by Mia Rose
Declan walked into the center of the pack and noticed that everyone was drinking and talking with each other, truly enjoying life. He looked around the crowd but he did not see either Megan or Gabriel there. His gut told him that something was wrong, but he couldn’t worry about that right now.
Declan started, “Good evening everyone and thank you all for coming out to this joyous event! I don’t know about all of you, but I think we are in definite need of partying and letting loose.” The pack’s cheers rose up and they were nearly deafening which made Declan smile.
He took a match from his pocket and struck it. He placed it on top of the wood and the flames quickly licked up into the sky.
“This is for all of those who we have lost recently,” Declan continued, “you are missed, but we will live every single day to our fullest potential, in your memory.” Again, the pack cheered and someone turned up some music as the fire burned away.
Gabriel stopped briefly and Megan pulled up behind him. Noelle lifted up her head and looked around, still not able to tell exactly where she was in the woods.
“Do you know where we are?” Noelle asked. She watched as Gabriel shook his head from side to side.
Noelle groaned in frustration. She was worried that the more time they stood standing still, the closer the insane parents would come to finding them.
Noelle climbed down from Gabriel’s back and walked forward. “Wait,” Noelle cried out, “do you see that?” She pointed into the sky and both Megan and Gabriel looked up to see a pile of smoke rising into the sky.
“Ritual,” grunted Gabriel.
“Ritual?” Noelle asked. “What ritual?”
“For alpha female,” Gabriel answered.
“Alpha female? But yours —I mean I…” Noelle trailed off as it dawned on her.
Gabriel was not talking about Cassidy, the old alpha female of the pack. He was referring to a ritual which was taking place in order to find a new alpha female.
“Declan is finding a new mate,” Noelle said out loud, but the words only stung her.
The fire blazed on and Declan went around to all the pack members and talked with them. He met four new members and it dawned on him that these new people had recently turned, and he’d had no idea about any of it. He vowed that from that moment forward, his only focus was his pack, and that he would be the ultimate Alpha.
The last of the fire finally burned out and the pack gathered around, listening to Declan. “The first werewolves believed that the alphas of the pack should be the pack’s strongest members. They believed that when the alpha male and alpha female mated, they would create the ultimate offspring. They developed this ritual as a way to discern who the strongest female was. And tonight, we shall also see who the strongest female is.” The pack roared together and they got into a large circle. “To be sure that the fight is fair, the alpha male must leave until the winner has been chosen.”
Declan took a step back and turned into the woods. The pack watched as he disappeared behind the trees. All of the females of the pack then stepped forward to form a smaller inner circle. One by one, each female turned into her wolf form.
Garett stepped up from the male pack members and yelled out, “Begin!”
Without hesitation, a large white wolf stepped into the inner circle and looked around at her adversaries. Four other female wolves stepped back into the larger circle and turned back into their human forms, denying their chance to be alpha female.
The white wolf looked around and a grimace spread across her face. Suddenly, a large red wolf emerged and pounced on the white wolf. The red wolf pinned her to the ground for only a second before the large white wolf used her own weight to throw the red wolf from her. The white wolf quickly turned and dove underneath the red wolf, biting at her back paws.
The red wolf cried out in pain and she tried to run at the white wolf, but her injury made her slower. The white wolf slashed at the red wolf’s muzzle and blood spurted from the fresh cut. The red wolf howled and retreated into the outer circle.
The white wolf looked around the circle again, and this time, a smaller gray wolf stepped into the middle. The white one ran toward her and the gray wolf swiftly moved to the side. She nipped at the white one’s tail as it slashed through the air, and the white wolf let out a loud yelp of pain.
The gray wolf did not wait. She ran toward the white one and as soon as the white one lunged toward her, she dove to the left and scratched at her side with her claws. The white one fell and the gray one rushed to her, pinning her to the ground by pushing most of her weight on her neck. She slashed at her face and the white one whimpered in pain.
The gray one let up a bit and the white wolf retreated into the outer circle. A few other female wolves looked at the gray one and they all chose to retreat into the outer circle, instead of fight. The gray one was left alone to fight only two fellow pack members. All of them shared one desire; to be the next Alpha female.
Noelle climbed back on top of Gabriel and they took off into the woods toward the fire. She couldn’t believe what he had told her, and yet, it made perfect sense. She had moved on, right? She had found Edmund and had tried to leave Declan behind, so it was only right that he was trying to do the same.
Noelle felt a strange feeling rise up in her and she felt dizzy. “Gabriel!” Noelle said weakly. “Stop.”
He did not hear her over the wind rushing past his ears. Noelle’s vision blurred and she lost grip on his fur and rolled off his back, hitting the ground with a thud.
Noelle stood up shakily and she realized with terror that her skin was beginning to shed and that beneath it was a fur coat as black as night. She looked up at Gabriel and Megan who both stared back at her in pure astonishment. Her own fingers and fingernails were replaced with paws and claws.
