Genetic Mutations

When I reach the edge of the trees before the gate, I look up smiling. "I know you followed me home. Thank you, Mr. Wolf." The patrols should have changed by now and hopefully Markus remembered to tell the next shift I left. When I get back, I shift back and get dressed before approaching the wall. I whistle loud enough that they'll hear me, grinning when Ashton's face appears above me. His laughter floats down to me as the wall opens for me once again, closing once I'm back within its safety.

I head towards the center of town, wanting nothing more than to go to one of the quaint little cafés we have around here. But I'm stopped by a bitter voice. "Oh look, it's the mate thieving alpha." I stiffen and turn, seeing the girl that was identified to be Vlad's mate. "I distinctly remember having ordered you and him both be locked up," I bite out between clenched teeth. "We were released. On alpha's orders, we were told " I feel my nails bite into my palms as I clench my fist. Bear. He let them out. In my territory. "You know, its admirable what you're doing. Letting us Rogues crash here. It's funny that you don't feel threatened. Any of us could run this place better than you. It's hard to miss the whispers of discontentment among your pack," she says. Her mocking tone rubs Wynter the wrong way, but for Vlad's sake, I try to hold her back. I can smell him nearby and, for his mate's sake, I hope he comes to collect her before I lose control. "I heard about this pack. The pack that burned to the ground. Usually when something burns, it either stays dead or it comes back better. Improved and stronger. Clearly your pack did neither. I remember hearing about your mother, always going through men but never having a true mate. Must have made her pretty damn weak. And then the old alpha got too old and couldn't fight for his pack." I begin shaking furiously when she mentions my grandparents. "They deserved what they got. All alphas do. You're all the same; corrupted and disgusting power hungry mongrels." She sneers at me and turns to walk away. But by now, it's too late. Wynter is too enraged and so am I. And frankly, I'm done holding her back. I can feel my body shifting again.

JULIANNA

I watch as our alpha, my best friend, shifts. And for the first time, I can see why they always say not to enrage her or any alpha. Her normally sleek white fur is replaced with what could pass as shards of ice; sharp and jagged. Her normally green eyes are blazing blue. She crouches low, her lips drawn back in a snarl as her tail swishes side to side dangerously. "Bear, do something," I whisper frantically. He watches her every move carefully but doesn't reply. "Ashton," I plead, turning to him. He sighs and looks at me. "She challenged her, Tigger. And she's doing everything in her power to hold her pack together safely. Every alpha has this potential. They rarely need to use it." I sigh as I watch Dawn circle her opponent. No, not Dawn. This is so much more than her. This is Wynter at her finest. I watch as Vlad's mate lunges viciously and, were it any other wolf, I would have been worried. But seeing Wynter now, I know she'll be fine. She dodges the other female's attack easily and smoothly, a shard of ice catching her shoulder. Wynter spins and locks her jaw around her back leg, swinging her head viciously and throwing her into a tree nearby. But the stupid girl won't submit. Instead she shakes it off and runs at Wynter, launching a full frontal attack. And Wynter isn't having any of it. The attack only seems to fuel her rage and she lunges, raking her claws along her opponent's side. I hear a whimper followed by a low snarl and suddenly I see a deep chestnut colored wolf launch itself at Wynter as she locks her jaw around the she-wolf. The surprise knocks Wynter off her paws for a moment, but she shakes it off. When her eyes lock onto the wolf, I see pain in her eyes before she snarls again and I realize it's Vlad. The dumbass legitimately just attacked her.

I watch as she lunges at Vlad, all care for him gone. Somehow he gets his jaw around her throat and before I can blink, a solid black wolf, his fur taking on the same hardness as Wynter's, is joining the fight. His body though is more the color of onyx. He rips Vlad off of Wynter, pinning him as Wynter shakes herself and lunges at the other female, grabbing her throat in her mouth and locking her massive jaw. Everybody watches as, for the first time, Wynter forces someone not in our pack to submit. When the female lets out a whimper and exposes her belly, Wynter growls. But nobody could have predicted what she would do next because she usually is content with a simple submission. She drags her claws down the female's belly, leaving cuts deep enough to scar. When she shifts back to her human, she stands naked but strong, power and authority rolling off of her in waves. She looks over to where Bear has Vlad pinned by the throat. "Let this be a lesson to any and everybody here. I am more than happy to accept newcomers. Regardless of background. But should you seek to disrespect me, my pack, or its history, I will not hesitate to punish you," Dawn says strongly, her head held high.

