Chapter 5

• ALPHA CALLE
• At the age of four, a goddamn pack had bloodily taken over my area. Their Alpha not only killed my mother, but they also took my sister and made her his lover.
• Even though my dad was very sad, he started putting together a pack with people who had been kicked out of other packs. We tried to live like people because we were living with them. So, when I was ten, I tried to fit in with the people in the city. I accepted their way of life and worked a bunch of odd jobs.
• We got through it. But it has never been easy for a child to deal with a stressful event. But that same event was also what pushed me to work toward my final goal in life. 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 dogs could shift 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. I didn't use it very much, though. It was risky for the whole group.
• Several knocks on the door woke me up from my daydream. I said, "Come!" and leaned back in my chair.
• Beta Degen came in with a sad expression on his face. He sat in the chair on the other side of my wooden table. "Alpha Calle, my people have news for us. Alpha Gary and a few of his men can get away. But his Luna is willing to give up."
• When I put my mug down on the table after hearing what he said, the thud was almost loud enough to make the hot liquid spill out. Even though the story was funny, cowardly Gary had already died because I had killed him in my mind so many times. "The little guy isn't an Alpha. He's never been one," I mumbled.
• "I agreed," Beta Degen smiled. "Only because Alpha was late did he get to be in charge. But wait, I've heard he has some skills. He can tell who is related to whom just by smelling them."
• “Nah. That's wrong. If he has something special in him, he shouldn't be so proud of it. But no one in his family was proud of him, that's for sure." I sighed. "This thing reminds me of Alpha Darius's son."
• Beta Degen laughed and leaned back in his chair. "What about that knucklehead? "Isn't his last name Lennon?"
• "He thinks he did a good job of getting me to join them. He doesn't know that behind their plan, a much better plan is being made." I shook my head as I thought about how excited that jerk Lennon looked when I said I would join their pack. I also remembered how the jerk made fun of Daphne in front of the whole pack, which made the poor she-wolf move. I think that was probably her first job, and I don't think she liked it.
• I looked at Beta Degen and asked, "By the way, have you found out where Gary is?"
• With a big grin on his face, Beta Degen gave me a nod. "The men are already looking for places where he might be able to hide."
• "You mean to hide?" I did the math and poured myself another cup of hot coffee. "But he won't be able to hide for that long."
• I got up from my chair and walked over to the big wall where there was a picture of a map of North America. When I moved into this house, this was the first piece of art I made. I put my finger on the painted wall and followed the long line that went through the big mountains. The dark green dots were the woods and forests. There were a lot of green things in the countries on this continent where we were. And I already had almost half of the packs in its eastern area.
• I heard Beta Degen sigh happily after taking a sip of his coffee. Then he said, "We're almost done taking over the East. Have you made any plans with the states in the South and West?"
• I looked at the West and South sides of the map. Meridionalis and Occidentalis were their names. On the map, most of Meridionalis was the color of sand and mud because it was mostly desert. There were no fixed packs there, so it was just a way for the wolves to get to the other pack. On the other hand, there were a lot of Occidentalis in wild, dark woods. But, unlike us, they have more rocky mountain areas that served as both a border and a way to keep their enemies away.
• "Alpha Khalil already has control of these two areas. He is a good friend of our pack, and I don't want to take what doesn't belong to me."
• "I see," he said with a crooked smile on his face. "So it looks like the lost she-wolf you brought into this pack is thought to be yours?"
• I turned around and looked Beta Degen in the eyes. I knew what he meant by the grin on his face.
• "We're going to start a war sooner, so don't even think about me keeping women from the packs we absorbed," I said as I threw myself back in the chair.
• "But this female wasn't part of the pack that we had already taken control of. He was joking when he said, "You've been following her and giving her a place to stay." The look on his face told me that he was thinking more dirty thoughts than I had thought.
• I groused, "I don't need a second bed warmer." "Suzette is enough to give me—and us—those things."
