The Alpha’s Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger

Clarissa

I remained seated for another moment, looking around the hall that had witnessed so many important decisions over the years.

My father had hosted treaty negotiations here, had welcomed Alphas from across the country, and had built alliances that had kept the South stable for decades. Now that stability was in tatters, and the very leaders who had benefited from Blue Ridge's strength were turning their backs on his daughter.

"It's fine," I told the empty air. "First meetings are rarely pretty."

Standing slowly, I shrugged out of my blazer and draped it over the chair, then slipped the elastic hairband from my wrist and tied my hair back. I wished I could go for a run, but I couldn't.

As a nursing mom with a fussy baby, the slightest discomfort would make him wail for hours. Mothers were connected to their children after birth, so the child could feel them shifting into their wolf form.

Gathering the untouched documents from the table, I walked towards the door.

Outside, the sun shone with vengeance as I started in the direction of the pack house. Children were playing and running around. I met a few pack staff and pack members who bowed or dipped their chins to acknowledge me and kept moving.

A pair of warriors were arguing heatedly over a map when they noticed me; they straightened immediately and shouted, "Alpha," in unison.

"Don't let me stop the argument," I said with a smile. "Good plans come from good fights."

They grinned and kept their heads bowed until I passed before they went back to their argument.

I took the path through the training yards, past the new building in progress for pack healers, though they had set up their medic tents and were still attending to pack members, past the storehouse, until I arrived at the packhouse.

hall. The sounds of pack members going about their duties, children playing in the courtyard, and the distant sounds of training exercises

of walking to the nursery like I'd intended, I walked straight to my office

kept my head clear. I sank into the chair, staring at the agenda for a minute,

draw six small boxes, labelling them with the names of

logistics choke point/grain stores/winter routes.BLACK RIVER — ferries / smuggling lanes / old favour owed?IRON RIDGE — weapons foundries/ledger pressure point.SILVER MOON — rites / do not intrude, attend quietly / offer relief.REDWOOD — hunts/share patrol tech/show results, not words.FIRESTONE

my chair, staring at my work with pride. Then I left my

door was slightly ajar, and I pushed it open carefully, not wanting to wake the children

out in concentration, while baby Nathan slept peacefully in his crib. My mom sat in the rocking chair nearby, cradling my brother while reading and dozing with an open novel on

immediately the sleep cleared from her eyes. She had a smile on her

softly, not wanting to wake my brother

moving to check on the baby. Baby Nathan slept with one tiny fist curled near his face, his dark hair already

before I turned to

down to gently adjust baby Nathan's blanket. "Various

mom started to rise from the chair, but I held

find that I actually meant it. "Actually, it's

colouring, her bright green eyes reminded me so much of

table and knelt beside her chair, studying her artwork. She was colouring a family portrait. They were stick figures that were meant to be her, baby Nathan, my mom, and me, all holding

a miracle that she'd bounced back into a bubbly, happy child after the

a strand of hair behind her ear. "Mama's

seriously. At four years old, she already understood that I had