Aryn

Chestnut brown orbs, infused with valour and salient wisdom, calmly observed the grassland fields in steel concentration. Long limbs stood muscled and alert as the wind caressed the inky tresses that framed its idiosyncratic facial features. A crescent moon marking adorned the crest of its forehead and its clamped jaws masticated on the constant supply of carrots that I so graciously continued to provide.

"You like that don't you, Midnight?" I murmured, brushing its mane.

Its repressed grunt communicated its comfort and I chuckled, silently.

"That's good to know. At least now you'll be a good sport and get me to where I need to be without whining," I moved to its other side with the aim of continuing its grooming process when it turned its head in my direction. "What? You whine more than a newborn and you know it," I re-emphasised with an eye roll and it snorted in indignation.

"I should have named you Whiny William instead. It's more befitting," I teased with a grin as I slowly brushed its back. "Or how about Fairest Nancy?" I suggested, bursting into rhythmic laughter as it regarded me with an unamused expression. I could've sworn it quirked its eyebrows at my petty charade.

"Trust me ladies find it sexy when a man has a sentimental side," I patted its back, reassuringly, before I moved to fetch the horseshoes from the rack. "Besides, a change of name is no big deal, you know," I shrugged, settling on a stool as I set about the arduous task of fitting on its horseshoes.

However, Midnight had other plans for just as I hunched over in an attempt to place the horseshoe on its hoof, it trotted away. Consequently, knocking me off balance as I fell, face forward, into a cushion of hay. It neighed, tauntingly, in laughter at my misfortune and circled round me in blissful glee.

"That is so not funny," I grumbled, my voice muffled against the sweet-smelling hay.

The rise in its neigh was an indication that it thought otherwise as I sat upright with a deep frown.

"Guess you shouldn't tease him that much next time," a soft voice warned with a giggle.

Looking towards the foot of the outdoor stable, I sighted Star, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Midnight trotted towards her and drawing close to her presence, he bowed his head and welcomed the gentle touch of her dainty fingers.

"Good work Midnight," she praised with a smile. "Don't ever let anyone bully you, okay?" she stated to his enthusiastic snort, almost as if he was agreeing to her utterances.

"Oh, how cruel I was for making a harmless suggestion to a defenseless horse," I sulked with a melodramatic tone. "I bullied and berated him until he could take no more, finally resulting in dumping the face of his oppressor into a bundle of sweet-smelling hay," I continued, sighing deeply to the melodious sounds of Star's laughter. "You like that heroic moment don't you Midnight van Casanova?" I deadpanned at the black majestic horse who stood tall and proud with a smug smile lining its features.

"You didn't have to be such a Drama Queen about it," Star chuckled, walking towards me.

Her riding boots clinked, softly, on the brick floors as she neared me. Today, she was without her characteristic glasses and her flaming locks had been left to tumble down the length of her slender back. Her off the shoulder top drew attention to her pert bosom and her jeans highlighted voluptuous curves that for years had been kept under wraps.

Surely, I was hallucinating.

"I know the hay makes for a comfortable sitting place but now you have to get up," she sassed, offering me a hand.

Try as I might, I couldn't focus on anything else but her. Like a moth drawn to a flame, my eyes thirsted after her appearance as it drank to its fill and continued to drink even after it had reached satiety. Suddenly, I was well aware of the beautiful arch of her lips and the luscious shine to her hair.

It wasn't my first time seeing her so why did it seem that way, recently?

"Ahm Aryn?" she tried again, tentatively.

"Who are you and what have you done with Star?" I respired, gaining back control over my breathing which had ceased, momentarily.

"Oh that's what the dazed look was about," she coloured, smiling sheepishly as she toyed with the hem of her shirt, nervously. "It's a little bit warm today and I thought I'd take advantage of the weather before winter comes in with full force," she explained, avoiding my gaze to look at the hanged saddles.

"There's absolutely no need to explain your fashion choices," I backtracked, hastily. Not wanting her to feel self conscious. "I mean you look very d-d-dashing and g-gorgeous," I stammered, getting up in a rush and bumping my head on the overhead hose pipe boom.

"You really think so?" She turned, abruptly, to face me with keen, clear eyes.

"Yeah sure," I coughed out, awkwardly as I busied myself with dusting the hay off my clothes and rubbing the sore part of my forehead in an effort to avoid her earnest gaze.

Not many things made me flustered, if any at all. However, for some reason, Star had a way of disrupting my cool, calm and collected demeanour.

I wasn't new to the undulating, mesmerizing form of the female structure so why was I acting like a hormonal teenager right now?

"Well, Fred did say that I looked very enchanting without the coffee stained lab coat and oversized glasses," she chuckled, smiling in remembrance of his words.

That sentence was enough to pull me out of my self induced euphoric trance. Of course Fred would be behind this.

