with them being Alpha’s, if my body would be good enough for them when that time came.

I guess I will find out one day; I wipe the stray tear that slid down my cheek; I unlock and open the door. I walk back over to where Katie is waiting, and we walked together down the stairs to the front door only to be stopped by Cole, Elijah, and Max. I didn’t miss it, as Katie blushed when she looked up at Max, but she quickly hid it before he and her brothers saw it.

“And where do you think you two ladies going?” Asked Elijah with a small smirk on his face.

“I’m taking Skyler to the mall, to get her some clothes of her own,” Katie says with a bit of sarcasm towards her brother and her hands on her hips.

“No, you are not!” Cole says crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on the wall next to him.

“What?? Oh! Yes, we are.”

“Nope! Not going” Elijah joined in.

“Come on Please! Skyler really needs her own clothes,” Katie whined.

“But I like her in my clothes,” Cole chuckles and Elijah growls low.

“Fine, how about a compromise? Why don’t you guys come with us?” Katie huffs as a last resort.

“I’ve got work to do from yesterday. Elijah, Max, why don’t you two take the girls to the mall?” Cole says as he runs his hand along my arm as he walks past and heads towards his office, I shiver as sparks run down my arm and through my body.

We are now in the car with the two guys sitting in the front chatting about pack stuff; I think Elijah asked at one stage how Cole had found me and what happened, but I didn’t hear his answer as Katie pulls me back into the debate we were having, sitting in the back trying to agree on who was the better looking one. We couldn’t agree. She said Max; I said Elijah, but I did admit to her that Max wasn’t that bad looking as well. We both end up laughing and chatting about other stuff all the way to the mall.

By the time we got to the mall, I was feeling really relaxed and for the first time since I was 7; I was enjoying being in the company of others. Once Max parks the car we get out and I look at it with awe, I’ve never been to a shopping place this big, I was never allowed to leave the packhouse once I got back from school, my father used to tell me I was privileged because he was still allowing me to go to school. I can’t help but smile and laugh as Katie’s excitement overflowed from her and into me. She grabbed my hand as soon as we got clear of the car and dragged me into the mall. I look back and see Elijah and Max following at a short distance, keeping an eye on both of us. I’m sure I saw Max staring at Katie a couple of times before he looked away and blushed a little before covering it up. I might need to look at what is going on between them, well maybe once I know them a little better.

After going into a few stores and losing the guys a couple of times within the clothes, they caught up with us as we exited another store. Elijah moved up to my side and slid his hand slowly into mine. I tense a little, but once I felt the tingles move up from my hand all the way up my arm, I relaxed again. I looked up at him as he looked over at me and I gave him a shy little smile, which made him smile too. I actually liked and felt safe, so I didn’t pull my hand out of his and we kept walking together.

As we walked around the mall and went into nearly every store. Katie made me get a whole heap of clothes, jeans, t-shirts, blouses both long and short-sleeved, even though I tried to convince her that I only wanted long-sleeved, I hate people seeing the small scars that run up and down my arms. We got some long and short skirts. Again I argue with her, but she wins, and the same happens again with some casual dresses she finds for me. They are a mixture of long and short. As we went into the last shop, Elijah pulled three elegant dresses off the rack. One was a dark sapphire blue short-sleeved, high at the front long at the back, one was a nice emerald green spaghetti-strapped thigh length and the last was a strapless dress that started as grey on the top melting into black at the bottom of the full-length skirt. He also picked up 3 pairs of shoes that went perfectly with the dresses. Once Elijah had bought all that he spoke quietly with Max and then disappeared as Katie and I went into Victoria Secret and picked out the final things I needed, I didn’t want to but Katie insisted I also get a couple of really sexy ones to show off to my mates when I was ready.

We met back up with Elijah and after hours and hours of shopping, Katie was finally finished picking all my new clothes. I even managed to throw in a couple of girls’ sweatpants and leggings. We then headed back to the car. Once there, Elijah and Max pack all our shopping bags into the back of the car and then join us sitting in the front again. As we were leaving the parking lot, I had a bad feeling; it was like I was being watched. I turned and looked out of the window, scanning the woods that surrounded the mall, and saw 2 sets of gold eyes staring at me. They follow the car and take a step or two into the carpark as we exit and make our way back to the packhouse.

Once back at the packhouse, Katie jumps out of the car yelling that the shopping trip was a success. Elijah and Max move to the back of the car and pull out all our shopping bags. They then carried them all inside. Katie must have spoken to both Elijah and Cole at some stage while I was sleeping, about giving me my own room for a little while until I get used to spending the nights with them. As Katie and I follow them into the room, I tell the guys to put the bags on the bed. The best part was that it was close to both Elijah’s and Cole’s rooms. We then started to unpack all the bags. Elijah looks at me and says,

“Okay, we are going to leave you, girls, to it. Just give us a yell if you need anything...”

The guys left the room, leaving us to unpack. Katie pulled out her phone and put some music on. I was a little envious, as a mobile phone was another thing I wasn’t allowed to have, as it was another privilege I wasn’t entitled to. We danced and sang until every bag was unpacked and put neatly in the walk-in closet. We flopped onto the king-size bed exhausted, which was another privilege for me. Katie picked up her phone and turned off her music. She then turned on the tv and scrolled through the movies that were available to watch on N*****x. We settled on a movie which we both fell asleep watching.