The Alpha

Chapter Twenty-Three

Theo

Everything went black when I watched the she-wolf lunge at Josephine. I had never felt such rage as I did in that moment. I can still feel it now. How dare she try to harm my mate. And right in front of me.

I turned around to kill that she-wolf but the rogue leader took that time to attack me from behind. Why? Why can I not just do my job as her mate. Her arm is bleeding, I can smell it, so she's in pain. I'm failing at this because it's my duty as her mate to make sure she feels no pain. But I whirl around to kill the rogue leader anyway.

Before this, I had called my dad to come down in case anything went wrong. Good thing I did too because things were definitely going wrong right then. The rogue leader snapped his jaw at me but I went in for the kill. I didn't have time for his games. Josephine needed me. My ears picked up her yelp somewhere off in the distance and I snarled loudly at him. He had done this. My mate was being and currently is hurt because of him.

I tackled him to the forest floor and went for his throat, ripping it right out. His beta was nowhere to be found when I looked up and I growled at that. Great. The last thing I need now is for these rogues to attack my pack because I killed their leader.

Not that we can't take them, because if we wanted to we could, but I would prefer not to. I got off of the now dead rogue leader to find Jason growling at me.

You need to calm down, he ordered through the pack link. Josephine needs you to be calm when you find her. And his words helped my wolf to check himself. Josephine needed us but not in that condition. We had to be able to help her, not make things worse.

After calming down, I sprinted off to find her, following her scent. Once I had ran a little bit, I came to a dead wolf. I growled lowly in my throat knowing it wasn't Josephine, but also wondering what that she-wolf put Josephine through in order for my innocent mate to kill her.

I continued to run, still following her scent, until I found her knocked out from lack of blood and completely naked. My wolf wasn't sure whether to go completely apeshit crazy with anger or to start humming and go mate with her. I shook my head because she needed neither of those options. She needed me to heal her and get her back to the pack house. I whined a little when she cried out in pain at my first lick. I had to heal her.

Jason trotted into the area and I growled in the back of my throat, warning him off. She's my mate, I didn't need other men seeing what belongs to me. Her body is mine to see, no one else. I could feel my dad on pack territory now, coming towards us and I growled again. That was not how my father needed to find my mate. He needed to see her strong and healthy.

But she proved herself when she woke up and met him. I had never been more proud of her than when she told him that she was the Luna and wouldn't stand for his disrespect. I just wanted to mate with her right there in front of everyone with all the pride I felt.

So when she demanded I get her more clothes, I sprinted off to get them for her. She has no clue how wrapped around her pretty little finger I am. Once she was dressed, I led her back to the pack house and put her to bed so I could speak with my father about the matter at hand. And that's where I am now, explaining the whole story to him.

"She's quite the mate." He chuckles and I snort. "I mean, she absolutely perfect for you, Theodore." I nod but remain silent.

She is perfect for me. She's tiny, I'm huge. She's completely innocent, I'm seriously tainted. She's calm and collected, I lose my temper within seconds. She pretty much completes me.

But my father doesn't need to know how I feel about her. No one does. People will realize I'll do anything for her and she'll become my weakness. Most males are like that with their mates but some hate their mates. They don't need to know I'm not one of them. The less they know about my vulnerability, the better.

"I have to get back to her soon." I inform and he nods. "I just wanted to thank you for coming when I asked. Everything seems fine now, so whenever you would like to go back to mom, just tell me."

"Are you kicking me out, son?" He raises an eyebrow and I frown at him.

"My pack is in such a mess because of you." I say quietly and he snorts at me. "We're going to get attacked again."

"And how do you figure that?"

"You killed that pack's Alpha so then they started to revolt against the beta and come after us." I girls at him. "We had to go put a stop to them and we killed them. Every last one of them. Some of my pack members executed children in front of their fucking mothers, dad. My mate had to see that! She fucking saw little boys being slaughtered and it's just because you couldn't just hold off killing an Alpha until things were resolved. Now we're just waiting for another pack to try to get rid of us."

"What other choice did I have?" He snarls.

"You could have not fucking killed him!" I slam my palm against the wall and he takes a step towards me. What? Is he going to kill me too? I only called him here in case things got out of hand. That's all I needed him for. "Leave. I don't want to see you until my pack is safe." I growl out and then gesture to the door. He snarls but leaves in silence, not even bothering to look at me. His wolf would probably want to kill me.

I growl and pound the side of my fist against the wall. God. This is all just a fucking mess. I tune my ears and listen to Josephine's breathing from up in our room. She's safe. My wolf calms down substantially at that. She has no clue the effect she has on me. I leave my office, and the dent in the wall, to go up and sleep with Josephine. I open and close the bedroom door as quietly as I can before going to her side.

"Hey, baby." I whisper as I climb in behind her, pulling her tiny self tight to my body. She sighs softly. "As much as I'm upset at you, you're still adorable." I kiss her head gently and then close my eyes. My father was right about one thing.

She's quite the mate.