Chapter 1
Nixx
It had been 7 months, 3 hours, and 13 minutes since I had become the Alpha of the Shadowed Sunset pack. It had also been that long since I lost my father. The one person who was supposed to help ease me into the role of Alpha bled out on a forest floor. Alone.
It seemed worse every time I remembered it, but it was the truth.
It had been a surprise rogue attack right when my father decided to take a walk. He didn't even have time to blink before they jumped him.
I liked to try to convince myself that it was painless for him, but I knew it wasn't, which is why I made sure that their deaths weren't either.
I had a million things to do today other than stare out this window, and yet I couldn't tear my eyes away from the view. It was all mine, the whole pack and land, but no matter how many times I said it inside my head, I couldn't utter the words out loud.
I couldn't say that he was gone and let the words ring back, solidifying the fact that it was true. Like maybe if I never said the words out loud then he would come back.
It was a stupid thought, but I didn't dismiss it. Let my delusional hope be one thing that I didn't change about myself.
My eyes drifted to the maps strewn across my desk. Yet another delusional hope. I've searched every crevice on most of those maps for the one person who's supposed to make me whole, but I didn't think she was out there.
Maybe she just didn't exist. It wasn't unheard of, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be a miserable bastard without her. Heck, I was already starting to harden in ways I'd never imagined.
The door burst open, and I ripped my eyes away from the window, discreetly shaking my head, and donning the mask of the Alpha.
"Our borders were infiltrated again, Alpha," My Beta said.
I'm already grabbing my jacket before he finishes speaking.
"Is it bad?" I asked as we walked.
It was the third attack this month, and they had ranged from a complete blood bath to a simple punch in the face, so I didn't know what to expect at that point. I would think killing an Alpha would win them a day off, but I guess not.
"Actually," Kyler said as he rubbed his neck. "It's just a girl."
My steps faltered and then stopped completely as I turned to face him.
"You want my help for a girl?"
Kyler ran his hands through his hair and then down his face as he blew out a breath.
"I tried to talk her out of it but she's adamant about speaking with you. I think she may be injured, but she won't tell me where. And she's just standing at the border, not harming anyone or anything, so I have no grounds to lock her up."
A frustrated sigh forced its way out of my mouth.
"You lock her up on the grounds of trespassing and refusing to leave, Ky."
He shifted awkwardly on his feet before saying, "It just doesn't seem right. All she wants is to talk, that's all, and she's hurt."
I made an incredulous sound, staring, waiting for him to laugh, but he didn't.
"Kyler, if we kept every rogue out of a cell because all they wanted to do was talk then we wouldn't have a pack anymore."
"You don't know that she's a ro-"
"She's standing at the edge of our border, faking an injury, and claiming she wants to talk! What else could she be? Differentiate between your head and heart for once, ok?! Put her in a cell and be done with it. If she wants to talk to me, it can be behind bars."
I left him standing there even though every instinct I had told me to turn around and apologize.
Becoming an Alpha meant hardening more than exterior expressions. It meant conditioning yourself to do hard things even when they didn't seem right, pushing people away even when all you wanted to do was hold tight. It meant becoming a new person, a leader.
A/N
I know this chapter is short but it's just to test the waters a little. Let me know what you think!
