Fated to the Alpha King

Author's Note: You can message me your thoughts at hecate_anystories

Claire

Claire woke up reluctantly, pushing her curly blonde hair out of her eyes. The sun was streaming into her bedroom, a fresh spring breeze blowing through the open windows.

She was back at her parents' house for the holiday, she didn’t get to come back often because her college was quite far away. But this time, the holiday had been longer so she could afford to come home.

Lockwood was a small town but she didn't mind it, she knew a lot of her friends who couldn’t wait to be done with college so they could move to the city, but not her.

She wanted to settle here in Lockwood, among the green trees and familiar faces. She liked the routine and predictable way of living.

It was difficult living in a werewolf-dominated country and as more and more humans moved away, it became more of a werewolf space.

Humans were mostly left alone, werewolves were a friendly sort, at least the ones in her hometown, so they all lived together in peace.

Her family had lived here for generations and although she knew her parents wouldn't mind if she chose to move to the city or out of the country, as a matter of fact, they showed their happiness that she had chosen to remain close to them instead. She was their only child, so they doted on her, showering on her all the love they had to give.

Claire was alerted to a knock on her bedroom door, "Come in," She invited with a sleepy smile, already guessing who it was.

"Hi, Sunshine!" Her mother's cheery voice called out before she even opened the door.

Julia's soft eyes brightened when she saw her daughter. From the day she was born, she had been such a sweet little thing, so kind and bright, so she called her, 'Her Sunshine', and the nickname stuck.

Claire didn't mind the nickname, she was happy as long as her mom was happy.

"Sleep well?" Julia asked, gingerly coming in.

It was her first night in the house after more than a year of not being able to come back home, she could understand her mom's concerns.

"Yeah," Claire replied, sitting up. "It's just like it used to be, I've never slept better."

"Great, I came to get you for breakfast, clean up and come down," Julia informed her, brushing her daughter’s hair out of her face, her familiar green eyes staring out of her pretty face. "Rachel's mom called to tell me that Rachel is back as well, you should go pay her a visit." She added on her way out.

Claire's mood improved even more because of this piece of information. Rachel had been a really close friend before college separated them. She couldn't wait to see her again, it had already been a couple of years.

She made her bed while lost in thought, she had gotten home late last night, so she had only gotten the chance to eat dinner and catch up with her parents. She was eager to check out the town, a few things had changed that she knew of and it would be nice to have someone to tag along with her.

Claire brushed her teeth and showered, pulling on a soft green sweater that accentuated her eyes and black jeans.

It was early spring, and a lot of the trees were evergreen, so they weren't bare, but it was still quite cold. Not to mention that Lockwood was always on the colder side, no matter what time of the year it was.

She got down for breakfast in time to say bye to her dad who was heading out to work. She barely managed to eat up all that her mom had put down for her. Excitement thrummed through her, making her impatient.

"Alright, you can be off now." Julia finally gave in when she saw how jittery her daughter was.

"Thanks, mom!" Claire hopped out of the dining chair, already beelining for the front door.

Julia shook her head, Claire was already twenty-one but she hardly acted her age, always having a childlike enthusiasm that made her seem very young. Julia hoped that the world wouldn’t take that from her.

Claire took out her trusty bike from the garage. Her dad had been sweet enough to keep it well-oiled and in good condition. She revved it up, and the sturdy engine responded enthusiastically, it purred smoothly as she got on to start her journey.

Lockwood wasn’t the only town around, there were other towns around Silverfall City. Although they were much bigger than Lockwood.

Green Bay was a town after Lockwood, you had to go past it to get to the city. It was completely a werewolf town where all the humans had long moved out.

Claire went down nostalgically familiar paths, seeing unfamiliar faces.

Usually, she would wave to her long-time neighbors whenever she drove around, the adults asking about her parents. But now everyone turned their faces from her, she could feel them staring, but when she glanced in their direction, they looked away.

Claire felt a shiver crawl across her skin, she didn’t blame humans for moving out. If they got this kind of treatment for simply being different, it was just better to pack up and leave. Gathering her wits about her, she continued down to Rachel’s house.

Rachel was also a werewolf, but she had known her and her family ever since they were kids and they were nothing like the new werewolves around town.

As a matter of fact, there had been a lot of werewolves while she was growing up. It was as normal as day and night for werewolves to coexist with humans.

Of course, there were lots of things that werewolves did that humans weren’t allowed to do and that was fine. Humans weren’t fighting for inclusivity, they just wanted to live peacefully in their birth towns.

Her relief mounted when she caught sight of Rachel’s roof from a distance, she just had to round one last corner and she would be there.

The house was the same as it always was, a wide, inviting yard around a picturesque house. The white house with red roofing had recently gotten a new paint job, the smell of paint mixing with the scent of freshly mowed lawn.

Parking her bike on the side of the road, Claire got off and made her way down the cobbled pathway, up to the front door.