Mike POV
“Beta Malcolm! Can you come here?”
My words have a slight edge to them as my beta’s calm voice drifts into my office while he talks to someone in the hallway near my door.
As I stare at the doorway, my finger lightly taps one of the many piles of paperwork on my desk. What is taking him so long?
After a few moments, Malcolm rushes into my office and stops in front of my desk. “Alpha Mike, did you need something?”
I sigh and motion for him to take a seat.
“I need you to tell me where you are at in finding me a suitable beta. I would love to keep you on, but I know you are supposed to be in retirement right now. I don’t want to keep delaying it for too long. You deserve to enjoy your life.”
A heaviness washes over me as I stare across the desk at the older man. If things could have been different, he wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Instead, it would be my friend.
It has been wearing on me that Malcolm is still working in his son’s place. I know he has grandkids who he could spoil, but he can’t get the time to see them. Plus, in the last few years, he seems to have aged considerably. Gray is slowly taking over his hair color while his face fills with more wrinkles each day.
The older man, who has become a father to me, slowly lets out a deep breath. He shifts in his seat while he keeps his attention on me. “Alpha Mike, you know the problem we are having. We lost so many of our pack that there aren’t too many to pick from. The people who could potentially take the position are either too old, like me, or too young. Plus, the young ones won’t be old enough for several more years to take the position. What do you want to do? Wait or try to find someone in the right age range who would join our pack and become your beta?”
Wait or recruit someone from outside? Do I really have a choice?
I lean back in my chair and sigh while I stare at the older man.
“You are more experienced in things like this. What would you do, Beta Malcolm?”
He hesitates for a moment. “I would look to see if there are any people outside of our pack that are qualified and don’t have a pack anymore. There are plenty of werewolves who lost their entire pack in the war.”
I look into his eyes, trying to see whether he is being honest or not. Just like normal, I see nothing but his honesty.
How did I get to be so fortunate to have someone like him on my side?
I slowly nod. “Okay. Do we have a list of people who fit the criteria? If we do, is there anyone on the list who may look really promising?”
The Beta nods his head. “Yes, we do. I’ll send you the list when I get back to my desk. I have already done some light background checks to see if there is anyone that I can immediately eliminate from the list. Sadly, there were a few I removed.”
I take a deep breath and give him a small grin. “Thanks for being proactive on this. Can you also send whatever background information you could pull up on them? I want to look through that information, too.”
Once again, the Beta nods. “Not a problem, Alpha Mike.”
It looks like I just filled my evening with work again. I quickly push that thought to the back of my mind.
I sit upright in my chair and flash the older man a wide grin. “So, how many grandbabies do you have now?”
As the pressure of my situation and the pack’s future weigh down on me, Malcolm’s stories about his family always seem to lift my spirits.
The older man smiles, and a spark suddenly appears in his eyes. “I have two so far. Trey is the oldest, and Connor is the baby. Both boys are omegas. However, we already know that Trey’s mate is Max, who is an alpha and is the son of Beta Ford and High Elder Ben.”
As he talks about his grandkids, a smile slowly spreads across my face and a warmth engulfs my heart. I’m happy for him.
At the same time, a slight pain pierces through the layer of warmth and straight into my heart.
He could have been talking about me. If my father hadn’t messed everything up, I could have had a loving mate and pups right now.
Ugh…
I continue to listen as Malcolm talks about all the kids, including a Kent, but I’m not sure exactly who he belongs to.
In the back of my mind, a little ray of hope rises. Maybe the moon goddess will give me another chance with a second mate. I would really love to have my own family and pups.
***
Owen
“OWEN!! GUESS WHAT I HEARD!!”
I look up from my textbook and sigh as Jimmy rushes through the cafeteria towards me. His hands wave in the air, and I quickly choke down the laughter bubbling up.
I put my pen down on the table and shake my head. “I have no idea. Now, tell me what it is, so I can get back to studying.”
I stare up at the big giraffe as he stops next to the table. His brown eyes practically beam with excitement as he blurts out, “Alpha Mike is looking for a beta, so Beta Malcolm can retire. My father says this is our chance. He is going to talk to Alpha Dan and see if he can get our names on the list. If he can, he is going to demand that we transfer to SM University to be close to Alpha Mike’s pack. Can you believe it? We could potentially be transferring to the best university around. Not to mention, it is full of people we have never met before.”
He takes a deep breath and sits down across from me. Mischief dances in his eyes as a smile slides across his lips. “The best part of it all is that there aren’t that many werewolves there. We don’t have to worry about stepping on some other pack’s toes or crossing some line. We can do what we want.”
I raise an eyebrow and stare at him. The subtle changes in his voice tell me he isn’t talking about school anymore, but something else. My gut twists, and I hope it isn’t what I’m thinking.
I shake my head. “It isn’t good to be transferring in the middle of the semester. Plus, I don’t think Alpha Dan will press for us to transfer now. Why would your father even request it?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Who knows? Maybe he wants his son to attend one of the best universities and have a good education.”
I stare at him for a few more moments before I sigh and shake my head. “I doubt that. If anything, he wants to get you as far away from home as possible. After all, we have a knack for getting into trouble, but I don’t think that will change by transferring to a university practically on the other side of the world. I have to admit, though, I would love to be able to say that I graduated from SM University. That alone opens doors regardless of the degree.”
It is also prestigious and something to be proud of. SM University’s admissions review is hard to pass, and most fail. Only the top students make it through.
There is no way either Jimmy or I will ever go there.
It will have to stay as a dream. One that is always just out of my reach.
Jimmy slaps his hand on the table as his eyes shine. “My dad can get it done. Just wait and see. He will get us there.”
