Chapter one - Tara

Chapter One - News

Tara paced around her room, walking back and forth from the bed to the window and back again. She hated waiting, for anything, and especially now when she may just be getting the freedom she has so deeply desired for years she is even more impatient than ever. The waiting is that much harder.

Half way back to the bed she heard movement downstairs and froze in position. The sudden stop making her shoulder length black hair swing back and forth in a silky show like one of those shampoo commercials. Her sea green eyes narrowed to slits as she listened.

“We can’t let her do this, she can choose someone here there’s no need to let her go to the city.” Her mother’s voice came up the stairs clearly to her hears, sometimes she wondered why they bothered having conversations with out her present, if they didn’t want her to hear or be part of the conversation the least they could do was leave the house, leave the surrounding area as well. Because having a conversation right underneath her feet and then being angry at her for eaves dropping just wasn’t fair. It’s not like she did it on purpose. And they should know!

“Piper we can’t do that to her you know the only other person her age other then Ty is Ryan, I suppose there is Andrew as well but he’s nearly thirty and I think he’s seeing someone, and she view’s Ryan almost like a brother I highly doubt that she will choose him as a mate.”

Tara nearly chocked when she heard her fathers reply. Ryan a mate! She laughed and wheeled around throwing herself on to her bed.  She lay facing the ceiling. Arms crossed over her chest. The T-shirt she was wearing was her favourite; it was black with the words “your just jealous coz the little voices are talking to me!” written across the front. Her brother got it for her on her 18th birthday. Along with the T she was also wearing a pair of three quarter length dark blue jeans. 

“But Ryan is such a lovely boy”, she heard her mother whine back “he’s so handsome could you imagine the children they would have! They would be the pride of the pack I just know it!”

Tara rolled her eyes, that’s all her mother ever talked to her about even since she turned 18 and was of breeding age. She never seemed to notice how Tara would zone out during those conversations; she seemed to think that Tara agreed with what she was saying and wanted only to have children to make her mother proud.  She hated it. And Ty always made fun out of it, it wasn’t really Fair, Ty wasn’t under any pressure to have children or be mated off. He could go ahead and choose who he wanted. But not so for me Tara thought.

“Piper she needs to choose someone soon and the best way to make her choose is to give her more choice, and the city gives her that, it’s a large pack, and it will have more males of her age in it. I heard from John last night that they just had a power change this weekend there’s a new Alpha male, and with a pack of 50 with 15 potential females’ there’s not a single Alpha in it.” He paused as the words sunk slowly in to Tara’s mind.

She sat up so fast she gave herself a dizzy spell; she pounded the bed with her fist. Of course her dad had a motive! After 2 years of nagging about going to the city pack he finally gives in and now she knew why.

“Do you know what that means for Tara, Piper? She’s Alpha potential. She’s a female bread from two strong Alphas those other girls won’t stand a chance the new Alpha won’t have a choice. If he is to consolidate his new position he will need a strong mate by his side. And that will be Tara.” He paused to let her mother to take in the news

“Our little girl could be the Alpha of the city pack, the largest pack in the country.”

Tara laid back down mouth slightly open staring at the ceiling. How could this be happening to her? She’s managed putting of choosing a mate for 4 years now, and now she’s walked in too a trap that she unwittingly set up. She can’t refuse to go to the city now; if she did she’d just be forced to pick Ryan, or Andrew.

She shuddered at the thought, not that Andrew or Ryan was a horrible choice it’s just difficult to see either as a mate. And if she went to the city she would have no choice but to meet up with this new Alpha. And if her dad is telling the truth and none of his pack females are Alpha potential then even if he was dating one of them he’d have no choice but to leave her and choose Tara.

As evil as that sounded that is pack law. An Alpha male must have an Alpha female. The only exception is if there are no Alpha females. Then the next most powerful female is chosen. And Tara was an Alpha female. There was no way around it, just like Ty is an Alpha male. And will most likely take over leadership of the pack when her father dies.

****

“...Alpha of the city pack, the largest pack in the country” Saun stopped talking as his son entered the living room, Ty looked at his Parents who both looked like they were deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

“Who will be Alpha?” Ty said to his dad. Smiling and trying to ease the sudden growing tension in the house which Ty thought was mainly emanating from upstairs, he laughed inside is mind, why do they have these conversations where we can hear them.

