CHAPTER 1 My Human Mate

Jessica POV

"My paper!!! It didn't save the work I did last night!! I went to submit it, and it was gone! All that work!! Mrs. Parks gave me an extension until 10 tonight, but there's so much work to redo!"

Tyler came bursting into my dorm room frantically, clutching his opened laptop.

"Ty, take a deep breath," I said, walking to him. He was clearly frazzled. "Everything will be fine; we can fix this together," I tried offering him comfort, rubbing circles on his back.

"But we're supposed to leave in a few hours," He sighed.

"We can go in the morning. No need to worry about that." I countered.

Tyler usually is calm and collected, so seeing him like this told me that he was very upset. We were leaving to head back to my pack for a week to introduce him to my family, only Tyler is human... and my mate.

"The last thing I want is your family's first impression of me to be a poor one." He said, wrapping his free arm around me.

"How about this… We leave on time, I'll start off driving so you can focus on finishing your paper in the car, then we can get a hotel after dinner where you can use the wifi and submit your paper. Then we can take a quick nap and be up in a few hours to finish the trip. This way your paper gets done on time, and we still get to my family without too much of a delay."

Tyler visibly relaxed. "Jess, you are the greatest! Thank you, I don't know how I'm going to manage the last semester without you." I chuckled. Tyler was an incredibly smart individual, and usually wasn't insecure.

"You will be fine." I told him. "You're smart, and it's not like I've ever helped you with your workload before; you can totally do this last semester here on your own,"

"But there's something about having you around that makes me feel like I can do anything! How in the world did you manage to finish school a semester early, anyways?!" Tyler grumbled.

"You know I was able to test out of classes based on my experience working in my father's firm." I reminded him. "Now, stop doubting yourself, get your stuff packed so we can get going in a few hours!" I gave him a quick peck and pushed him out my door.

Packing my stuff was more of an undertaking. It was true, I finished my academics earlier than everyone else, so I am able to get home sooner. I'll travel back for the graduation ceremony with my family, help Tyler pack up and we'll be able to start our new life in Mountain Crest. Tyler thinks this trip is to introduce him to my family, but it's really the other way around. This trip is about introducing Tyler to the Mountain Crest pack where we will take over one day when my father passes the mantle to me.

My father has trained me my whole life to take over as Alpha, and I am excited to do so!

Not only will I take over pack responsibilities, but I will also be taking over the construction company. Which is what brought me to university, acquiring a degree in construction and project management. When I return home, I'll officially apprentice with my father until he retires. I'll be required to do so as we do work in the human world, and the humans won't understand that my education and experience to date already makes me more than qualified to take over now. They'll just see me as a 22-year-old girl taking advantage of my position as the boss' daughter. To them, I'm a nepo baby. So, I will have to 'earn my seat at their table'.

Silly humans.

A few hours later, I had shut the door to the little U-Haul trailer, and climbed into my Jeep, Tyler already sitting in the passenger seat.

"All set, darlin'?" I asked.

"Hmmm." Was the only response he gave, as he furiously typed at the keyboard, stopping long enough for him to ruffle through papers to check his notes, and continue typing.

I watched him for a minute, admiring the way his brows came together as he concentrated on his paper. His sandy blonde hair was a bit messy, blue eyes intently scrutinizing the words on the screen. He wasn't like the typical male wolves at home. They had years of training under their belts, which made them all very muscular. Tyler was tall and thin but was not lacking in his own physique. He just wasn't super bulky. With a content smile, I put the Jeep in drive and pulled out of the parking lot of my dorm.

Unknown POV

"Jessica will be arriving home around midnight with her mate. Wait until 2:30 in the morning after they've fallen asleep before you infiltrate the pack house. They will both be tired from driving 10 hours straight. Make sure you get the mate, too! I don't want him to stake his claim as Alpha. Check every floor of the pack house, too. All the pack leaders live there, and every one of them needs to be eliminated for this to work." I said into the phone.

"I will make sure it is done. But you better hold up your end of the deal and lead the pack to another state. I'm tired of seeing your filth in my streets!" was the response.

With that I hung up the phone. I was so tired of dealing with the humans. Once I take over, I will handle them. I'll lead my pack into war with the humans.

"I can't believe you're going against Alpha. I am so ashamed of you!" My wolf chided me. He agreed with me that we should rule over the humans as the superior species, but he disagreed that we should take out the pack leaders. He thinks we should urge Alpha Dean to lead us, but Alpha Dean would rather work with the humans. What's more is he is paving the way for his daughter to take over! A female Alpha… We deserved better than that! That's why my wolf is only voicing his opinion instead of actively trying to stop me.

"If you're so ashamed, then I guess you should report me!" I sneered back. I was so tired of his crap.

"Maybe I will!" he growled back in my head. It was against his nature to go against his Alpha. That's why I had to stay away from the pack house. But after tonight, I will return to stake claim as Alpha.

"We both know you won't, so shut your trap. Tomorrow will be a new beginning!" I said before shutting him out.