Taming His Alpha Female

do I have to?

“Do I really have to?” I groaned as I held my phone to my chest, looking at my best friend who only raised her brows and tilted her chin. “Fine,” I sighed an exaggerated sigh. Ugh... This is going to be painful, it usually is. Don’t pick up, don't pick up...

“Miranda,” she greeted with a cheerful tone, one I knew was plastered on as thick as her makeup, “finally, you called back.” Jip there it is... the usual stab following a smile.

“Hey mom,” I answered her greeting.

“Can you come down to the Pack House for lunch? I need to go over a few things with you.”

“Do I have to?” I groaned. Going over there was probably the last thing I wanted to do... ever.

“Miranda Alexis James!” She scolded me. Ugh. “If you are to be the future leader of this pack, the least you could do is be present for your cousin’s eighteenth birthday celebration.” Jip, that’s right... There was a massive party that had to be planned, one that attracted every possible suitor from every possible family of rank and wealth. When I turned eighteen, I did it out here, at my apartment with my best friend. We watched a classic slasher while eating ice cream and laughing at the dumb sluts who always run out of the safety of their homes to look for the murderer lurking around. There was no birthday celebration arranged for me, no line up of suitors... no, we partied at the Werewolf club in the city and took each possible suitor for a test drive.

“Oh, that would be dreadful, how dare I miss dearest Mari’s big day,” I rolled my eyes as I exaggerated the words and watched Lillian fall back onto the bed she sat on.

“Don’t be sarcastic little miss,” she snapped, “Just be here.”

“Fine,” I sighed like a rebellious teen, right before hearing my mother hang up on our call. Taking a deep breath, I placed my phone on my dresser, slowly and gently. I was frozen with enraged emotions.

“You know you don’t have to become the Alpha Female of the Red Moon pack,” She sat up to gauge my reaction.

“I do, and I will be fucking amazing at it. Won’t it be awesome to see my mother’s face as they crown me... better yet... as she crowns me.” I smirked.

“She won’t be the one crowning you, doofus. That would be your father as he will pass on his Alpha role to you,” she told me as I took a sip of my orange juice, “or maybe not... Your mom always wore the pants in that relationship. She has your poor father by the short and curlies.” Juice sprayed through my mouth and nose, at her unexpected remark... but she was right. My mother made all the decisions... behind the scenes. We both laughed at my twisted family and vowed to each other that we would never allow ourselves to be trapped in a relationship like theirs. I got dressed, procrastinated, did my hair, procrastinated, put on some makeup and procrastinated some more. I was delaying the pain.

“Can you go in my place?” I whined as I watched Lil crawl in under a fluffy blanket in front of the TV.

“You’re on your own with that one,” she laughed, “but I’ll save the ice cream for when you are back, then we can watch Freddie Kruger together.”

“It’s a date,” I smiled. Those words would never be uttered from my lips in any other situation. I will never date a man. I will never make myself vulnerable and weak in that way. Men, in my opinion, are good for two things... carrying heavy objects when we don’t feel like it, and a good shag. People would argue that you need them to have a baby... but um... no... that’s a hard pass for me.

When I reached the Pack House, my childhood home, it brought back so many memories. Memories of climbing over the border fence, drunk, wearing my red high heels... memories of a nine-year-old me filing my nails for the first time only to be told that I looked like a witch... memories of my cousin telling me that I should try and be more like her so my parents would love me. Those memories made me sick... not the high heel climb one though, that one just made me laugh. I thought of that very night, two nights after Cole had rejected me... We went out partying and Anton, a random hot bod, dropped me off just out of sight so I could sneak into my room. I scaled the fence with such grace it amazed me, but when I landed, my stiletto heels sunk into the grass and I fell flat on my ass. My back hitting the lawn with such force my breath left me with an audible OEFFF. Anton laughed from the driver’s seat of his silver pickup and pulled off and vanished into the night. Come to think of it... That memory sucks too.

I looked at the perfectly trimmed rose bushes shaped in lollipops, the freshly cut lawn, the crisp white trimmings around the windows and door. My mother seeks perfection, and I came out fucked up... a mistake.

“Miranda baby, you made it,” she came gliding towards me, her hair neatly pinned back in a stylish up do, not a hair out of place, “you should really let my stylist show you how to do your hair, you look... like a street kid.” Jip... every time, without a miss.

“Hi mom, it’s nice to see you too,” I smiled back at her, not as brightly as she did, all the pretense made me sick, “you should ask your stylist for dental referrals, all these tea dates are making your teeth yellow.” This time my smile was real, but only met with narrowed eyes as she lead me to the tea room.