Alpha Grant: Book 3 of The Alpha Series

Eighteen

Grant

I was awake before everyone else in the house. A horrible pounding headache woke me up before the sun was out and it felt like my head was splitting open. I drank glass after glass of water and peed more than I expected but it helped curb the headache quickly.

I sat on my bed and watched out my window as the sun started to come up past the pine trees. As I sat there, I felt the unfamiliar presence in my head brush up against my mind. I felt both of them as they woke up and made their presence known.

“Good morning you two,” I said in my head.

“Hi Grant. I’m your wolf Wraith. It’s a pleasure to finally talk with you.”

“It’s great to finally talk to you too.”

“Yeah things are all kinds of warm and f*****g fuzzy,” the deep voice of my Lycan said.

Great, he's a d**k. This is going to be interesting.

“Good for you to notice I’m an asshole and you're stuck with me, Granty boy,” he said.

“Yeah, and you're stuck with me too. What’s your name?” I asked.

“I am Skoll, the Lycan of the Sun,” he answered.

“Well, Skoll, it’s time to start our day.”

I got up and got dressed before leaving my room to get breakfast. I found my mom, former Luna Jamie, in the kitchen making chocolate chip waffles for breakfast. I sniffed the air and hummed in happiness. She knew I had a sweet tooth and when she got the chance she would soil me.

I walked up to her and put my arm around her shoulder to watch her cook. She looked up at me with a bright smile.

“Happy birthday, Grant. How are things going?” she asked as she wrapped an arm around my waist and side hugged me while she cooked.

“Good. My headache was horrible this morning though.”

“Yeah, that happens. What are they like?” she asked as she let go of me.

I moved to the bar and had a seat while watching her finish making breakfast.

“My wolf, Wraith, is pretty cool. My Lycan, on the other hand, seems like a massive asshole.”

She laughed and said, “Sounds like you might have an angel and a demon living in your head already.”

I groaned and said, “I hope not.”

Dad, former Alpha Cameron, came walking into the kitchen with his workout clothes on and grabbed mom's ass before walking over to me. I shook my head while watching them. They were always handsy with one another.

“Happy birthday, Grant. How’s your headache?” he asked.

“It’s gone now. It woke me up early this morning though.”

“Sounds like your headache was worse than anyone else's that I’ve talked to,” he said.

“I wonder why,” I asked out loud.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “there’s no telling. How are you getting along with them?”

I groaned and mom laughed, then answered for me, “he might have a demon in the form of a Lycan in his head.”

“Oh s**t. What’s your Lycan’s name?” Dad asked.

“Skoll,” I said.

“Ah. In Norse mythology, Skoll chased the sun endlessly,” dad told me.

I grunted, then said, “but he doesn’t have to be a dick.”

“Oh. That bad?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes.”

“Glad I’m not you. Also watch your language,” dad told me with a glare.

“Yes, sir.”

Dad went down the hall and got the twins up before banging on Jaxson’s door. I covered my mouth with a closed fist and tried desperately not to laugh. He figured out a few months after all of us moved in here how awful it was to wake Jackson up in the morning while he was busy jacking off. I’ll never forget that morning and I don’t think Jaxson will either.

Dad came back to the kitchen with the twins behind him. They put their backpacks down at the dining room table before coming up to me and hugging me from either side. I wrapped my arms around their shoulders and squeezed them tightly.

“Happy birthday,” they both said.

“Thank you,” I told them.

“You’re welcome,” they said together.

They let go of me and went to sit in their spots to wait for breakfast. Mom served us our waffles and eggs before Jaxson could make an appearance. When he walked into the kitchen, he clapped me on the back as hard as he possibly could and Skoll let out a growl while I was chewing my food. I stopped chewing and looked at him with an apologetic look.

“Sorry,” I said after I swallowed my food.

“You’re good, bro. Happy birthday by the way,” Jaxson told me.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” he said as he sat down beside me at the bar.

Mom gave him his plate, then handed dad his. We watched as dad stole a kiss from her before going to sit with the twins at the table. All of us had breakfast together before the four of us needed to leave for school.

I grabbed my bag and waited at the front door for Jaxson, Josie and Jade to get their things. Once everyone was ready, we stepped out of the house, calling out bye to mom and dad as they cleaned up from breakfast.

