Marching down the corridor of the school, the crowds’ part as Hudson, the next Alpha of Shadow Rock pack makes his way toward his locker, his future Beta, Garrett at his side.
Ignoring the flirtatious stares, Hudson stops in front of his locker door and enters the code for his lock, swinging the door open and pulling out his books.
‘Did you see Tiana?’ Garrett asks as he leans against the wall beside his best friend, watching the other students as they scramble to their lessons. ‘She’s looking pretty fine this year, all that summer tennis camp has toned up her legs, I wouldn’t mind them wrapped around me.’
Hudson rolled his eyes as he slammed the door shut again, ‘Tiana is a Delta’s daughter’ he grumbles, setting off toward their business class.
‘That doesn’t mean she can’t be some fun’ Garrett argues, falling in to step beside him. ‘Come on, it’s not like you’ve saved yourself for your mate’ he added, knocking his shoulder.
It was true, Hudson was no virgin, but he found that every she wolf had ideas that sleeping with him would put them in the path of becoming Luna and that wasn’t happening. He needed a strong she wolf of Alpha rank, a warrior, someone who could hold her own in a fight and would stand beside him in war, not cower in the packhouse with the Omegas under the pretence of keeping them safe.
The future Alpha scowled, he’d seen enough Alphas mated to lower rank wolves, how they were weakened by the bond, always worrying about their mate instead of concentrating on the battle. He didn’t need a she wolf like that, he wanted a woman who could rip a Rogue apart and protect herself so he’d never be distracted about her safety whilst protecting his pack.
Hudson was sure that the Moon goddess would give him the mate he needed. Shadow Rock was one of the strongest packs in the country in his opinion, all previous Alphas had been mated to Alpha stock females, he was sure that he would be no different.
Walking into his class he settled in for a day of lectures, being the Future Alpha didn’t give him a free pass in class and he didn’t want one, a good Alpha was a knowledgeable Alpha.
After school, Hudson and Garrett headed out to his car, the shiny black truck an eighteenth birthday present from his parents last year. He loved this truck, it was loud and powerful just like him, the kind of vehicle that turned heads and told people to get the hell out of the way.
‘Hey Hudson’ came a sultry voice beside him drawing his attention to the leggy blonde she wolf who was batting her eyelashes at him, ‘do you have room for one more?’ she added, nodding to his truck.
Garrett grinned widely, taking a step forward to grab her hand and lead her to his truck.
‘No’ Hudson growled roughly, ‘I’m not a fucking taxi service Shanice, ring your warrior father if you need a lift.’
The she wolf blinked, taking an involuntary step back at his bluntness, ‘it’s Charlotte’ she whispered, her bottom lip trembling.
‘What?’ Hudson snapped, focusing on her again in annoyance.
‘Charlotte, my name is Charlotte, not Shanice’ the blonde repeated in a small voice.
Hudson shrugged and turned away from her, it’s not like he cared. Jerking his head toward his truck, he silently ordered his Beta to get in, climbing in behind the wheel and starting the engine. Peeling out of the carpark without a backwards glance at the broken girl still standing by his space, his mind already having forgotten her..
‘You don’t have to be such a dick to them’ Garrett sighed as he settled back into his seat, ‘would it kill you to be polite when you shoot them down?’
‘I don’t ask for the attention’ Hudson growled back, his eyes on the road, ‘I’ve been very clear that I am not interested in a low ranking wolf, they need to understand that I mean it.’
Garrett rolled his eyes, ‘yes, but some of us don’t mind a bit of fun with a low ranking wolf and you are cock blocking with your attitude’ he replied pointedly.
Hudson slammed his foot on the break, throwing them both forward before turning to his best friend, his eyes glittering dangerously. ‘Get out then’ he commanded pointing at the passenger door, ‘if I’m cramping your style, find another wolf to hang with.’
Garrett swallowed, holding up his hands in surrender, ‘hey, we’ve been mates since kindergarten he said quickly. ‘I’m not bailing on you, I’m just saying you might want to show a softer side as one day you’ll be leading all of these girls and their mates, maybe don’t burn all your bridges with your pack before you get the title?’
Hudson sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he put the truck back in gear and pulled away again, heading toward the pack house.
Pulling up outside, he cut the engine, heading inside with Garrett on his heels, he barely crossed the entry before one of the Omegas hurried up to him.
‘Alpha Hudson’ he said, bowing quickly, ‘Alpha Carlton asked that you go to his office as soon as you get home.’
Giving his Beta a surprised look, Hudson nodded and set off toward the sweeping staircase, taking them two at a time toward his father’s office.
In his office, the Alpha leaned back in his chair rubbing his eyes tiredly, the pack’s finances spread out in front of him. The Shadow Rock Pack had many successful businesses but one, a small construction company on the far side of town was barely treading water and he couldn’t figure out why.
