Page 6 of Alpha's Fate

“We should make camp,” Cora said softly. “Next clearing we see.” I nodded and squeezed her hand gently. Up ahead we could see what appeared to be a clearing, a pale light shining from the area, so we walked that way. Once we got close we could see that it was indeed a clearing, but the ambient light we’d seen actually came from the flora, not the moon. From where we sat down we could see the moon above, a small sliver in the sky- nothing that could have produced the light that led us here.

“Holy hell,” I said softly as if my voice would startle the glowing plants around us. The moss that clung to the bark, the lichen around it, those tiny pink mushrooms we’d seen on the deer- it was all here, but glowing. The mushrooms were almost neon as if lit from within with a fire of their own. On the ground in a wide circle around the clearing were large, white mushrooms that gleamed around the edges like fairy lights. Appropriate. “A fairy circle,” I said, pointing them out. Cora smiled and looked up at me.

“Shall we risk it?” She teased, and I just pulled her in, stepping carefully over the fungi and into the bed of glowing blue moss that coated the floor of the clearing. I took my shoes off immediately to try to minimize the damage I would do to it Cora did the same, following my lead, and immediately sighed as if she were in heaven. “It’s so soft and springy,” she smiled, kneeling down to gently run her fingers over it slowly. I checked for damage as we moved, but the bed of moss remained undisturbed even where we stepped on it. In the center of the clearing was what looked like a large bowl carved from pure rock, a perfect spot for a fire that wouldn’t spread.

“I say we set up here for the night.” I stated the obvious and she stood back up.

“I say we get naked as soon as possible so I can roll around in this and just take it all in.” She replied with a soft giggle, setting her pack down and starting to strip. It sounded like a perfect idea, so I did the same. I laid down first and Cora laid next to me, curling up on my chest as if we were in our own bed. We laid like that for a while just staring around us in awe before she suddenly shifted. “It’s time to make a fire. I’m starving.”

“I’ll go gather some wood.” I said, and she nodded.

“I’ll get starter fuel, you get the larger sticks.” She instructed me and I saluted. She rolled her eyes and playfully pushed me.

As I walked to gather the wood I began to notice the sensation of being watched. I peered around in the darkness of the forest but saw nothing and no one. I went about my task a little faster than normal, aching to get back to the grove and my love. The heartbeat of the forest beat louder out here, I realized. It was an eerie sensation and by the time I had finished my task I was desperate to get back to Cora and the clearing.

“Creepy out there without the lights,” she said, looking up at me as I walked back into the clearing. It remained unchanged and that feeling of being watched faded back into the background, still there but somehow less creepy with the softly glowing moss and my mate nearby.

“I felt it too. Like I was being watched while I got all this.” I said, putting it down next to her. She began to build a little tent of wood to set the fire. She hummed and nodded, crouched with her knees to her chest as she worked. It didn’t take long before some kindling and a few matches had a modest fire going for us. She stared into it like she was thinking about something a million miles away. “I didn’t feel it all day. What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know, honestly. Maybe the forest thinks we’re intruders.” I shrugged. “It’s not as bad here, though. I’m not sure why.”

“Pockets of the woods seem to love us. We were led here by something, but that something is gone now. Whatever is left feels like we’re invaders on its territory, I think.” Cora said, looking up at me with a small smile. “But this place seems to like us fine, so I think we should take advantage of it while it lasts.” She smiled wider and I nodded, crouching and digging into my bag for our camp cooking supplies. Nothing special, just some nacho recipe Cora had looked up before we left. We set up our tent near the fire and just curled up there together.

In spite of all we’d done that day I still wasn’t the least bit tired. Now the feeling I’d had outside the grove haunted me and filled me with a nervous energy I hadn’t felt until I walked into that darkness. I could tell Cora was feeling the same way, but we simply sat together and stared into the fire. The warmth and light seemed almost foreign in this place, but the orange sparks rising off the flames and into the air, the crackle of the burning wood, and the smell of smoke seemed to only make the place more welcoming. It was as if the trees were leaning in over us, the gap in the canopy shrinking ever so slightly.

