CHAPTER 6: ALPHA

JULIAN'S POV,

It had been days since the rogues attacked the pack, but we were still reeling. 

The rogues had struck hard and fast, tearing through our defenses like they knew all our blind spots. It angered me to think about how weak our security was, allowing some random rogues to breach it without any difficulty and attack us when we were least expecting it. 

However, very quickly, I realized it wasn't a random attack like we initially thought; instead, it was well-planned and coordinated by someone from the shadows. I needed to find out who that person was because I could still hear the distant echoes of snarl and the cry of pain in my ears from that dreadful night. 

Beta Kai and his team discovered their tent near the borders and brought in the evidence. I was shocked to find several maps of our town, along with our pack’s patrolling pattern and the parts of the town that weren't heavily guarded marked on the maps. My house was also marked and had the names of the people assigned to attack there. 

“Do you think it is someone from the Council? Or is it another pack leader who wants to take over our pack?” Beta Kai asked, going through the evidence. He sounded certain with his deduction, and that worried me. 

I never wanted to believe that another pack would pay the rogues to attack us. Wolves weren't supposed to be so malicious and vile; we are loyal animals, and even when we have different packs with varying cultural beliefs, we share the same blood and faith in the moon goddess. 

“Rogues are wolves, too, and they attack other wolves all the time. Don't forget that, Alpha.” Beta Kai countered my point, and that opened my eyes a little to the whole matter. “Politics is common among the wolves, and this attack could have been motivated by several political reasons.” 

Kai was right, and there was no hiding the fact that the losses we suffered were heavy, too heavy. As the Alpha, it was my duty to shield the people, to protect my family, but the breach had left a deep wound that I knew wouldn't heal quickly. 

I was pacing in my office, preparing for the meeting with high-ranking wolves from the pack to discuss our findings. The weight of responsibility was pressing down on me, and the shame of failure wouldn't leave, no matter how much I was trying to forget about it. 

Anger was just beneath the surface, ready to burst out. 

The pack needed order, strength, reassurance, and appeasement, and they needed it as soon as possible. If I failed to show them that I was still the leader they could trust and blindly follow behind, I knew the whispers of weakness would spread like wildfire. And those whispers held the power to ruin the strongest of leaders. 

So, without a doubt in my heart, I knew they could ruin me.

For years, I had only one dream—joining the Supreme Council and walking shoulder-to-shoulder with the country’s most powerful and prestigious wolf leaders. It was more than a position or a child's dream. It was a symbol of respect, power, and legacy that was accessible to only a few. But that dream was fragile, and this attack threatened to shatter it all right before my eyes. 

I couldn't let that happen. 

So when Elena linked me in the middle of my meeting preparation, I was already on edge. I was impatient because I was going to show the evidence Kai collected. I could barely afford distractions when we were going to discuss such important things about the pack and its future. 

‘Julian, thank god you didn't block me this time.’ Her voice came through, urgent and strained. I heard the desperation, but honestly, I thought she was overreacting and exaggerating. ‘Molly’s health is getting worse. I need Dr. Jenna to treat her. Please, Julain.’ 

I would have agreed any other time, but I reminded myself that Molly had looked stable when I carried Elena to the ward after she passed out. She looked a little fragile, yes, but she was resting well. I knew she was going to open her eyes any moment. But the way Elena was acting wasn't how Luna was supposed to act. 

I was an Alpha and did not have the luxury of being swayed by panic. 

Dr. Jenna had been assigned to Lucy, Lauren's daughter, and that was final. I had entrusted Jenna to look after Lucy alone, and that's how things were supposed to be. Lauren was my ex-girlfriend, and helping her and Lucy first might have made Elena uncomfortable, but it wasn't the time to act petty. 

I knew my history with Lauren complicated things, but she was also a member of my pack—a responsibility I could not abandon. Elena needed to know better than that, and as Luna, she should have looked at the bigger picture rather than being jealous of her pack member. 

‘How could she think about taking away a child’s doctor?’

Her demands felt reckless and out of place, even selfish to my ears. I wasn’t going to let Elena provoke a dispute in the pack at such a fragile moment. The last thing we needed at such a hard time was for Luna of the pack to go against the Alpha. Did she even stop for a second to think how it would reflect on me? 

‘Elena, how can you? As Luna, you must help others, yet you try to steal a healer from another pack member? A child? That is not what Luna should do. You're being inappropriate and selfish.’

I rejected her request firmly without any hesitation. I knew it would sting her pride, but she needed to understand that she couldn't just act out of jealousy. She was Luna, the mother of the pack, and that meant being selfless and open-hearted. 

‘She’s not well, Julian. She’s still in danger, the doctor told me. Jenna can help her; she's the only one. You know her, right?’

‘You’re letting your jealousy get the best of you, Elena. This is about Lauren, isn’t it?’ I snapped at her, letting go of my suppressed anger that was fueled by shame. ‘You’re making it personal because of her and my past. I never thought you'd do something like this, Elena.’

‘But—’

‘No buts! Jenna stays with Lucy, and that’s final. The doctor treating Molly right now will look after her.’

I pulled out from the link before she could say anything else. My heart was beating faster, and the thought of losing my title as the Alpha of the pack clouded my mind. It took me a few minutes to calm down, and when I did, I realized how harsh I was towards her. 

So, I planned to explain everything to Elena properly once the situation with the rogues was settled, and Molly was safe. I even thought about making it up to her and Molly by throwing a grand birthday party for Molly, as a reminder that, despite everything, we were still family.

I was sure my wife and daughter would forgive me in time. For now, I had to be strong. For the pack and to protect my legacy.