"Fred said that?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow before I clicked my tongue to summon Midnight closer.

"Yeah, we sort of went out on a date, if you could call it that..." she rolled her eyes, comically, and I stopped nailing the horseshoe to Midnights' hoof to peer at her in disbelief.

He actually scored a date with her?! Unbelievable! However, why did that revelation make me slightly uneasy?

".....and then at one point, he took off my glasses and the hair ruffle in my bun and kept going on about how I looked much better without them," she moved over to where I was and squatted, watching me work in silence.

"I never thought you'd go out with him. Especially seeing as you've consistently rejected his advances over the years," I blurted out, uneasily, with the aim to keep her talking lest she heard the erratic beat of my heart due to our close proximity.

I sincerely couldn't understand why I was acting like this all of a sudden.

Tell me you have a reasonable explanation for why my heart has decided to join the Olympics? I posed the question to Adolf.

Don't ask me to explain why you can't keep your libido in check, he sassed, tauntingly. Knowing quite well that his comment would irk me.

I should have known better than to ask you, I mumbled. And that's certainly not what this is about, I snapped, refuting his earlier claim. Remember Star is a ....

...Hot friend! he interrupted, finishing my statement. A very attractive vixen, if I do say so myself, he added with pleasure.

Look, I know you thrive on infuriating me at any given opportunity but we have a mate dammit, I groaned, debating on whether to cut off the link or not.

A mate that you have no plans on marking anytime soon, he droned, clearly frustrated with my inaction with regards to claiming our mate. Might I remind you that wolves and celibacy don't mix well and I've had about enough with you and your abstinence from she-wolves. So don't mind if I ogle a she-wolf who's not mine... he sighed, contentedly. "...and who also happens to be staring right at us with lovely, grey eyes," he continued on in a dreamy voice.

Just great that my wolf was now submerged in an intoxicated reverie that was bound to, inevitably, cloud my judgement. However, the final statement that he uttered provided the ultimate stimulus that awakened my dulled senses from the dreamy slumber that threatened to consume my whole being. The foggy screen against my eyes cleared, instantaneously, and I finally noticed Stars' expectant expression.

"Did you hear me?" She questioned with a quizzical look.

"Ahm yeah," I blinked, my eyes narrowing on her facial features as I cleared my throat. "Yeah I did. It's great that you went out on a date," I uttered with mock enthusiasm. I hadn't the faintest idea of what she had just said.

Thankfully, she didn't fixate much on my transient inattentiveness and continued.

"I thought so too," she agreed with a small smile. "Especially after all these years of being mateless," she hugged her knees to herself and stared out into the fields. "I finally decided to give myself a chance to move on...." she trailed off with a soft exhale, failing to finish her sentence.

I looked in the direction that she stared at and tried to comprehend the meaning behind her unfinished words. So lost was I in my internal mission to solve the apparent puzzle that I was oblivious to the moment when she looked at me and smiled, sadly, with an outstretched finger towards the side of my face.

The space between her delicate fingers and my face was never reconciled as the loud knock on the stable door caused her to stand up, speedily. Looking away from the fields, I turned in the direction of the sound and sighted Roy.

"His royal majesty, Alpha Aryn, now would be a good time to grace us all with your esteemed presence," he announced, dryly with a sardonic smile. "Hunters' cabin is still a long stretch from here and unless you want to get back at midnight.... no not you..." he stopped to address Midnight who's ears had perked up at the mention of his name. "....I advise that you get your royal behind out of this stall," he continued, strolling into the stable before he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ahm a good afternoon to you my fair lady. I'm Roy and you would be?" He beamed, turning up the charm as he eyed Star's figure in appreciation.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and help with the last horseshoe before you start ogling Star," I mumbled, rising from the stool to get the horse saddle.

"Star?!" He sputtered, rubbing his eyes over and over again in disbelief.

"Yep, it's me Roy," she droned, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm hurt that you can't tell it's me even after decades of knowing each other," she drawled, helping me with the buckling of the saddle.

"But Star wears glasses and she's not as...." He trailed off, taking in the delicate curve of her hip and frowning at the insinuation.

"There's something called contacts Roy and I don't appreciate you hinting at the fact that I'm not womanly enough," she reprimanded with feigned annoyance as I chuckled.

"No, that's certainly not what I meant. I would never ever...." He rambled on incoherently.

"Roy the horseshoe won't nail itself," I interrupted, trying not to laugh at his flustered state.

It wasn't his fault that he was shocked at her appearance. It was as if Star had bloomed into this foxy vixen overnight. So it was quite difficult to reconcile the cute, nerdy image that we've always had of her with this new depiction of femme fatale awesomeness.

He moved quickly towards Midnight to complete the task that I had bestowed upon him while he stole discreet glances at Star every now and then in utmost wonder and disbelief.

