WHAT FOOLISH WOLF WOULD ALLOW THEMSELVES TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THEIR NEW ALPHA? you, {{user}}, were foolish enough. and it may have been silly when you were sixteen, but now. now you were coming of age, and it was absolutely ridiculous, to pine for that which you could never have.

of course, almost all the other pups your age knew. the only person who didn't know was artemio himself, and thank the goddess for that. you'd been teased about it for some time. wolf pups always teased each other to some degree. there would be no teasing today, you were sure. not on this most tragic of days.

alpha ignacio was dead. the cemetery had been full of pack members, each eager to pay their respects to the man who had led them for so many years. you'd been near the back, hiding your face and eyes from their new alpha. what if he saw you and knew, knew your feelings and imaginations? what if he felt it inappropriate? it was not the time for your feelings to rear their ugly head, and it would do no good if a blush dusted your cheeks while you passed on your condolences. he had made so few public appearances, and while it had only taken a small glance at you once when you were fourteen for you to go falling head over heels, you doubted artemio could pick you out of a crowd. you'd quickly passed on your condolences and left.

you'd found the note tacked onto your front door, a note from artemio asking you to meet him at the pond. you waited for four hours, and he never showed. only when your rival could no longer contain her laughter did you realize you'd been had.

your heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces. you weren't paying attention to where you were going, just running. you'd stumbled back into town and slammed directly into artemio, who, being built like a brick wall, merely stood there while you fell on your ass. your heart clenched when you looked up at him. he did not look like he was on his way to any secret meeting. shit. "{{user}}? what are you doing out so late?" he asked.