The She-Wolf Alpha (Book 1 She-Wolf Series)
Chapter 3

“Sam. Are you hurt?” My father asked as he eyed each figure in the room with barely contained rage.

He was a serious man, but I had never in my life seen him like this.

“No,” I said.

“Elias. Please join us.” The white-haired man motioned a hand toward the table.

Dad ignored him.

“How dare you take her. I told you to leave her alone, William,” he spoke to the man with salt and pepper hair.

“You know why that became impossible,” William responded, calmly, “I know you felt the pull.”

“Fuck the pull,” Dad responded.

His chest was heaving and I could see his shoulders tense.

“This is not a choice, Elias! She deserves to know! She deserved to know a long time ago.”

There was a pressure building in my chest that made it hard to breathe. I only vaguely heard the arguing and shouting around me. This was different than panic though.

Something was wrong. My ears were ringing. My heart was pounding. My vision was getting blurry. My back was tense. My teeth hurt.

Wait, my teeth hurt?

That one break in my focus allowed whatever was going on, time to take over. Then, it was like a force all at once. Where once I was sitting in a chair, I was suddenly up on the conference table with the entire room looking at me in stunned silence.

‘I am here, little one’ I heard a voice inside my head.

Then, I felt myself tilt back my head and let out an ear shattering… howl?

Everyone in the room dropped to a knee and bowed their heads.

“Alpha,” they chorused.

One by one, where once men stood, huge wolves took their place. Including my dad. He was replaced by a gigantic black wolf with golden eyes that looked at me with sadness.

What was going on? I thought.

‘It’s okay,’ the calm voice spoke inside my head, ‘I am Ayisha, and we are okay. I can feel how overwhelmed you are, but trust that everything is as it should be now.’

‘Who are you?’ I asked but my words didn't carry out loud.

‘I am your wolf, but we are one. Think of it as two parts of the same soul.’

‘I’m not a wolf.' I panicked. 'Oh my god. I’ve had a mental break. This is exactly what they talk about when they say 'out of body experience'.’

Even as I said - or thought - the words I knew it was wrong. Never in my life had I felt more whole or more at peace. It was like a key sliding into a lock, or the last piece of the puzzle snapping into place.

I felt myself trot over to one of the windows on the conference room wall. In the reflection, I saw a beautiful white wolf staring back at me with my own green eyes.

‘Ayisha,’ I thought.

'Sam,' her warm voice floated over me.

Everything was so much more as a wolf. Every sight, sound, and - wow - smell was like I was experiencing it for the first time with the intensity turned all the way up. It was both overwhelming and exhilarating. My eyes closed as I took a deep breath. Had I ever really lived before this moment?

Ayisha looked back at my reflection in the window. My fur was pure white, and I could imagine how soft and smooth it felt. A black nose rested on the end of my long snout. I wagged my fluffy tail and felt the air swish through it. My paws were easily bigger than my human hands.

I glanced around and realized I was just as big, if not bigger, than every other wolf in the room. I thought female wolves were usually smaller than males, but what did I know about werewolves?

Is that they were? Is that what I was?

I watched the woman at the table - the only non-wolf in the room now - push her chair back and stiffly walk out the door. Was it sadness I detected in her? I wasn’t sure.

Ayisha jumped back up on the table and once again, tilted her head back in a long howl. This time, an answering chorus echoed in the room and beyond. I could hear howls from miles away. I thought I had read somewhere wolves could communicate from long distances.

As the baying ended, I felt a shift and a whoosh. I was standing in human form. I looked down and was pleasantly surprised to replace my clothing intact. I would have to unpack that fact later. Come to think of it, I barely knew where to start.

The men around me joined me in shifting back. I watched as the oldest of them walked up to me.

“I, Stephen Redding, pledge my loyalty to you, Alpha Samantha Paulson. I will protect and honor you with my life,” he said.

What?

‘Tell him you accept his pledge,’ Ayisha murmured.

“I accept,” I responded, unsure of that statement.

Every man in the room came forward and gave the same vow. William, Emerick, Lefty and Righty - whose names were apparently Jonathan and Jackson - , and finally, my dad.

I raised my hand to cut him off he started to speak.

“Don’t,” I said and turned to the rest of the group. “Please, give us the room.”

The men filed out quickly. I looked back to see my dad standing rigidly. His jaw was tense and he crossed his arms over his chest.