Around us, everybody kneels submissively. "Take this female to the hospital. Have her looked at and lock her back up with Vlad when she's cleared. Since they want to be defiant together, they can sit there together." I watch as four guards step up, dragging the now unconscious female away while the other two force Vlad to shift and push him towards the cells. Ashton gives Dawn his jacket, handing Bear a pair of jeans as well. He shifts, pulling them on, as she wraps the oversized jacket around herself. As she gets closer, I can still see Wynter lurking in her eyes. "Meet me in the office and I'll answer all of your questions," she says softly as she passes me. I nod, following her into the house.

Dawn

I can still feel Wynter pacing relentlessly in my head, begging to be let out. I go up to my bedroom to get changed into a simple jeans and tank top combination before heading to the office, Julianna, Bear, and Ashton already there waiting. I lean against my desk and look at Jules' confused expression. "As you know, white wolves are not rare. We are not endangered, we are not specially gifted by the goddess or any other such nonsense. Our fur color is based on the region for which we are built. It is also common knowledge that alphas are the strongest wolves. We have a mutation in our genetics that allows our fur to harden enough to protect us. Think of it like  an armadillo's armor. It served the original wolves because in their time it was necessary. They were constantly in danger. As time passed, we became less targeted as a whole. Challengers began to go after the alphas specifically. Other wolves evolved to allow for this, losing their hardened armor fur. But the alphas were still targeted, other wolves coveting the power alphas had, thus the gene remained. That's why you rarely hear of a pack surviving if a wolf takes over that is not of alpha blood. They are too easy to kill and overthrow. What you saw out there was Wynter feeling threatened enough that the gene kicked in and her fur hardened to protect her from an attacker. Bear's did it because his mate was in danger from another male. It's instinctual and we have no control over when or if it happens. Some alphas these days live and die without it ever happening. Some have it happen frequently. It depends on the alpha," I explain calmly. Her eyes widen as she listens. But not in fear. No, the look in her eyes is more of wonder. Our fur turning solid is so rarely used by alphas these days, most people don't even remember it being a trait of alphas.  

She watches me but says nothing. And then a thought hits me. "Everybody out, we'll continue this discussion later. I need to speak to Alpha Bear alone." I see Ashton pale as he gets up, urging Julianna out of the room before closing the door. I look at my mate, rage bubbling in my belly. "Who the hell gave you the authority to release people on my  goddamned territory? How fucking dare you come here, get pissed at me for not telling you we were mates which, yes I'll admit was wrong, then demand I apologize to a woman whose name I don't even know for disrespecting me, and then when I leave, you turn around and release two people I ordered locked up. How fucking dare you assume you have any right to order anybody to do anything on my territory? You may be my mate, but this is still my home, my pack, and my territory. You have no authority over anybody here. And the next time you think to undermine my order, I'll ask that you return to your own pack. Is that in any way, shape, or form unclear to you," I demand. His jaw flutters and I can see him having an internal battle with his wolf. "I understand," he growls eventually. I watch as he angrily gets up, slamming the door open then closed behind him as he storms out. I growl but don't go after him. You didn't need to be so harsh with him, Wynter says sharply. I roll my eyes and shake my head. A knock on my door brings my eyes up to see Ashton standing in the door way. "Hey, Alpha Eric and Alpha Rolando are here to see you." I look at him in confusion but nod for him to let them in. I close my laptop,  folding my hands on top of it as the two men walk in. Rolando is an older gentleman of Spanish descent. Despite being in his mid to late forties, his tanned skin doesn't show as many signs of again as one would think. He keeps his black hair slicked back, his age allowing bits of smoky gray to poke through. But it only makes him look more distinguished. His dark brown eyes can make almost any Rogue spill his or her secrets and he has helped me many times in interrogations.

