On The Border - Marry Him or Die

7

Alex’s POV

“To my loved ones:

I’m deeply sorry for leaving you like this. My heart breaks just writing this letter and imagining you all gathered around to hear it. But please, grieve no more, as it will only make me more heartbroken over seeing you like this, where ever I end up after my death, I want you all to know that I will be with you with every passing second, even though you cannot sense me or hear me. So I don’t want to see you sad and broken for my death. I want you to stand strong and believe with every fiber of your beings that I am and will always be with you. I am not going anywhere because I’m already in your hearts and souls.

I’m writing this letter not only to my family, but to the new leader of the Snow clan.

As the former leader of my clan, it is my duty and obligation to appoint another one to come after me in case of my unexpected death. It is my decision and mine alone.

As the new leader, I want you to know that it is completely okay to feel overwhelmed and a little lost at first. I know I was terrified when I first took over the position. But as the days pass you will become more confident and in control. I have complete trust and certainty that you are the perfect man for the job, because I raised you well, my son.

I hereby appoint the new leader of the Snow clan to be my son… Alex Snow.

May your leadership be full of prosperity, peace, and justice. May it last until you become old enough to appoint the next one yourself while you are still present among your family.

Lastly, I love you all so much and I will continue to love you from my new place, where ever that may be.

Isaac Snow”

A deafening silence fills the room after that.

All of us thinking the same exact thing.

What in the world did just happen?

The next leader should have been my uncle Stefan. He had seniority.

Why did my father choose me, then?

I looked at my mother and noticed her looking at me, not shocked by the letter at all.

She knew! My father must have told her about his decision before he died.

I wanted to ask her about the reason, but it wasn’t the right time. Not with everyone in the room.

I looked at uncle Stefan, he was staring at the fire place, where the fire was crackling inside it.

He was angry, it was obvious. He felt betrayed by his own brother for taking away his right at the leadership.

His son David, was looking at him with worry…and fear. His fear took me by surprise, it was too clear I couldn’t say I imagined it. What was he afraid of?

I didn’t know what to say. I was at a loss for words.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want the leadership, it’s that I wasn’t prepared to take on that burden this early.

Lucas breaks the stillness and silence erupting from the place, as he gets up from his chair and comes over to where I was sitting while looking at me.

I stand up too and stare at him, wondering what is going on in his mind.

Suddenly, he hugs me tightly and pats me on the back, as a sign of acceptance. I hug him back too, thankful for his support. Jacob follows behind him, and then April, Erik, and mom.

Finally, uncle Stefan recovers from his shock and comes over to me, his expression sincere as he places his hands on the top of my shoulders and says “congratulations, Alex. Your father made the right choice, I will be here for you, always. And so will David. We all got your back”

It meant a lot to have his support actually, more than I expected. I was afraid he might cause a problem and demand the position for himself. I would have been torn between honoring my father’s wish or giving my uncle what was rightfully his.

“Thank you so much uncle Stefan. It means a lot to me to have your guidance and support. I didn’t know about my father’s wish before he died, if I knew beforehand…”

He cuts me off gently as he says “Your father made his choice and we should all respect it. Even if you knew about it, it wouldn’t change anything. Isaac didn’t make decisions before being absolutely sure about them, I’m sure he had his reasons for choosing you”

I nod my head in agreement. It was true, dad didn’t make decisions lightly before analyzing and considering all his options.

But what were his reasons for choosing me instead of his own brother? Uncle Stefan had way more experience and wisdom than me. I wish he had told me his reasons instead of leaving me with so many unanswered questions.

“Mom, April, can you give us some privacy please?” I ask gently.

They both leave us alone at once.

It was action time now. There aren’t any more obstacles preventing us from getting our justice for our former leader, now that he was buried, mourned for, and on the last day of his funeral.

The only way to assure myself that he can begin to rest in piece is when I get rid of his murderer. Or at least one of them.

Lord Z asshole will have to wait his turn.

They all gather around me, already guessing what this is all about, and preparing to hear my plan.

“Patrick Walker will not live to see the dawn of tomorrow. He dies… Tonight. Right in the middle of the town, right in front of everyone, his people and our people. He will be an example of what it means to stab us in the back and betray our town”

Lucas says excitedly “Let’s go kill the son of a b***h then, what are we waiting for brother? We go in guns blazing, kill everyone who stands in our way, and drag his ass out of that house”

He has always been a little too eager to spill blood and jump right in the middle of action. He was the impulsive one among us, always acting on his instincts without letting his logic and rationale get in his way.

Jacob had the same kind of mindset but in a different way, he was also the quiet one. He was more willing to listen to the voice of reason before making up his mind and doing what he believes was the right move. He was more of the emotional brother, acting on his pure emotions and the least one of us who is in favor of spilling unnecessary blood. He tries to avoid a bloody confrontation as much as possible and made it clear to my father a couple of times that he prefers to only use his gun as a last possible resort.

“I want to do this with the minimal loss from both sides Lucas. While they are siding with him, they are still considered a part of this town. A part of our people that we are sworn to protect and prevent their deaths, especially by our hands. We need a plan”

Lucas huffs in boredom but doesn’t object.