I headed to stand in front of the house next door. It was Beta Rambo’s house and I wanted to wait for my best friend, Madison. I stood there with everyone else for a few minutes before Madison opened the door and stepped out. She smiled brightly at me and I returned it.

She walked up to me and hugged me tightly while saying, “Happy Birthday!”

“Thanks, Mads,” I told her while I squeezed her tightly.

I released her and we all started to walk to school. I was a senior this year and Madison and Jaxson were sophomores and the twins were in middle school. Last year, at this time, our older brother, Eric, had just turned eighteen and was getting ready to take over the pack from our dad. I knew that Jaxson and I were both Alpha’s but we wouldn’t be taking over a pack, we would be creating new ones.

“So how are things going in Grant’s head now that you’re eighteen?” Madison asked with a smile.

I looked at her and said, “Interesting. My Lycan seems to be a demon and my wolf is pretty decent.”

She laughed and asked, “Why would you call your Lycan a demon?”

“Because he’s an asshole.”

“Oh. Not getting along with him already, I see. It’s going to be a long life for you if you keep up like that.”

“I like her,” Skoll said in my head.

“Me too. She’s awesome. That's why she’s my best friend.”

We got to school and the twins went down the middle school hall as they waved at us. Jaxson, Madison and I all went to our lockers to get our stuff out for class. I grabbed my history book and my sketchbook for art class and put them in my backpack. Madison closed her locker next to mine and leaned against it while looking at me.

I glanced at her and asked, “what?”

“What are their names?” she asked.

“My wolf’s name is Wraith and my Lycan is Skoll.”

“Strong names,” she said while nodding her head as if she approved of them.

“Yeah.”

“Are you excited about your party tonight?”

“Hell yeah I am,” I said with a big smile.

She smiled back at me before I heard some female calling my name as she passed by. I looked to see who it was and it was Heather. She was one of those she-wolves that you heard about getting passed around by all of the guys in the upper grades. Gross. My attention was on her for a split second before I turned back to Madison. She was glaring at Heather. Those two have always hated each other.

“Come on, Mads. Let's get to class,'' I said, drawing her attention back to me.

She looked at me and nodded her head. We said bye to Jaxson and headed for our first class of the day. Throughout our first class, all the she-wolves were paying close attention to me and it made me uncomfortable. At the end of first period, one of the she-wolves that had just turned eighteen a few weeks ago ran her hand along my arm and Skoll growled at her through me. Her eyes went wide and she ran off in fear.

“What was that for?” I asked Skoll.

“She shouldn’t touch what’s not hers,” he growled.

Well, I’m not getting any experience with a she-wolf before I find my Luna. Oh well. I would have to keep to the pact I made with Eric and that was fine. I had always planned to save myself anyway.

I looked over to find Madison trying not to laugh and I looked at her in curiosity.

“What?” I asked her.

“That was funny, but why did you growl at her like that? She practically pissed herself.”

“It was Skoll,” I told her.

Her eyebrows rose as she was still trying not to laugh. I shook my head and we went to our next class. As I walked into the room and down the aisle to my chair in the back of the room, one of the other guys was shoved into me. I caught him as I stumbled a little and shoved him back in the direction he had come from.

“Beat his ass,” Skoll growled.

“No. Don’t do that,” Wraith said.

“Your name is Wraith. Aren’t you supposed to be angry and want to fight?” Skoll asked.

“I’m Wraithful for the right person you i***t,” Wraith snapped back.

Oh great. I was going to spend a lifetime listening to these two fight in my head. This was going to be awful.

“Both of you shut it! I need to get through my day. I’m not fighting anyone,” I snapped at them.

They both calmed down and sat in the back of my head quietly. I took a breath and went to my seat to sit down. Madison took her seat next to me and class started.

When lunch came around, Skoll kept asking to fight every guy in school and I kept telling him no. Everytime a girl touched me, he would growl and that happened a lot today. Every of age she-wolf thought that they needed to touch my arms today and it was a little much for me.

While we sat there eating lunch, Madison asked, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah. All of this is just a bit much. I can't wait to graduate and get the hell out of here.”

“Where will you go?”

“Well, I’ll go train at Crimson Moon with Alpha Curt like Eric did. Then I’m planning to follow the path my uncle Sean did and learn about other packs before establishing my own.”

She nodded her head and I could tell she was a little down. We have talked about me leaving the pack and that always seemed to upset her. If she was my age I would take her with me when I left, but she wasn’t. She would have to wait for her eighteenth birthday, then she could come be part of my pack.

