Chapter Three

Alpha Leo

"Alpha, there's a phone call for you," My Beta Mark says as he walks towards me. He hands me my cell phone before stepping away to give me some privacy.

"Alpha Leo here. Who is this?"

"Alpha Leo, this is Joseph from the Woodland pack, Alpha Samuel's son."

"Hi, Joseph. Long time no speak. How are things?"

"Not good. We have had threats of an attack, and truth be told, if they do attack, there's a very high chance of no survival for us." Fuck!

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you need our help? Is that why you're calling? Shouldn't your father be making this call?"

"We aren't looking for any help with the fight. As I said before, if it happens, there's a high chance of no survival, and we would require a lot of help to survive, and we're not willing to pull that many people into this mess; too many lives would be lost."

"I understand, and may I say that I think you're doing the right thing. The honorable thing. Not many packs would think that far ahead. It's a selfless act, Joseph."

"Thank you, Beta Leo."

"So if that's not why you're calling, then what can I do for you?"

"My father and I have a favor to ask of you. It's pretty big, and we understand if you say no."

"What is it? If I can help, then I will."

"If this fight does happen... my sister Lucy, who turned 18 three weeks ago. We... if I can get her away in time, would you be willing to take her in, to give her a home and protect her?" My first thought is no, absolutely not! I have enough on my plate as it is without taking in a girl who's barely had her wolf, but I owe both Alpha Samuel and Joseph; they saved my life a long time ago, and I've never forgotten that.

"Of course, Joseph." We spend the next 30 minutes forming a plan, and once he's happy with the details, I wish him well before we end the call.

It's a strange feeling knowing that the conversation that I just had with him could be the last time that I speak to him. He doesn't sound scared of what could be. If anything, he sounded more scared of the possibility of something happening to his sister and, aside from already feeling like I owed them a favor, deep down I know that I would have helped them anyway, because I know the feeling of losing a sister, and it's not something that I would wish on anyone and certainly not Joseph and his brother, they are incredibly close to their sister and would lay there lives down for her in a heartbeat.

"Everything ok, Alpha?" Mark steps up to me. I shake my head while handing him back my cell phone. "We need another tent set up today. We may be having a new member join us within the next few days. It's not certain yet, but we need to be ready just in case."

He nods while giving me a curious look, waiting for more information, but he doesn't need it, not yet anyway. If I get the phone call telling me that she's coming, then I'll inform everyone. As soon as he turns to leave, I put my attention back on to the logs that I've been cutting and spend the next few hours doing exactly that.

By the time I'm finished, I have spent most of the day cutting logs, I'm tired, sweaty, and hurting all over, but it still beats sitting in my tent all day listening to all the complaints that I tirelessly deal with daily.

I know I sound grumpy, and you're right to think that because the truth is that I am. I'm grumpy, unpleasant to be around most days and just a genial asshole, but I don't care enough to change. Why should I? This isn't the life I wanted; it was pushed on me when it was the complete opposite of what I had planned for my life.

"Hey, brother." My younger brother Johnny walks into my tent just minutes after I get out of the shower with a tray in his hands that's holding two bowls of food, two bottles of water and chips. "I'm good." He raises an eyebrow at me but ignores my words.

"You haven't eaten all day, and I'm not taking no for an answer." He's 10 years younger than me and, like a bastard mother hen most days and most of the time, it's just easier to agree with him straight away instead of ending up with a throbbing head. He may annoy the hell out of me most days, but I love the kid with all I have, and despite his mother-hen antics, I wouldn't change him for the world. He reminds me of our mother, and I love every hair on his head.

He may be an adult now, but I've raised that boy since he was 8 years old, and if I'm being honest with myself for a long time, he has felt more like my son than my brother and even though he turned 18 seven months ago and got his wolf, my feelings towards him haven't changed one bit. "I'm done. I'll catch you in a bit." I give him a nod as he strolls out of my tent while I continuously stir the chicken noodle soup in my bowl, willing myself to eat.

I look around my tent, and as always, it doesn't feel right. Being here, lying in this tent, being Alpha to this pack, none of it was in my plans, and even though I've always done what's been expected of me, the truth is that my heart has never been in it. Don't get me wrong, I also never planned on raising my brother at 18 years old, but that's the one thing in my life I wouldn't change, not for one moment.

Once I've given up on the idea of eating, I throw on a shirt and head outside. I need some peace and calm in my life tonight, and as usual, I'm not going to get it here, so instead, I walk past all my pack members that are gathered outside their tents, only nodding their way when they say hello and head for my favorite spot, the one place that I'm guaranteed the peace and calm that I need.

As always, the moment that I park my ass on the edge of the cliff, I'm instantly reevaluating my life. I do this at least once a week, but I don't know why. It's not like it's going to change anything for me, but still, I can't help but run over everything that I want and can't have.

Being an Alpha's son, you'd think that I was more than happy to take over the role when it was needed, but that's never been the case for me. I wasn't supposed to take on the role of Alpha. I wasn't even the eldest son; I had an older brother, Tony, who was the future Alpha, but he died the same day as my sister, and the title fell onto me.

You see, once upon a time, we lived on packlands, but I was never happy. I didn't like the life that I had. Don't get me wrong, my parents were incredible people, and I was as close to my brothers and sister as anyone can be, but I just didn't want the pack life. That's why I was glad that I wasn't the firstborn son, the future Alpha of the pack. I didn't want any role to be put on me because what no one knew was that I was planning on leaving the pack when I turned 18. I planned on going Rogue and living a normal life.

But then the attack happened. It was unexpected, we were completely unprepared, and it resulted in most of the pack being wiped out, including my parents, Tony, and our sister Lilah, who was only a baby. By the time the fight had ended, there were only 40 members of the pack left. We had lost almost 500 members of the pack and were completely lost.

We also lost the packlands as they were destroyed beyond repair, and with me being the oldest Alpha family member left, the remaining pack members turned to me for guidance, and I took on the role even if it went against every fiber of my being.

So yes, I may have got my wish to not live on pack lands and become a Rogue, but my life is nothing like I planned. Instead of being free to be me, I'm now responsible for over 80 pack members and absolutely hate it. I even offered the role to Johnny, but he doesn't want the responsibility, and I don't blame him, but neither do I.

Maybe if I had found my mate by now, it would make things easier, but it's not planned out for me. It's extremely rare for a wolf to still be mateless at 35 and even more so for an Alpha, but here I am doing just that, and these past few months have been the hardest of all. My wolf has always wanted his mate since the moment he came into my life, and so did I for a while, but since the attack, not so much.

The idea of having a mate, someone else that I need to look after, protect, keep happy, doesn't appeal to me, but these past few months I've felt scars, anger and frustration more and more. He's getting seriously restless without his mate, and I'm pretty sure that it's starting to drive him crazy, and in turn me, and if that happens, then it's game over for me and for this pack, and I can't let that happen.