The Golden Eyed Alpha

Chapter 1. Allegra

Allegra

Ten years later

I marched down the hallway quickly, clipboard in hand, my eyes scanning the list of everything that still had to be done before the ceremony tomorrow. My brother, Micah, was turning twenty-five and I don't think I've ever looked forward to a birthday as much as I was anticipating this one. Tomorrow night, if all went to plan, the Moon Goddess would bestow him with the authority of Alpha, and our pack could finally get back to normal. The best part was I would finally be able to take a day off to just breathe!

Now all I have to do is convince Micah it wasn't the end of the world to be Alpha.

I knew how sensitive he was about his birthday, ever since his fifteenth. Our parents had been so excited to welcome his wolf and I remembered the amount of planning they had done to prepare for the celebration. I'd tried to play cool like I didn't care, but secretly I was looking forward to seeing his wolf. But then, the day before his birthday, rogues had attacked. Our mother had been killed fighting the largest group while our father had been fighting a group on the opposite side of our territory, completely unaware of the double attack. I'd always questioned that attack. It seemed too organized for rogues who were normally more like feral beasts than one time members of society they had supposedly been, but my father's advisors insisted it was just an unfortunate coincidence.

When our father had felt the mate bond snap with his mate's death, he'd been completely broken-hearted and basically shut down. He refused to eat or drink and his sleep was broken by frequent nightmares that he woke up from screaming. If his beta had survived, he may have been able to pull him through, but unfortunately, Jackson had been another of the fatalities in the attacks. It had taken three excruciatingly painful months for our father to die, leaving Micah, our little sister Leigh, and I orphans, and our pack without clear leadership. But all that would change tomorrow night as the moon rose and Micah took over the rank of Alpha officially.

I pushed into my father's office- soon to be Micah's- knowing this would be the most likely place I'd find my brother deep in thought. Just as I suspected, he was standing at the window overlooking the expanse of gardens where Omegas were rushing back and forth to get everything ready according to my specifications. I knew that if Micah had it his way, it would just be the ceremonial bowl and nothing else, but I was determined to make sure everything was perfect. He was so excessive in every other aspect of our lives, but ever since that fateful birthday, he'd managed to avoid celebrating. I knew, however, that the pack needed this. They needed to celebrate finally getting our Alpha and being a real pack again.

“Ok, flowers, check. Food, check. Alcohol, check, but I think I'm going to order a few more cases. I'm pretty sure I've already drunk half the wine, and I'm sure the revelry is going to continue well into the next day. Is your suit ready?” I stared at the back of Micah's head and sighed. He was daydreaming again and I didn't have time for it. I needed him on the ball. There were too many moving parts, too much that could go catastrophically wrong. I had planned every detail, but was still worried about the ways it could all fail that I hadn't even thought of yet. “Micah!” I shouted at him to get his attention. Maybe my tone was a little harsher than it should have been, but I was keenly aware of how little time there was left and the list of unchecked things to do wasn't getting any shorter as I stood impatiently waiting for my brother to answer me.

He whipped around, smiling sheepishly at me. “Sorry, I was... what?”

I scrutinized his red-rimmed eyes and softened my tone. Yes, I had to stay on schedule and there were still a million things left to do, but I could always make time for my brother. Being only a year younger than him meant we'd been fairly close before our parents died, but afterwards, we'd had to lean on each other for support. I'd be lost without him, and I knew he felt the same. “You doin' ok?” I asked, setting the clipboard on the desk so I could give him my full attention.

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “No. Yes. I don't know,” he said with a shrug.

“Tomorrow, everything will change, you'll see,” I said hopefully. “You become the Alpha, and the pack can get back on track.”

“And if I don't?” he asked sadly.

“Don't even joke about that,” I told him, shifting my weight uncomfortably. That would be a very bad outcome and I didn't want to consider the implications. It simply couldn't be an option. “That's not going to happen,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “You're the son of Alpha Trey! You're going to be the greatest Alpha we've ever had.”

Micah made a derisive snorting sound in the back of his throat, making me lift an eyebrow at him in question. “Allegra, you know the only reason we're an operational pack is because of you,” he pointed out. I sighed and opened my mouth to argue, just like I did every time he pointed out how much I did for the pack, but he cut me off before I could get a word out. “You train twice as hard as any of the warriors, you can beat any of them in the sparring ring. You're not afraid of getting your hands dirty, which has earned you the respect of every one of our pack members. You have a knack for leadership, Allie. People want to follow you. I just mess everything up so you have to clean up after me.”

“Micah, that's not true and you know it,” I growled at him. I knew he felt a sense of guilt over the amount of responsibility I'd taken on after our parents died, but it wasn't ever something I regretted or would change. “You are our Alpha,” I said.

“What if I don't want to be Alpha?” he blurted out, going pale as soon as the words escaped his lips. It was a dangerous sentiment, and I was suddenly very happy I'd closed the door when I'd come in so no one could overhear him.

“You don't mean that,” I whispered. If he didn't become the Alpha, what would that mean for the pack? Would we lose our home? Our family? I wasn't sure I could stomach joining another pack and ending our family's legacy. Or worse, become rogues.

“No, I... I know it would make things even more impossible,” Micah muttered, swallowing the misery that was written plainly on his face. “I want what's best for the pack, Allie. I do! I just can't help but wonder if that isn't me.”

I could hear the sincerity in his voice, but I wasn't sure what to say. We stood in awkward silence, each of us lost in our own miserable thoughts.

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat, pulling Micah out of his morose thoughts. He would be Alpha, whether he wanted to be or not. Thinking any other way wouldn't help our situation. We were going full steam ahead with his ceremony, despite his doubts. “So... your suit?” I prompted, picking up my clipboard to resume my preparations.

“Check,” his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but I was going to take it as a victory anyway. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

I made a definitive mark on my list before turning to leave. I still needed to check to see if the napkins had been washed and folded, which meant the laundry was my next stop. “Oh! I almost forgot,” I stopped in the doorway and turned back to Micah. He c****d an eyebrow at me and I grinned evilly at him. “I'm putting you in charge of Leigh for the rest of today and tomorrow morning.”

“Wait, what? Can't we talk about this?” he asked as the blood drained from his face.

“Nope,” I said over my shoulder and I started to walk away again. “I'm taking care of the rest of it, you can handle one little sixteen-year-old.”

Like any normal sixteen-year-old, Leigh was a hellion, a rebel, a horny teenager, and an impossibly sweet girl. I knew Micah would have his work cut out for him trying to fight off as many guys trying to get to her as he could before she gave him the slip and disappeared with one. I just hoped it would be the distraction he needed. It's not that s*x was seen as shameful or bad, and heavens knew I'd had my fair share of trysts, but Leigh seemed to make a sport of it.

Still chuckling at the impossible task I'd set for Micah, I headed downstairs to the laundry room, hoping everything was still going as planned. I hadn't intended to need to convince Micah that he was ready to be the Alpha, but maybe if everything else could go off without a hitch, he'd realize just how much his pack needed him. How much I needed him.