Page 40 of Sold to the Alpha Wolf

“I am so damn happy, Senna. A little pup, playing around, being a general terror—it’s been so long since there has been a child within these walls. Not since Kaiden and Kenzie.”

She cocked her head. “Not the other wolves?”

I shook my head, frowning a bit. “No. They’re older than those two. Not by much, of course, but everyone was in their teens when they arrived. Their parents had been lost in a car accident. I…I’d lost my father not too long before. Taking them in…well, I had to.”

A deep furrow set up shop on Senna’s brow, and she smoothed her hand down my cheek. I rarely spoke about my father—to anyone—and doing so now made my skin itch. I cleared my throat, tossing my hair out of my eyes as they began to burn.

“Your father…he passed.” Senna held my face, her free hand stroking the hair behind my ear. “I’m so sorry, Jet.”

Memory stirred, and I swallowed around the familiar lump in my throat that affected me every time I thought of him. There was a gentle current of sympathy and understanding flowing out from the mate bond with Senna. Sensing her devotion to me, the distinct lack of pity, was what gave me the strength to open up. Something I’d never done.

“He did. He’d been the only parent I’d known since birth. My mother passed in the days afterward. Something about her blood not clotting. He used to tell me about her, bring out her photos, and reminisce about how they met."

“Were they mates?” she smiled softly, and I brushed a loose blonde curl behind her ear.

“Yes, actually. He’d talked at length about how lucky he was to find her.”

“That’s amazing. It always seems so rare. Your line has been blessed twice.”

Smiling bigger, a swell of pride warmed my heart. “I’ve been lucky in several ways. My pack is my family. They were all there for me when my father died from sickness, and Kaiden and Kenzie provided me with the chance to be a father when I thought it might never happen.”

“But it did happen.” Senna looked down and then met my eyes again, putting our joined hands to her stomach. “You shouldn’t have given up so easily.”

Laughing, I placed a searing kiss on her lips before pulling back again. “I’m a fair bit older than you, remember? And I’ve never been great at waiting. Just don’t tell the pack that. They think I’m remarkably patient. But fuck, do I hate it.”

Senna joined in with her lilting laugh, and then we sobered again. “Sickness? I didn’t think wolves got sick—not often, anyway.”

“Hmm.” I nodded, my mind churning as I recalled all the details I’d been collecting over the past few years. “No, they don’t. It’s been happening more and more, however, acting similarly to human cancer. It’s seen right along with the declining pregnancy and birth rates.”

She considered what I was saying, and the look of understanding on her face was enough to tell me that it had been much the same with her old pack.

“Terrance had spoken about similar issues. Is it…is it affecting all wolves?”

I snickered, but it was mirthless, just a burst of energy from the frustration billowing in my blood. With a shrug, I pulled her closer.

“I don’t know. It claimed many lives in the Edwards pack when it struck, seeming to stick to a certain generation. I’ve spoken with my friends, those alphas I was telling you about, but we’re all so damn separated from each other. I’ve…I’ve hated that for a long while. The distances…it’s not serving us.”

Sighing all the harder, the words I’d held onto for so long bubbled up, spilling over the carefully constructed dam I’d made.

“I understand that wolves can be territorial, that we need a leader to unite us. But it doesn’t make sense to keep us this separate. My friends and I have really been trying to change that, but it’s slow going. Kaiden and Grayson have been doing countless diplomatic visits to the packs who won’t open up…it is hard to get anyone to listen to a wolf who isn’t an alpha, but I’m not even allowed on their territory.”

“Hey,” Senna took my face in her grip, that anchoring gesture that I was falling more and more in love with. “You’re not alone in this. You have the pack, and you have me. I want to know what’s happening. It sounds…it’s almost like wolfless shifters are increasing; the sickness and the poor fertility also look connected.”

I surged hearing her give voice to the theory that had been brewing in the back of my mind for nearly a decade. After my father’s death, the research had consumed me. I pulled away from my pack ever so slightly because I wanted to protect them from the implications. But how could I expect packs to open up if alphas couldn’t be expected to do the same?

“Thank you, Senna.” I brought her forehead to my lips for a kiss. “What about you? I know living with Terrance was terrible, but did you have any good memories with your pack, your parents?”

She sighed, leaning on me, and I stroked my hand up and down her back. “My parents died when I was young. I don’t really know how because no one ever let me talk about it. I assumed an accident or hunters. Now…well, now I think it was Terrance. They weren’t keen on his direction for the pack, so…”

Pulling her against my chest, Senna tucked herself under my chin, and I continued to gently caress her back.

“I’m sorry, Senna. You’ve…you’ve been alone for so long.”

The smell of rose and almond kicked up, and at first, I didn’t understand, but then the wave of adoration and gratitude that hit me nearly knocked me on my ass.

“I’m not anymore.” She looked up to me. “I have you, and I have them. Wolf or no wolf.”

“You do. Always.”

---