The Alpha's Son

                                                                                            Jake             Having to live up to the expectations of my father was tiresome. Every day I was reminded of what a great Alpha Blake Dooley is. I, being his only son, was next in line to assume the role. It was a role I was not sure that I wanted. Ever since I was young, everyone around me has treated me differently because of who my parents are. Roxy, my mother, is the only known hybrid that still exists. They have been hunted down and killed throughout the last ten years, stating that they were abominations and unnatural beings. To be fair, all supernatural beings were unnatural in my eyes. I dreamed of being different. I dreamed of being a human.            When I was not at school, I was working out and learning about becoming an Alpha of our pack. I tried to tell my dad that I wasn’t sure this was the path for me, but he and my mom insisted that it was. I wish that Priya could be the leader of this pack. She had what it took, whereas I would never be half the man my father was.            Priya was my best friend. She was the daughter of Brooke and Brent, and Brent was my dad’s Beta. We had grown up together our entire lives, and if it wasn’t for her, I have no idea how I would have survived. Summer break was coming to an end, which meant that she would be home soon. I could not wait for her return. Things were a little boring around here without her.             Now that I was seventeen, my parents have been nagging me about finding my mate. It wasn’t that I did not want to find her, but I had so much on my plate already that having a mate was the least of my worries. My mom would tell me the stories of how she and my father found each other. I always hated hearing the story because my father rejected my mother after she became a hybrid. Any male werewolf that rejected his mate was a coward and a disgrace in my eyes. My mother forgave him, and they ended up living a happy life after having many downs in their relationship.            One day, hunters would come for my mother. I wanted to be the one to protect her, but in reality, it would be my father. He has done a great job of it so far. I rolled my eyes at the thought. I held a little resentment toward my father because of the difficult time he gave my mom when they found each other. If I were lucky enough to find my mate, I would treat her like a damn queen. I have had many girls interested in me for the past few years, but none have interested me enough to make me pursue anything with them.            After having my daily run, I went back to the packhouse to grab a bite to eat. My mom and dad were waiting for me inside when I arrived. “Hey, what’s up.”            “We need to talk, son,” my father said to me. He always at this stern look on his face. It made it impossible to tell what he was getting ready to say. “We have arranged a ball this weekend in your honor to help find your mate.”            Oh, not this s**t again. They tried this at the beginning of the Summer, hoping I would cave into their ridiculous demands. “How many times do I have to tell you that I am not interested in finding my mate through some damn ball? If I have a mate out there somewhere, I will find her on my own terms. God! You two are ridiculous. Why are you pressuring me into finding my mate anyway?”            My father stood, which let me know he was not too happy with how I was addressing them. “I have told you about that mouth, son. You are now seventeen years old. In one year, you will become the Alpha of this pack. Your mother and I have had decided that the title will not be yours until you show us that you are serious about this position. Every day you have been slacking more and more. If you want this, you will find your mate to help to motivate you.”            “I have told you, dad, I’m not sure I want to be Alpha of this pack. Why can’t you choose someone that knows they want this?”            He rested his hand on my shoulder. “Because you are my son, and the title is yours. Once you have found your mate, you will no longer resist the idea of becoming the Alpha because you will want it. Your mate will make you stronger and give you purpose.”            My mother appeared opposite side of my father, grabbing my face and turning it toward her. “Jake, you were born for this position. We see the potential in you that you don’t see in yourself. Your father is getting tired. He will not be able to take on the role of Alpha much longer. But you will have to want this for yourself before you are truly ready. Please, for my sake, let us get this ball together. You never know. Your mate may be there waiting for you.”            I then asked the only thing that interested me. “When is Priya coming home? I will go if she can accompany me to the ball.”            They smiled at each other. “She is on her way back and is expected back before sundown. I swore for the longest time that you two were mates, and you were holding it back from us,” my mother said.            