Eric is a bit younger, closer to his early thirties. His platinum blonde hair flops into his steely gray eyes that seem to follow your every move. Eric tends to be quieter and more laid back, preferring to let the other alphas argue in the monthly meetings. It's something we both prefer. His skin tone is only a couple of shades lighter than Rolando's, but it's enough that you can tell it's just from being in the sun so long. His pack tends to be more into outdoorsy things like camping and hiking. Goddess knows why. I stand up and flash a smile at both of them, shaking Eric's hand as he prefers and hugging Rolando tightly. "What can I do for you, gentlemen?" I gesture for them both to take a seat as I resume my own place behind my desk. Rolando clears his throat and smiles at me. "Well, Dawn, we've come on behalf of the council," he says. I can feel nervousness rolling off of him and frown, taking on his sudden change in posture. He's shifted in his seat as though prepared to jump up if need be.

"And what is it that I can do for the council," I ask smoothly, my face passive. Eric knits his light brows together as he focuses on me and i can feel him trying to poke at my mind. Trying to read my mood. "You know the council is old. Old fashioned as well as made of old wolves," Rolando continues. By now I can see the sweat beading on his forehead. "The council has demanded that you either take a mate to help run the pack, or they will disband the pack and assign the members to new ones," Eric says, boredom lacing his tone. I tense up, gripping the arms of my chair. "I beg your pardon? And who is the council to tell me when I should take a mate? I think for being one of the youngest alphas not to mention a female, I have held my pack together and followed their guidelines and rules fairly well. Despite being secluded and technically out of their jurisdiction. I have played nice with them even after learning that they could have saved my pack from that attack. So you'll excuse me if I don't care what they think they will do with my pack, but I assure you I will kill anyone who tries to take them from me. The council is made of stuffy, old fashioned, outdated men that think that they can dictate wolves lives because of their age. They're afraid of modernization." My words come out calmly as Rolando slowly relaxes. "Dawn, they simply want to ensure you are as strong as you can be," he says gently. I bark out a harsh laugh. "Strong? Is that what they're telling you? Because if so, they've certainly changed their tune. Did they tell you what they said to me after my family died? They said a little girl couldn't possibly successfully run an entire pack, let alone rebuild one from rubble." His eyes widen as his skin becomes ashen. I stand up and look both alphas in the eye. "I have a fairly strong alliance with both of your packs. I would hate to have to dissolve those treaties over something as trivial as a mate. However, the alpha meeting is coming up on saturday and as such there are matters I would discuss with all alphas present then. So for now, I must ask that you both take your leave while I prepare my pack for my absence." I walk to the door, opening it and extending an arm in a gesture for them to leave. I escort them out of the house myself and leave them at the wall.

"A group of my guards will escort you both home safely. I look forward to seeing you both on saturday." I nod to each alpha before turning and walking away, going back to the paperwork they interrupted. When I get up there, Bear is lounging on the couch casually. "What did the stiffs want?" I roll my eyes, taking the rubberband ball he found away from him and returning it to its rightful place. "To demand I take a mate on the council's behalf." A low growl rumbles in his chest, but I roll my eyes. "So we have two choices; we learn to accept that we are both alphas and figure out how to work with that. Then declare you as my mate at the meeting on saturday, or you reject me and I declare Ashton as my Claimed and keep the fact that he's a snake hidden." I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms as he gets up and begins pacing.

"Well, you had him picked out pretty fast as a backup. Working with us being alphas entails what exactly," he asks. "For one thing it means not releasing my prisoners or giving contradictory orders behind my back," I say calmly. He growls again but leaves it alone for now. "It also means not trying to treat me like a porcelain doll. I wasn't fragile in high school and I'm not fragile now. You need to understand I will not bend to you. We need to figure out what to do with our packs as well though," I continue. He nods thoughtfully. "We haven't been on the best terms the past couple days, but I don't want to lose you, Dawn. You're my mate. And the goddess knows I've loved you since high school. I was just too shy to say anything." I blink, processing this new information before a deep blush bleeds across my face. "So it's settled. We'll announce you at the meeting on saturday then as my mate. We could move your pack here if you want. We're already a safe and secure pack," I offer. He bites the inside of his cheek and nods after a moment of thought.

He gets up, coming around the desk and pulling me up and into his arms. He holds me close to his chest, resting his chin on my head and sighing softly. I wish we could stay like this; trapped in our own little bubble of bliss and peace forever. But the realistic side of me whispers in my mind. Reminding me of the still very real threat that looms over us all and still no idea what is causing it or how to stop it. What I do know though, is that with Bear by my side, I feel like I can do anything. And together, I know we can keep the packs safe.