This would definitely take some getting used to for not only him but most of the ummated wolves who had always viewed Star as the child-like, brilliant scientist.

Once we were done with Midnights' grooming, I led him out to meet Yil and Kiba who were standing by their horses, as well as Roys' and Stars', on the far side of the ranch.

Yil was a beauty to behold in her form fitting jeggins and strapped boots. Her taut abdominal muscles, exposed by the white lace bralette complimented her ample cleavage, adorned by a simplistic drop chain necklace. Unaware of my advancing presence, she tossed her silver locks away from her quaint profile and tilted her head up to the partially hidden sun with a small smile.

Now that's the only she-wolf we're allowed to have eyes for, I reprimanded down the mind-link.

Tell that to yourself buster, he retorted and I rolled my eyes so far back, I could almost sight the insides of my skull. You happen to be guilty of that sin as well, he goaded with amusement. But on a much serious note, as the Alpha can't I have both of them? He questioned. The feisty and cute, whimsical and vixen, seductress and enchantress... he rambled on, fantasizing about the idea.

I could understand that his sudden fixation, if you could even call it that, with Star was as a result of my delayed relation with the species of the opposite sex. Nevertheless, as opposed to my initial thoughts concerning mates and the mate bond, I now made it my life's mission to claim Yil as my own. Of course with her voluntary agency. She was mine, specifically and specially crafted for my pleasure as I was hers and at this point, I couldn't bear to let her go.

My gaze moved, reluctantly, from her to the protective manly shield beside her. I felt my fangs elongate in hostility and a tempest plague the insides of my being. I would maul him if it weren't for Yil and, surprisingly, Dina who had made me promise that I wouldn't hurt him any further. It had been a week since the incident, as I liked to call it, and Dinas' condition had improved, somewhat. She still battled with her dementia and couldn't remember my familial relationship to her. However, she had implored to me, as her Alpha, to let the matter go and I had agreed albeit with a truckload of unwillingness.

Although, it was very satisfying to see the destructive result of my expended anger on his physical body, the cuts, bruises and scars that he bore had still not appeased my ravaging rage. For the time being, I would comply with the demands of his damsels in shining armor but if he so much as breathed in a way that I found unnerving, I wouldn't hesitate to end him.

"Oh brother," Star facepalmed, unexpectedly, with a sigh. "Look who's back from the dead," she groaned, peering from behind her slightly parted fingers.

I followed her line of vision, quite expecting the familiar presence that greeted me. Before I left for North Dakota, I had purposefully sent Tina on a wild goose chase after Marcus Rodriguez and his cronies. I knew the mission would lead to a dead end but I had instructed her to go, anyway.

What was the reasoning behind this, you might ask?

I had sensed the unwarranted animosity that she bore for Yil since learning that she was my mate and wanting Yil to be as comfortable as possible in my absence, I had decided to eliminate the likely thorn in her side for the duration of my travel. Now that she was back, I could finally deal with her insubordination, appropriately. Furthermore, with the resentful expression that was ever apparent on her face as she conversed with Yil, I was certain I'd have to do it sooner rather than later.

"Sorry to interrupt this encounter," I rumbled, once Star, Roy and I had gotten to where Yil, Kiba and Tina stood.

"Aryn!" Tina exclaimed with glee as she turned from Yil and quickly replaced the smirk on her face with a bright smile. "I've been away from you for so long and I never even got anything useful from trailing those bastards except for a lot of bruises and sleepless nights," she lamented, looking up to me with droopy, doe eyes before she hugged me, tightly.

I sensed Yil's discomfort with Tinas' behaviour as was reflected in her rigid stance and fisted palms. Roy rolled his eyes in annoyance, Star looked ready to pounce on her and Kiba looked away, unbothered by all that was happening around him. Disengaging myself from the suffocating hold, I moved closer to Yil where I wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her closer to me, much to her surprise.

"Firstly, it's Alpha Aryn to you. Do I have to remind you of what happens to disrespectful wolves?" I growled, threateningly, with bared fangs.

"Oh, do forgive me Alpha," she apologised, hastily, with a bowed head in acknowledgement of my position as supreme leader of the pack. "I was just so happy to see you again. I promise such won't ever happen...." She trailed off with her mouth agape as she raised her head and finally registered my closeness to Yil.

"It better not," I continued, disregarding her unfinished sentence or surprised look. "Secondly and most importantly, Yil is my mate and your future Luna," I hammered, placing emphasis on my words. "You shall not disrespect her ever again with the stunt you just pulled," I warned, lowly. Her gaze was still fixated on Yil and I's intimate closeness as she continued to stare in stunned silence. Almost as if the reality of it all was just dawning on her.

"Moreso, as per the rules and regulations of this pack, Yil will determine your punishment and you shall abide by her verdict," I finished, glaring at her with a hardened gaze. Even that wasn't enough to pull her out of her daze as she continued to stare at my arm around Yil.

