Hours.

He had been running for hours. His lungs burned, froth had formed at his mouth, his muscles screamed for him to stop. Still, he kept going. He had to get it out of his system whatever it was.

Big paws thundered on the ground as the ran through his territory. Usually, he noticed the beauty of the mountain, the smell of the trees and that earthy moss underneath, the prickle of the dried pine needles. Beauty which always calmed him, he did not notice that day.

His wolf, Hero, had been ripping at his insides from the moment he had caught her scent in the forest. Neither of them knew why, she smelled weird, undeniably human, the smell hit him in a way he did not understand.

For a moment he had been scared out of his mind that she might have been his mate. But he would have felt it if she were. She was 19, her mate scents would have been active if they were meant for him.

Thank Goddess she was not.

He would have been the laughingstock of the pack if he had been mated with a human.

The mighty Kingston Morgraine mated with a human.

He would have rejected her on the spot. Though the pack still waited and hoped for him to find a Luna for them, he would not degrade the position by giving it to a human. He would rather pick a chosen mate than a fated one if it came to that.

The pack did fine without a Luna.

He did fine without a Luna.

What none of them knew was, it would be his second chance mate, that in itself was rare. He had already accepted he had to be alone as he grew old. Love, mate and children he had come to terms with not having. They did not know, and people were looking at him like there was something wrong with him.

Maybe there was.

He had been rejected an impressive 50 seconds after the word 'mate' had left his lips standing face to face with probably the most beautiful she-wolf he had ever seen. Long, shiny black hair, a perfect face with flawless skin, small nose and prominent cheekbones, her luscious pink lips he had wanted to kiss desperately. Her body had been voluptuous and fit her short stature, a body he would have worshipped if she had given him the chance.

Sarafina had been visiting from another pack with her parents. It had been blatantly obvious that her parents had intended for her to mate with somebody with a title or at least of significance from Blood Oath, preferably the Alpha to be, and that he had not been at the time.

He had been the younger brother, the carefree playboy with no obligations, all that had been his older brother's burden to bear. And that had been the reason for Sarafina to reject his ass on the spot thinking he had been some regular pack member. It did not matter to her that he had been devilishly handsome even at 18. She had wanted titles and wealth, her need to be important and doted on had her mind screwed totally.

Kingston had not fit into her plans.

Which was why he at the embarrassing age of almost 26 still was mateless. That of course did not mean he had to be companionless; sex, flirts and charming female company for dinners and such he had plenty of. Lately, a cutie from a neighboring pack.

Not Luna material at all. She had other abilities worth exploring, though.

Exploring – exploiting.

Whatever.

When Kingston finally stopped, he was high up the mountain, damn well near the border to The Mountain Keeper Pack. Again, reminding him of the human.

Why had she wanted to go to Alpha Perette?

It was commonly known that Alpha Perette was very lenient on humans, that pack had never felt the sting of human betrayal. Not like Kingston. Maybe the girl had wanted to go to a friendly pack. Her reason for seeking out werewolves in the first place was not quite clear yet.

He noted that he needed to get Paquin to interrogate her at some point.

He scoffed at himself feeling how Hero was doing the same. Why was he wasting time thinking about that little piece of filth?

The glow of the evening sun setting beyond the mountain cast a soft blend of red, yellow, orange and purple over the trees climbing up the mountainside. He would definitely be missing dinner; he could always send for some when he got back, or he could call that little treat of a she-wolf he had been seeing and take her out for a late dinner.

The possibilities were there, he would probably end up drinking his dinner over a stack of paperwork in his office like most nights. But the possibilities were there.

He sat on his haunches marveling in the scenery. The simplicity of just sitting there with no obligations, no pressure. Like it had been before Sarafina when Tremaine had been the Alpha to be.

His older brother had been perfect.

Simply perfect.

Good looking. Charming. Intelligent. Well liked. The apple of their parents' eye, the chosen one. The pack had loved him and wanted him as their leader.

Everything had been going according to plan. Until the day it suddenly had not. When humans had ruined everything. When he had been forced to step up and take responsibility for the pack. Something he had not been trained for or ever wanted. It had not been in the cards for him and had come as a complete shock. He had figured he would have traveled the world, maybe meet his mate and raise a few pups somewhere.

But then Sarafina had happened and quickly following, boom, Alpha.

He had sworn that no human would ever harm his pack again.

Sighing, Kingston got up from his spot and began to trot home. It was dark long before he reached the packhouse. That did not bother him; he liked the dark especially in the forest. The way the daytime animals quieted down, and the night population came to life.

'She was here.' Hero mumbled in Kingston's head when he was about to enter the packhouse from the backside entrance. He was pacing and clawing to get out.

'Who the hell are you talking about?'
'That girl, her smell bugs me.'
'Because she's a filthy animal like all other humans. Forget her."
'I can't it makes me want to kill.'

Kingston chuckled.

'Wanting to kill humans has never been a problem of ours. Maybe we should have killed her if you feel that way.'
'No, not kill her. Kill everybody else.'
'There'll be plenty of hunters coming soon, you'll get your fill during hunting season.'

Hero huffed and retracted in his mind, still he could feel the uneasiness and latent anger. An anger which seeped into Kingston and made him agitatedly stomp his feet and clench his fists walking into the packhouse. He grabbed a set of randoms after he had shifted back and pulled on the sweatpants and t-shirt.

"You," he barked at the first Omega he saw stomping down the halls.

The poor boy of not more than 16 at the most stood there nailed to the spot shaking in his proverbial boots staring at the thundercloud which was his Alpha.

"A... Alpha." He bowed his head. "May I help you?"
"Food. My office. 10 minutes." Kingston shot at the kid like he was a telegraph worker receiving a telegram.
"Yes, Alpha. Hot or cold?"

