My Alpha's Pain

Chapter 2: Down A Destructive Path

-Keith-

“Good, you found him!” my mother exclaimed, rushing down the stairs in her dark red nightgown that swayed around her legs.

My father followed closely behind. At least, I assumed it was my father—my vision was too blurry to be sure. If it hadn’t been for my best friend Aiden helping me stay upright, I would have collapsed.

“Where was he?” my father asked.

Aiden glanced at my other best friend, Logan, who was watching me with a concerned expression, biting the inside of his cheek.

“At a club in town… drinking himself to death,” Logan said.

I tried to explain myself, but the words came out as a strange, high-pitched noise. I didn’t even know I could make sounds like that.

“Again?” my mother asked.

They both nodded. I could see the concern in my mother’s eyes and the anger rising in my father’s as he turned to Aiden.

“Get him to his room. I’ll deal with him in the morning,” he said.

I wanted to protest, but no sound came out as my parents left me with my friends. They each took one of my arms and draped it over their shoulders, helping me up the stairs to the third floor, where my room and my parents’ room were located.

They dragged me down the hallway to the end of it. Logan opened my door, and they pulled me inside, then dropped me onto the bed. I groaned from the rough handling but managed to roll onto my back and find my voice, “Drink!”

Logan sighed, clearly irritated.

“No more!” Aiden shouted at me, but I couldn’t hear him clearly.

“Drink! Bartender!”

“Sh*t! He still thinks he’s at the club,” Logan said.

Aiden looked at me with a look of pity before placing a hand on Logan’s shoulder and guiding him out of the room. I knew what my friends were thinking—I was destroying myself. That was my plan: to be such a disappointment that my father would not make me the alpha.

So far, I was doing a good job, yet he still hadn’t told me I was enough of a disappointment to not follow in his footsteps. The more I failed, the more desperate I became to hear those words. I drank until I couldn’t stand and engaged in dangerous behavior like underground fight clubs, partying with the wrong crowd, and illegal street racing. Still, it wasn’t enough. What could I do to make him hate me enough?

***

“You’re a disgrace!” my father roared, making my headache worse and my ears ring.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I groaned, rubbing my temples.

“Take those damn sunglasses off!” my father shouted, snatching them away before I could react.

“Hey!”

“Can’t you see what you’re doing, Keith? Can’t you see what you’re doing to this family?”

I rolled my eyes. Same old accusations. Yeah, I’m the one destroying everything. Sure, Dad, I thought.

“Why don’t you tell me?” I asked sarcastically.

My father’s face was red with rage. He grabbed his gray and dark hair, yanking at it in frustration, then slammed his hand on the table, causing the objects on his desk to rattle.

“Tell me what I have to do to make you listen, Keith! Just tell me!” he demanded, his voice tinged with desperation.

“Take back your announcement about making me the alpha!”

My father sighed, leaning back in his chair. He rubbed his eyes wearily before meeting my gaze again.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Of course you can! You decide who follows you, and it shouldn’t be me!”

“But it should! You’re next in line!”

“Only because Jace isn’t anymore,” I yelled back.

The room fell silent, and pain flickered in my father’s eyes. It was always the same. This conversation never changed: my father would ask what he needed to do to make me stop this reckless behavior, and I would demand that he announce I wasn’t going to be the next alpha, taking over Jace’s rightful place. He’d say he couldn’t, and I’d bring up my deceased older brother, making the room fall silent… Always the same.

“You’re next in line,” my father said softly. “This is the way things are.”

“Well, I don’t want to be next. That position belongs to Jace, not me,” I said, standing up.

“Keith…”

I ignored my father and turned away, walking out of his office. I hadn’t done enough yet. I still hadn’t been removed from the alpha position. I wasn’t sure what else to do. I had already done everything that should disqualify someone, but my father wasn’t easily swayed.

“Keith.”

As I reached the entrance to the house, I heard my mother call out to me. I looked up at her. Her long blond hair was loose, and she wore a white suit with matching heels. She looked radiant, as always.

She walked down to me with a sweet smile. I could never understand how she could still love me after everything I’d done wrong and the pain I had caused her.

“Come, you must be hungry,” she said.

“Actually, I was heading out.”

“After.”

“After?”

“You need to eat first.”

My mother didn’t wait for a response. She simply walked to the kitchen, expecting me to follow, which I did. She made the best breakfast ever. My stomach was already growling as I took a seat at the kitchen island, watching her prepare eggs, bacon, and toast.

She hummed a little tune while cooking. I knew this wasn’t just about breakfast. It was her way of getting me to talk. Unfortunately, my hunger made me too distracted to care. She brought the food over with a fork and told me to dig in, then sat down beside me with a cup of coffee, pouring one for me as well.

“Keith,” she said after I took my first bite.

Here it comes, I thought, bracing myself.

“I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t be.”

“I’m your mother. I’ll always worry.”

“I’m fine. I’m still standing.”

“And for how long will you keep standing? You’re slowly killing yourself,” she said in a serious and worried tone.

I really didn’t want to have this conversation. It wasn’t the first time she’d used food as a cover for discussing my behavior, and it always ended the same way: me going out to cause more trouble, indifferent to her concerns.

“Keith—”

“Mom! You know how to fix this. So does Dad. Have him remove me from the alpha position, and I’ll stop.”

My mother fell silent, her finger tapping against the cup in her hands as she contemplated my words.

“It’s your responsibility to be the alpha,” she said finally.

I shook my head and pushed the food away.

“No, it’s Jace’s,” I said, standing up from my chair.

“Jace isn’t here anymore!” I heard her shout after me.

I paused for a moment, knowing it hurt her to say that. She had lost one son and didn’t want to lose another. Still, I didn’t turn around. Instead, I left the kitchen and the house.