Alpha's return

ONE YEAR AND HALF MONTHS LATER

Lilliana walked out of her academic counselor's office during her freshman year of the local university close to Pack's territory. She would be starting her second semester soon and had just finalised her next set of classes. Thanks to the college level classes she had taken during senior year and now the accelerated program they offered, she would be graduating with bachelor within 4 years instead of 5. She was a pre-med student and for her, getting straight A's was her topmost priority.

Maybe it was because of what happened with her mother, or maybe it was because she felt like she wanted to do something good for the people of her pack who would lay down their lives to protect her, but Lilliana had decided to become a doctor and take over once her Pack's doctor retired. Dr Donovan was getting on in years and mentioned more than once that he was ready to hang up his stethoscope.

However, he also knew that their pack would not have anyone else to take his place. This is where Lilliana decided to rise to the occasion.

Still folding up her papers, preoccupied with thoughts of the scholarships her academic advisor had recommended for her, she bumped into someone. Startled, she opened her mouth to say sorry for not paying attention and looking up and she saw a very familiar face with startling light forest green eyes and wavy blonde hair.

"Karen?" Lilliana asked with a gasp of surprise. What was he doing here? If possible, he'd gotten cuter than before.

"Lilliana!" Karen exclaimed unbelievingly. "Is that you?" He eyed her head to toe and his smile slowly broke out into a grin. "Lilliana!" He enthusiastically leaned in to give her a big hug, her longtime crush had just given her a big hug.

He unconsciously buried his nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. If Lilliana hadn't been giddy from the hug her longtime crush had just given her, she would have thought it was highly personal of him. As it was, Lilliana did stiffen in his arm When she realised what he was doing. "Sorry" he said sheepishly, pulling back.

He scratched his head seemingly confused. "It's just that you smell different." He stated.

"I smell different?" Lilliana teased. "Wow, that's the first Karen. Why don't you just say it? You don't recognize me, do you? Erica also didn't recognize me when we met up just before she went off to college on London." Lilliana beamed with pride. Her friend had been able to get herself out of the vicious circle of her family and gotten admitted into college. Lilliana had remained present through WhatsApp and Skype to help rise with her classwork. After a lot of hardwork on Erica's part and a lot of encouragement from Lilliana, Erica had gotten a full ride to a university in London to pursue her art degree in photography.

"Well you look... different too" Karen said appreciatively giving her another once over.

Lilliana blushed, doing a little happy dance internally. She could tell he likes what he saw. An entire year of working out and training with the dark phoenix pack plus the fact that her werewolf gene would be emerging soon, in another 6 months, meant that nature had finally given her the curves she'd always wanted. Lilliana had always been pretty but now, the angles of her face were more pronounced and her sight had naturally elongated as a sign of her approaching turn.

Karen took a step back as if suddenly startled by something. Then leaning into her personal space so closely that Lilliana tamped down the instinct to step back, he murmured ever so softly. "You're a werewolf?" Lilliana beautiful almond shape eyes widened in surprise. How does he know? Karen let out a triumphant huff of laughter. She looked at the people walking by the academic block building, afraid someone had heard him. The campus was filled with werewolves from other packs as well but there were humans who also attended.

"How come I didn't sense it before?" Karen inquired confused. "Did you have some spell on you or_"

"Shhh." Lilliana interrupted him sharply. She looked around, afraid again of being overheard. Can we talk about it someplace private?" She finally asked quietly.

Karen gave her a devilish grin with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You want to come to my apartment? It's right on the edge of the campus."

Lilliana had a feeling she shouldn't agree but a quarter of hour later, she found herself sitting in Karen's apartment. Nestled into his dark, brown comfy sofa, she leaned back into the cushion's clutching a glass bottle of peach malt in her hands.

" You are a werewolf?" Lilliana inquired as Karen sat down on the matching sofa chair, opposite to her.

"My parent and I well... we're lone wolves. We don't belong to any pack." Karen explained. "I had my first turn at 16, like most do. Why can't I sense you back in high school?"

"I'm a part wolf," Lilliana spoke after clearing her throat. Xander's words from long ago entered her brain. 'be on your guard'

But telling him she was part wolf didn't really compromise her secret, right? Could Karen be trusted? He was a friend from back home. Well not a friend they had never really been friends. More like Lilliana had a huge crush on him, while Karen would give her a kind 'what's up' and asked for help with assignment from the class they had together.

"Ahhh" Karen nodded understandingly, leaning back to stare amusingly. "That's explains it. So you don't turn until what...18?"

