The Alpha's Shatter Zone ✔️

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Love is in the air Woot woot!!
I'm excited for the acceptance ceremony, even if Chesca isn't hahahaha 😍😍😘😘❤️❤️❤️

Oooh but wait.... there's a scary phone call to deal with first.... yikes 😬😬

^ And a pic of Chesca's ceremony dress! Isn't it prettyyyyy 😊😊
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"What is it?" Chesca tried snatching the phone from Lexi, but her hands were rudely batted away. Lexi turned her back  and covered her ear away from the Alpha, and Chesca just huffed and hurried to finish in the store.

Lexi was awaiting out the front for her when she came out.
"So?" Her eyebrows raised in tandem with the obvious question.

"Nothing so dramatic. Just a couple of wolves were sneaking through the west foothills."

"Rogues?" Chesca whispered quietly while adjusting the bags of clothes on her arms, and navigated the crowded aisles of the mall.

"Nah, too hard to tell. They ran off as soon as Charles and Austin spotted them. It was during the change in guard rotation, so they knew the border was clear for a few minutes," Lexi frowned and fisted her hands.

Back at their impressive pack residence, Chesca peppered Charles with questions. Did they leave anything? A note? A warning? What did they look like? Smell like?

Nothing satisfactory could be found out from their brief encounter in the forest, but Chesca couldn't dismiss it so easily. They'd had intruders before, but a niggling voice kept telling her it was related somehow to Kaiden and the letter from his father.

But bigger things soon demanded her attention.
___🖤🖤___

Chesca quickly smothered her frown when Lexi walked in the room. It was unfair to be sad when everyone was excited for her.

But this was supposed to be a special day for her, a day of celebrating that she'd finally found her mate and was excited to be journeying this life together. She had always imagined her mother and father to be here with her, her mum helping organise things and giving Chesca a tight squeeze like she always did before big events.

But they were gone. Chesca had known that for 5 years, that they wouldn't be here for any special time in her life. Finding her mate, having children—their grandchildren—helping them grow up to be big and strong, enjoying Fire Nights and birthdays together. None of that was possible anymore, and it left an empty ache in her chest.

Many a night, she'd reassured herself that maybe finding her mate would ease some of that ache, at least that's what her friends had told her. Someone to whisper secrets and fears to, someone to hold her through the dark nights and storms that had her shivering with silent tears tracking down her cheeks. A part of her had actually always wanted a mate, a man to shoulder the burdens she clinged to with all her strength. Her pack. No one would hurt her people ever again, and she would fight for them every day. She didn't need someone to come take that from her.

"Girl, whatcha thinking?"

Chesca snapped out of her rushing thoughts, the memories mixed with old dreams and future fears that clouded her mind. The contradicting emotions that struggled in her heart.
"I don't know. I never wanted a mate, I kept saying that, remember?" she looked up at Lexi with an openness that she reserved only for her best friend.

"Yes and no. You kept saying something different every week. But it's not so bad, you know," Lexi sprayed a bit of hairspray on Chesca's hair before combing the fringe. The ceremony was in less than an hour and she was almost ready.