“I think they’re enjoying the heat,” Cora looked up at the trees and smiled. “Or maybe they’re protecting us, I don’t know. It feels like they’re happy, though.” She said, looking up at me and I gave her a smile.

“Maybe. It doesn’t feel like it’s a bad thing, though. Tired?” I asked, and she shook her head no.

“I can’t shut my mind off. I feel great, honestly. Everything about today was magical aside from those few moments in the dark out there.” She said, leaning back on her hands, still bared to the night. I couldn’t help but admire her in the glow around us. She was stunning dressed in nothing but the glow of the grove, lit up in pinks, blues, and whites. Cora caught me looking and grinned at me. “You look pretty good yourself, my love,” she moved in and kissed me softly. “I think we should get startedon our offer tonight. Since we’re both wide awake. We might as well make use of the time we have, right?” I could think of better things to do with our time, but I didn’t disagree. We really did need to work on it.

“Yeah, sure.” I agreed. I looked over the fire to see a large, flat rock at sitting height I hadn’t noticed before. Probably part of the magic. “That looks like a good place to get started.”

Chapter seven

Cora

“Okay. We start with an introduction. ‘To the Alpha of the Unseen Pack- our names are Cora and Weston and we are the Alphas of the newly combined Onyxfang and Silverstreak Pack.’” I started writing it all down as I said it aloud. It was a first draft, so we wanted it to be just notes at this point before we finished the final draft.

“Maybe something like ‘We are offering peace, a chance for us to coexist as Packs. We will honor your autonomy and territory rights. Our wish is just for an introduction between Alphas so we can speak face to face and discuss your wishes.’” Weston said, and I nodded.

“That’s important. We want them to know that they’re not going to have to worry about us invading their space. I don’t want them to think that we’re an aggressive pack.” I mused. “We need to elaborate on that concept. They need to know they have complete autonomy and we’re not looking to force them into the pack or into submission.”

“True. It’s going to be important to them as well, I think.” Weston leaned forward on his elbows, a contemplative look on his face.

“And I want to extend to them what we’ve extended to the other Schuylkill packs. Our resources and strength for anything they need.” I leaned forward as well, writing down everything we were saying just so we had an outline to work from. “They need to know we take this seriously, so I think we should emphasize our desire to meet with their Alpha. It’s important we meet face to face so we can discuss this all in person and set out a real contract we both agree on. Right? How else are we supposed to know what they want and what we can offer them realistically?”

“I agree. Plus writing only shows so much- if we can speak to them we can show them a lot more context than we can in writing.” He had his serious, Alpha voice on and I loved it. Weston was beautiful when he was like this. Well, he was beautiful all the time but I loved seeing the confidence, his set jaw and intense eyes, his strength on full display. Seeing him like this always made my heart beat faster. Was it weird that I loved writing out proposals with him? Probably. But it’s what I felt.

“You’re so hot working on paperwork with me,” I teased, winking at him playfully. He laughed and shook his head at me, grinning over at me.

“Well you’re hot all the time,” he countered. I giggled at that and shrugged.

“I try,” I said, leaning across the makeshift table to kiss him softly. I turned my attention back to my notebook after that, writing down notations and ideas as we worked. It took hours of careful wording and offers that were realistic and achievable. It needed to be perfect and professional so they didn’t have to worry about emotion until we could meet in person. Our idea of hospitality as well, offering to meet either in their territory or ours. That way they could choose to meet wherever they felt safest.

‘To the Alpha of the Unseen Pack,

We are Cora Onyxian and Weston Silverstreak, Alphas of the newly combined Onyxfang and Silverstreak Pack. Although it may seem we are gathering strength for some kind of aggression the truth of the matter is simply that we are Mates.

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