CHAPTER 5

ALPHA CALLE

When I was four years old, a goddamn pack took over my territory in a bloody way. Not only had their Alpha killed my mother, but they had also taken away my sister and made her his mistress. Even though it broke my father's heart, he started putting together a pack with people who had been kicked out of other packs. We tried to live like humans because we were living with them. So, when I was ten, I tried to fit in with the people in the city. I adopted their way of life and worked a lot of odd jobs.

We made it through. However, dealing with a traumatic experience as a child has never been easy. But that exact event was also my motivation and the foundation for my ultimate life goal. And I'd make sure it was a lot... bloodier.

Still, I feel lucky because I got my first wolf shift when I was only eight years old. Who said that only royal wolves could shapeshift when they were young? Not only that, but I also developed a unique ability that set me apart from the Alphas who came before me in our clan. But I didn't use it very often. It was risky for the whole pack.

A series of knocks on the door jolted me out of my reverie. "Come!" I said, leaning my back into the chair.

Beta Degen walked in with a frown on his face. He sat on the chair across from my oak table. "Alpha, my men have brought us some news. Alpha Gary escapes with a few of his men."

Hearing what he said made me laugh, and when I set my mug down on the table, the thud was so loud that the steaming liquid almost spilled out. The report may have been funny, but the truth was that Gary had already died because I had killed him in my mind so many times. “The weakling is no Alpha. He’s never been one,” I muttered.

“I agreed,” Beta Degen smirked. “He got into command only because of the late Alpha. But wait, I heard he's got some talents—he can distinguish links between people only by smelling them."

“Nah. That's wrong. If he has anything special about him, it's that he thinks too much of himself. But no one in his family was proud of him, that's for sure." I sighed. “This reminds me of Alpha Darius’s son.”

Beta Degen chuckled, pressing his back against the chair. “What about the idiot? His name is Lennon, isn’t it?”

"He believes he was successful in persuading me to join them. Little does he know, a much better plot is being hatched behind their plan." I shook my head, remembering how animated that bastard Lennon's face was when I confirmed my support for their pack. I also remembered how the jerk humiliated Daphne in front of their entire pack house, forcing the poor she-wolf to shift. That was probably her first shift, and I believe she didn't enjoy the experience.

Turning my eyes to Beta Degen, I asked, “By the way, have you tracked down Gary’s whereabouts?”

Beta Degen nodded at me with a grin plastered on his face. “The men are already locating the possible sites where he could run.”

“You mean hide?” I added up, pouring myself another cup of scorching coffee. “He will not be able to hole up that long, though.”

I stood from my chair and walked over to the huge wall—the painting of the map of North America sprawled across it. This was my first artwork when I moved into this mansion. I reached for the painted wall, my finger tracing the elongated line crawling through the great mountains. The dots of dark green stood for the forests and woods. The countries on this continent where we were located were abundant in green things. And almost half of the packs in its eastern region already belonged to me.

I heard Beta Degen sighed in satisfaction after sipping on his coffee. Then he said, “We’re almost finished conquering the eastern zone. Any plans with the southern and western states?”

I turned my gaze to the south and west sides of the map. We called them the Meridionalis and Occidentalis. On the map, Meridionalis was mostly the color of sand and mud, as it consisted of the vast lands of deserts. There were no permanent packs there, and it only served as the wolves’ route toward the other pack. On the other hand, the Occidentalis were also abundant in wild and dark forests. But unlike our region, they have more rocky mountain ranges, which served as a frontier and protection against their enemies.

“Those two territories are already in the hands of Alpha Khalil. He’s a good friend of our pack, and I have no interest in acquiring what’s not mine.”

“I see,” he muttered, a lopsided smile curving across his face. “So it means that the castaway she-wolf that you brought into this pack is believed to be yours?”

I spun and narrowed my eyes at Beta Degen. I knew what the grin on his face meant.

“We are going to start a war sooner; don’t even think about me hoarding women from the packs that we absorbed,” I justified, throwing myself back to the chair.

“But this specific female wasn't a member of the pack that we had already subdued. You've followed her and given her a place to stay,” he said in jest. The expression on his face gave me a hint that his thinking was dirtier than I had anticipated.

