Married to the Alpha

I woke up, feeling the first rays of sun on my face, warming me up. The smell of the woods invaded me immediately, the damp earth below me no longer bothered me, I was used to waking up like that during the last years.

I opened my eyes, grunting when the sunlight hit me, making my eyes water, and closed them quickly. I hated that sensitivity of the human form.

I muttered a low curse and lay back down on the ground, my body shrunk by the icy winds that morning. The familiar birdsong was already sounding like a natural alarm in my ears, accompanied by the sound of water splashing in a small stream close to where I was standing, I had used it a few times for bathing.

I heard footsteps approaching and opened my eyes, my pupils already dilated by the sudden approach. But I relaxed as I recognized that familiar smell.

“It's been two moons away from home, I must admit that your wildness surprised me.” He said calmly, his thick voice making the birds stop singing. I turned my body toward him and found him leaning against a tree with a smug smile on his face. His brown hair like mine fell across his forehead, and his clear eyes shone in the natural sunlight.

I lifted part of my aching body and remembered that I had run until I was tired last night and simply collapsed in the middle of the forest, my body transformed in my sleep. I was completely covered in dirt and leaves.

I blinked a few times, stunned. After days in my animal form, returning to a human body was strange and took me a few minutes to get used to.

“Mel is going crazy for not hearing from you, Layla.” My brother didn't hesitate in trying to scold me. He and his overprotectiveness.

I let out a long sigh, the soft scent of the forest invaded my nostrils and filled my lungs. My skin tingled slightly, but I didn't care.

Nature was my home, the one place I wouldn't be judged for what I had been born to be, a wild creature.

“I'm going home today, you didn't have to come after me like a sniffer dog.” I declared hoarsely, running my hands through my tangled, leafy hair.

“You know I can't help it.”

My fingers got caught between the unruly strands of my hair, and I huffed loudly.

“I need a shower as soon as possible,” I grumbled, putting on the sweatshirt that Logan threw in my direction, and then put on my jeans.

I got up from the floor and tried to keep the sun's strong rays from blinding me, stretched my arms and stretched, breathing in the legitimate morning air.

The sky was not completely clear, but the sun was intense in that part of the forest. I saw its rays rising from the hills and mountains on the horizon.

“Do you still recognize me as your brother, or have I become just an enemy beast?” He asked, approaching cautiously and opening his arms, as if he were facing a wild animal and needed to make it clear that he was not a threat.

I rolled my eyes sharply but did not hide the smile that opened on my lips and stepped towards him, I had missed him in the last few weeks.

Although I preferred to run alone through the forest.

“Don't be so melancholy, Logan,” I said with my head buried in his chest, and he squeezed me tight, taking my breath away, and I gasped low. I had to tap him on the shoulder to get Logan to release me from his arms, and even then, he messed up my hair and grimaced when his fingers tangled in my hair.

“Your hair looks like a nest.” he grinned, debauched. “Have you checked to see if there are any bugs trapped in this spider web?”

“Now I remember why I'd rather be among animals in the forest than next to you,” I grumbled, teasing him. Logan let out a loud laugh and gave me a gentle shove with his shoulder, showing me the way home.

I started to follow him, feeling my bare feet sink into the damp earth.

“I'm starving.” I whimpered, looking at the tree branches for some fruit. My stomach was squirming like a worm on the ground.

That was one of the benefits of living in the middle of the forest, I was always surrounded by delicious food.

“You've been hunting for two months, Layla!” he exclaimed, incredulous at my words. “How can you still be hungry?”

“I mean hungry for human food, you idiot.” I scolded him and gave him a light slap on the head. Logan grunted softly and rubbed the affected spot. I continued to look at the tree branches and spotted an apple at the top of a tree.

My mouth salivated at the sight of the red, juicy fruit.

"I believe that continuing to stare at the apple will not cause it to magically fall from the tree, am I right?"

I heard my she-wolf squeak in my mind with all her morning grumpiness. I ran until I was close enough to the tree and picked up momentum by jumping up to the fruit at an impressive height for a human. I grabbed the apple and came back to the ground, took a good bite of the fruit, feeling its sweet taste in my mouth.

“I asked after I finished eating the fruit, which, as expected, had not satisfied my hunger.”

Lucy was Logan's companion and my best friend in my spare time. She, fortunately, is not an Ashera, but is the daughter of an Alpha from a pack in Alaska.

Her father was a bastard who blamed her for the death of his mate, who had died in the birth of Lucy. To escape the man's mistreatment, she was forced to flee, and today she was living with us.

“Planning her death in a very painful way for having almost killed her with worry.” He said in a tone of irony, and I rolled my eyes.

"Always that unnecessary worry. We're capable of fending for ourselves."

“Always so dramatic,” I commented, looking at the horizon beyond the mountains.

“You've been gone a long time, is it her fault for worrying about you?” She asked, clearing a branch out of our way to pass by.

“There is no reason for all this unnecessary worry. We're safe, we haven't had any sign of danger in the last few months.”

Logan remained silent.

I didn't bother to wait for his answer, I just started to speed up my steps until I started my run. I planned to make the most of my time in the forest as I was on my way to the village and mentally prepared myself for everything I would hear.

It was difficult for my family to accept that I was no longer a helpless child, but a female with claws and sharp fangs to defend herself.