Orphan Alpha novel Chapter 1

“Hannah, can you step into my office please?” Called Barb.

I sighed and turned around to walk back to her office. She gave me a gentle squeeze on the shoulder as I entered and sat down. Barb was a sweet woman; she had run the orphanage since before I had arrived. My eyes followed her as she took her own seat behind her desk, her glasses swaying on their chain around her neck. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself at her appearance. She looked not a day over thirty, but she chose to dress like an elderly librarian from the fifties.

“As you are aware, Hannah, you age out in a month.” Her words wiped the laughter from my face. “How is the search for a job and apartment going? Have you found anything yet?”

“No.” my shoulders slumped heavily, “Nobody wants to take a chance on an orphan with no work history.”

“Well. I have great new than!” Barb chuckled. “I’ve recently been authorized to add another caregiver to the orphanage. The position comes with room and board as you will be responsible for the younger children and their needs round the clock.”

“Really?” I shrieked in excitement. Barb had just told me I wasn’t going to be homeless and on the streets in a month.

“Hannah,” Barb cautioned. “I wouldn’t offer this position to any of the others. Your circumstances are unique.”

Barb was right. Before coming to the orphanage, I had belonged to a pack. The rest of the orphans that had come through here in my time had all been human. The only other wolf in the entire place was Barb herself. She was offering me the position not just so that I wouldn’t end up on the street, but also so that I wouldn’t be considered a rogue threat by other wolves in the area. I was an alpha by birth, which made me an even bigger threat as a rogue.

I had come to the orphanage when I was eight, before my wolf had ever made an appearance. My parent’s and entire pack had been wiped out while I was at a sleepover in the neighboring human community. I couldn’t remember much about that night, just my friend’s father coming home in his policeman uniform with a grim look on his face. He had received a call from my parents, alerting him that something was wrong, but by the time he arrived, our packs compound was a grizzly murder scene. The locals had written it off as some kind of religious massacre. They all assumed we were a religious group of some sort. None of them had been aware that we were a pack of werewolves.

Slowly, I began to circle the clearing, hoping to pick up where the scent was coming from. Movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention and I froze when I turned to see a large black wolf slowly entering the clearing. His size gave him away as an Alpha. I eyed him warily. When Barb had told me she arranged for me to run, that was supposed to mean no other wolves would be in the area. I knew I smelled like a rogue. I was pack-less after all, the fact that it wasn’t by choice didn’t matter.

He moved towards me, pausing in the center of the clearing, confusion clear in his wolf eyes. I could feel my wolf form wanting to close the distance between us. She was yipping in joy inside our shared mind. Mate! Mate! Mate! I was struggling against her for control, she didn’t seem to understand the danger we were in.

A howl cut through the night, causing the large black wolf to tear his gaze from me. This was my chance! I pounced on the momentary fear my wolf had felt at the howl and took control. I pushed my body as hard as I could, feeling my muscles and lungs burning, as I raced back to the orphanage. I shifted quickly as the edge of the trees meaning safety appeared, closing the distance in my human form. For the second time that night, I sent up a silent prayer of thanks, I had been smart enough to wear an oversized shirt out and wouldn’t need to stop to pull on my sweats. The shirt would hide my nakedness enough for me to get inside without any questions about my missing pants from anyone I might run into inside.

I didn’t bother to stop as I scooped up my clothing, just tossed the shirt on and closed the distance between me and safety. Luckily, the orphanage was dark and quiet. Nobody would have questioned my clothing, but they might ask why I had been out so late. Before closing the door, I paused, the scent of cedar and rain was almost as strong as it had been in the clearing. Glancing quickly over my shoulder, I saw that the wolf had indeed followed me home. I almost slammed the door in fright when I realized his eyes were watching me.