An Alpha's Claim

Miss

J sat a small distance from the rest of the Black Oath pack. She hadn't known how to respond to Trevor's words – how to let him know how much they meant to her.

Part of her, was of course reminded that he hadn't technically 'chosen' her, fate had done that for them. Spending time with Logan's pack though, was giving her an insight into a man she'd barely met, yet was dying without.

"How did you all meet?" J asked quietly as she pulled strands of grass from the ground and shredded them into long, thin curling strips.

Zander, the nearest pack member to J, was stretched out on the grass, ankles crossed and hands tucked beneath his head as he watched the sky slowly spinning above. "We were all born into the pack. At that point, it was Logan's dad in charge, Troy."

J nodded and picked another grass strand, "so you were friends from when you were kids?"

J hadn't expected the dark chuckle or the hint of anger in Zander's eyes as his head snapped around to face her. "No. We were not. Fraternisation with lower ranks was not allowed."

J watched him closely, confusion ebbing away her train of thought, she'd heard of some packs operating like that, but didn't realise they still bothered. It was archaic. From what she'd heard, they'd number every pack member, with the Alpha as number 1. The better numbers were given a life of luxury, the worst ones were given all of the crappy jobs that no one wanted. They were segregated, controlled...J shuddered. She'd visited one of the packs once, with Alpha Harrison on some political mission of his for more power. The difference between how the alpha lived – all riches and gold, and how the others lived – piled on top of each other, with barely enough food to go around, had been horrifying. For the first time ever, it had made J realise that her lot in life could have been worse.

Trevor cut in, "we had a ranking system, based on your lineage. We were near the bottom, whereas Logan was at the top, 'prime material'," he sneered, as though the term was one he'd rather not recall, "he wasn't allowed to speak to us, look at us even. We didn't even know him until, what were we?" He paused, eyes flitting between his friends, "15?"

"I was 13, so yeh, must have been around then," Will offered, adjusting his seating position and subtly twisting himself towards J. They'd started at a distance, and J wasn't even sure if they knew they'd been slowly moving towards her over the last hour.

Only Jonathon stayed where he'd originally sat. There was something J recognised in him, a wildness she could have related to at one point in time.

Watching him and his frequent battle with his wolf was a sharp reminder of how much had changed for J, of how much she'd changed.

"Logan wasn't even supposed to be in town, not that part of town anyway." Will continued.

"Yeh, there was no way he should have been there. I don't even know why he was?" Zander interrupted.

"A girl." Everyone froze at Jonathon's voice, he hadn't spoken since they'd sat down. Under everyone's questioning glazes, he huffed and continued, "he was trying to find a girl-"

"He didn't have to look far for those. They were always tripping over themselves to get to the alpha's son," Zander didn't hide the distaste in his tone.

"Not any girl," Jonathon snapped, shifting uncomfortably as his eyes flicked up to J and away again. "We had a pack visiting. Some of them anyway. Alpha Troy had them staying in the Lower Houses as he didn't trust the alpha. Logan had noticed one of the girls with them and wanted to see her." The others stared at him in silence, a mixture of shock and surprise on their faces. J wondered how often Jonathon offered up so many words.