Chapter 1 The Weight of the Alpha

Chapter 1 The Weight of the Alpha

Jason had always thought that death would come with violence. A rogue’s claws. A rival’s betrayal. Something fitting for an Alpha and Luna.

Not this.

Not sterile white walls. Not nurses with eyes filled with pity and masks pulled too tight across their faces. Not the soft, mechanical beep… beep… beep of the machines keeping his father alive long after the spirit had already slipped away.

The scent of antiseptic filled Jason's nose, sharp and out of place to a wolf's senses. His own scent Fresh cut Pine, Honeysuckle. Strength felt foreign here. Weak. Trapped in grief.

He sat quietly beside the bed, one of his father’s heavy hands resting inside his own.

“Dad…” Jason’s voice cracked slightly. He hated that it did. “You don’t have to talk.”

But the older man gave a small smile, weak but still full of the Alpha’s fire. “I’ve never been good at being quiet, son.”

Jason gave a huff of laughter through his nose. “No. You haven’t.”

His father’s chest moved slowly, each breath more of an effort. But his eyes those same arctic blue eyes Jason saw in the mirror remained clear.

“I can feel the end coming,” his father murmured. “You don’t fight death, not when you’ve lived a life like mine. But I need you to listen.”

Jason leaned forward, tightening his grip on the hand he held.

“Your mother… if she makes it… she’ll need you. She won’t show it, but she will. And if she doesn’t…” He trailed off briefly, swallowing the weight of that thought. “You’ll lead alone for a while. But not forever.”

Jason clenched his jaw. “Don’t talk like that. You’re not done.”

His father gave a small, wheezing chuckle. “Jason, I’m proud of you. So damn proud. The man you’ve become… your strength, your compassion… You lead already. Even if you haven’t realized it yet.”

He coughed again. Jason wiped his brow with a cloth, his chest aching.

“I’ve watched you grow from a pup into a protector. The pack… they won’t be following a boy pretending to be a man. They’ll be following a born Alpha. One they already trust.”

Jason blinked fast, trying to keep it together.

“You’ll be better than I ever was,” his father said, voice softer now. “You’ll take them further. Lead with wisdom… not just strength. And when you find her your Luna you’ll lead with your heart too.”

The monitor beside the bed continued its rhythm, slowing.

His father’s grip weakened.

“Tell your mother I love her,” he whispered. “And tell the pack… tell them I was proud to serve them.”

Jason lowered his head as the final breath left the man who had taught him everything.

The room was too quiet.

Moments later, the nurse entered. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “He’s gone.”

Jason hadn’t even had time to grieve before the second blow came.

His mother, the Luna strong, proud, the heart of their pack held on for two more hours. Two more cruel, silent hours where the light in her eyes dimmed as the virus stole her breath. Jason had sat by her side through every minute since his dad's passing.

She passed with her hand in his. No final words. Just a look a soft, knowing look and then she was gone too.

The weight of the Alpha title didn’t come with a crown. It came with silence, death, and the crushing ache of goodbye.

Jason rose slowly. He wasn’t just a son anymore.

He was Alpha of the Moon Swept Pack.

And the pack didn't yet know it, but the trouble was already moving toward them on the wind.

Jason stood outside the hospital, the hot South Australian wind carrying the sharp scent of eucalypt and dry earth. The world felt wrong, normal, indifferent, while everything inside him shifted.

Beside him, Nathan waited, quiet but steady. His childhood friend. His Beta, whether officially declared yet or not.

They didn’t speak as they got into the battered ute and made the silent drive back toward Moon Swept Pack territory. Words weren’t needed. Not yet.

The moment they reached the outskirts of the pack’s land; the change was immediate. Wolves, both in human and furred forms, watched them from the tree lines and verandahs. They’d been waiting for news, the tension thick in the air.

The Elder’s house, a long timber hall with wide windows overlooking the distant river, loomed ahead. A place of stories, law, and now, transition.

Inside, the pack Elders were already gathered. Gray hair, lined faces, wisdom deep in every eye. They rose as Jason entered, as was tradition for the heir of an Alpha, but the weight in their gaze spoke of what they already knew.

It was Elder Kieran who spoke first. His voice was gravelly and aged. “We felt the bond break this morning.”

The death of an Alpha always rippled through the wolves connected to him.

Jason nodded once. “They’re gone. Both of them.”

Silence. Pure, aching silence.

Elder Kieran stepped forward. "Your father was a great leader. As was your mother a fierce Luna. They leave behind not only memory but responsibility."

The other Elders murmured in agreement. Another stood Elder Mari, her braid long and silver against her shoulder. “The pack must hear it from you, Alpha.”

Alpha. The word hit Jason like a punch to the ribs, but he didn’t let it show. His wolf, Jack, pushed against his skin, demanding that he own it.

“I’ll tell them,” Jason said, voice steady. “Call them.”

Within minutes, the call had gone out. Howls echoed through the trees as the pack gathered near the ceremonial clearing, torches lit despite the summer evening's warmth.

Jason stood before them on the raised stone dais reserved for pack leaders. Nathan is at his right. The Elders behind him, silent, watching, judging and hoping.

He lifted his chin. His voice, when it came, was not loud, but it was final.

“My parents, your Alpha and Luna, have passed to the next life. They fought for this pack in all they did and they loved each of you as their own.”

A murmur of sorrow rippled through the gathered wolves, both furred and human.

Jason took a steadying breath. “I take their place. By blood, by training, by your trust, I stand as Alpha of the Moon Swept Pack.”

A pause.

Then Elder Kieran’s deep voice rose behind him. “And we accept you.”

But before the moment could settle, another voice called out from the crowd.

Jason’s eyes found Nathan’s father, Thomas, stepping forward from the gathered ranks. Broad-shouldered and scarred from past battles, the former Beta of the pack carried himself with respect earned over decades.

“I stand before you as the last Beta,” Thomas said, voice rough with emotion. “And I say now… it is time to pass the mantle.”

He turned toward Nathan, pride flashing in his storm gray eyes.

“This is my son, Nathan. He has been raised in strength, loyalty, and service. Trained by me, guided by his Alpha, and shaped by loss. If this pack is to stand, it must have the best at the Alpha’s side, and that is my son.”

Jason glanced at Nathan, whose jaw was tense but whose eyes held steady. There was no hesitation there.

“I accept Nathan as my Beta,” Jason said, voice hard as stone. “As my second. As my brother.”

The Elders raised their heads in agreement, and the pack gave a low, united growl of approval, a rumble of support like distant thunder.

Then, as one, the howling began.

First, a long, rising chorus a tribute to the new. To Jason. To Nathan. To the future of the Moon Swept Pack.

Then a second howl rose, deeper, lower, painful. This one is for the fallen. For the Alpha and Luna, whose spirits now roamed beneath the stars.

Jason tilted his head to the sky, letting the grief and pride merge inside his chest, and howled with them, his wolf’s voice joining the pack in perfect unity.

But even as the howl echoed across the hills, Jason felt something cold in the breeze.

The danger was coming.

And grief would not be the only test of his strength.