She stood before them a gorgeous and terrifying sight. Neither Gabriel or Megan moved a muscle. They had no idea about what Noelle truly was, and Noelle did not truly understand it either, until this very moment.
There she stood —black as night —a werewolf hybrid.
Noelle recalled the story that Anne shared with her about Annabelle. Noelle realized that the ritual which must have been taking place at that time, was infact, the search for the new alpha female.
She then understood why a hybrid had to be a female in order to change. She understood why it was this ritual which triggered the transformation. She was the truest alpha female above all else.
She saw Megan and Gabriel’s eyes widen and she knew that they had figured out the truth as well. But they didn’t have time to dwell. They needed to run.
The gray wolf challenged the other two wolves, but neither put up much of a fight at all. She came out of each battle nearly unscathed.
Garett called out to everyone, “The true alpha female has been found!” The pack roared together in applause and cheers. The gray wolf nodded to them all and then turned as Declan re-entered the clearing.
She looked at him and then transformed into her human self. To his surprise, it was one of the newest members who he’d just met, Romi.
“Thank you all.” Romi smiled to them and walked up to Declan. “So, what now?”
He smiled at her and said, “Now, we hunt.”
The pack cheered and all around everyone began transforming into their wolf forms. Romi watched in amazement as the pack circled around them.
Romi looked up at Declan and he asked, “Are you ready?” She nodded and turned back into her wolf form and then stepped back in line with the rest of the pack.
Noelle raced toward the fire. She could hear the pack cheering and applauding and all she could think to herself was that she was too late. Her heart sank as she realized what must have already taken place.
Declan spoke out to the pack, “Please help me in welcoming our new alpha female, Romi. I am sure that she has proven herself to all of you, and now she will do the same for me. Let the hunt begin!”
The pack let out resounding howls of an
ticipation as they all waited for Declan to transform into his wolf form. The seconds turned into minutes and the pack began to grow restless.
Declan’s brows furrowed together and he looked up at his pack just as a thought occurred to him. He looked down at his hand and saw the unhealed cut, red and angry, as if mocking him.
Romi turned back into her human form and walked up to Declan. She put her hand gently on his shoulder and asked, “What? What’s wrong?”
Declan looked at her and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he saw her staring at him waiting for a response. He sighed.
“I’m not a werewolf, not anymore.”
Noelle pulled up short behind the pack and quickly transformed into her human form. She saw everyone staring up at Declan and her eyes followed suit.
Standing beside him with her hand placed on his shoulder was a beautiful woman —she wore a concerned expression on her face, but Noelle could not quite make out the conversation between her and Declan.
Declan looked at her, and as if he’d burned her, she took a few steps back from him. Noelle assumed that this woman was the new alpha female, but there was something wrong.
“Tonight,” Declan’s voice boomed through the trees, blazing through every pack member’s eardrums, “we do not have a new alpha female.”
The crowd of members looked around at each other, and confusion was plain across their faces. Whispers started growing louder and louder, until they all just looked at Declan, hoping for an explanation.
“I am no longer your alpha,” Declan announced. “Tonight, you have a new leader, one who has earned his spot here, without argument. Welcome Gabriel!”
The crowd turned around to see where Declan was pointing just as Gabriel and Megan climbed through the trees. The pack members were not sure how to respond at first —but slowly, they all began clapping as Gabriel made his way to the front of the crowd.
“Hey Declan!” Gabriel panted. “We really need to talk.”
“Yeah, we do, Gabriel.” Declan gave him a sad smile. “You’re the alpha.” Noelle gasped as she heard the news.
“And for the first time in her life, she understood what it might feel like to be one of them.”
Afterword
Hey, everyone!! Thank you so much for reading my book! Did you know that other Amazon readers might be interested to hear your thoughts, too?
If you loved it as much as I enjoyed plotting and planning it for you, I would ask that you leave me a wicked-good review here on Amazon, if you don't mind! That would be awesome. I would be ever so grateful! Curse of the Alpha
Additionally, if you have any super-awesome ideas for my other works, or if you want to send me some feedback good or bad, then you can drop me a line at my email here [email protected] all your feedback helps me improve my books for you! the readers :)
P.S if you haven’t already grabbed your free book “ALPHA” here is the link to do so :) ALPHA
Thanking you all so very much as always, for reading and helping me with my dreams as an author!
I'm sending all of my love to you all. Lots of love and gratitude, Mia Rose x
About the Author
Mia Rose currently resides in Naperville, IL with her husband and daughter. Mia has been writing for over half of her life, and has an extensive catalog of steamy ideas that she has yet to write. She predominately enjoys writing paranormal romance, but she has spent a great deal of her career writing romance. When she’s not writing or dreaming up another racy plot, she likes to spend her free time binge watching old sitcoms and traveling with her family.
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