The Alpha's Secret

Chapter 1: The Beginning

August 26th, 2008, Stockholm, Sweden

Alpha Kane Hemming sat across the large circular dining table and looked over at his closest of friends, the werewolf King and Queen, and the most powerful wolves in the world. The King Ulf Havaror seemed to be trying his best to hold back the heartache, which was evident in his eyes, while his wife, Queen Freya Havaror, sobbed, holding her face in her hands.

“We need you to do something for us." The king said, his voice low. "And you must know that we are not asking you as your King and Queen but as your friends and closest allies.” Kane nodded his head. He would agree to anything. The King has always been good to him and although they grew up in different countries, they built up a friendship which started when they were children and there were many times when they would go to battle together but this time the battle had been with the Kings own brother, Axel Havaror and it was all over a three-year-old girl, Princess Athena. Alpha Kane Hemming listened to his friend and immediately agreed to what they had asked.

The Kings younger brother Axel had always believed the Queen to be Barron, she and his brother had tried for years to produce an heir to the throne, and he had come to the assumption that he would be the new King when his brother was to die. But by some miracle bestowed on them by Gaia the Queen had become pregnant, and she gave birth to a little girl, Princess Athena Rieka Havaror, the heir to the throne and the future queen of werewolves. Furious at this turn of events, Axel had plotted to have the child killed, and no one would have ever known had it had not been for Axel’s own wife. The woman was disgusted that the man would want to have his own niece murdered but unfortunately, the loyalty she showed to her King and Queen only guaranteed her own death. In order to protect their daughter, the King and Queen hatched a plan to fake the child’s death and send her away to another country, England and the man who was appointed to protect the princess was Alpha Kane Hemming of The Dark Moon pack.

August 31st, 2008, Oxfordshire, England

Alaric Hemming Jnr was a little confused when his father came home from a business trip with a little girl, but as he was only five years old, he accepted his father’s explanation.

“This is Thea. She is a little girl who was orphaned and had no family to go to, so Daddy decided to bring her home here and look after her. Would you like to help me look after her?” Kane asked, as his son studied the terrified three-year-old child who was clinging on to a small doll and crying for her mama.

“Why is she crying?” The little boy asked, concern for the little girl growing in his eyes.

“Do you remember when mummy passed away and you were really sad and you cried for her?” Kane asked, trying to be as gentle as he could. His son nodded sadly and looked down at the floor.

“Well little Thea’s mummy and daddy died, and she is really sad.” Alaric nodded and made his way over to his new housemate.

“Don’t cry, Thea, you will be okay. Let me show you my toys and books. I have lots. Should I read you a story? I promise I will look after you.” The little girl nodded her head and stopped crying, fascinated by the boy standing in front of her. She followed closely behind him, and it was clear to see that the dove had met her falcon.

October 2011, Oxfordshire England.

“Girls can’t climb trees like boys can!” Elias Benson shouted at the stubborn red-headed girl who was inspecting the large tree that towered in the mansion grounds.

“Yes, they can!” Dhalia Calahan shouted back, sulkily crossing her arms across her chest.

“Alaric, tell them that girls can’t climb trees!” Elias grumbled, looking over to his best friend for support.

“Girl’s can climb trees.” Alaric announced, as he threw a stone in the lake that was surrounding the grounds.

“See! I told you girls can!” Dhalia said, grinning from ear to ear. Elias shook his head and stamped his foot.

“Okay fine, girls can climb tree’s but six-year-olds can’t, only 8-year-olds can, and you and Thea are only six, so you need to go away.”

“No! Six-year-olds can climb trees!” Dhalia screamed, getting angrier and angrier with the boy who stood in front of her.

“Yeah, six is really too young to be climbing trees.” Alaric stated this time in agreement with his friend. He looked around and noticed that Thea wasn’t anywhere to be seen and that Elias and Dhalia were now fighting with one another on the ground, each child determined to win their argument.

“Thea?!” Alaric cried, remembering the promise he had made to Thea three years earlier.

“Alaric I am stuck!” Thea called from the top of the tree. “I am scared, and I can’t get down.” Alaric looked up at his friend and noticed that she was holding on to the tree for dear life and had made her way quite far up.

“I am coming, Thea, just don’t let go, okay?”

September 2012, Oxfordshire England.

“But I don’t want you to go.” The now 7-year-old Thea cried to her friend, Alaric.

“I know, but I have to. I’m 9 now, and my dad said it’s time that I go to school to start learning to be an Alpha.” Thea started crying harder and clung on to Alaric like her life depended on it. Alaric pulled her into his arms and held her, it’s something he had learnt to do when Thea would cry, and he seemed to be the only person who could calm her down. “I have to go now, but I will be back at Christmas. I will miss you.” Alaric reluctantly pulled away and ran from the room, trying his best not to look back.

September 2016, Oxfordshire England.

Thea and Alaric both sat up at the long rectangular dining table and listened to Kane talk about how soon Alaric would be starting his intense Alpha training now that he is 13 and it left Thea wondering what she would be doing while he trained. Alaric seemed to read her mind and looked up at his father.

“What about Thea?” He asked the concern in his eyes, deepening.

“Our little dove will be going to a boarding school for girls.” Kane answered before taking another mouthful of steak into his mouth.

“But I don’t want to.” Thea said, looking up at the man that had raised her, her hazel eyes pleading with him to not let her go. Kane's gaze softened at the little girl whom he had sworn to protect.

“Poppet you have to, all little girls at your age go to school.” The man answered, moving a strand of red hair from her eyes. Alaric thought for a second and then smiled at his little friend.

“It’s okay, Pixie, you will come home during the holidays.” He grinned.

“Erm no she won’t, you two are a bad influence on one another. You Alaric need to concentrate on becoming the best Alpha you can be, and you Thea need to concentrate on your education, but I promise you that i will visit you every now and then, okay?” Theas eyes fell to Alaric, and both the children looked at one another sadly for a while. They were being separated after 8 years of growing up together, and neither were too sure about it, both equally as scared.

July 2023, Devon, England.

Thea sat in the backseat the car that had been sent to pick her up from the boarding school she had spent the past seven years at, and the only thing she could think about was seeing Alaric True to his word, Kane had kept the two children apart and would visit Thea himself during each holiday to make sure she was behaving and keeping up with her studies. The only contact that Thea had had with Alaric was through letters. The two would write to each other every week during the first three years but Thea had noticed that the older he got, Alaric would write back less and less, she came to the conclusion it was because he was just busy with his Alpha training, although she felt that it wasn't much of an excuse.

Being away from Alaric was hard for her, and those letters gave her something to look forward to, once they had stopped it left her alone with the memories that tormented her, like the day she was taken away from her home after her parents had died. Although Thea didn't remember much about her mother and father, she could still feel the love that they had surrounded her with every day. She had spent many nights wondering how different her life would be had they never died, and then she thought about how cruel life was. If her parents had lived, she would never have met Kane and Alaric. But because of their death, fate brought her to the two people she loved most in the world. Maybe in another life, she could have all of them with her, and she swore that she would never let them go.