Chapter 2: Brothers

Alexander POV;

 

The sky was clear despite the wind and the upset weather this night. Even the sea was calm. Despite that, the port was not chaotic as it used to be when the weather was calm. It was clear from locals and tourists, this might be because of the cold weather but I didn't wonder much, I appreciated a calm night as I wasn’t a big fan of people anyway. 

 

The night was eventful however, we had the unpleasant surprise of a vampire attack attempt resulting in my son being injured. He is only 17 and hasn't got his wolf yet so his injuries didn't heal as everyone else. He needed medical attention but seeking medical attention would endanger all of us as he had no proof of identity and was also a child. We never had the chance to fix his papers considering that we were moving from one spot to the next escaping attacks. 

 

He was only 7 when I took him in after I found him hiding from vampires who killed his pack and put their houses on fire. I ordered Robert to take him to a nearby hospital not caring about the consequences. Our pack doctor was out on a mission and was in no way nearby. Robert didn't like taking him to a human hospital, but he followed his Alpha's order anyway. Robert wasn’t only my beta; he was my childhood friend and like a brother to me making him Tino's uncle. The one who never left my side. We were inseparable.  

 

A voice broke into the silence suddenly, it was Robert's voice. "Good evening boss, we are sorry for being late. As you may have guessed the hospital didn't want to take us in," Robert said. Yet, I realized Tino's wound was bandaged, and he looked much better. Tino walked over and hugged me as I examined his head. 

 

"Tell me what happened," I said to Robert without looking at him. I was still angry at the way he objected to my decision earlier. "We should speak at the office alone," Robert replied. I rose from the chair I was sitting on and headed to the office without answering Robert. He followed in complete silence until we were almost by the office door when he decided to poke me suddenly. He knew I couldn't resist laughing when he did that. 

 

"Don't be so tense boss, it's all good," Robert said. 

 

"Don't repeat that in front of the others again!" I snapped at him hitting him on the back of his head. 

 

At the office, Robert pulled a chair and sat down while I headed to the liquor fridge tossing him a beer and getting myself one. "Tell me what happened with you at the hospital" I demanded. 

 

Robert sighed and said "As you ordered us, we went to the port hospital. The nurse at the reception didn't want to take us in without registration. Luckily, a young doctor passed by and heard our argument. The doctor, who was a very hot chick, by the way, decided to take us in without registration and she sewed him up," Robert told me with a smile on his face. 

 

"You could have said it outside, why at the office?" I asked him rolling my eyes at him. "Because I wanted to apologize for my attitude earlier and make things right between us," Robert said looking away from me as if he was ashamed. 

 

I sighed and put down my can of beer on the table. "I know that all of this is new to both of us, me as alpha, you as beta, the port, the companies my father left, everything. But I know we will figure it out together" I replied tapping Robert's shoulder. 

 

"Alright then, it's time for me to sleep after this eventful night, see you at home," Robert said heading for the door. I nodded. "Right, Tino should see the doctor again next week. Her name is River if you want to join us next week, she is beautiful just saying..." Robert said loudly while leaving the office. 

 

"Get out Robert!" I yelled at him. Why would he tell me about a human girl! He was acting like a fool. He should know that being with humans is a huge risk for exposure. We have rules against that. 

 

*****

The next day....

 

The upset weather didn't allow any ships to pass through, so we had a calm day and it appears to be so for the rest of the week as the snowstorm got worse. 

 

This kind of calmness in the presence of adult werewolves makes it challenging for me to keep order. Luckily, I had Robert distract them with martial arts training. He was a capable fighter. No one of the other pack members could beat him in any martial art, maybe even me but I wouldn't put it up for the test. 

 

While Robert was away with most of the others, I had the chance to go through my father's stuff at the office of the mother company. I didn't have much time to do so after my father was killed a year ago. We were quite busy fighting off the repeated vampire attacks on pack members and on the mother company. Additionally, it took time for me to adjust as the pack alpha and for the others to accept that. 

 

Breaking into the silence, I flinched when I heard a voice asking me what I am doing. I didn't notice him coming in nor notice the noise caused by the rest of the others outside. I was so busy going through my father's laptop and papers. 

 

I panicked at the sudden voice, so I released my gun from my belt and pointed it at where the voice was coming from. I realized it was Robert, so I exhaled tugging my gun back into my belt. 

 

"You are going to get yourself killed one time if you keep sneaking up on me like this, you know?" I said to Robert. 

 

"I don't think the reason for your panic was me sneaking up on you. All of us live in fear right now so your reaction is pretty normal. But this is not good for any of us," Robert replied with a tone that held much sadness. 

 

"He is right, you know?" my wolf, Atlas, said in my head. 

 

"I know it's not sustainable to live like that, but I can’t find a solution. My hands are tied brother," I told Robert while I grabbed my whisky-filled glass before sipping from it. 

 

"I told you that we could go start over somewhere else. It's not like we don't have money to do so, we own the fucking city and almost forty percent of the country," Robert angrily said. Only for me to yell at him "I told you several times that I am not leaving my legacy. This port we are standing at has been owned by my family for nearly 800 years. This is where everything started. This country owes it to us. We are not going anywhere. We can't leave it for vamps to do as they please".

 

"As you wish Alpha. But I shall remind you that our chances of defeating Vladimir and his vampires are decreasing every day. Our only hope is for you to find your mate or else we are screwed," Robert reminded and I nodded in silence. 

 

I couldn't argue with him by telling him that I don't believe in these myths. A girl I never knew could not be holding the path of my pack's life and mine. I think werewolves came up with this once upon a time to empower themselves and increase in numbers by mating. Every werewolf male was frightened to miss the opportunity of finding their mates, before hitting thirty-five. 

 

Robert could feel my objection pressing under the surface threatening to come out despite me not saying a word, so he processed frustrated "You know that your uncle Marcus never found his mate and he lost his right to the heir despite him being older than your father". 

 

"I think my father was greedy and a power-seeker, that's what I think" I replied while hitting my glass on the desk so hard the glass broke. 

 

Despite my strong belief that all of this was a myth, there was still a chance that it could be true. A chance in million is still a chance. My concerns increased when I felt my powers such as healing, hearing high frequencies, and shifting my eye receptors that naturally came with the werewolf nature started to slowly grow weaker since the beginning of the year. I was still not ready to show my concerns and swallow my pride, so I kept quiet about it around my men.