A/N: As expected, the battle for the Christmas extra was waged between the Alec/Riley one-shot and the interview with Kennedy. The winner is...

You get to read Alec/Riley one-shot on Sunday, December 25.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOTED! ❤

The extra you voted for didn't win?

No worries! I'll just write it next year.

Enjoy the new chapter! ^_^

*****

The smile was already on my lips when I woke up with my arms wrapped around Riley.

"Good morning," I murmured into my mate's ear and kissed his nape. He turned around to face me, mirroring my expression.

"A very good morning, following a very, very good night." He leaned a warm cheek against my bare chest, my skin tingling at the contact.

I sighed, knowing I had to part with his pleasant warmth.

"What's wrong?" Riley tilted his head up so he could look into my eyes.

"I have to get up to supervise the morning exercises for the youngsters. I'll only be gone about fifty minutes to an hour; the workout is short because the kids have to get ready for school."

"What's the problem?" He sounded confused.

"I don't want to leave you on your own," I replied, my thumb gently sliding up and down his jaw.

"Why don't I come with you?" He offered. "If it's not against the Bullets' rules."

I laughed.

"Of course not; after all, at some point you will be moving in with me. But wouldn't you rather sleep a little longer?"

"Nope." He shook his head and lifted his torso to peck me on the lips. "I'd rather be with you."

Delight spilled throughout my body.

"Let's go then!"

We made quick work of putting our clothes on even though I was distracted by each and every move my mate made. The way he bent down to pick up his shirt, giving me a wonderful view of his behind; the way his fingers moved swiftly over the buttons, making me imagine them moving over my body; the way his hand paused over his crotch for a second while he was fumbling with his zipper...

Watching him dress stirred a desire in me, a desire to bring him back to my bed and undress him.

I'd never been so eager to get the morning workout done and over with.

It won't be fair to the kids if I rush them though, I thought as we made our way down the stairs and out the front door. And this is a good opportunity for Riley to get to know the pack and for them to get to know him.

No rushing.

"Morning, Rhys!"

"Hi, Rhys!"

"Hey, Riley!"

I kept nodding and saying 'hello' as we walked towards the nearby woods, my mate replying to the greetings with awkward waves and shy smiles. He had obviously not expected my neighbours to address him so cheerfully, if at all. We made our way slowly, with me occasionally reaching out for Riley as he stumbled. The new, uneven terrain and the little light that the morning sun offered had him tripping over roots and his own feet.

"Don't worry, you'll see better when we get to the clearing and the branches aren't obstructing the rays," I reassured him when he careened to the ground for a second time. I'd caught him before he managed to scrape his knees.

"How do you know no one will see you during the workout?"

"Well..." I began, but was cut off by a young female voice:

"Is Kennedy at the clearing yet?" The teen asked, catching up with us.

"I don't know, Mira; I slept at my own house," I told the pretty girl who was next to me. Her eyes flickered and she tried not to grin.

"Oh. I see."

With a 'Jizelle, wait up' she ran to join her friend, leaving my mate and I with flaming cheeks.

"Do you think she knows what we've been doing?" Riley asked quietly.

"Not exactly, but..." I cleared my throat. I'd seen the gleam in her eyes; in her early teens or not, Mira had formed some idea of what my activities with Riley had been last night. "So, the clearing is a piece of land we bought with the funds we gathered from the pack members." I started to answer his question from earlier. "The first generation that moved into Woodbury initially couldn't afford it, but it was one of the things they purchased as soon as they could. Now that it is a private land, it's less likely for someone to see us train, especially with the patrols marching around."

"Riley, did you slept over?" I was interrupted by yet another youngster, this time older and male, as Jared fell into pace with us.

"Yeah." Riley's cheeks got even redder.

"So are you moving in?" The other boy asked in a friendly tone.

"Jared." Anxiety made my voice come a little bit louder than it should have.

"Well, he is your mate." He pointed out, oblivious to my nerves. "It will happen sooner or later; you two are absolutely in lo..."

"Jared!" The word came out firmer this time.

This may have been everyday talk when two people feeling the mate bond were concerned, but with my Riley being human, the situation was delicate.

"Alright, alright." Jared raised his hands in surrender before putting them in the pockets of his slacks. "It's just so obvious," he muttered to justify himself.

"Do boys and girls train together?" Riley's question was a welcomed distraction.

I nodded and he posed another one:

"But you take your clothes off before you shift; doesn't that make things awkward?"

"Accidents are prone to happen; every now and then you take a glimpse at someone's naked flesh, but people usually change in the privacy of their homes and then go to the training grounds," Jared answered.

"The morning workout is in human form," I added to explain why no wolves were around and just then we stepped into the clearing, shielding our eyes from the sun.

