An Alpha's Alpha

Scent

Cassidy jogged across Jake's pack lands, heading for the medical centre. She was more than a little relieved that she hadn't bumped into him, he was obviously going to give her space. Although she'd managed to reject him - again, she wasn't convinced she could keep it up.

Despite her best efforts - and the situation with Kelsey, she couldn't stop her mind from drifting to Jake. She wondered where he was; if he was OK; if his pack remained loyal despite their growing unrest and, if he kept thinking of her the way she did him. It frustrated and annoyed her that her wolf had become so attached. When she became an alpha, she'd known that from that moment on she didn't live for herself, but for her pack.

With her wolf trying to convince her that none of that mattered without Jake, Cassidy was having a hard time trying to remain stoic in her choice. What she'd said to Jake was true: As alpha, pack comes first and Cassidy had seen first hand that his pack were unaccepting of her - and honestly, she didn't blame them.

Her stomach tightened into a knot as a shot of anger chased through her. How Jake's pack could turn on him like that, she'd never know. It was driving her insane, knowing it was her fault.

The lights of the medical centre loomed ahead, Cassidy ducked her head into the growing wind and picked up the pace. If she'd have been anywhere else, she may have transformed into her wolf and let her run, but she couldn't trust that her wolf wouldn't go and seek Jake, rather than get the medicine her pack needed.

Wolfsbane was a controversial remedy in the werewolf community, there are some who swear by it and others who claim it's only a weapon of torture. Having watched Kelsey take it for months, and knowing how it felt herself, Cassidy never took this step lightly, but she had to keep reminding herself that they were doing this to keep Kelsey safe. To keep her mind safe. Caine taking control of her like that was dangerous, for all of them.

Being an alpha meant making the difficult decisions, and this was one of them. Briefly, Cassidy wondered what she'd do if Doc denied her request - for all she knew, he might be one of the wolves against the use of wolfsbane. Not liking the extremes that her wolf was willing to go to, to help her pack-mate, she quickly shook her head and rid herself of the thoughts. Doc seemed like a reasonable man - surely he'd help them if he could.

"Elenor!" Cassidy greeted in surprise as the two woman bumped into each other at the door of the medical centre. "Hi. I've been meaning to talk to you."

Elenor had stiffened the moment that Cassidy mentioned her name. Now she spun on her heel to face her, a look of death on her face. Anger and hatred radiated off of Elenor, which began to rile Cassidy's wolf. Cassidy wasn't sure why, but her wolf hated the slight woman stood before her. She assumed that it must have been from when Elenor healed her, maybe her wolf didn't like it - either way, despite Elenor trying to betray Jake by siding with Liam and the others, Cassidy owed her a debt. She'd saved her life and Leah's. For that reason, she was forever in debt to this healer.

"What do you want?" Elenor spat, hate dripping from her words like molasses.

"To say thank you - and sorry. I know you don't want my pack here and I know we've caused trouble, but I really wanted to thank you. You saved my life and Leah's...without you - well, I don't want to think what could have happened, so I just wanted to say thanks. And-"

Cassidy paused as she noticed the shocked expression on Elenor's face. She appeared speechless, her mouth opening and closing without saying anything.

Fighting a smile, Cassidy continued, "...And I know it's none of my business, but please...give Jake a chance. He's a good alpha and trust me, I've seen some bad ones, so I know when there's a bad Alpha in a pack. Honestly though, he's great and he is doing his best. Being alpha isn't as easy as you'd think. So please, give him a chance to be the alpha you all deserve."

Her shoulders had tensed at the mention of Jake, but now Elenor seemed to relax slightly, as if braced for something worse. For a brief moment, something that looked a lot like regret flashed across her face, followed by anger.

Her lip curled and teeth slid forwards over her gums as her eyes flashed wolf, causing Cassidy's to respond. "Never talk about my alpha again. You're lucky I didn't die trying to save your sorry pack. You're right, you have brought trouble. So get out." With that she pushed past Cassidy and headed off towards the forest.

As she moved past, a faint but familiar scent drifted across Cassidy's senses, that sent cold, hard panic through Cassidy's core. "Caine?" She whispered, as she turned and stared at Elenor's retreating form. Cassidy watched as Elenor was eclipsed by the dense tree line, then stared for a few moments more to make sure she was gone.

Why would Elenor carry Caine's scent? Deciding she was imagining things - Caine at the front of her mind, she shook her head and turned, walking into the medical centre.

"We've missed something!" A voice shouted, as feet thundered along the corridor towards Cassidy. She froze and waited as a team of doctors and nurses turned around the corner and disappeared, amongst shouts of "code blue" and "get me the notes".

Shaken by their shouts, Cassidy hesitantly rounded the corner from where they'd come from.

She was greeted by a welcoming reception area, a woman with long, brunette hair sat behind a large desk. Cassidy knew the woman had seen her, despite the fact that she never stopped typing.

Stood awkwardly in the corridor, Cassidy was about to say something to the receptionist, when a familiar voice spoke her name. "Cassidy," Doc greeted, warmth colouring his tone.

"Doc!" To her surprise, the old man pulled her into a hug.

"What can I do for you, here? It's not your friend is it? - Does she need further healing? You're not injured are you?" The old man's eyes scanned over Cassidy for any obvious injury or missing limb. Panic sent his voice higher, as a tense expression contorted his face, "Oh my - if you are, Jake-"

"No, no, nothing like that." She assured him, her heart hammering in her chest from the mention of Jake. "I actually need a favour. I don't suppose you have a supply of wolfsbane?"

***

A/N

Hello!

Happy Easter to those celebrating!

Apologies for the delay - again, but I hope you enjoy!

Let me know what you think - what do you think is Elenor's deal? To be trusted or not?

Anyway, happy Monday and hope you have a great week!

Thank you so much for voting/commenting/adding to reading lists etc. It really is so amazing of you to take time to read this!

<3