Three Alphas, one selection

Chapter 4

There was a loud knock on my door. Today was my day off. I worked very late last night so Emilia told me to take the day off. She swore she would be able to go one day without me. I’ve been arranging a fundraiser. How our pack works is each person has their own money and 10% of the household's total income is donated to the Alpha and Luna as pack money. Out of that money, they get a salary and the rest is used for pack upkeep. Like for the groceries and staff of the orphanage, then there is the landscaping and maintenance of pack public property like the meeting hall where most of our functions are held and the training field where our warriors are trained. Anyway, sometimes the money isn’t enough. Truth be told it only covers all the expenses so whenever we need money for something else that isn’t covered in the monthly budget we hold a fundraiser for the funds we need. This time it’s for one of the pack families in need. I put everything into it since I knew it would be the last event I arranged before I go to university. I got up feeling like a zombie. I walked over to my door opening it up just as my mother raised her hand to knock again.

“I’m off today. I worked late last night.” I informed her that I didn’t need a wake-up call. I just want to go back to bed. I plan on sleeping the rest of the day.

“I know, sweetie. We’ve been summoned to meet with the Alpha and Luna. We can’t keep them waiting out of everyone you know how busy they are.” It woke me up I just hoped that they didn’t intend to tell my parents about the plans they had for me. If my parents knew that they wanted me to be Luna, they wouldn’t let me go anywhere. I can’t think of anything that would be so important that all of us have to go in. The fact that we are meeting with the Alpha and Luna means it is serious and they mean business.

"Ok thanks, I'll get dressed," I told my mom before I closed the door. I got dressed in a pair of high-waisted jeans, a dark blue velvet t-shirt crop top and knee-high black boots. It only took me a couple of minutes. I tied my hair up in a messy bun. I left my room going to the kitchen where I was sure to find my parents. They were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. As they saw me they got up to leave. My father held out a takeaway cup of coffee for me. I grabbed it eagerly as we walked out of the house. We all got into my father's car and made our way to the main house. All of us were silent as we drove. All of us thinking and overthinking the situation. The truth is that being summoned unexpectedly is never a good thing. We made it to the main house. We got out of the car rushing to the Alphas office. Emilia was waiting by the door for us. She was smiling which made me calmer. I figured if she's happy I don't have to worry about worst-case scenarios. She held open the door as we all walked in. As we sat down I heard her closing the door. The room was dead silent as we sat and waited for something to be said. I watched as Emelia walked over to the Alpha. She stood behind him placing her hands on his shoulders. They are the perfect couple. They are the perfect mates. Sometimes when I look at them I yearn to find my perfect mate. To drop everything I've worked for just to be with him, but usually, then I come to my senses. The truth is I have a lot of time to find my mate. I don't have to find my mate when I turn 18. We will have our entire lives together, I can figure out what I want from my life first. Emilia Mated at 18. She has never really known anything but being Luna. She has always just been the Alpha's other half. Her whole adult life has been loving him. It's a selfless type of love. Hopefully, now that she's standing there with him they can start talking because my nerves are killing me.

"We had great plans for your daughter. We wanted her to be Luna. Sander would have been Alpha and she would have been his Luna. Our daughters don't have an interest in running this pack. Which made us turn to our two strongest and most involved pack members. Although things haven't gone to plan." Oh no, this is what I had really hoped wouldn't happen. I had no intention of my parents ever finding out they intended for me to be Luna. I looked over to gauge my parents' reactions. They looked shocked. Which can only mean that they never believed the rumours.

"I send Sander to go and train to be my enforcer. He needs to be strong in order to take the pack from me and to stay in command. Not being a natural-born Alpha means that people will try to take it from him. I guess now that your daughter is unavailable for the position one of my daughters will have to step up." The idea of Sander being with someone else bothered me more than it should. I'm not the jealous type. Then why am I jealous of a pairing that doesn't even exist yet? All I know is that I feel like none of the Alphas' daughters are good enough for him. It might also be that I kissed him only a week ago.

"Wait, how did the plans change? I'm sure that she would love to be Luna." My mother said in a panic. This is my parents' dream. If I become Luna I can never leave them. I'll always be their perfect daughter. They mean well. They love me more than anything in this world and they want the best for me as long as it is here. Close to them.