Turning to Yil with a soft smile, I addressed her. "She insulted your authority and position as my mate, marked or not, and for that it is required of our law that she be punished," I encouraged, noting Yil's apprehension and surprise at the fact that I had given her due reverence, publicly.

Her soft smile was an indication that she understood what was expected of her and turning back to Tina, she gave her verdict. "From today you are stripped of your position as Head she-wolf commandant and in your replacement will be Lloyd," she decreed, finally gaining Tinas' attention.

"No, you can't," she gasped, shaking her head in denial and looking to me for support.

"I can and I just did," Yil enforced, placing a hand to her chin and angling it towards herself so that Tinas' eyes were focused, solely, on her and not on me.

A heat rush ran through me as I watched Yil revert into a leadership role. A role for which she was born to fill. I couldn't have asked for a better mate to rule by my side. However, her resolution to give Tinas' position to Llyod as opposed to obliterating the office, since it was created to fill the void of a Luna which I was hoping she would undertake, showed that she had no plans on being my Luna and for that I was much more determined to make her mine.

"I apologised, didn't I? What else do you want?" Tina questioned in agitation as she backed away from Yil.

"You apologised to Aryn not me," Yil replied, coolly. Tina attempted to argue but she cut her off. "And lest I forget since you are no longer a commandant, your role as a spy and communication specialist ends today. Furthermore, you are automatically demoted to the position of a cadet of the lower rank," she continued, unbothered by Tinas' growing hysteria. "Their training session starts in five minutes by the way and you better be there," she concluded, checking her wristwatch before she turned to mount her horse.

I could watch her all day.

"Alpha please don't let her do this. I won't be able to live this shame down," Tina pleaded, rushing to my side. She attempted to hold unto my arm but remembering the actions that led to her demotion, she stopped short of touching my skin.

"Your future Luna has given a command and I expect you to abide by it," I dismissed before I mounted Midnight just as Star, Roy and Kiba mirrored my action. I dug my heels into Midnights' flank and he trotted to meet Yil who was ahead, leaving a very distraught Tina in my wake.

"Future Luna huh?" Yil snorted, relaxing her grip on the reins to slow down her horse.

"Yep, I intend on making that a reality," I grinned, giving her a sideways wink which she shook her head at. "You were really hot back there, though. Giving orders and being so assertive," I commented, huskily.

"Hmmm, is that a subtle pointer towards a cherished fetish of yours, Mr Alpha?" she purred, seductively and I chuckled, deeply, at the game she was initiating. A personal favourite.

"Of course Kitten. I'm a man of control who admires strong females. She who presents a challenge. She who's feisty and stubborn. She who I'll have so much fun dominating. She who I saw in you," I boasted, guiding Midnight, gently, along the banks of a ravine and up a grassy knoll.

Once we had reached the top and she was riding by my side again, she replied. "Well, she isn't in any way submissive rather she likes to dominate," she growled, lowly. "So do be prepared to wear the blindfolds," she winked with a cheeky smile before riding further to meet Star and Kiba who were ahead of us.

My amused laugh was my only reply. She was definitely all I ever needed.

"You reckon Hunter will be at his cabin and not on some random adventure?" Roy questioned, riding up to me and breaking into my reviere.

"Yeah, he should be," I replied, absentmindedly, still with my eyes on the white-haired seductress who was too intoxicating for her own good. "Why the heck were you behind us anyway and not with Star?" I questioned, finally registering his presence.

"Ahm because I'm a freaking mess next to her. Haven't you seen how breathtaking she looks?" He questioned, derisively. Indirectly stating that I needeth asked him the question in the first place as it was obvious that he'd react just as he had.

"I couldn't even form a proper sentence in her presence. Her allure is too compelling, sheesh!" He looked towards the attractive presence atop a white horse and rubbed his eyes again in disbelief. "There is no freaking way that's the clumsy, cute, nerdy Star that I know. Nuh-uh," he refused, shaking his head, repeatedly. "I must be seeing things,"

True, it appeared that she had transformed overnight into this brand new version of herself. However, thinking back to the years that I'd known her, I knew that interpretation was wrong. Star hadn't changed. I had just never looked beyond the friendship lens with which I regarded her with.

Recently, for some unknown reason, I began to detect and notice her allure. One that I'd never heard call due to the pact to repress all my feelings. Now that Yil had made an appearance and stirred the emotions within me, I finally took notice.

Why her specifically? I couldn't be sure.

But as I looked towards Yil and Star and their juxtapositional embodiment of snow versus fire, rightful light versus sinful pleasure, mate versus friend, I realised that my once dead heart had truly awakened.

However, it had gotten so used to being cold that when introduced to the feelings of warmth and its high, it sought it from every and any source.
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