Chapter 4

The Next Alpha

"What?" I muttered to myself, thinking the phone was still leaning against my left ear. But when I realized it dropped to the ground, I simply stared at it ad though my body wasn't responding at all.

My entire thought got wiped out of my brain, leaving the unexpected and terrible news mum brought me. Did not even get the chance to glimpse at the bottle I threw into the ocean.

And I started to feel regret for being such a hard-headed type of a wolf. I was supposed to fly with my mum back to New York City, but I refused, believing my nonsense and the childish game will come into reality.

Nevertheless, with the sudden news, the pack badly needs me since dad already entrusted me with his alpha badge as soon as I reach eighteen. Giving me the sole position to lead a thousand members of our pack.

I'm not ready yet to become the Alpha of our pack. Don't even have enough experience in the battleground. Needless to say, my wolf was still unprepared to do the Alpha's duties and responsibilities to the pack.

Regardless, I am still in the middle of my studying. Aside from that, I'm just gonna turn eighteen in seven days.

Leaving no choice, I grabbed my phone and marched back to our room. I could barely feel my feet touching the ground as I marched back to the room as if they were floating through the air.

"I could not believe Joshua was this persistent upon sending these unanswered letters?" Jasper greeted me with a smile on his face.

Instead of letting out a single word, Jasper leaped in my direction before I could drop my body to the floor. My knees lose their strength to stand still. They were trembling harmoniously.

Aside from that, my heart and mind were in a race of giving birth to this extreme feeling which resulted in my eyes dropping its endless tears.

"Nath, what happened?" Jasper added. This time, the tone of his voice dropped to zero. He supported my body to get my poise back. Then, he assisted me in heading to the bed before he grabbed a bottle of water from the table.

"We need to fly back to New York City as soon as possible, Jas. My dad... It's just my dad was... Gone." I tried to remove and dragged the cold air that currently resides inside my breast.

However, no matter how hard I try ascending the cold air to my throat, the heavier it gets and goes down back to my heart as if it has a weight.

As soon as Jasper got my poise back, I rushed to the letters from the table and set them all in the luggage bags. Don't even know if the luggage bag where I set those letters was mine or Jasper's.

Jasper, on the other hand, simply stood next to the bed, staring at me in a rush while packing our stuff. He no longer asked further questions as if his mind was still absorbing the news I brought for him.

"Jas? Please... I need you right now." I begged. "Don't just stand there, please!"

"Okay," he muttered in a cold tone. Then, he grabbed his used clothes and shoes from the corner and put them back in his luggage bag.

Afterward, we headed out of the resort and rushed to the airport. Four hours later, we stepped foot in my parents' mansion.

Right after Jasper extended his condolences to my mum and the rest of our relatives, he went out of the mansion since he was not allowed to stay longer with us considering he was surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of wolves roaming around.

"Mum, what happened?" I asked as soon as we settled inside her room. To make sure I could support her body from the possibility of collapsing, I wrapped my arms around her. Right enough she could feel the warmth of my embrace.

"I asked your dad to pick me up at the airport. But...," she paused for a few seconds, clearing the terror out of her mindset. "But his riding car got ambushed."

Mum tried to stay still, not letting any of her tears drop off from her swollen eyes. Even if she showed me that she was tough from the outside, my wolf could completely sense her bleeding from the inside.

"But you know who are those who ambushed them, right?" Similar to mum, I also toughened my senses and emotions so whatever my decision is will not cloud my judgment.

"A few witnessed the tragic incident. Some humans and wolves from the neighboring packs. And they purported those were from the rogues." Mum said back.

She slowly removed my arms out from her body and slid onto the bed to arrange the mattress, still trying to keep her mind occupied. Still trying to convince her wolf not to give up despite the situation.

"Rogues?" I retorted. As far as I could remember, never have I ever heard the rogues were still active these days. Most, if not all, wolves have already found their respective werewolf packs.

That was what dad told me before I studied psychology in Chicago. But why would the rogues' murder my dad in cold blood? Did my dad do something to them?

"Yeah. Rogues. And I'm not gonna stop until those culprits will pay for what they did to your dad, Nathalie. And you should focus on the matter at hand as soon as you become the alpha of our packs, understood?"

And that was the starting point of my life getting hectic. To continue my dad's legacy as the most feared alpha of our packs.

Right after mum vanished from the room, I also went back to mine to have a few hours' naps before planning what to do next. Mum needs me by her side, so I have to support her decision by all means.

But before I dropped my exhausted body on the bed, I grabbed a few letters from Joshua. There's more to his letters that I haven't read yet. It's the only way to make sure my mind gets occupied.

I can't think straight at the moment if I'm not distracting my brain into something not related to dad. Dad has been the best wolf and human I could have.

And his sudden death was just unbearable. But I could not let anyone from our packs see that their next alpha is vulnerable. Weak. And cannot be trusted anymore.

To hold onto that thought, I grabbed one of Jushua's letters and it states this way:

June 1, 2020

"Dear Stranger; My Papa requested my presence to join the packs' annual meeting. They were having some sort of an election for the available positions of the pack...

The job was to guard the east side of the seashore, especially when the rogues are already aware of our existence...

The worst part was that Papa has intentionally dragged my name to be one of the guards. He thought it was the best time for me to prove my worth...

For me to forget sending my useless letter to you. However, I ended up being the joker of the said meeting. They all laughed at me, except dad, of course...

Their sharp eyes were stabbing my back. And their laughs were so annoying. But I could not blame them. Aside from that, I am a "no-read-no-write" kind of a wolf, I knew nothing about battleground despite the fact I am already at the right age.

Most parts of me wanted to just disappear like thin air. But I highly respected dad. He believes in me, that's why he asked me to join the said meeting.

So, instead of complaining, I endured everyone's humiliation, bad-mouthing, cursing, and deadly words being thrown at me. But it was undeniable Papa felt embarrassed...

I hope this kind of scenario will not happen again."

Love,

Joshua