ALPHA EZEKIEL MASTERS

"I hate to tell you this, but I just left a huge stack of paperwork on your desk that has your name written all over it in big, fat letters." His Beta announced in a completely unapologetic tone, even having the nerve to plaster a huge grin on his face, fully aware of how much he hated doing paperwork.

Unfortunately, there was more paperwork required as Alpha than he originally thought and while his Beta, Andreas, was supposed to help him with it, he always seemed to somehow worm his way out of it.

Alpha Ezekiel craned his neck back and tilted his head up towards the moon, the loud, frustrated howl shaking the forest floor at the thought of having to end his night going through some more paperwork, as if he hadn't spent enough time submerged in it all day.

Shifting back into his human form mid-howl, he rolled his neck from left to right before standing up to full height, catching the pair of shorts that his Beta and best friend had just thrown at him, aiming to hit him in the face but failing miserably.

"You'd think my Beta would help me out with things like this." Ezekiel retorted with a small smirk as he pulled on the shorts and fastened them as they were too big for him and he didn't want them rolling down.

Even though wolves were never too fussed about nudity, both him and his pack did not deem themselves as nudists and chose to remain clothed whenever they were in human form.

"Nice try." Beta Andreas snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, his light blues brimming with mirth that threatened to spill over, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was openly poking fun at his Alpha. "These are all pending transfers so you know you, as the Alpha of the mighty Imperial Thunder pack, such important decisions can only be made by you."

Ezekiel huffed but didn't try to stop the smile that his lips threatened to curl up into.

"Well, remind me to get a new Beta then."

"Very funny. As if you could ever replace me." Andreas rolled his eyes and clapped Ezekiel on the back as they walked out of the forest and began heading back to the pack house, having just come back from a night run around the border.

While they certainly weren't the biggest pack in the world, they had ranked the fifth strongest and most powerful pack in the world this year. While Ezekiel was immensely proud of both himself and his pack for all their hard work, he hadn't realised that the title would come along with a dangerous amount of pressure from both his own pack and others packs, to keep their place in the ranks next year.

With a total of two-hundred and fifty wolves under him in his pack – numbers that had nearly doubled since he had become Alpha seven years ago at the tender age of eighteen and taken over the pack from his father – these numbers had just continued to grow at an exponential rate ever since the pack rankings had been released last month just as they were every year.

He was even prouder of the fact that they had taken quite a jump in the rankings and risen from eleven to five. To think that his pack was ranked fifth out of a grand total of eighty-eight only motivated him to keep up these efforts, even if it meant triple the paperwork.

Maybe we really should get a new Beta.

Ezekiel snorted at his wolf and shot Andreas a wry look, only half-considering it.

While their current packhouse was sufficient to house all the warriors, single wolves and teenagers as mated wolves and families tended to prefer having their own house or cottage somewhere on pack lands for a sense of privacy, it would not remain this way for long. With all the new wolves that were interested in joining the fifth strongest pack in the world, most of these transfers being fellow Canadians from the only other Canadian pack, they would need to build a second packhouse to make appropriate housing arrangements.

That alone warranted a shit ton of paperwork.

Ezekiel himself had a house of his own near the packhouse which he had been working to build from the ground up these past few years, but he didn't have any plans to move into it in the near future, especially since he hadn't been blessed with a mate yet.

When he glanced up to look around the living room on the ground floor of the packhouse – the elevator going up to the tenth and top floor which he shared only with his Beta Andreas and Head Warrior, Holleder – he noticed that the place was nearly empty, a stark contrast with how packed it was during the day.

Since it was pretty late, most wolves were already asleep but a few lingered around, playing what seemed to be some sort of drinking game.

When his eyes met those of a hopeful female who visibly perked up at the sight of him, he trailed his eyes away from her and shook his head before continuing the trek towards the elevator which would lead him up to his office which was on the top floor of the pack house, right next to his bedroom.

When his Beta and friend cleared his throat to grab his attention, Ezekiel's eyes snapped up to meet Andreas', a sheepish look on his face for having zoned out; a bad habit of his when he had a lot on his mind.

His lips curled down in a small frown as his wolf laughed at him, clearly amused with his lack of attention as well as the way his Beta had begun to mock him.

"Sorry, I zoned out there. What did you say?" Ezekiel asked sheepishly as they stepped into the elevator and he pressed the number ten.

"I said," Andreas began with a grin. "I've been talking to Holleder and we're thinking that it would be a good idea to hold the trials next week so whichever of the transfers you think would be a good fit, we'll be able to notify them in plenty of time."

"That sounds good." Ezekiel confirmed with a nod of his head. "When do you need me to finish looking over them by?"

"You're the boss." Andreas shrugged. "But by the end of this weekend would be great."

