Alpha Tristan

We had met another family milestone. Alina was starting preschool and she seemed nervous. 

"It's just like a normal day with your friends, sweetheart." Tristan squeezed her shoulder gently as he ate his cereal. 

Alina pouted unhappily. "I'm going to miss you. I don't want to leave if Daddy is still sad."

Tristan leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm okay today, χαρα μου." Like always, Tristan would be back to normal the day after his parents' death anniversary. Yesterday, we had spent time together as a family and when we spoke in bed, Tristan had said the support helped immensely.

I smiled and brought the previous conversation subject back. As I placed her peanut butter sandwich and cup of milk in front of her, I pressed a kiss to the back of her head. "You'll have fun, Alina. And if you're good, Daddy and I want to take you to see the icebergs."

At the sound of that, she perked up and almost knocked over her cup. Tristan steadied it and smiled as she clapped her hands excitedly. "I'll be good!"

I took a seat to the left of her and hugged her from the side in response. When we all finished eating breakfast, I cleaned Alina up and got her into her clothes before returning back downstairs. Tristan was holding her small backpack and he smiled at me as she skipped over to him. 

"You're so cute, Alina." He reached for her hand and I slipped on my jacket as he pulled open the door. 

We reached the gate to see the Hounds who were in wolf form. They were pitch-black in colour and they were larger than most wolves in the pack—just slightly larger than Tristan's wolf. Like they did in human form, they were side-by-side and were sitting down on the snow. 

I caught the scent of blood and concluded that they had gone hunting not too far from our house. They were not like the common werewolf. While we could eat in wolf-form, we mostly preferred to eat cooked food but the Hounds were more animal than human so they preferred wild food. 

They dipped their heads as we approached them and Alina stopped us. 

"Wolves!" she identified them correctly and Tristan nodded. 

We had had that conversation with her already so she knew from a young age what she was. It also saved her from being shocked or scared if she came across any pack members in wolf form. 

The Hounds lifted their heads and when Alina's eyes glassed over, I knew she was trying to speak in their minds. One Hound rolled snow towards us with their muzzle and Alina reached down to grab it. 

"I asked them to make me a snowball. Look, Mummy!"

I smiled and watched her crush it her small hand. "I see." I chuckled for a moment. "You can talk to them later okay? We don't want to be late."

She crouched down and Tristan and I watched as she held out her hand to each of them, one after the other. She shook their paw and grinned as she stood back up. "Okay! Let's go!"

Tristan brushed his hand over her dutch braids and leaned down to kiss her head. "She's going to make a great Luna."

"She is." I grinned. As we walked towards the preschool, Alina kept us entertained by talking about how excited she was to see the icebergs. We tried to make the walk more fun for her by periodically swinging her in the air. 

She didn't have as much trouble leaving us as we thought she would. When she saw Sofie, her friend, she ran off after hugging us both. 

"Don't forget your bag!" Tristan laughed, holding out to her as she came running back. 

"Thank you, Daddy! Bye!"

I wrapped my arms around Tristan as we watched her go into the building. He had a small smile on his face and glanced down at me. 

"Our baby is growing up." He exhaled a light laugh before shaking his head. "We have about an hour until training starts. Are you up for a shift?"

I nodded instantly. It was such a nice morning for some reason and I desperately wanted to appreciate nature in wolf form. So we made our way to the mountains and stripped out of our clothes on the flatter part of the land. 

I closed my eyes as I triggered the shift and felt the familiar cracking as I changed. I sunk down into the snow and felt satisfied when I stood in front of Tristan in wolf form. My eyesight sharpened and he grinned at me before kneeling down and triggering his shift. 

His electric blue eyes settled on mine and his ear twitched as a gust of wind passed us. It was a low whistle and travelled up the mountain. I turned my head to look at the upslope. It was a silent challenge when I glanced at Tristan before setting off upwards. 

The race began and I felt the snow crunch under me as I picked up the pace. I was ahead only because of my slight head start but Tristan was quickly gaining on me. He growled when I kicked snow back and spoke in my mind. 

'I'm going easy on you, Kara.'

I picked up the pace as I responded. 'Just admit I'm faster than you, Tristan.'

He didn't answer back but within seconds, he was running beside me. The wind ran through his dark fur and his eyes met mine before he passed me. I growled and collided into him when he dug his paws into the snow to bring himself to a stop in front of me. 

We rolled in the snow and Tristan pinned me to the ground. 'Admit I'm faster.'

