Page 109 of Alpha Chase

“Where is she from?”

“Are you fated?”

The last one stings a little. Chasechoseme, damnit, so who gives a fuck what the moon says? My ex did, but Chase clearly doesn’t, and when he said he’d choose me regardless of fate, that’s when I knew he was the one.

Chase holds up a hand to quiet the crowd again while tucking me in closer to his side, his possessive side coming out in wake of all the eyes on me. “Her name is Vienna Vega. She’s from the Riverton pack and she fought with the squad in the war against the shadow pack,” he provides. “Her father was the Riverton pack’s lead enforcer and their best tracker, and Vienna plans to follow in his footsteps and train with the squad as a tracker. She’s smart and kind, brave and strong, and once you get to know her, I’m sure you’ll all love her as much as I do.” He glances down at me adoringly. “She’s one of a kind.”

The pack breaks out in excited chatter but all I hear is the pounding of my own pulse as I gaze up at Chase, my heart so full that it feels like it could burst from my chest.

“Shall we?” Rob asks, stepping in front of the two of us and gesturing toward the sliding glass doors.

Chase stiffens and nods resolutely, moving beside Rob as he calls out for everyone to head outdoors. Chase’s pack members swarm around him and both he and Rob are quickly swallowed by the crowd in the chaos to get through the doors to the back lawn of the packhouse. I see Chase hesitate when he realizes I’m no longer by his side, turning back to look for me, but I’m not exactly easy to spot given my short stature. I throw up a hand to signal to him, but there’s no need- I feel bodies press in tightly around me, forming a barrier and forcing their way through to get me to Chase. Five of them; Alec, Dare, Levi, Miles, and Cal. His boys guide me through the sea of people as I slide them grateful glances, holding my head high like a damn queen while they deliver me to my king.

Once we reach the center of the back lawn, the pack forms a circle around Chase and Rob. I take a spot right up front between Miles and Cal, grinning like a fool as Rob hushes everyone so Chase can take his vows and officially be inducted as Alpha. He’s been practicing the lines over and over all morning, and I throw up a silent prayer that he remembers every word as he begins.

“I come before you under the full moon to claim my place as Alpha of this pack. To honor, protect, and serve,” Chase announces, the air practically crackling with the Alpha energy rolling off of him as he speaks. “I vow to lead dutifully, to defend fiercely, and deliver justice swiftly. My word is my oath, bound by my blood.”

Rob unsheathes the ceremonial blade and Chase offers him his palm, not even flinching as the sharp edge of it pierces his flesh and carves a line down the center. He balls his hand into a fist, holding it out in front of him as drops of blood spill onto the ground below.

“I will defend this pack, this land, with all I am. Without fear, without pause, without hesitation, I will lay down my own life to protect what’s ours. So it is sealed.”

“So it is sealed,” his pack echoes back to him, and goosebumps break out over my whole body as Chase’s eyes snap to meet mine, dark and full of promise.

Rob curls his fingers around Chase’s wrist, raising his bloodied hand into the air. “Your new Alpha!” he booms, and the cheers inside the packhouse earlier were nothing in comparison to the shouts of celebration that the pack members scream to the sky, everyone breaking out into a frenzy as they begin stripping off their clothes.

Chase snatches my hand before I’m lost in the chaos again, tugging me into his chest and taking my face in his hands. A devious smirk pulls at his lips as he glides his tongue across them, my eyes tracking the movement hungrily. “Ready to run?”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Chase

Myentirepackiskeyed up, itching to shift and waiting for me to lead the charge. Articles of clothing litter the back lawn of the packhouse as they’re stripped from bodies and flung away, the energy among the gathered crowd palpable. Tonight will be my first time leading the full moon run as our pack’s Alpha; ushering in a new era for us all now that I’ve finally stepped up to claim my place.

Once my wolf came in, I was always second to run as the alpha’s son. Following my dad’s death, Rob was the one to lead the full moon run as the next highest-ranking member of our pack, and I remained second. Tonight, and every full moon after this while I’m Alpha, I’ll be the first to shift; the first to howl to invite the others to join, and the first to carve a path through the woods for the rest of the pack to follow.