“Well your uncle come back from the city last night and there is a new Alpha, apparently he came from a smaller family pack, similar to ours and he didn’t want to challenge his own pack leader and not wanting to wait he decided to head for the city. There was a fight Sunday night, and this young man won.”

Ty’s green eyes narrowed in a perfect imitation of his sister, “So you’re going to ship Tara of to the city to see if u can give her to this new Alpha”

Piper gasped at her son “Tyrone! Don’t make it sound so... Wrong. This is a good thing for your sister she needs a mate and what better for her then an Alpha!”

“What you mean mum, is that it’s good for you and dad, you know damn well that Tara doesn’t want to be mated of, and why should she be forced to pick a mate.  As Ty was talking he was getting more and more worked up, and the greener his eyes became. His hair was the exact same silky blackness as Tara’s though his was a short crop.

“Why are you doing this? You’re not forcing me to go out and choose and mate and start breeding grandkids” his hands where balling at his side, Ty was well known for his tempers especially concerning his sister you could see him start to visibly shake inside his clothes. Though that wasn’t hard since his T-shirt was so tight around his chest you would think it was painted on him. Though the dark green matched his eyes and the Kaki 3 quarter shorts he was wearing. His white trainers were now covered in mud which was slowly leaking on to the polished sitting room floor

His mother looked back at him and smiled.

“Of course not dear your only 22 you have your whole life to choose a mate and have kids.” She said it with complete sincerity that Ty was completely amazed at how his mothers mind worked his dad groaned and paled, he to seemed shocked by what his wife just said.

“Tara is only 22 too! She still has her life ahead of her as well.” He almost shouted it at her, his father got up from the sofa and walked over to him placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down Ty, it’s not like we’re selling her off to the highest bidder, where just trying to give her a chance at a good life”
“Are you?” Tara said as she walked into the sitting room, all three eyes spun around to look at her.  “

“Because to me it just seems like you’re trying to get me mated and pregnant within the next month if you could”
Sean looked back and forth from his two children; they looked exactly the same, the same smooth oval face and the delicately out lined jaw. The only difference on the faces was the lips Tara had her mother’s full lips, not quite Angelina Jolie but they were full none the less, and Ty had his dad’s lips which almost amounted to none. They were fairly thin and when he got angry they were almost none existent.

Piper frowned at her daughter “don’t be silly darling, this is what you want, Sean dear tell her about this new alpha.”
Before Tara or her father could get a word in her mother had risen from the sofa reached her daughters side, (who was on the other side of the room) and had taken her arm and started to propel her to the sofa. 

“Your father says he’s a young man, I’m sure you will absolutely love him, can you imagine Alpha female to the city pack, my little girl!” by this time Tara was snugly seated next to her mother on the settee and locked in a deathly arm grip that she didn’t think her father could get out of, and he was the strongest in the pack. Her mother was beaming at her, and Tara couldn’t help but smile back. She knew her mother only wanted the best for her.

She looked over at her brother *leave it be* she thought to him. He tilted his head in acknowledgement both Ty and their father moved to sit down, Sean took the seat next to Tara so she was sandwiched between both parents and Ty sat in the Arm chair facing the other three across the coffee table.

Her father cleared his throat ï take it that you heard everything that was said?”He directed at Tara.

“Naturally, So I get to go to the city after all, but I also suddenly have no choice in a mate. I take the Alpha in the city or I take Ryan or Andrew here,” 

“Well you could still choose another male from the city pack it doesn’t have to be the Alpha” her father replied both TY and Tara scoffed at the same time.

“Please spare me dad I know how a pack works, if I go there as the only Alpha potential in all those females I will not even get a chance to look at any other guy. They won’t even look my way no matter how much they might want to, I’m off limits to them.”

“Well I suppose so, but you don’t have to accept the Alpha if you don’t want to. And if you do not choose him then you’re free to choose someone else in the pack and bring him back here.” Her father replied smiling, trying to make it sound like she may have a choice in the matter.

“Well dear it’s not like you will be looking at any other males, with an Alpha all to yourself.” Piper said beaming that radiant smile at her daughter. Her mother gasped and raised her free hand to her mouth.

“I’ve had a wonderful idea! Why don’t you take Ty with you and he can have a look at those other females that the pack has, maybe there’s a few potential girlfriends to fill up his time with” piper continued to smile at her daughter, not noticing how her son’s face paled even more than usual.

Tara laughed and shook her head, she honestly had no idea how her mother’s mind worked sometimes.