The sharp rap of knuckles on the wood of his door, pulled him from his thoughts, ‘come in’ he called out, sitting straighter as the door swung open and Hudson walked inside.
‘You wanted to see me?’ Hudson asked as he walked in, shutting the door and taking a seat across the desk from the strongest wolf he knew.
Alpha Carlton nodded as he pushed the papers aside and rested his elbows on the desk.
‘We have had a notification’ he said stiffly, ‘another pack has enrolled one of their members in our school, they start tomorrow.’
Hudson frowned, their school was not on pack property, though it was rare for packs to intermingle, it wasn’t unheard of and they already had a few other packs in attendance.
‘Why are they asking permission?’ the young Alpha asked, trying to keep his stance relaxed, ‘we don’t own the place, it’s open to anyone.’
Alpha Carlton shook his head, ‘they aren’t asking permission, the wolf is already enrolled. The school just felt that it was prudent to warn me that another wolf would be passing through our territory to attend school.’
Hudson nodded, not that he liked the thought of another pack waltzing through their lands. A few other packs had permission for their children to cross through as the school was on the other side of their lands and the route round was long, each of these packs had alliances with Shadow Rock though so the young Alpha had a feeling this was not the case with this new student.
Hudson huffed out a breath, ‘what do you need me to do?’ he asked in a low voice.
His father smiled, ‘just find out who this werewolf is, what his name is, scout him out’ he replied. ‘The school has been assured that their member will not cause trouble but I’d still like some information about them and their pack.’
Hudson nodded quickly before standing up, ‘I’ll find out who they are and report back’ he promised before turning on his heel and walking out of his father’s office again.
Garrett was stood outside leaning against the wall waiting for him, ‘damn soundproofed rooms’ he grumbled as he pushed himself upright, ‘can’t eavesdrop on anything around here.’
Hudson laughed as the pair headed toward his room, ‘you don’t need to eavesdrop’ he replied, ‘you know I’ll tell you everything anyway.’
The Beta grinned as he shrugged, ‘yeah but where’s the fun in that?’ he retorted nudging his friend’s shoulder playfully.
The next morning Hudson pulled into the school car park, jumping out with his mission in mind, find the new student and get information out of him about what the guy was doing at his school alone and who the fuck his pack was.
Striding into the school, he raised a hand half heartedly in response to the greetings that were called out from other students.
Garrett peeled off toward his first lesson, leaving the future Alpha to head toward the administration office, thinking that was the most likely place he could find the mysterious new kid that was starting that day.
The hallways emptied as he made his way toward the offices, rounding a corner he slammed into a soft body, a small squeal leaving it as it toppled backwards onto the floor, paper flying everywhere.
Glancing down, Hudson was met with the top of a head covered in red hair as a small sweet voice groaned in pain before gingerly pushing themselves up onto their hands and knees and grabbing the scattered papers.
A scent of citrus hit him, smashing into his senses as his wolf let out a howl, scratching at his mind to get him to get closer to the young woman on the ground.
Kneeling down, Hudson reached for a few papers, gathering them up an standing as the red head scrambled to her feet and reached out for them nervously.
‘Thanks’ she whispered, her voice pulling at him as he handed them over numbly. Reaching up, she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear before looking up at him, their eyes colliding.
‘MATE!’ his wolf yelled immediately, the force of the word making the Alpha stagger.
Taking in the young woman in front of him, Hudson drank in her rich auburn hair that fell in curls down her back, the sea green eyes that held him spellbound, then the small pouty lips that were formed in a small oh of shock.
As his daze lifted, he studied her more closely, a frown forming on his face, under the pretty hair and perfect face, the girl was roughly five foot four, nearly a foot shorter than him. Her small build had very little noticeable muscle under her clothes and gave her a fragile appearance.
Running his eyes over her, Hudson breathed her scent, searching for her rank, an Alpha wolf would have an aura he could detect. The lower the rank, the less of an aura they would have until you reached Omega, which was barely there, and he realised that he couldn’t sense anything on this girl.
‘You’re an Omega?’ he asked, a tone of derisiveness in his voice as she blinked.
The young girl tried to say something but her voice seemed to have fled. Hudson growled angrily, pulling at his hair, this could not be happening, he could not be mated to an Omega! Grabbing her by the arm, he ignored the sparks as he dragged her outside shoving her against a wall and caging her in.
‘What is your name?’ he demanded.
‘Qu . . Qu . . Quinn’ the red head stammered out, her eyes darting around them as if looking for an escape from him, 'Quinn Redwood'.
‘There is some kind of mistake’ he spat angrily, ‘there is no way that my mate is an Omega!’ Taking a deep breath, he ground out, ‘I, Hudson Shadow of the Shadow Rock pack, reject you, Quinn Redwood as my mate and Luna.’