The only downside to being the first to shift tonight is that I’ll be long gone before Vienna gets the opportunity to do the same. Since she’s not technically part of our pack yet, she’ll be the last to shift and run. I try not to let that detract from my excitement- after all, once we’ve sealed a mate bond, she’ll be second to shift for every future full moon run, running alongside me. Still, as eager as I am to lead our pack’s run tonight, I’m even more anxious to meet my girl under the full moon and make her truly mine.

“Have fun,” Vienna breathes, stepping out of my arms and hitting me with a saucy little smirk. “Meet me under the moon?”

“You know it,” I growl, tossing her a wink as I start unbuttoning my shirt. It feels like it takes forever to get the buttons unfastened given how anxious everyone around me is to shift. This is exactly why I don’t fuck with nice clothes- I could’ve had my hoodie off in a second and I’d already be on four paws. I don’t know how I let Rob talk me into this clean-cut bullshit outfit.

I get impatient and rip the last two buttons open, sending them flying across the lawn as I peel the shirt from my shoulders and slough it off, popping the button on my jeans. I pull them down with my boxers in one fluid motion, and before they even hit the ground, my skin is prickling with my shift, the air shimmering around me as my wolf pushes forward and I take on his form.

The crowd around me parts as I leap forward, shaking out my fur and throwing my head to the sky on a low, powerful howl. In my periphery, I see a burst of fur as Rob shifts, my boys quick to follow, and I bound toward the treeline, frenetic energy coursing through my veins.

A chorus of howls echoes behind me while I push into the woods, my paws pounding the frozen ground below. The air in the forest feels almost electric tonight; teeming with excitement and possibility. I let out another howl, more of my pack answering me with howls of their own as I move deeper into the woods. A euphoric feeling washes over me as I lead my pack, like all is right in the world. This is exactly where I belong; at the head of my pack. It’s what I was born to do. The world around me feels aligned, an odd peace settling over me that I haven’t experienced since the day my dad died.

I haven’t enjoyed a full moon run since his death. Those were the nights that I felt his absence most acutely; when our whole pack got together without an alpha to lead us, aching with the enormity of our loss. I’d break off from the rest of the pack within the first few minutes of the run, roaming the forest on my own and wallowing in my own misery. I couldn’t get out of that headspace back then because I was stuck in the past, unsure how to move forward. Now, I’m finally looking to the future, and for the first time, it’s fucking bright.

As I near the border of the territory, I veer back around, set to lead the pack in a giant loop as I revel in the sound of so many paws drumming behind me. The plan is for me to complete the loop, then break off to head back and meet Vienna, but that all goes to hell when my wolf picks up a strange scent on the night breeze- a strange,deliciousscent. He goes fucking berserk, sprinting ahead, too fast for the others to catch up. No matter how I try to rein him in, that scent is making him delirious, and the stronger it gets, the more I’m falling prey to the intoxicating lure of it.

It smells exotic yet familiar; alluring yet terrifying. My blood runs cold as I realize what it must be; the call of the moon to my fated mate. Of-fucking-course fate would catch onto my plan with Vienna and try to swoop in and mess things up. It takes every bit of willpower I have to rein my wolf in, to get him to stop chasing that scent, and when I finally skid to a stop to try to catch my breath, I’m alone in the forest. I can’t hear anything over the pounding of my own frantic heartbeat in my ears, and that’s when I hit the dirt.

I see a blur of black fur out of the corner of my eye as a wolf slams into me with the force of a damn freight train, knocking me to the ground. I roll twice before I find my feet, springing back up onto them and spinning to face my attacker with my teeth bared, a growl of warning rumbling in my chest.

It’s a small black wolf with eyes I would recognize anywhere, and as soon as our gazes collide, my own wolf suddenly recedes, forcing me back to my human form. I forget to breathe as I rise on two legs, staring in awe as the black wolf across from me shifts into the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen, her bare skin almost golden in the moonlight.My girl. My…

“Mate.”

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