Once Riley got used to the brighter light, he looked thoroughly at the sight before him and I wondered how he saw the place.

For me, this was the space we'd cleared of trees so we could practice. It was big enough to hold a lot more people than those currently present - youngsters and a few adult supervisors. My baby brother was already here and, as usual, surrounded by his friends. No matter how he moved, he always ended up in the centre with the others gravitating around him, pulled in by that cocky, boyish charm that was particular to Kennedy. He paused whatever he was telling his companions to wave at us, the girls giggling as soon as he got back to his story.

"I better join my group," Jasper said and jogged off to a bunch of werewolves in their late teens, passing on the way by Melanie who had glued herself to Carter's arm.

"Everyone get in line," Anthony commanded, coming from in between the trees with Everett in tow.

All of the thirty-one teens and preteens stopped chatting, moving into four neat rows. The shortest ones were at the front and the tallest at the back.

"Let's start with something simple." Anthony commanded. "Routine number two."

The trainees commenced jumping jacks.

"Aren't you supposed to give the orders?" Riley asked as he turned to me. "Being the Beta and all."

I nodded for him to follow me as I started making my rounds along the edges of the clearing.

"Being Beta actually reduced my time with the kids due to my other duties," I told him as we walked, my eyes on the trainees. "Anthony is a wonderful trainer, very disciplined, so we made him our Head Trainer. This is his turf, so to say, and even though I'm the Beta, during workouts and on this field we have almost the same amount of authority."

"Stop flapping your arms, Horace! And straighten your back, boy!" I winced as Jasper admonished his son, but quickly replaced the expression with a reproachful glare when I caught the other man's eye. He frowned at me and went back to staring at his boy.

"Somebody's cheerful today," Riley muttered and I shook my head.

"Not just today," I told him just as quietly. "Jasper is always very demanding of his son."

"Is he preparing him for becoming the next Alpha?" His voice low, careful, as if he was talking treason.

I absentmindedly nodded.

I would've been amused if my mind wasn't projecting memories of how severe Jasper could get in his training. He had never been physically abusive to Horace, but he'd managed to stomp on the boy's confidence with his constant rebukes and he'd instilled so much competitiveness in his son that he had alienated him from the other children.

When Riley and I adopted, we'd never treat our children the way Jasper did. Sure, discipline was important, but so was making sure our children were happy.

I shook my head and returned my focus to the trainees.

Some of the teens had moved to the next exercise, standing with their heels apart. They leaned down to reach for their left toe with their right hand, get back up and lean forward again to touch their right toe with their left arm.

"Very good, Ivan; keep up that pace." I praised one of the older boys. A good, sturdy boy, more contemplative than his peers. I've always admired how hard he worked at everything he did and how he never relied only on his muscles, regardless of the generous quantities he had of those.

"Do you do this every morning?" Riley asked.

"From Monday to Friday," I confirmed. "There are more intense workouts over the weekend."

We spent the rest of the half-hour routine mostly quiet, with me praising the children or fixing their stances when needed. Once Anthony dismissed the kids, they ran to their homes to prepare for school and I was approached by a very irritated Jasper.

"Rhys, I have to talk to you about something."

"Of course." I tried to relax my stiff jaw, reminding myself that I was the Beta; if a pack member needed to talk, I had to listen.

"Alone." Jasper glanced at Riley, his gaze full of contempt, and I had to put my hands behind my back, one grasping the other, to restrain myself from punching him. "It's important."

"Riley, will you excuse us?"

I received a silent nod in reply.

"Don't go anywhere; I'll be right back," I added, planting a kiss on his forehead and walking away with Jasper. We'd barely stepped in between the trees when he faced me, his back firm, his arms crossed tightly over his chest so his muscles bulged under his tight t-shirt.

"I do not like how you stare at me when I'm training my son."

Here we go again.

I almost groaned. It was a matter we'd discussed before.

"Well..." I tried to keep the irritation out of my inflection. "I don't approve how you train your son."

He snorted.

"There's nothing for you to approve. Horace is my son; I decide what's good for him and how to train him." A small sneer appeared on his lips. "I'd say you'd know how that feels one day, but with a male mate, you'll never have children."

I took a deep breath.

The scars, remember your scars! I chanted in my head.

The man who was standing before me now was the man who had given them to me and it had been because I'd lost my temper. I was not afraid of Jasper, but I had to keep my cool; what kind of an example would I set, if I attacked him?

"You don't like it, but I am your Beta." I took a step towards him, looking straight into his eyes; he did not move back. "If I think you are mistreating your son..."

Hurt flashed through his face, quickly replaced by anger.

