CHAPTER 3: Refusing To Backdown

I shift my weight as fear flails through me. 

Die? What does he mean? Is he gonna kill me if I fail or is the mission so dangerous that I could just die if I fail? Which is it?

My confusion probably fidgets all over my tight face that turning it into words is needless. 

“Mind sitting with me coz the details of your mission are quite long,” Alpha Primo says, jerking his head towards the front bench beside us. 

I hesitate, considering that my life is on the line for whatever this mission is, and I’m not ready to die. I’m too young. I have so much more to do and to experience. I wanna tell him that he doesn’t need to make an effort explaining everything to me coz I won’t accept his ultimatum. However, when he takes a seat, an unknown force pushes me to also sit at a few inches beside him. A small voice inside me says to give his ultimatum a chance. So, with sagged shoulders and eyelids, I listen.

“About two months ago, there were humans who managed to get a hold of some pieces of evidence about our existence.”

My eyes widen as my heart momentarily stops beating. That isn’t good! No! ‘Isn’t good’ isn’t even the right term. It’s horrifying! Questions sprout in my head, but I remain silent.

“These humans aren’t ordinary. They are an organized international body of criminals, operating in the entire Southeast Asia and some parts of East Asia. They’re known as The Manila Mafia, the most notorious of all syndicates in our region.”

It sucks the air out of my lungs. The situation is already complicated on its own, but finding out that we’re up against a mafia gang makes it even messier.

The ill sensation in the pit of my stomach augments at the extreme calmness on Alpha Primo’s face, as if what he’s telling me doesn’t bother him one bit. I know it’s alarming to him, but his face not moving, irks me. 

Though he hasn’t spit out what my actual mission is yet, I’m already having some thoughts about what it could possibly be, and it is far from desirable. I let him proceed while I’m silently trembling in distress.

“It’s not clear how they obtained the evidence about us, but one thing is for sure, they’re planning to use our race for experiment to gain more influence, fame and money. If more and more humans find out about us, we’re done.”

“Let’s cut to the chase,” I say, dismissing the fact that he’s an Alpha, the Main Alpha. “You want me to destroy those pieces of evidence.”

Alpha Primo stares at me for a moment. I’m uncertain if he’s surprised at how I’m talking to him or if he’s now doubting giving me this mission. He withdraws his gaze from me and shoots it at the empty altar, then speaks.

“Not just that. I need you to kill them… all of them.”

His words ring in my ears so loud that my vision becomes hazy and the more he remains impassive, the more panic slinks through my aggressively pounding heart. 

“I have to kill an entire mafia gang that has probably thousands of members and associates. You know what that means? It’s a massacre,” I say.

Alpha Primo gets to his feet with force. And for the first time today, he makes an expression. He glares at me with a clenching jaw and fists, then responds, “It’s better if you massacre them, instead of them massacring us!”

Normally, if his face moves out of displeasure, lower ranking lycans would bow down to avoid looking at him out of fear, but I decline to be like them. I stare directly at his eyes and say with equal harshness in my tone, 

“If there’s someone who should be doing this job, it should be you or your Betas or the other high officials from the other packs, who have years of experience in battles, not some random Delta who just graduated from military training. This mission is far from easy and should be taken with great caution and impeccable calculations. This isn’t just about me and your son anymore, our entire race is at stake here!”

The tightness in his jaw loosen and so in his fists. His glare also dulls. Alpha Primo isn't as scary compared to his fellow Main Alphas from the other packs. If he is as uncompromising as them, I’m probably being dragged to jail by now just by simply not respecting him with my word choices and my tone of voice.

“You’re correct,” he says. “I just considered offering the mission to you so you could prove yourself worthy to be our pack’s future Luna. But if you refuse this, then that’s fair. I won’t force it on you, but you know the consequence of it - you’ll lose my son forever.”

What a lame way of telling me that he doesn’t have the balls to do the mission on his own! I’m pretty sure that his Betas and Gammas already knew about this matter too and just like him, they’re all cowards to do the job.

Since his desired agreement with me crashes down, Alpha Primo walks his way out of the garden. No words, no complains, just complete silence. Now alone, I slide my view to my white shoes, then to the bouquet of flowers on the altar’s floor, allowing my stressful thoughts to muddle my head more. 

That mission could’ve been a great way to prove my worth. It’s a Luna’s job to protect her pack. If I’m to become a Luna, then I must start protecting my pack now even if it costs me my… my… I stop myself from finishing my thoughts. It stresses me just to think about sacrificing my life for my fellow lycans who can’t even treat me kindly. This only means that I’m a trying hard wanna-be Luna, exactly how they label me as. Perhaps the Moon Goddess also wants this wedding not to happen coz she also thinks that I’m not prepared to take the responsibilities of a leader. Be that as it may, I also have a point when I told Alpha Primo that the ones who should be taking this mission are the lycans who have years of experince in battles under their belts. If I take this risk, aware that I’m incapable of fighting, let alone killing, thousands of criminals who are well-trained with guns, then I may just have to bury myself alive. 

