Chapter 3

ALEXIS

Damn. Check out mate! He's hot! Look at those arms.

I mentally rolled my eyes at my wolf's drooling. She was pretty much rolling around and purring while I maintained eye contact with my mate.

He had beautiful gray eyes –with a few black specks in them– and silky black hair that he brushed to the side. I could almost feel how soft his hair was. He was basically breathtakingly handsome. On top of all that, as my wolf so graciously pointed out, he had very muscular arms underneath that navy blue hoodie.

Guys in hoodies. My weakness. There was just something about that that was so attractive.

"Lexi! Awe you having a stawing contest! Can I play?"

My eyes snapped to little Rex, who was climbing a barstool and glaring at me. I was confused for a moment before realizing that he was trying to have a staring contest with me.

"How about we do that after lunch, Rex?" I said, reaching over and putting him back on the ground. He shrugged and ran over to the kitchen table where I had put the first batch of cookies.

I turned my attention back to my mate and swallowed.

How did this work exactly? Was I supposed to wait until he said something? Should I go shake his hand? What if he thought I was creepy?

Just shut up and go kiss him.

Then he would definitely think I was creepy.

My wolf snorted and shook her fur out. At least I have an idea of what to do. Do you have any, your highness?

I pursed my lips and tried to ignore the lump in my throat.

Why doesn't life prepare us for these situations?

Finally, I found the courage to take a few steps forward and stick my hand out for him to shake. It was probably better to start simple.

"Hey, I'm Alexis," I smiled, mentally wishing I could slap myself for that awkward introduction. My wolf seemed to agree because she was covering her eyes with her paws and shaking her head.

I waited for a few seconds for him to shake my hand before pulling it back slowly and coughing awkwardly.

Was my greeting really that bad?

My mate seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and walked away without another look or a word. I frowned and watched him sit down at the table to play with Rex, causing my wolf to whimper at his lack of acknowledgment. His Beta and Gamma gave me sympathetic looks before joining their Alpha at the table.

I slowly turned back to the stove to finish cooking the fried chicken I had abandoned.

It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and crushing my soul. I had been waiting for my mate for three years, ever since I turned twenty. All my friends had found their mates within six months of turning twenty, and I became that awkward third-wheel whenever we did stuff together. I couldn't have felt more lonely these past three years and now it seemed like I was most likely about to have a future by myself.

"Hey Princess,"

I took a deep breath and turned to my dad with an artificial smile, "Hey dad. Sorry, I ditched. I realized that I had left my cookies in the oven once we reached the hill."

He chuckled and kissed my hair, "It's fine, sweetie. You didn't miss much, but did you get a chance to meet the Alpha and his commanders?"

"Uh, no, not really. I was in here for the most part." I muttered quietly, pulling out the last pieces of chicken and moving them to the side.

"Well, come here. I'll introduce you."

Before I could protest, he turned the stove off and dragged me to the table where the four of them were sitting.

"Sweetie, this is Alpha Hudson, Beta Matthew, and Gamma Boston. This is my daughter, Alexis." He introduced, completely unaware of the awkward atmosphere.

Hudson. I love his name.

I silently agreed with my wolf. His name seemed to suit him very well. After all, the name Hudson meant something along the lines of heart, spirit, and power right? Even if we hadn't been in his presence for a long time, you could definitely sense the power that radiated from him and made wolves quiver in their fur.

Perks of being an Alpha, I guess.

The three of them just stared at me while I did my best to avoid the eyes of my mate. Then, Gamma Boston stood up and grabbed my hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alexis. Those rumors don't do justice to your beauty", he kissed the back of my hand, letting his lips linger for a bit longer than necessary. My cheeks turned a light pink as he winked at me and looked at his Alpha from the corner of his eye.

He's trying to make mate jealous.

My wolf was anxious to see his reaction, but I didn't dare look at him directly, knowing I would probably turn into a quivering pile of mush. Instead, I watched him from the corner of my eye and saw his fingers tighten around his cookie.

