The First Female Alpha

Rhys

"So, you're telling me... I'm your potential mate?"

I knew she was lying the instant the words spilled from her lips.

"Y-yes," she stammered nervously, lowering her eyes to my feet.

"LEAVE!" I roared, my voice ricocheted off the walls, making it echo throughout the room. "Never EVER cross my path again. I'll let you live in my pack for now, but this is your final warning. Out! Now!"

She whimpered under my command and scrambled out of my office like her tail was on fire. No one could disobey me when my wolf seeped into my voice.

I knew I was rude, but as the Alpha of the biggest and strongest pack in Asia, I couldn't afford to have any weaknesses. True, she was pretty with her honey-brown hair and green eyes, but she was petite, even for an Asian wolf...or should I say Arabian wolf. She was weak, and mating with her would only weaken my pack. My Luna had to be strong enough to hold my pack together and suppress any rebellion inside or outside the pack, even during my absence. But a person who considered me a potential mate should've had the guts to look directly into my eyes before they made such a false assumption.

The wolves on this continent were smaller than average, and as their descendants, our wolves were small compared to the average werewolf size. But what we lacked in size, we made up with our fierce strength and speed. I made sure every member of my pack was well trained, both physically and mentally. Being desert wolves, we were naturally ferocious and dominant, but that was no reason for anyone to slack off in their training. Anyone who did so would find themselves wandering alone in the endless Wahiba Sands.

Wolves have many potential mates. It is the wolf who decides whether someone is capable of being with us or not. A female wolf might feel attracted to a dominant male wolf, but the male wolf might not even acknowledge her. Both wolves have to approve of one another to become true mates. But in this case, the girl had been lying completely. I wasn't sure if this ordeal was to escape bullying or to climb up the social ladder by trying to convince me to mate with her—or at least keep her as a mistress.

My pack, known as the WildRain, was located in Saudi Arabia, south of Nizwa, on the brink of the Wahiba Sands. The place is called 'Jever,' which in Hindi means jewels.

"What happened this time?" came the voice of my Second, Zyane Hudson.

I looked up from my desk as he entered my office and settled in a chair in front of me.

Zyane was about 6' 1", comparatively short to my 6' 3", with black hair and dark brown eyes. His hair was longish compared to my military cut, and he also had a slight mustache which…frankly, he was damn proud of.

"Potential mate shit," I growled low in my throat, the sound more animalistic than human.

"Ah!" he said with a knowing smirk. "Poor boss got another groupie?"

I growled again. Yes, that was precisely my problem. In the past few years, groupies had sprung out of nowhere, and I dealt with a new nuisance every day. When would they ever learn that being the most popular groupie in town wouldn't get them any extra pack benefits? But they were hell-bent on making my life a living hell. I didn't want a submissive mate who would listen to and obey whatever I said with their heads bowed, never fighting back, never…challenging. Yes, challenge. That was exactly what I needed—someone who would earn their keep, who wouldn't give in so willingly. Unfortunately, dominant females were scarce in our hierarchy. The groupies were like puppets, trying to grab my attention, so I could do with them as I pleased.

"Any news? Where's Jakia? And has Mehul returned yet?" I asked him about the pack mates who were under Zyane's command as soldiers. I needed to get my mind off the drama.

"Jakia's patrolling the outer perimeter at night so she won't get an unnecessary tan," Zyane says with a snort. "That woman is a pain in the ass, but she's also a damn good soldier. Mehul is out with Eric to finalize the construction deal with the MegaMart CEO about selling the dates in our own stores for once. And yes…there is…some news."

"What's with the long pauses?" I asked Zyane, who also happened to be my best friend, which was why I knew something was up.

"Alpha Devon Solomon and Alpha Aiden Morgan called. They want to have a video conference with you," he answered simply, but his shoulders were tense because it wasn't often that two of the most notorious packs wanted a video conference, much less together. Don't get me wrong, they were thick as thieves, but they were also greedy and power-hungry, each trying to grab an opportunity before the other could get a whisper of it.

"Connect," I said, shoulders tensing. This couldn't be good news.

Zyane booted up the laptop that sat on my desk and connected it to the large plasma screen on the opposite wall so that I was facing the screen directly. After adjusting the webcam and sound devices, he proceeded to call.

A few short seconds later, the screen divided into two parts, and the two Alphas came into view.

Devon was fair-skinned with what we liked to call "pretty boy" looks, complete with blond hair and blue eyes, while Aiden had mocha skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes. Both were equally powerful, dominant male wolves.

"You wanted a conference?" I asked with eyebrows raised, waiting to get this over with.

No doubt there was a female involved. Both were also equally big man whores, and the competition between them was endless. But they usually complained to me separately, never together like they were doing now.

"We…well…we have some news to share…" Devon said hesitantly.

I frowned. This was definitely not going to be good. "Go on."

"You know we have our spies on the China border to make sure no rogues are hiding in unusual places?" Aiden asked me.

"Yes," I said. "I left that for you to deal with. Don't tell me you've failed." My temper rose at the thought. We had enough rogues around already; we didn't need any more crossing over from India through China.

"No," he hesitated, so Devon took over for him.

"We had reports of a few female wolves in the Middle Himalayas…so we followed them."

"Wolves in the Middle Himalayas? But wolves are usually found in the southern or Lesser Himalayan ranges, not the Pir Panjal," I said, confused.

"That's why we followed them. We sent some of our best spies after them. We even kept a mind link so we would know what they found, but…" Aiden paused.

"…but out of the eight wolves that we sent…none returned. We lost complete contact with them a few minutes ago," Devon finished.

A sense of dread settled in my stomach. Spies were specially trained to endure any kind of hardship. Typhoons, tornados, or avalanches…they were trained to survive them all. The fact that eight of them were missing at the same time without any hint of a natural calamity was no joke.

"But," Devon said, "the last image we got through the mind link…before they…God, I don't even know if they're dead…the link is complete silence!" He choked up. I could understand what he was going through; spies were outstanding fighters, but more than that, it was the loss of several packmates that hurt the most. The pack was family. The pack came above everything else.

"What did they see?" I urged. This wasn't just about curiosity; it was about detecting any new threats.

It was Aiden who finished that sentence. "The last thing that our spies saw before the bond was terminated…was a white wolf."

Red.

Under its paws. On the ground.

Liquid red.

Heat scorched the snow. Although it wasn't enough to melt, it still obscured the purity of the grounds the wolf stood on.

The human side would have wanted to question the intruders, but the wolf didn't understand reason; it believed in the most severe kind of judgment. It knew only to kill. To protect its own.

Dead.

Before they could even turn, all eight of them were lying on the ground drowning in their own blood.

The temperature chilled. Snow began to fall again, heavily.

Within a few hours, there would be no trace of the blood and gore or the bodies.

All that would be left would be clear, unadulterated snow.

And a wolf, just as white as the ground it stood on.