Through the day, I got texts and phone calls from my cousins, aunts and uncles wishing me a happy birthday. It was great to hear from everyone and I wished that uncle Jack and aunt Stella could have made it here for today, but they were both busy. I will go visit them soon though.

The rest of the day was much the same. I was happy when the final bell rang and I met everyone at my locker so we could go home. Madison still seemed upset after our conversation at lunch and I figured she would get over it.

Once everyone was at my locker, we headed for the front door of the school to leave. I stepped out of the building and saw Eric there waiting for us. I smiled brightly and walked up to him. We hugged in a tight embrace of happiness. I didn’t get to see him much now after he took over the pack. He was always busy.

“Happy birthday,” Eric told me.

“Thanks,” I said happily.

We let go of one another and Eric hugged everyone else in greeting. All of us started to walk through the village to go home. We stopped at Rambo and Sage's house for Madison to go inside. She hugged me in a tight embrace before she went in. She still wasn’t happy. I wonder how upset she was going to be when I did leave.

The five of us turned to walk next door and went inside. Mom and dad were there waiting for us and hugged Eric in greeting. We all stood there in the living room with mom and dad to talk before Jaxson had to go get some homework done along with the twins. I was lucky that there was no homework for school right now. I got all my work done in class.

“So do you plan to stay here or move back into the packhouse tonight?” mom asked me.

“I’m going to move back into the packhouse like all eighteen-year-olds do,” I told her.

She nodded her head in reply, but she didn’t seem to be happy that I was leaving the house.

“You can have your old room back,” Eric offered.

“Awesome,” I said with a big smile.

Eric and I left our parents in the kitchen area and headed down the hall to my room. I started packing my clothes to move out tonight.

Eric sat down on my bed and said, “the packhouse staff is getting your room ready for you.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. So how was it waking up with your wolf and Lycan this morning?”

I stopped packing and looked at Eric with a small smile, “It was different. Skoll, my Lycan, keeps trying to egg me on to smack people and my wolf, Wraith, is more a peace keeper trying to tell my Lycan to shut up. It’s like having an angel and a demon in my head fighting constantly.”

He started laughing and covered his mouth quickly to suppress his laughter because he noticed it was irritating me. It was horrible to put up with those two in my head and it just made me angry that everyone around me found it funny.

“I’m sorry, dude,” he told me.

“It’s horrible,” I whined.

“I’m so sorry. I’m sure that’s not ideal to have going on in your head.”

“It’s really not. Skoll wanted me to fight half the guys at school.”

“You would demolish all of them. Tomorrow we will spar with dad and see how he does,” he said.

I nodded my head and looked around my room.

“What else is up?” Eric asked.

“The damn she-wolves at school kept touching my arms all day and rubbing up against me. Every time they did, Skoll would growl at them. They ran off in fear, thank Goddess. But there’s no way in hell I would be able to have s*x with anyone other than my mate because of him,” I told him.

“Well, at least I know you will keep our pact,” he said with a shrug.

“That’s for damn sure,” I grumbled.

“What was up with Madison? She seemed off today,” he inquired.

“She’s upset that I’ll be leaving the pack in a few months to start my own journey.”

“Ah.”

“Come to think of it, she's the only she-wolf other than mom that I have been able to hug all day without Skoll getting angry,” I said while recalling the day.

She hugged me twice and he didn’t do anything and Skoll said he liked her. I wonder why that was?

“With mom, that’s understandable because she’s mom and she’s the Forest Wolf. I wonder if you, being such close friends with Madison, kept him from growling at her?” Eric asked.

“I don’t know. Honestly, I would love to know why he is the way he is.”

Eric chuckled at me and then helped me to pack up the last of my things. When we were done, I grabbed my shorts and a gray t-shirt I didn't care about. Eric left my room so I could change and he could talk with mom and dad. I quickly changed, then went out to the kitchen to meet with everyone.

We left the house and walked through the village with all of my clothes and belongings in hand. We went to the packhouse and then up to my old room on the top floor. It was going to be great being back here. Don’t get me wrong, I love the house we are in but there was just something about the packhouse that I loved.

Once my things were in my room, we all went down to my party, which was down by the lake. Mom had set the party up similar to Eric’s and the whole pack was here. Everyone left me to go mingle except for Eric.

“Did you feel overwhelmed at your party?” I asked him while looking at the crowd.

