Mates (ON HOLD)

33. one of our own

A/N: Did we hit 31k or did we hit 31k?!

A short chapter that may or may not contain more information than meets the eye for you and your beautiful comments.

Love you guys...

Enjoy ;)

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C H A P T E R
T H I R T Y-T H R E E:
one of our own

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M A T C H E S

"Chapter 7, page 425." I closed my eyes, "'Packs led by corrupt Alphas are easy to see, especially if the leader isn't one of your own.' Page 426," I heard him flip the page, "'If that occasion does come up, you, as a leader, should take care of it. Your obligation is to stop the other from becoming overtaking. From becoming someone they aren't.'"

"It kind of sounds like a self-help book." I whispered, glancing over at Yel who kept flipping between the two passages, eyes wide, taking in whatever it is that I'd remember.

He let out a heavy breath, "One of-"

"-our own, yep." I slipped off the table, slipping beside him, pointing at the next passage, "She said that Madame wasn't even a wolf, so-"

"The goddess knew this would happen." Yel's breathy words echoed in the basement, undeniably true now that we'd taken the time to realize how important this stupid leather bound book was.

Yel's old hands ran over the text, "'Forever shall be an Alpha, passed down through the Alpha family, by hereditary unless your perspective Alpha doesn't meet a character of respect and open and unoppressive leadership. If the line is ended, a new Alpha will be. A real Alpha.' How the hell..."

I smiled, "And there's more, Elder Yel." Flipping stacks of ancient paper over, I came to page 783, the beginning of a chapter I don't think Yel realized even existed. Pushing the book towards him I pointed to the title.

Alpha Identity.

Yel, for the first time I've ever heard, cursed words of major proportion, the type of words I'd blush when saying. "How the holy hell did we miss this."

"You miss-"

"No, we both missed it, you were supposed to report to me about the book." He gave me a judgeful eye in which I rolled mine in response.

My finger still pointed to the page, "I'm reporting."

He growled, glancing around the musky basement, stopping momentarily at old Elmer, laying in cell after a night of drinking too much moonshine, before flipping through the pages, reading a few things aloud.

"'Any Alpha has the blood of an Alpha...through and through...' oh my god, 'Certain cases can be seen in which mistaken identity can occur within a pack.' Mistaken identity..."he took a deep breath, leaning all of his worries on the table.

I couldn't blame him, I was terrified. Whatever mistaken identity was could determine everything. As long as Yel knew what-

"What does 'mistaken identity' mean?"

Pausing, I take a deep breath, holding it for god knows how long, until my head aches and my throat burns. Anything to make this terrified feeling dissipate. My body seemed to have gotten the memo, my scabs choosing now to be the time to sting. Pulling my shirt forward to ease the pain from the front only hurt the scabs on my back.