I pressed my nose against his and submitted. 'You're faster.' 

He dug his nose into my neck and inhaled my scent. He got off me after a few moments and nudged me forwards when I stared at him. 

'I want to get to the top.'

Turning around, I set off with him beside me and I inhaled the crisp air and relished in the coldness of the snow. When we reached the top of the mountain, I was taken aback by the view. We could see the ocean and it was a deep blue that spread across for as long as the eye could see. 

The ice sheets were like crystal white blankets and the icebergs looked so much more beautiful through sharper eyes. The winter sun cast a tinge of gold across the snow and it was like nature sung a peaceful harmony. Everything seemed so still. 

Tristan brushed his side against mine and I laid down on my paws to take nature in, in all its beauty. We caught our breaths and watched the beautiful scenery for twenty minutes more before racing back to where we had left our clothes.

I shook the snow off me as best as I could before shifting back. A happy laugh fell from my lips as I reached for my u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r and bra. "Tristan, that was so beautiful."

He pulled on his tracksuit bottoms as he grinned. "It was. I really needed that run."

I slipped on my hoodie and when we were both dressed, a wave of happiness washed over me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me so I could wrap my legs around his waist. I hugged him tightly and grinned into his neck. It had started off a nice morning and shifting made it even nicer. Nature had the power to rejuvenate me and I was in the best mood.

His arms were around my waist and he supported me as I leaned back and smiled down at him. Up close, his eyes had deep blue rims and flecks of azure everywhere else. I would never get tired of looking into his eyes. For me, they could put any natural scenery to shame—that was how beautiful they were to me.

He tilted his head back slightly and sought for a kiss. I slanted my smiling lips across his and kissed him softly. He placed me back on my feet and cupped my face in his large hands. I wrapped my arms around his waist and stepped onto my tiptoes to kiss him better. Before he could deepen it, his phone rang.

A satisfied sigh fell from my lips as his gaze met mine momentarily. I bit my lip as he pulled his phone from his pocket and answered it. He smiled as I kissed his jaw softly.

"Hi, Aren."

I tuned into their conversation as I made my way down to his neck. Aren greeted Tristan back but his voice was dejected.

"You wanted me to keep you updated on Hans' condition, right?"

Tristan hummed in the affirmative and I stopped kissing his neck to listen properly. Pulling back, I glanced at Tristan as Aren sighed.

"He's going to live but he's lost his eyesight. The wolfsbane has damaged his eyes badly—he'll heal but he's never going to be able to see again."

I gasped as Tristan spoke. "Oh my god." The frown instantly pulled at his flushed lips. "How old is he?"

Aren sounded like he was in pain when he responded and I completely understood. As an alpha, he had a duty to protect his pack and he must have been feeling like he failed Hans. "He's fourteen."

"Oh wow." Tristan's eyebrows raised in shock. Fourteen was so young in the grand scheme of things because werewolves lived a lot longer than humans and didn't age as quickly. He had a whole life of blindness ahead of him. "If there's anything Kara and I can do, let us know."

"I will. I'll speak to you later."

"Bye." Tristan hung up and we frowned at each other as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "How crazy is that?"

"So crazy..." I shook my head sadly. "Poor kid. I hope he's going to be able to cope with it all."

Tristan voiced the same sentiment and wet his bottom lip before speaking. "We need to call an emergency meeting with the younger members of the pack. I don't want anything like that to happen here."

I agreed wholeheartedly and watched as his eyes glassed over. I entered the pack mind-link at the same time and heard him call for a meeting at the clearing. People were startled at first but Tristan clarified and told them it was a precaution more than anything.

We reached the clearing as the last of the younger members filtered in. In a pack of just over five hundred, there were around two hundred and fifty members from the ages thirteen to twenty. It was why it was so important for us to call an emergency meeting. Any one of them could have been in Hans' shoes.

Tristan stepped up onto the slightly raised ground and I stood a step behind him. As he addressed them all, his tone was serious. "We've called this emergency meeting because an accident took place in Alpha Aren's pack. A very serious accident where a boy ended up being blinded. It involved wolfsbane, which a portion of you are learning about in school."

Everyone listened carefully as Tristan continued to warn them about the dangers of wolfsbane. Across the clearing, there was a sense of sombreness that covered us all. News like that was never nice to hear but it proved to be a reminder of how important it was to protect not only ourselves but other pack members too.

To us, protecting the pack would always be our main priority.