"I don't require a second bed warmer,” I grunted. "Suzette is enough to give me those things—to us, I mean.”

“Yeah.” He grinned even dirtier in response. “Us.”

In any case, I couldn't hold it against him for having nasty thoughts about Daphne. He was still unaware of what she was to me, after all. But for now, I needed to do what I needed to do with Daphne. That means I'd be needing his help.

With that, I reached forward and patted Beta Degen's shoulder. “I’m assigning you a new task. You will personally train Daphne starting tomorrow.”

“Are you serious?” His smirk vanished gradually.

I almost laughed just by seeing the stupid reaction. But I suppressed it and stared at him, almost threatening him. “Dead serious, man.”

“Fine.” He looked at me in disbelief as he raised his hands. “But I’m just wondering—why don’t we blend her with the other trainees instead? I’m sure she’s going to like being knocked down first by rookies. I can’t promise I’ll be gentle on her even on the first day.”

I shook my head. "Dude, I don't know if it's me or if you're incapable of speaking a bit more politely."

His brows furrowed. “Don’t blame me on that one. You’re the one who puts malice in all the words I say.”

“Okay, enough.” I exhaled, rubbing my temples. I couldn’t help but imagine knotting him with a rope. “You can go now.”

He gave me a knowing nod before leaving my office. He continued to talk about Daphne, and I could only shake my head as his guffaws diminished and eventually vanished from the air.

Degen was my best buddy. He was virtually my blood brother since we grew up together. And now, as I became Alpha and became one of the finest warriors in this pack, he accelerated to Beta. He'd be by my side as I fulfilled my main goal as Alpha—that was to grab back the pack, which belonged to us in the first place. They called it the Dark Vale Pack. It was the pack that Alpha Darius stole from my father.

There was only one region that Beta Degen didn’t bring up for conquering—it was the Septentrionalis, the North of the North. Since the frigid region belonged to the vampires, no one would be able to survive there for an extended period of time.

My spine tingled uncomfortably as I thought about them. I was afraid, not for myself but for Daphne and the others who depended on me to keep them safe.

‘Any plans to visit her tonight, by the way?’ It was Dark, my wolf.

I leaned back against the chair. "Do you already miss the little she-wolf that much?" I asked him back.

‘Like how you missed her.’

I smirked at Dark. Arguing with my wolf was an impossible thing to do. Our thoughts and decisions were always in sync.

"Fine. Let's visit her."

Within a couple of minutes, I found myself standing in Daphne's room and staring at her while she slept in peace. I never anticipated in my dirtiest and darkest dreams that I would do this. But who knew Suzette's nightgown suited her petite form? Her build was attractively dainty, though. It matched her hair, which was like the black sky that transformed into silk. She made perfect sense to my eyes.

Usually, I was only aroused by blonde women with blue eyes and long legs like my girlfriend, far from Daphne, who was small, dark-haired, and green-eyed.

During Luna Carmela's birthday bash, I almost lost my focus as I spoke with Alpha Darius, whom I planned to knock off sooner. It was because the moment Daphne arrived, the scent of flowers and vanilla hit my nostrils. But her sweet fragrance was accompanied by the bitter scent of jealousy, anger, and ignorance.

Regardless, I enjoyed the little show Daphne had created that night. I only disapproved of the way they treated her. No one deserved to be embarrassed and humiliated.

'What plans do we have for her?' Dark asked as we both gazed at every inch of the girl's form. 'She's destined to be ours.'

"But she's not aware of it," I said.

He groaned in dismay. 'How old is she again?'

"I heard she's only eighteen! Can you believe that? We have a freaking age gap of seven years," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. " She's too frail and naive to be the future Luna.”

My misgivings about her didn't end with our age disparity. I had some reservations about her abilities as well. Could she manage such tasks in this pack and the previous ones I had absorbed? Was she prepared to forgo her desires and priorities to improve my pack for my people? Most importantly, could she remain faithful for the rest of her life?

I gave her a once-over before walking out of the door quietly. “So should we reject her?" I asked Dark as I headed down the hall.

‘Come on. It's too early to decide on that,” he groaned.

I slowly nodded. “Let’s wait a little longer, then.”