• “Yeah.” He grinned even dirtier in return. “Us.”
• Even if he did think bad things about Daphne , I couldn't hold it against him. After all, he still didn't know what she meant to me. But I had to do what I had to do with Daphne right now. That meant I'd need his help.
• I then reached out and touched Beta Degen on the shoulder. "I'm giving you a new job to do. Starting tomorrow, you will train Daphne yourself."
• "Are you serious?" His grin went away bit by bit.
• I'm almost going to laugh just because of how stupid it is. But I held it back and stared at him, almost making a threat. "For real, dude."
• “Fine.” He looked at me in shock as he quickly put his hands up. "But I'm just wondering—why don't we mix her in with the other trainees instead? I'm sure she'll like it when new players knock her down first. Even on the first day, I can't promise to be kind to her."
• I gave a head shake. "Man, I don't know if it's me or if you just can't talk a little bit decently."
• His brows went up. "Don't hold that against me. You're the one who makes me sound mean with everything I say."
• "Okay, that's enough," I said with a deep sigh as I rubbed my temples. I couldn't help but think of tying a rope around him. "You can go now."
• Before he left my office, he gave me a knowing nod. He kept talking about Daphne , and I could only shake my head as his laughs got quieter and quieter until they were gone.
• Degen was my best buddy. He was like a brother to me because we grew up together. And now, as I became Alpha, he jumped to Beta because he was one of the best fighters in this pack. He would be with me as I did my main job as Alpha, which was to get back the pack, which was ours to begin with. The name of the group was the Dark Vale pack. It was the pack that Alpha Darius took from my father.
• Beta Degen didn't suggest taking over the Septentrionalis, or the North of the North, and that was the only place he didn't want to take over. Since the vampires owned the cold area, no one could live there for a long time.
• When I thought about them, my spine felt funny. I was afraid, not for myself, but for Daphne and the other people who counted on me to keep them safe.
• "Do you plan to go see her tonight?" My wolf, it was dark.
• I leaned against the back of the chair. "Do you already miss the little she-wolf that much?" I contacted him again.
• "It's too bad you missed her."
• I smirked at Dark. I couldn't fight with my wolf. We always had the same ideas and made the same choices.
• "Fine. Let's visit her."
• A few minutes later, I was standing in Daphne 's room and looking at her while she slept. Even in my worst dreams, I never thought I would do something like this. Who knew, though, that Suzette's dress was perfect for her small size? She was pretty, though, because she was small and cute. It went with her hair, which was black like the sky but felt like silk. She looked like she made sense.
• Usually, blonde women with blue eyes and long legs like my girlfriend turned me on. Daphne , on the other hand, was small, had dark hair, and had green eyes.
• When I was talking to Alpha Darius at Luna Carmela's birthday party, I almost lost track of what I was doing because I wanted to kill him sooner. It was because as soon as Daphne walked in, I could smell flowers and vanilla. But along with her sweet flavor was the bitter smell of envy, anger, and ignorance.
• No matter what, I liked the little show Daphne put on that night. I didn't like how they treated her, though. No one deserved to be made fun of and put down.
• "What are our plans for her?" Dark asked as we both looked at the girl's whole body. "We were meant to have her."
• "But she doesn't know it," I told her.
• He let out a sad moan. "What is her age again?"
• "I heard that she is only 18 years old. Do you think that's true? We're seven years apart, which is crazy," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "She is too weak and innocent to become the next Luna."
• Even though we were different ages, I still had doubts about her. I had some doubts about how good she was as well. Could she do such things in both this pack and the ones I had already taken in? Was she willing to put aside her wants and needs to make my packs better for my people? Most importantly, could she stay true for the rest of her life?
• I looked at her quickly and then quietly left the room. "Should we then turn her down?" As I walked down the hall, I asked Dark.
• "Hurry up. "It's too soon to decide that," he moaned.
• I slowly nodded. "Let's wait a little bit longer, then."