So he was affected by the mate bond. Good to know.

Suddenly, he stood up, "Alpha Horris, may I speak to you in private?"

My dad seemed confused but nodded anyway. "Sure, we can talk in my office."

The two of them left the kitchen quietly, leaving the rest of us to think about the situation and listen to Rex eat his cookies noisily.

HUDSON

Once we had settled down in Alpha Horris's office, he gave me a questioning look. I bit my lip and tried to figure out a way to break the issue to him gently.

"Your daughter," I started and that caught his attention immediately, "is my mate."

I waited a few moments for him to catch up, but he seemed even more confused than before, which was understandable. Most mates were attached at the hip when they first meet, and it's difficult to break them apart. He was probably wondering why I wasn't glued to his daughter right now.

My wolf growled angrily. He wanted me to go back downstairs and kiss the life out of Alexis.

She was extremely attractive, I'll admit, and she smelled amazing. However, she was potentially going to be my Luna, and I had to make sure she was good enough for the position.

She had to meet those expectations.

"I cannot accept her. Yet." I explained.

He frowned, "Why?"

"If I accept her now, I may have some regrets about it in the future. You have to understand that my pack does come first, and I can't have a mate who can't do her job."

The frown on his face turned into a glare, "Alexis was brought up to be an Alpha. If anything, she is more than qualified to be your Luna."

"You brought your daughter up to be an Alpha? When she potentially had a mate in another pack and would have to move there once she found him?" I asked incredulously.

Alpha Horris sighed and rubbed the area between his eyebrows, "The future is unpredictable, Alpha Hudson. If something happened to me or my wife, who would take control of the pack? It made sense to teach Alexis the ropes incase anything happened before Neville was ready to take over the pack. He's still learning and he's too young. He just turned twenty last summer."

My face morphed into a confused scowl, "Isn't that unfair to Alexis? To teach her everything and not give her the position?"

It almost seemed like they were giving her false hope.

Alpha Horris shook his head, "There are some things you don't know, Alpha Hudson, and I would explain, but it's more of her story to tell. But to give you a basic idea, we knew that Alexis was going to be a Luna from the moment she was born."

"What?"

"I know that sounds weird, but if you want to know more, Alexis will explain it to you."

I sighed and shook my head. Even if she was brought up to be an Alpha, I had to make sure she was good enough to be a Luna. We were supposed to work together, not have a power struggle. We would spend more time fighting for dominance if she didn't accept her position. After all, as my dad had put it, there are some things that Lunas can do that Alphas cannot do.

"This doesn't change my mind, Alpha Horris. I hope you understand. If you don't mind, please do try explaining it to Alexis. I'll extend my stay here to observe her for a month. After the one month is up, I'll let you know whether I'll accept her or not."

Alpha Horris seemed extremely angry. Well, he wasn't the only one. My wolf was growling ferociously, trying to convince me to stop.

"This isn't fair to my daughter. You have to remember that you are soulmates first, not Alpha and Luna. Is it fair for you to ask so much of her when she hasn't asked anything of you? She just wants her mate, Alpha Hudson. She doesn't have any expectations for you like you do for her."

"That may be so, but this is who I am, Alpha Horris. Please understand." I said, getting up to leave.

As expected, he didn't understand why I wouldn't accept his daughter, but I hope Alexis would be more understanding. It wasn't like I was rejecting her.

But you aren't accepting her either and that will hurt her feelings.

I felt sympathetic towards my wolf who truly just wanted to be with his mate, but this had to be done.

"And what about her heat? You do know that she'll go into her heat in two days since she found you." Alpha Horris suddenly called out.

I froze in the doorway.

Crap. I hadn't thought about her heat.

Are you seriously going to let mate get chased by a bunch of horny wolves? Just because you can't get your head out of your ass?

I pinched the area between my eyebrows.

Curse the stupid heat concept. Who even thought of that idea? Aren't wolves horny enough by themselves?

"I'll think of something," I muttered, walking out of his office and toward the stairs.