Ew, gross. Priya, my mate? Not a chance. I loved Priya but in a sisterly way. Nothing about her has ever made me believe there would be anything more to us than the great friendship we had. “Gross, mom.”            “The ball will be this Saturday evening. I will make sure a tux is delivered to your room and invitations are sent out by tomorrow.” My father nodded at me, then grabbed my mother’s hand and walked away.            Great, now I would be in a room full of unmated women ready to find their mate, thinking I would be their mate. The whole idea made me kind of sick. Usually, men would be thrilled to have a bunch of women pinning over them, but not me. I was just happy that Priya would be there with me.            I went upstairs to my bedroom, hoping to relax for a little bit. Maybe when Priya got home, we could sneak out to our spot and catch up. Priya was the one that always got me into trouble. To be honest, I was missing that in my life right now.             The door then slammed open, and in walked Priya. “Well, look at you, Mr. biceps. Damn, have you done nothing but work out this entire Summer?”            She walked over and flopped down on the bed next to me. I pulled her to me, giving her a huge hug. “I missed you, Priya. Things have been dull around here without you.”            “What you mean is that your parents have been driving you crazy. C’mon, Jake. They only want what is best for you. You shouldn’t give them such a hard time.”            I sat up on the bed, running my hands through my black hair. I had to take a moment to really enjoy the sight of Priya being in front of me. She was a very beautiful girl. She had light brown hair with streaks of blonde, her eyes were baby blue, her face was a perfectly round shape, she was a little short, but had a rocking body that she took damn good care of. If I saw her as anything other than my best friend, I would have probably hooked up with her a long time ago. “You know they are hosting a ball this weekend?”            She started to laugh, not even trying to hide it. “A ball? Wait, let me guess. They are trying to get you to find your mate again?”            “Is it that obvious?”            “Eh,” she said while shrugging her shoulders. “I know what we can do to take your mind off things for a bit.”            Priya knew exactly what I needed when I needed it. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”            “Waterhole!” We both said at the same time.            We both jumped off the bed and raced down the stairs until we were outside. Once my feet hit the ground, I jumped up and shifted mid-air.            “Showoff!” Priya yelled from beside me. She had a tougher time when it came to shifting. Her mother was human, and her dad was a werewolf; therefore, it took longer for her to control her shift. Priya was still having some difficulty with it, but it wasn’t for her lack of trying.            After waiting a few minutes, she finally managed to shift. I think I was the only one that didn’t give her a hard time about it. It was the only flaw I think that this girl had. I’m not sure I would even call it a flaw at all. We raced together to the waterhole a few miles off into the woods. All the young wolves would come here to let off some steam. There was a shed off to the side of the waterhole that someone had built to store our clothes inside of. Since Priya and I came here often, we kept a bag full of clothes stashed in a secret compartment inside.            Priya may take a while when it came to shifting, but there was no doubt that she was much faster than any other wolf within our pack. She was a natural-born leader, much like her father, who was second in command. There were no rules about making females leaders, but I wonder what my father would say if I told him I planned on making Priya my Beta once I was made Alpha.            I let Priya go inside to change first once we got to the waterhole. There were a few other wolves around, but at least it wasn’t crowded. She stepped out of the shed with her bathing suit on, showing off her exquisite body. I shook the thought out of my head and walked past her and into the shed.             Are you sure you don’t see her more than just a friend? My wolf, Jet, asked. Most of the time, I would push him to the back of my mind. He had many thoughts about my plan to not become Alpha.             After shifting back into human form, I put on my pale blue swim trunks. When I opened the door, Priya was standing against the shed talking to Lucas, the “it” guy of our school. Every guy wanted to be like him, and all girls wanted to be with him. I had no interest in being anything like him. Lucas was a self-centered asshole who only cared about how many girls he could sleep with all before he graduated.            “Hey, kid,” Lucas said while punching my shoulder. Man, he sure did know how to piss someone off using only two words.            “What’s up, Luke.”            He hated it when people called him Luke. I did it solely to piss him off. “Nothing much, just getting ready to go swimming with Priya here. That is if you don’t mind swimming alone.” He mumbled something under his breath while wrapping his arm around Priya’s shoulder.            I guess I wouldn’t be letting off some steam today after all.