"Did she do something wrong because she never does anything wrong. If you believe she did you must be mistaken." My head snapped to my father. I can't believe he just told the Alpha that he is wrong.

"Of course, she didn't do anything wrong." Emilia rushed to say before the Alpha took offence for what my father had said.

"Your daughter has been accepted to Potentia Cogitionis, the university for werewolves. It's a great honour to attend there. Not only for her but for us as a pack too. They have never accepted someone from our pack. Once she has attended they will allow more applicants from our pack. They will hold other applicants from our pack to a higher esteem because we all know that she will impress them. That means new connections for our pack." I can't believe I was accepted. A smile spread across my face. I was too happy to consider what the alpha had said and the pressures that came along with this honour. I could feel my mom staring at me.

"Since she will be attending on a scholarship she will be transferring to become a part of that pack. That is the only thing I wish wasn't true. I hate that we are losing her." Emilia admitted. I don't know why they called us in, in order to tell us the news. I can't express my excitement as I would have been able to if I was alone. I would have cried and had anxiety about that it was probably a mistake on their side. Then I would have screamed out of excitement and lastly have worried about how I would tell my parents. All I can do now is sit here and smile the fake smile I have perfected over the years. My perfect smile that says I'm the nice girl and that I'm always happy. It's what everyone wants and expects from me. If I stay here that is who I'll have to be. The person that is always happy, the person that can never have a bad day or bad mood. I can't be that for the rest of my life. I want to have imperfect messed-up hair and I want to put on anything I want not caring how it looks. Most of all I would just like to speak my mind.

"We called this meeting to see if we can rectify the situation. If you are willing to pay her tuition then she can stay a member of our pack. She can go and study and come back to be our new Luna." Emilia suggested and all I could do was stare in horror. It's not what I wanted. Everyone keeps talking about what they want.

"Dilara knows where we stand. We never wanted her to go. We made it clear to her and she decided to pay for it herself. We aren't going to pay for something we don't want." My father said. It's the only fight we've ever had. It's the only time I went against their wishes.

"What if we paid for her tuition? It can be like sending her to university is part of improving her standing as future Luna." The alpha offered. My head shot to him. Why would he offer that? I guess if my parents accept, it would be rude of them not to, then I will just enjoy my three years of freedom before coming back. As Luna, I can be whoever I want to be.

“I’m not okay with you paying. Alpha I’m asking you to respect our choice on this matter.” My father said. I was shocked. He just declined the Alpha. Not only is he offering to pay for my studies, but he is also ensuring that I will come back when I am finished with my studies. He is also offering the pack up on a silver platter for me. They should be ecstatic by this offer. It is all they ever wanted. I had already started making my peace with coming back when my father rejected. I’ve never seen him being so disrespectful to the Alpha. I saw Emilia rubbing circles with her thumb on the Alpha’s shoulder, she was trying to keep him calm.

“She is our daughter, not yours.” My father said looking right at the Alpha in defiance. Everyone knows that the Alpha and Luna think of me as one of their children, the fact that they want to hand over the pack to me only proves it. My father has never liked it. I spent most of my time with them rather than my family since I worked so much and sometimes it bothered my father. He was always proud of me, but he felt like he was only my stand-in dad. He and my mother argued about it a lot when they thought I wasn’t listening.

“Lara, why don’t you step out? You should probably go and get a couple more hours of sleep.” Emilia said. I wasn’t about to go against an order from my Luna. Even though they are sending the one person whose future is being discussed away. It’s things like this that I won’t miss. I got up and walked out, but I didn’t go far. I was too curious.

“Why won’t you let me do this, Richard? It benefits all of us. We all just want what is best for her?” The Alpha asked my father.

“I am her father, I know what is best for her, Silvano.” Using the Alpha’s name was taking it a step too far. My father was looking for trouble.

