Reclaimed by the Alpha I Forgot

/Lily’s POV/

I peeped through the window; the sky appeared a lighter shade of indigo, the stars and the moon still visible. There’s a chill in the air, the low thrumming of the radiator running in the background. It made me tug my jacket tighter, knees bouncing against the desk. My frame hunched over the book, lips parting to suck as much air as possible.

The door chime rang. I only caught a glimpse of the familiar face, a flash of a familiar cap, before orange violently erupted across my vision. As I tried to stand up hastily, I stumbled and crashed into a chair, barely biting back a cry of pain.

“Lily?” I heard the familiar voice, sounding worried.

Locking the bathroom door, I rubbed my forehead roughly. “I’m fine!”

I double-checked that the door was firmly locked before retreating to the farthest side of the bathroom. Not like it was a huge space, but there’s some comfort in shoving into the corner and feeling like there’s something to stabilise me.

Eventually, I could feel my vision clearing, but then the doorknob started to jiggle. I darted to the door, pulling it wide open only to see a frantic-looking man.

“What the hell?” Carter, the Pack Alpha's beta, exclaimed.

“Carter,” I gasped, trying to redirect how disoriented I looked into a scandalised reaction. “Where are your manners?”

“Is it bad?” The beta avoided my question, brows furrowed together as he bridged the gap between us. His hand instantly came up to cradle my jaw, the touch surprising me.

As if the beta suddenly realised the action, his hand dropped, a flush crawling down his neck.

The migraines started three years ago. They were more intense than the previous ones, my ears ringing and my head feeling on the verge of splitting. No witch or healer in our pack could pinpoint the cause behind it.

“I-I am okay.”

“You are not. Let us go to Alpha Oliver.”

Pack Alpha Oliver was the one who took me in and immediately adopted me as his daughter. He gave me my own quarters, a name, since I had no memory of the one my previous life went by, and let me raise my son safely within the BloodMoon Pack.

“And worry him more? No thank you. He is already stressed about the upcoming meeting.”

“It's your health, Lily.”

“I have dealt with worse. It’s alright.”

Carter looked like he wanted to argue but eventually folded, following me to the reception desk. On most evenings, I picked up shifts at the inn. Not that I needed extra cash since Oliver paid me handsomely for overlooking the pack accounts; it was simply to ease the load off, Renee. She’s four months pregnant now, and I wanted her to get enough rest and focus on growing her pup.

“Speaking of the meeting, Alpha Oliver asked me to remind you again that it's 9 am sharp.”

I rolled my eyes, suppressing a groan. “This is the fourth time! He messaged me this morning, and I replied with a big thumbs up. Wasn’t that enough?”

“No…” Carter slumped on the chair next to me, body angled towards me. “This Alpha…Sebastian…he has a reputation. He wants things a certain way, and Oliver wants to make a good first impression. This is quite literally the biggest trade offer our pack has seen.”

Alpha Sebastian De Luca was the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. He comes from one of the oldest, most established, and largest packs in the state. It’s said his great-grandfather was the first to mass-produce rut suppressants and heat inducers. That’s the only information I heard about him in passing when Oliver kept fussing over accounting files. His company needed the herbs that our pack could supply. It would open new avenues for pack members and also bring in extra money for the packhouse.

“Yeah…” I trailed off, my fingers nervously wringing together. My stomach clenched at the thought of meeting this stranger who I know nothing about.

“Lily, go home and get some rest. I’ll wait till the night duty guard comes in.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but fatigue took over my body, and I suddenly felt the aftereffects of the migraine episode.

“Thank you, Carter!”

Arlo clung to me like a koala, his tiny arms tightly wrapped around my neck, lips pressed in a pout. His thick light brown curls appeared unruly even though I spent the good part of the morning brushing them. His stormy grey eyes met mine, shiny and pleading. The pup must look a lot like his father because the only thing he had from me was his button nose and the mole on his bottom lip.

“Itty bitty…” I cooed while trying to release pheromones to soothe him. “You love Maria. She will teach you finger painting today, hmm?”

He shook his head, legs tightening around my waist as he tried to burrow his nose in the crook of my shoulder. Arlo kept insisting on joining me in the pack house. The pack members treated him like a mini celebrity there, indulging his cravings and letting him run around.

When I worked my shifts at an inn or did accounting for Oliver, Maria, one of the college-going omegas, babysat him for pocket money.

“My mummy…No,” He whined, distress in his tone evident while his tiny fingers tried to grab at my face. I sighed.

“Fine…” I sniffed his hair, patting at his back as he squirmed in my arms. The argument was a losing battle from the start anyway. He always got his way.

“No running to the first floor. Mummy has an important meeting. Okay?” I added. There wasn’t much land left in the pack for another building, so Oliver made a makeshift office on the first floor. Carter and I were the only ones working there.

“Kay…” He dragged his words.

The meeting room smelled heavily of incense and wood when I walked in with a cup of coffee. I tried to ignore the butterflies, which I blamed on drinking an espresso on an empty stomach.

“He should be here any moment now.” Oliver stood near the window, arms crossed, watching the driveway.

“Did you eat anything? You know you have to take your pills by 10, right?”

My question made his lips twitch, and his shoulders sag as he turned to meet my eyes. “Lily, I haven't even had time to get a coffee, forget breakfast…”

I motioned towards the cup I placed on his desk, already aware that he must have been pacing in his study all morning.

“What would I do without you?”

“Let’s hope we never find out.” My lips twitched.

A few minutes passed as I went over the ledgers while Oliver kept sipping his coffee. We sat in silence, mostly.

“Alpha Sebastian is here…” Carter knocked, his voice low as he pushed open the door.

The beta smiled at me before stepping away, making way for the Pack Alpha.

I sucked in a sharp breath, straightening my only blazer, plastering a calm, professional expression even though I barely felt it.

I heard the Alpha before I saw him—loud, thundering footsteps echoing, the kind that demanded full attention the moment they stepped in.

Sebastian entered the room seconds later, and everything went still.

I couldn’t form words, heart racing as my eyes raked over the man in front of me. He was tall, broad—filled out in his black suit the way I had never seen anyone from my pack. I noticed the man’s sandy hair, messy curls falling around his face. And his face, hard and chiselled, but his stormy grey eyes made my stomach twist.

Curly hair and grey stormy eyes. Like my pup Arlo. My breath hitched in my throat at the thought.

No. It couldn’t be. I tried to convince myself, nails curling into my palms.

“Welcome to BloodMoon Pack, Alpha Sebastian. We are so delighted to have you here...” Oliver’s voice boomed next to me, the cheerful lilt enough to jerk me back to reality.

I swallowed my thoughts and took a step towards Sebastian.

Something flickered in his eyes, his body rooted at the entrance, making no move.

A low, guttural growl tore from his throat, raw and feral, and his eyes turned into slits, a shade of silver I had never seen on any wolf before.

“Mate!”