"Consider it done." Ezekiel confirmed but then silently groaned in frustration at the amount of papers and files he would need to go over in the upcoming few days if he wanted to stick to the deadline that he had just agreed upon.

"You want me to hang around for a while and help you with it?" Andreas asked as they came to a stop in front of the Alpha's office, his bedroom and office on the other of the hallway.

"No." Ezekiel should his head. "But we should really get a Gamma so he can do all the paperwork while we get to do all the fun stuff that comes along with being Alpha and Beta."

"I'll spread the news." Andreas only half-joked, the sound of his chuckle fading as he closed the door and walked down the hallway.

Lucky bastard,Ezekiel thought but at the end of the day, he would never give up his Alpha title. He just wished that there wasn't so much paperwork attached to the job title.

As much as he loved his job and the many benefits that came along with it, he absolutely detested the vast amounts of paperwork that was required for it. Even after splitting the task in half with his Beta, Alpha Ezekiel still felt like he was drowning but for now, he pushed all of it aside and chose to focus on all the transfers.

Call Andreas back and get him to help, his wolf demanded, hating the load of paperwork just as much as his human counterpart. The job will get done quicker if there's two of you going over it together. Plus that way, we won't die of boredom.

As always, his wolf was the voice of reason but as good as an idea as that sounded, Andreas deserved at least one night off.

Ezekiel sighed and shook his head as he dropped himself into his desk chair, already reaching over for the stacks of paper which his Beta had dropped off earlier.

I'll just go over a few and then wake up early tomorrow to continue going through them. He murmured quietly under his breath, hoping to satiate his wolf with his reasoning.

If we had a mate, she could have helped us and then paperwork wouldn't be this boring. I'm sure we'd be able to think of a bunch of things to spice it up.

Ezekiel snorted at the thought but didn't even bother hiding the grin that his lips curled up into.

Horny bastard! He shot back, tired of his wolf's daily reminders that they were still single and unmated. And it's not like we need a mate for that.

No, but it'll be more fun with our mate.

Ezekiel merely hummed in response.

As nice as having a mate sounded, Ezekiel just wasn't sure if it was for him. With how busy his role as Alpha kept him, he just wasn't sure if he had the time or patience for a mate and so far, he hadn't needed to worry about it as he hadn't found her yet which was simply down to the fact that thus far, he hadn't received an invitation to the Mating Games.

Completely opposite to him, Andreas couldn't wait to meet his mate and Ezekiel always made fun of how in love he was with the idea of a woman he hadn't even met before.

Having seen what had happened to his parents, Ezekiel was even more sure of the fact that he was more than content with living the rest of his life without ever having met his mate.

Everything would definitely be much simpler.

While he had always been destined to take over the pack from his father when he was ready and of qualifying age, he just hadn't realised that he would be forced to take over three years early.

His Alpha ceremony had been set to take place on his twenty-first birthday however, the ceremony had been fast-tracked by three years when his mother passed away from cancer and his dad started to lose his mind from the heartbreak of losing his moon destined mate.

His father, former Alpha Daniel Masters couldn't care less what happened to him or his title after having suffered the loss of his wife and mate, but that was not the way things worked. Since the title transfer was taking place before the official ceremony, Ezekiel had no choice but to challenge his father for the role.

As much as it killed him to do so, it was upon both the insistence of both his father and the pack.

The fight had lasted less than a minute and his father had submitted to his son almost immediately, absolutely no hard feelings involved. The ceremony had taken place that very evening. The morning of, he had woken as the Alpha's son but went to bed as the new Alpha of Imperial Thunder.

As heartbroken and saddened as he was by his mother's death, his father took it the worst and Ezekiel had genuinely feared that his father was on the border of losing his soul as well as his mind, having already lost his wolf.

While it wasn't very common for a wolf to their wolf after the loss of their mate, it was still possible and unfortunately, his father had suffered such a cruel fate.

A few weeks later, he discovered his father dead in his bed, having passed away in his sleep with a small smile on his face and clutching an old polaroid of his mother. Ezekiel could only wonder that his father had been dreaming of his mother the whole time, making his passing slightly easier to comprehend and come to terms with.

However, having to deal with the death of both of his parents as well as taking over the pack all in the same month, Ezekiel was in way over her head which meant that finding his mate was quite low on his list of priorities; the wellbeing of his pack and all the wolves under him coming first.

He needed to float before he could even think of swimming.

Before he lost both his parents in the span of a few weeks, he had always been quite fond of the idea of having a mate but now, not so much.

Ezekiel had no intention of ending up like his parents if his mate were to die which was completely inevitable. If he could avoid such heartbreak, so much so to the point of not wanting to live any further, then he would.

Mate or no mate, the pack always came first but that was easier to prioritise without the added worry of having a mate to care for and keep alive.

And that notion would be easier to uphold if he was able to stay away from the dreaded Mating Games.

-

Layla Knight

19.08.2020