I slowly nod. “Okay. I believe you. Your dad will get us there.”
Mentally, I shake my head. There is no way his father can get this done.
Absolutely no way.
I stare out the side window of the car and blankly watch the scenery flash by. My heart aches from earlier watching Tommy and Finn in the university’s cafeteria with their friends.I’m happy they have made a few friends in college, but they are both still really quiet and reserved. However, I know it isn’t easy after what both of them have gone through. To say that Tommy and Finn have had a rough life is an understatement. I can’t think of what else can happen to them to make things harder on them than they already are. Well, there is one. That is the one thing that has me on edge nowadays.Ben taps the steering wheel and sighs. “Stop worrying about them. Tommy and Finn are adults now. We can’t keep them under our wing forever. Plus, we have our own babies to take care of now.”I sigh. “I know, but I can’t help it. It is my Lu
Faces. Everywhere where I look, there are faces.My heartbeat quickens. They are too close….They glare at me with the familiar look of hatred, while they scream nonstop with words laced in venom….My mouth dries and my body trembles as fear washes over me.The crowd leans in around me and sneers while they hiss.“Freak!”“Just die!”“Disgusting!”They hurl their insults at me from every direction. Unfortunately, no matter what I do, I can’t get away. They have me surrounded.As I coward down in the middle, I silently pray. Someone, please, make them stop.BAM!Before I know what is happening, pain shoots through my whole body as punches and kicks land from every direction randomly land across my body. Besides the pain, a wave of panic slams hard into me, too.Instinct
Finn POVTommy is finally getting back to normal. It has been a couple of weeks since his terrible nightmare, and luckily, he hasn’t had another one. Well, I haven’t left his side since he had the nightmare, so he hasn’t had the chance to have another one.I’ve also talked with the elders, along with the Supreme Elder, hoping to find some kind of solution for him. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to come up with anything. Of course, the Supreme Elder only gave me another riddle, but I haven’t been able to figure it out, either. So, it isn’t any help.Through the years, I have been getting really good at her riddles, but this one has me stumped. How do the stars being aligned help me to figure out what to do?Ugh….I wish this was something Kane could just put his hands on Tommy and heal him. Unfortunately, Kane can only heal ph
Kane POV It feels weird to step into my parent’s house. I can’t really describe it, but if I have to, it is almost like a previous life or something. I smile as my mother rushes out of the house. “Kane! You are here with the kids!” My father is right behind her with a big grin. I’m not sure what he told Mike so he can be here, but I’m happy whatever his excuse is. My parents are one of the fortunate people who have their own home, instead of living at the pack house. Granted, the pack house here isn’t nearly as big as the mansion at Sun Moon pack, so a good number of families live in a house instead of the pack house. However, usually those families are wealthy or have a high rank, like my father. I smile as I get out of the car. “Mom! Dad!” My mother rushes to me and engulfs me in a hug. “Kane. I’m so glad you are here. How long can you stay
I don’t know what is happening lately. My head is still spinning after the phone call I got from Beta Malcolm yesterday. How in the world did they even get my name or know about me? I’m sure that there isn’t some grand list somewhere of all the werewolves, including rogues, in the world. That would be crazy.So many people, including rogues, died during the great war. I understand, from what Dee has told me, Alpha Mike’s beta was killed in the war, along with a lot of others from her pack. The previous beta stayed on as Alpha Mike’s beta, but Beta Malcolm wants to retire.With only a few people to pick from in his own pack, he is looking everywhere for someone to replace Beta Malcolm.I’m still not sure how they got my name, though.After talking with Beta Malcolm, I agreed to go to meet him next week after my classes are done. He said it isn’t a formal intervi
Ben POV I bite my lower lip, trying to keep myself from laughing. The look of confusion swirling around in Dee and Shane’s eyes as I talk to them through the mind link is priceless. A small part of me hopes I’m not shocking them too much, though. For a while, Kane and I have thought that it was time to tell Dee and Shane the truth. Actually, to be completely honest, it is way past time to tell them, but if we left this up to Tommy and Finn, they probably would keep putting it off. Doing it this way, we get the added intention of showing the other werewolves here that the group is protected by us. While linking with everyone at the table, I continue on. “With them being male omegas, they actually live with Wyatt and Kane to keep them safe from everyone else, especially when they go into heat.” I glance quickly at the two young omegas, who now have a pink dusting across their cheeks while they lower t
I couldn’t wait for Finn and Tommy to get here. My foot bounces on the floor while I stare at the door and look at my watch again. When are they getting here?This is probably one of the biggest things to happen in my life. The only downside is that I can’t tell anyone about it. I have to keep it to myself.I have been fighting back the urge to call my mother and let her know. I can only imagine how shocked she would be if she knew I was going to Sun Moon pack.Ding.I catapult off my couch while I grab the phone off the coffee table. I can’t help but to squeal in delight when I open the door and see that Tommy and Finn are here.I dash over to the bed and toss my bags over my shoulders before running out the door.The whole time, I have the biggest grin on my face.I don’t think my feet have hardly touches the ground as I bolt out of the buildin
Mike POVI look across my desk at Beta Malcolm, while I have the information and documents regarding the pack’s beta candidates in front of me. “Have you met with each candidate yet?”He sits back in the chair and nods. “Yes, Alpha Mike. I have talked with each person a bit to get a feel for what they are like. I have eliminated several already from the start.”I lean forward and puts my arms on the top of the desk. “How about those two that I had to help transfer to SM University? Are they still in the running?”He nods again. “Yes. I have narrowed the group down to five candidates, of which the two you helped to transfer to SM University are still among the group. Shane is also still in the running.”He moves in his chair and then leans forward a little. “On a side note, I want to say Shane is someone my son rea