Before my thoughts fully consume me, Alpha Allen’s musky scent suddenly swirls behind me. Still and hushed, I dare not to look back. The bench I’m sitting on screeches as it feels the weight of Alpha Allen. The unchanging, savage silence spreads between us, making it seem that we’ve grown miles apart from one another. For a good amount of time, nobody dares to break that silence. When I detach my back from the bench’s backrest in an attempt to leave, Alpha Allen quickly clutches my wrist, forcing me back to my seat. Tears sting my eyes again, only this time, I successfully fight them back. 

“I don't know where to start, really,” he says. His voice is low and filled with sadness.

“Then don’t even start. I also don’t wanna listen to your excuses.”

My response is a lie. Of course, I wanna hear him say that he loves me. I want him to comfort me. I want him to hug me, to kiss me. But whenever my memory trips me back to the earlier events - to the humiliation he caused me, my anger towards him looms from a short distance. 

He breathes loudly, releasing whatever tension gagging him. “I wanna marry you. I wanna be with you. But at the same time, I couldn’t shy away from what’s necessary.”

“Necessary?” I murmur, smirking and raising an eyebrow. “Which means… I’m unnecessary?”

“Mackenzie, I’m the future Main Alpha. I have to weigh things for the sake of our pack.”

His insensitivity unleashes my anger once again. My hand flies to his face, creating a sharp thud and a reddish tinge on his cheek.

“I’ll be able to accept that you won’t marry me if you only tell me that before today!” The rumbling in my voice thwack my throat that it hurts. “How will I face the others? How much worse will they treat me now? You’re so selfish! You only think about you and never me!”

Alpha Allen imprisons my face with his hands and, in one swift move, he plunges his lips to mine. The warmth he’s giving me irritatingly dilutes my anger.

Is this how weak I have become? With just a kiss and I’m dismissing that he’s a jerk? 

My inner self refuses to kiss him back, but before I know it, my lips compete against his dominance. Alpha Allen’s hands travel down my waist, until his arms wrap my back. He pulls me up, giving me no choice, but to enfold my legs around his hips. I could feel both my n.ipples and his c.ock hardening at this point. If this keeps going, we’ll end up n.aked while banging each other here. While passion devours us, the sudden thought of being left alone and pregnant comes to me. That ushers me back to my senses. I push Alpha Allen away while sliding down from his grip. He steps back with an upset face.

“I’m sorry. I know I already rejected you and don’t have the right to do this to you anymore, but I couldn’t help it.”

He rejected me, but our bond is still as intact as ever. I feel it, and I know he does too. As long as there’s love between us, his rejection means nothing. Still and all, before I surrender myself to him again, I wanna make sure that he’s mine.

I fix my wrinkled skirt and my almost-rip off neckline as I stride closer to him. He licks his lips while his eyes fall to my exposed c.leavage. He stares at it long enough that his Adam's apple relentlessly bobs up and down his neck. 

“Do you love me?”

That’s a stupid question, but still, I wanna hear him say 'yes'. Hearing that one word will remove any last tiny doubts I have in him.

Alpha Allen places his hand to my cheek. His thumb caresses my bottom lip as he answers with genuineness, “Not a second has gone by that I haven't loved you. If you agree, tonight, at midnight, let’s elope. I don’t care about being a rogue and I hope you don’t either.”

I gasp in surprise, prompting him to continue.

“I can’t think of any other way. It’s our only option. Father is getting older and he’s preparing me to take over his position. If we don’t elope soon, I’ll be forced to find a Luna that everyone thinks is deserving of that title.”

My heart melts at his plea. If we elope, he’ll have more to lose than I do. This goes to show that he really loves me.

“I can’t just marry anyone. I want you,” he adds. “Mackenzie, I love you!”

Exuberance quilts my chest and I authorize it to control me. I jump forward, drape my arms around Alpha Allen’s broad shoulders and back, while he swaddles his arms around my waist to support my weight. With more passion than before, I ram my lips to his. He doesn’t object. Instead, he reciprocates it. Heat joggles through my loosening nerves, filling me with hopes.

Alpha Allen is right, we gotta decide and make a move before regret comes to us. I can’t let anyone or anything take this chance away from me. 

After a few moments, I break our kiss and through my jagged breath, I say,

“Right here, let’s meet at midnight. And let's elope.”