“Here’s the plan, we need a distraction. Two distractions actually. We divide into three groups. The first group will prevent the Snow police from entering into the town square until our business is taken care of, but they are prevented from engaging with them in a shooting. None of them dies, it is very crucial. This group will not be carrying guns or knives, only batons. That way the officers will not be inclined to shoot them or kill them and vice versa.

The second group must lead most of the Walkers guarding Patrick’s house away from that place, and for that they need to kidnap Patrick’s brother Jack and use him as bait. Patrick will not let his brother die for him, it’s a solid principle. He will send most of his men to rescue him. That group will avoid confrontation for as long as possible and distract them with talking and bargaining to exchange his brother for him.

The third group, is where we go in, try to knock out the remaining guards on his house with minimal force possible, drag Patrick from his house, and kill him in the town square. Lucas, uncle Stefan, and I will lead the third group”

“What about me?” Jacob asks.

“You and David will stay here. The house cannot be left empty of men, leaving April and mom without protection. Despite trying to lower the risk of one of us dying, there is still a possibility of that happening. We cannot all go into war without leaving someone in charge, that’s you brother”

He doesn’t look quite satisfied with my decision, but nods his head in agreement.

“Any other questions?” I address them all.

“When is this whole thing going down?” Uncle Stefan asks.

“An hour before dawn. That gives us plenty of time to rest, gather our men, and ensure our plan goes through without problems”

I go to my room after that and shut myself in it for a couple of hours.

I call Melanie at some point to check on her and inform her of my leadership over the clan.

She was too shocked, it was the first time I heard her stammer over her words.

“Wh..what? I… I thought that… you said your uncle was taking the leadership?”

“That’s what I thought so, too. But after reading my dad’s will, he left a letter leaving me in charge of the clan, I don’t know why”

“And you accepted it?” she said in disbelief.

“There is nothing to accept or decline. It’s a done deal” I said firmly.

“I can’t believe you just said that! You didn’t even bother to ask me about this. Here I was worried sick about you, with one foot in my house and one out the door, itching to come comfort you and you don’t even care about my opinion. Taking the leadership was never part of our relationship Alex!”

Her sudden outburst surprised me. I didn’t think she would take the news that way.

“It was never part of mine either Mel! Not for a very very long time. But that’s what happened. The whole clan is depending on me to lead them, it was my father’s last will. There was never any choice and there was nothing to ask your opinion about”

“What if I don’t want this to become your life Alex? What if I am not okay with putting yourself in that much danger, especially after what happened to your father. You’re basically saying that you’re doing this with or without me, you’re saying that I’m forced to accept this kind of risk”

“Don’t talk like this, please. Look you knew what my life was all about from the beginning. Being a leader or not, nothing has changed. The danger is still the same. Don’t make it into something else please. I’m just under so much pressure right now Mel. I need to know that at the end of the day, I still have you by my side”

“Was going to war with your own people and possibly killing many of them just to kill one person instead of handing him over to justice, a part of the life that you were involved in when I fell on love with you, Alex?”

“That’s not how we handle…”

“Things in this town, yeah you already said that to Mia on the day of our wedding, remember?”

A long pause stretches between us. A pause that was slowly killing me from the inside.

I was beginning to sense her change of heart in us, and it was beginning to cause my chest to tighten painfully.

Eventually, she said in a cold voice “This is just too much to handle, Alex. I’m sorry I have to hang up now. I will call you when I’m ready to talk again. Please give me some space until then”

She hung up on me without letting me say anything.

I resisted the urge to throw my phone across the room, and released a frustrating heavy sigh instead.

An hour before our plan starts to take place, I get out of my room, seeking my mother.

I found her with April in the living room. They were sitting on the armchairs across from each other, staring at the fireplace next to them.

I bent down and gave each of them a longing kiss on the forehead.

Despite our tight made up plan, there was still a possibility that this was going to be the last time I see them, if things went south. I had to see them before heading out.

“Be careful Alex” April got up and hugged me tightly. I held on to her and gently patted her long black hair.

“Jacob and David will stay with you the whole time. They won’t let anyone come near the house” I said to them.

“Jacob is not here” said April in confusion.

My stomach drops as I ask tightly “What? What do you mean he’s not here?”

“I saw him leave the house about three hours ago, he hasn’t returned yet. I thought you sent him somewhere” she answered in a small voice.

I run my hands through my hair irritably as I say with gritted teeth “I didn’t send him anywhere. I explicitly told him to stay here until we came back. Where the hell is he?”

“I’m right here” said Jacob as he came into the living room with a gun in his right hand, and attached to the gun, was a silencer.

My eyes widen at the sight of him.

His face and brown leather jacket had little tiny splashes of blood on them.

“What the f**k did you do?” I asked in a low menacing voice.

He drops the gun on the ground and answers in a tight voice.

“You don’t have to go anywhere anymore brother. Patrick Walker is dead… I killed him”

Just then, more than a dozen gunshot sounds were heard in the far distance.

Signaling the start of freaking war.