Lilliana nodded, tipping her head back and exposing her neck, she took a sip of the bottled peach malt. Karen hot gaze rest on Lilliana's exposed neck. Bringing the bottle down, she looked at him to see him staring a little hungrily at the crook of her neck where wolves usually marked their mate. He looked away quickly when she caught him staring.

"That means you'll be finding your mate soon too" Karen added airily. "The closer you get to turn, the more you'll feel the male pull. If your mate is a complete wolf, then he'll be able to tell you're his mate. Do you know who your mate is?" He inquired a little interested.

Lilliana gave a nonchalant shrug. For now, it was better to keep things a secret. Not yet. But I'm not too worried about it." She commented evasively. "So," Lilliana tried changing the topics. "What are you doing all the way here? I thought you'd be at an ivy League school somewhere. You were always so smart."

Karen scoffed. "I was never the smart one between the two of us. Honestly, I thought you'd be the one attending Havard or Yale ." Karen leaned forward, resting his elbows on his muscular thighs. He said with a smile playing across his face. "My mom used to be part of one of the nearby packs before breaking from it to join my dad." He changed the subject skillfully.

"Which pack?" Lilliana asked curiously.

"The dark phoenix pack." Karen replied. "She's the sister of the previous Alpha. He died few years ago. Mom doesn't really like to talk about it much. It's like she's hiding some secret from me. We attended the funeral and his son, Alpha Xander visited us one time about a year and half ago. He said he was in town on some official business. It was around that time you..." Karen faltered as realisation downed on him.

"Lilliana gave Karen a sheepish smile. "My father is.. or rather was the beta of the dark phoenix pack. They came to get me to bring me home. I had been living with my mother's sister."

Karen nodded in understanding. "They probably thought you'd assimilate better with humans since half human werewolves don't usually develop until it's almost time for them to turn." He gave Lilliana an almost predatory look. "And you've developed all right." He ended grinning wolfishly.

Lilliana cleared her throat a little uncomfortably. She crossed her long lithe legs. Toned from a year of running through the woods with the werewolves, striving to keep up. Day by day, her speed was getting better. Her eyesight was getting better too and her hair was starting to grow faster. Even her nails grew faster now. It was like everything inside of her was accelerating. Cuts that would usually take like weeks to fully heal would completely disappear within a matter of days, leaving no scar behind.

"Well...it was nice to see you Karen." Lilliana stood to leave. "I need to get back home but I'll see you around."

"Yeah, once the new semester starts, I hope to see you around on campus. Maybe we could meet sooner though? I mean...if you're free this weekend, would you want to go into town with me and grab a bite to eat?" He asked casually.

It was at the tip of her tongue to say no because that's what everyone expected of her. She was supposed to go straight to college and back home. Each time she left pack territory, she was endangering herself. But this time, she checked the impulse. It was time to live a little.

"Sure." She said good natured

* * *

Xander walked into his hometown, hand in hand with, Sandra. Her blonde hair tickled his neck as she rested her head against his shoulder, burrowing deeper into him to stay warm. The cold January air caused their breath to be visibly seen as they walked around taking in how much had changed since they'd been gone. Xander had spent his year studying abroad and then spent an extra six months taking classes online while acting as a representative of the four aligned packs within the district. They had made serious headway in forming alliance abroad and increased the collective strength of the pack.

Finally, after spending Christmas in Britain with one of the newly aligned packs, the two lovers had made their way home. Excited to get back to his Alpha duties along with completing college, Xander had wanted to stop in at his favourite diner for dinner before throwing himself back into duties. Of course, he knew his mother would be happy to see him. She had missed him a lot. She was always alluding to Lilliana still being around which get him annoyed. Xander would always quickly change the subject not wanting to discuss her. Honestly, he could care less about Lilliana. But still...for some reasons, sometimes he closed his eyes and saw those endearing stormy blue eyes of hers. He could still remember like it was yesterday her idealistic word.

'i want to fall in love.'

Xander couldn't help but wonder if she had changed since the last time he saw her? Was she still so idyllic caught up in her own dream world? Or had she grown up and become more practical, finally a woman? Maybe it was because she was now part of the pack, but Xander did feel protective of her. He wanted her to remain untouched, unharmed and hoped to find her unwavering in her ideas today as he had found her back then.

Shaking the thought of Lilliana out of his mind, Xander entered the downtown diner he'd been wanting to eat his favourite cheeseburger from. But....

The moment he entered all thought of cheeseburger fled his mind as an entirely new scent overtook his senses. It assailed him, battling against his reason and overwhelmed him completely...

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