"I love my son!" He growled and suddenly his face - burning narrowed eyes and hard-set features - was just inches away from mine. "He's my boy. My only boy. I would never mistreat him. I'm making him stronger."

"He's lonely. You are so set on him acting tough that you are pushing him away from the friends he could have."

He blinked, his face going softer for a moment.

Just one moment.

Then he was back to the determined, stubborn jack-ass he was.

"He doesn't need weak friends to distract him. He's going to be the strongest, the most enduring and one day you'll address him as Alpha."

"You are strong and enduring, but it didn't get you the post, Jasper," I quietly said.

Another growl - this time more primal - spilled through his lips.

"There are different kinds of strength," I went on. "You only possess the physical one. That was why you weren't chosen as the Alpha; that's why if you continue this, Horace will end up alone and he won't be the one in charge of us."

I turned around and began walking.

"You just want to see Kennedy succeed Keri. She doesn't have a mate; she will have no offspring. You want your own brother on top." His voice was coming closer and closer. "That's why you don't want me training my boy right; you are scared he will surpass your brother."

His shoulder bumped mine hard as he passed by me. I let him leave without replying to him. Jasper had felt like Keri and I had robbed him of his birthright ever since we came in power; there was no changing his mind on that. And now his delusions had moved on to the next generation - his Horace and my Kennedy.

I'll have to raise this issue with Keri, I told myself as I made my way back to my mate.

Jasper was full of hate. We had to find a way to make him expunge it. It would be good for him and for his family, and it would be good for the pack. Ambitious and angry as he was, he was still one of us. And then there were his boy and wife; Horace and Jada had done nothing wrong. If we were to somehow punish Jasper, maybe by forcing him to leave, they'd suffer as well.

"Riley," I summoned him gently once I reached him.

He was staring at the trees.

"Riley." I repeated, louder and he jumped up and turned to me. He blinked as if surprised to see me.

"What's wrong?" I took the final steps to him, a concerned frown forming on my face. "Did something happen while I was away?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and looked down.

"Riley." I lifted his chin up.

"One of the Bullets scared me," he confessed, ashamed.

The hand which was not on his face tightened into a fist.

"What did they do?" I asked, my tone harsh.

"Nothing, nothing," he hurriedly tried to assure me, stepping away from me. "They stood silently, they didn't attempt to attack me, they didn't growl at me..."

I tilted my head to the side.

Okay... So they did nothing?

"Than what scared you?" I asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "He - or she; they were really slender - just had this unnerving presence, that's it. Or maybe it was the pale eyes; they went well with the white fur though..."

"What did you say?" I grabbed him above the elbow and pulled him towards me, involuntarily startling him for a second time today.

"I said, they had an unnerving presence," he repeated the wrong part, making a hesitant attempt to free himself; I did not let him go.

"White fur." My grip tightened, nervous sweat beginning to form on my forehead. "You said they had white fur?"

"Yes."

My heart stopped. Then its thunderous beat made its way right into my ears.

"Why are you..."

"Where did they go?" I cut him off, enlisting in my mind the defensive steps we were to take. He indicated with his free hand to the spot he'd been staring at earlier.

"Come on." I tugged him towards the Silver Bullets' residential area, my head moving right and left as we went. I strained my ears, analyzing every sound I heard. Nothing but our footfalls, insects, birds and the wind. That didn't mean they were not here; that didn't mean Riley and the pack were not in danger.

"Rhys, what is..."

"Anthony! Everett!" I shouted as I saw my brother and childhood friend ahead. Sensing the urgency in my tone, they ran back to meet us.

"Riley saw a white wolf. South of here." I pointed at where my mate had.

"I'm on it." Anthony started stripping on the spot. He'd been trained for this; we'd all had.

"Everett, you go too," I ordered. "I don't want him alone. I'll notify Keri and tell the patrols to join you; we'll send you backup when we make sure the youngsters and old are in the pub."

My brother nodded, his shirt already on the ground. Anthony began to quiver and crouched down, fur emerging to cover his skin.

"Come on, Riley." I pulled on his arm again, leading him towards the houses where it was safer.

"Wait!" I felt determined resistance as his heels dug into the soil. "What's going on, Rhys?" He asked me when I halted. "What's the big deal with that wolf? Who are they?"

My throat constricted. My palms were slick with sweat.

"I don't know, Riley," I uttered the frightful truth. "There are no white wolves in the Silver Bullets pack."

*****

A/N: Are you happy with the Alec/Riley one-shot winning?

Any ideas who the white wolf is? I'd love to hear your theories!

By the way, what did you think of the naughty chapter that was posted in Dogs, Bats & Monkeys Series - Naughty Bits?

And what do you think of this chapter?

Please support it with a VOTE if you enjoyed it and have a great time wattpadding!