For a second Kingston was impressed with the kid. Rarely had anybody looking ready to soil themselves kept their head that clear trying to please him.

"Hot."
"I'll have somebody bring it to you, Alpha."
"No. You."

The kid bowed his head and rushed off towards the kitchen. Kingston stood for a second looking after him. He liked Omegas like him. Compliant but intelligent.

Making his way to his office, where he could get a drink and maybe get some of the anger Hero was pushing on him to go away, he noticed what usually happened when he was in a mood. The discreet ruffling of feet and hushed whispers as people scattered like cockroaches to avoid running into him.

He had been known to rip people a new one for no infraction at all.

Low blood sugar.

He excused himself with.

Besides, he was happy he did not have to deal with anybody. Even Paquin would be in for a hard time if he tried to get an audience, though Paquin was smart enough to pick his battles and a good enough at his job to handle shit on his own.

Kingston had barely sat down in his chair with his drink before there was a knock on his door.

"That was fast," he called out, thinking it was the food already. "Come in."

A small head with big blue eyes and a shiny chestnut braid showed at the door. Inwardly he sighed. He was not in the mood for her shenanigans or temper tantrums. She was not a favorite of his though she was fine for a little something something from time to time.

"Sylvie, I'm not in the mood."
"I can make you in the mood," she seductively mumbled coming at him after she had closed the door. She came over and rubbed his chest falling to her knees between his legs. Her hands kept rubbing him.

'She feels wrong,' Hero hissed at him in his mind.

Kingston felt it too. There was something off with her. Usually, he had no problems separating emotions and physical interactions. Nothing really was emotional for him. She had always been able to get him hard and make it a few relaxing moments for him when he was stressed.

But Hero was right. Something felt off. He felt annoyed and not aroused at all with her seductive moves.

'Give her a chance.' He tried to calm Hero and maybe get a body release that would make them both feel better.
'No!' Growling Hero began to claw at him wanting to take over and push the girl away. In the end Hero got enough control to kick her back making her fall to the ground.

"What the hell?" She glared at him.
"Not in the mood for this. Piss off. I need to work."
"Is it that little bitch from Black River? I can smell her on you every time you've been 'at a business meeting' in town," Sylvie spat with jealousy flaring in her eyes. Her face that he had found pretty at one point was distorted into an ugly mask of venomous contempt.

"None of your business."

Another knock on the door.

Hopefully food that time.

"Enter."

With a side glance at Sylvie Kingston just dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "You can see yourself out, right?"

Sylvie scrambled to her feet when the Omega from the hallway came in carrying a tray. She huffed angrily and left slamming the door like she had the right to do that.

The Omega jumped with surprised shock and put down the tray before he dropped it.

"Will there be anything else?"
"What's that?" Kingston pointed at a brownie with ice cream next to the plate of what smelled like a delicious stew and a piece of bread.
"Eh, my mom says a little sweet makes work easier, and you always work late, so I asked for that for you."
"Thanks...?"
"Matthew, Alpha."
"I'm not really good with ice cream, I appreciate the gesture though. So, if you give me the brownie, the ice cream is yours."

Matthew looked like he had just been punked in some tv show. His eyes were bulging and he kept opening and closing his mouth in an attempt to speak.

"I... I'm not allowed to eat ice cream," he finally managed to croak out.

With a little overbearing laugh Kingston grabbed the brownie and placed it on the napkin on the tray. He pushed the plate towards Matthew. "I'm pretty sure, that what I say goes. Eat it. It's yours."

Slowly, like he was afraid the plate would be snatched from him or he'd be yelled at the second he did, the boy picked up the plate and spoon and took a miniscule amount of ice cream on the spoon and plopping it into his mouth.

The way his eyes nearly rolled back into his head and the little satisfied groan he let out made Kingston shake with withheld laughter. It had been a long time since he had seen genuine behavior like that.

"How old are you?"
"15, 16 very soon." Matthew took another little dollop of ice cream and ate it.
"And you work where?"
"Laundry, mostly. I pick up the dirty clothes from the rooms and around the packhouse and I make sure the random piles are well stocked."
"Do you like it?"

Matthew paused. Lying to his Alpha would be bad. Being honest about it would be equally bad. He gave Kingston a pleading look hoping to get out of answering.

Kingston pressed his lips together. "I'll take that as a no."

Matthew nodded slightly, there was no way out of that one. Whatever his punishment would end up being it was better to be honest.

"What would you like to do? Anything you're good at?"

Again, Matthew looked like he was waiting for a camera crew to jump at him yelling candid camera.

"I'm really good at math. I like numbers. I would like to be on the grocery team maybe. The ones shopping in town, keeping track of inventory and doing the books and budgets, you know math." He looked horrified he had just said that like a demand that it should be the grocery team. "Anything math would do. I can tutor the pups or something, I didn't mean to..."
"Relax, I get it. What do you say to helping me out with some math related issues?"

Matthew nodded his head furiously to the point where it looked like his head would snap off.

"Tomorrow at 8.30 here in my office. I'll test you out and see, ok?"
"Yes, Alpha."
"Good, now take your ice cream and enjoy it. See you tomorrow."

The kid practically bowed and hugged his plate of ice cream running to the door. The nervous look on his face replaced by a dazzling smile.

With a sigh Kingston picked up the fork and began eating his stew picking up the file at the top of a large pile he had been putting off for a few days.

It was going to be a long night.

Again.

Hi y'all.

Thank you for reading.

So, we got a little background on why Blood Oath aren't happy with humans and Why Kingston in particular isn't. But he's not all that bad, is he? 

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Love Alix