“We don’t mean any disrespect, Alpha. We have talked this over countless times over the years since she first told us. We never thought she would really apply to Potentia Cogitionis University. We thought she would be too afraid of being rejected and rather apply everywhere else. Her applications would have been bare since she couldn’t list all her pack activities at the human universities and she would have been rejected. The plan was that if she is accepted she will go at her own expense and once she sees how hard it is she will pack up and come back home. We aren’t blind, we know we have kept her sheltered and innocent. It’s that fact that will ensure that she returns to us. The only reason why she has achieved so much is because we have made our home a great support system. There has always been food put away for her, I always heat it up when I hear her car coming. She always has clean clothes since she is always on the go. I’ve sneaked her vitamins her whole life so that her body is healthy and strong for the long hours she works and studies. When she falls asleep I go into her room and put her phone and laptop on charge when she forgets and I close her window so that she doesn’t get sick. Her father gets up early in the mornings to check her car tires and fill her car's water. He even has a can of gasoline for when her car seems to empty, just so that she makes it to the petrol station. As she has given up her life for this dream we have given up ours for her. She will be coming back because she won’t be able to take care of herself.” Tears pricked at my eyes. I knew my parents did a lot for me, but I don’t always notice the smaller things. At the same time, I feel angry because they sheltered me on purpose just to make me weak. They don’t think I can do it on my own. They already expect me to fail. Haven’t they noticed how much determination I have? They think because they took care of me I can’t do it myself, but I took care of an entire pack. They shouldn’t underestimate me. I rushed home not wanting to know what else they had to say. I immediately went to my laptop and logged in on my email and there it was my acceptance letter. I quickly read it through. It only explained that this was merely my acceptance to the school and that I still needed to apply for my studies and classes. This will be approved or rejected by them until we can come to a conclusion. I don’t like that they get a say in what I study, but I guess they need to make sure that the people on scholarships don’t choose easy subjects and sponge of them. They need to see that the people they have accepted are serious about their higher education. After all the scholarship students become part of the pack and whatever they study must be beneficial for the pack. There is no point in allowing someone you will be supporting to study something like the art of flower arranging. Instead, the person would have to study something like landscaping or herbal medicine. That’s how I understand it at least. I was sifting through the different options when I heard the front door. I made my way downstairs because I was sure that they would want to talk to me. Sure enough, I met my mom halfway.

“We need to talk, your father is waiting in the living room.” I nodded and made my way there. He was sitting on his recliner. He looked very stressed out.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you applied? Apparently everyone, but us knew.” My father asked. It was the first time ever that he looked at me with disappointment.

“I wasn’t planning on telling anyone. What would have been the point if I was rejected. I intended to tell you if I was accepted. The Luna only found out since the university informed them when one of their pack members applied. She told everyone even though I told her not to.” I explained to my father. I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t tell them on purpose.

“I guess that makes sense. What are you going to do now that you have been accepted?” I thought that this would be more of him scolding and me listening.

”I’m going to go and study.” I saw it in his eyes. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“You put me in a very difficult position today. I had to disrespect the Alpha.” That wasn’t my fault. That has to do with his own personal feelings. I didn’t make him challenge or disrespect the Alpha.

”You are my daughter. I know he sees you as one of his and making you Luna is like his way of adopting you into his family. You are what he longs for in a daughter instead he has a bunch of spoiled brats with no drive. That is what the difference is. He raised them into being like that and I raised you into being who you are. If he was your father you would be just like them. If I allow him to pay for you I will be giving him control over your life. He wants complete control by accepting that money he would probably want a say in what you study and how long you study. He already wants control over your position in the pack and who you are mated too.” I never saw it like that, but I guess my father is right. A lot of choices are being made for me, but I still get the final say and that is what is important.

“I’m going to go and study. At this moment I think I will come back to be Luna, but that could change depending on what happens while I am there at the university. I won’t accept his money. I don’t want anyone to have a say over my life. The only way that will be possible is if I don’t owe anyone anything. This is the step in my life that I’m taking for me and only me. I will be making all my own decisions.” I told my father standing my ground.

“So you wouldn’t come back for us, your parents, but you will come back when your Alpha and Luna ask?” He was disappointed again, but he had it competently wrong.

“You are wrong. I am coming back because of you. I will be coming back to prove to you that I did it. I know that you are only allowing this because you think I will fail and come running back. Not only won’t I fail, but I will come back stronger and smarter and I will become a great Luna.”