“A little, but then I went into, this is my pack and I’m about to run it, mode,” he told him while trying to impersonate dad.

“Ah. That makes sense why it’s different for me.”

“You should talk with uncle Sean to see how he felt when he turned eighteen,” he offered.

“Fair. I’ll text him tomorrow. He texted me this morning to wish me a happy birthday.”

I wasn’t paying attention to Eric anymore as I scanned the crowd for Madison. When I saw her, I smiled. I was ready to spend my birthday party with my best friend. Suddenly, I felt Eric clap me on the back and Skoll emitted a growl at him for it. I glanced at Eric and he was shaking his head as he saw what I was dealing with.

“I’ll let you say hi to your guests and run around with Madison while I go talk with everyone,” he told me in a low voice.

“Ok,” I said with a nod.

Eric left me and I met with Madison. We walked around and talked to one another and guests before playing games and eating food. Mom had ordered pizza and all kinds of sweets. I was in food heaven tonight thanks to mom and I ate entirely too much, but I was about to burn it off by shifting twice in a row.

When it was time for me to shift, I left Madison’s side and joined my parents, Eric and our younger siblings. I stood in front of everyone and relaxed as best I could and connected with Wraith.

“You get to come out first. Are you ready?” I asked him.

“You bet I am.”

I took a deep breath and let him take over as I breathed out. The sound of the tearing of clothes, snapping of bones and my heavy breathing filled the air and my ears. I suppressed the urge to scream in pain but I did let a small groan of discomfort slip past my lips. The shift hurt like hell, but I didn’t want anyone to think I was weak.

When it was all over, my wolf was standing proudly in front of everyone. I scanned the crowd to see what people thought. I found Madison and she was smiling in wonder at Wraith along with her parents and our close friends.

Mom and dad shifted to let their wolves out and I noticed that somehow Wraith was just a little taller than them. Which is odd because Eric’s wolf, Riot, is the same size as our parents’ wolves. Why was Wraith bigger than them?

Eric shifted with us and the four of us took off into the woods for a run of the Alpha’s. The four of us ran in the woods for about twenty minutes before they were done playing around.

When we got back to the party, some of the pack members were still there. Mainly family friends that wanted to see my Lycan and my siblings. We shifted back and dad, Eric and I pulled on shorts as mom shifted with her clothes still on.

I was off to the side when dad walked up to me and asked, “are you ready to let Skoll out?”

“Yeah. Will it hurt just as badly as letting my wolf out?”

“You know it will. Eric just went through it last year.”

“If he could do it then so can I,” I told him.

He nodded his head and said, “I know you can.”

His confidence in me made it a little better, but my first shift sucked. It hurt like hell but I wasn’t going to be a big b***h and scream about it. I took a deep relaxing breath and connected to Skoll. Connecting to him was way easier than connecting with Wraith.

“Now it’s your turn you d**k. Be nice while you're out,” I told Skoll.

“No promises,” he told me with a giant grin on his menacing face.

Everyone still at the party stood there and watched as I surrendered to Skoll and started to let him out. The shift took over quickly and didn’t hurt nearly as much as letting Wraith out. I was so thankful.

Skoll came out in full force, ready to meet or beat the world as I was shoved to the back to watch what he was about to do. Once he was out, he seemed to be looking for something. Skoll let out an odd growl, so mom started walking up to him. He went quiet as he looked at mom and I relaxed that he wasn’t about to start s**t with her.

“Why are you growling at everyone?” she asked smoothly.

“Because I’m ready to fight,” he said in a deep voice.

“You can’t fight everyone. Just the ones that challenge you or mean you or your mate harm,” she told him.

He took a deep breath and nodded his head like a disappointed child. Go mom! I might need to have her talk to him more often.

“What is your name?” mom asked.

She already knew what his name was, so why was she asking? Was I missing something?

“I am Skoll, the Lycan of the Sun,” he answered.

I was the sun and Eric was the moon. What would Jaxson be?

“The twins of the sun and moon are also known as the children of Fenrir in Norse mythology,” mom said.

That made sense considering that dad’s Lycan was named Fenrir. We were his son’s. Eric let Hati out and the two of them acted like long lost brothers happy to see one another again. It was amazing for them to act like that.

Soon, dad let Fenrir out and the three of us ran through the woods, showing me what Skoll could do. He caught onto everything quickly and we had a blast. What a great way to end my birthday.