The New-Alpha-in-Line
1753 Words
Tristan bumped into the stunning silver-haired girl who had constantly been on his mind all week and a smile broke out his face. “Heyy… sorry, I was totally out of it.” He apologized, his smile turning into a smirk when he noticed the girl’s slight squirming.
“That’s- that’s alright. I should have been paying attention to where I was going too.” Natalie brushed his apology off as her hand adjusted her side bag over her shoulders. A quick glance at the teenager would confirm what was already obvious;
She was very nervous.
If she had known that she’d be standing in front of Tristan Hemmingway chatting him up right before class, she would have definitely paid much more attention to her appearance.
Truth is, she had wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible, and she figured a hoodie and sweatpants were the right way to go.
“Sooo…” Tristan dragged out, “How are you enjoying Bloomingdale Valley so far?”
Natalie mulled over the question, chewing on her bottom lip unconsciously. The action sparked an indescribable emotion in the young man.
Damn, the attraction he felt towards the beautiful girl just kept worsening each day!
“To be honest, it’s not that bad,” She confessed. “But I just wish people will just stop looking at me like I’d grown a third head and whispering behind my back.”
“Close-knit towns like this tend to be like that sometimes,” Tristan assured her. “But I’m pretty sure in a month or two, no one will pay you much attention.”
“You know, the looks they give me isn’t that new girl, newcomer look… I-I don’t know, but this one screams fear— it screams terror and I don’t know what at all could be causing it.” She confided.
Oh, but Tristan knew exactly what the girl was talking about.
You see, he knew exactly what the reason was, but he didn’t want to break her and possibly ruin her relationship with her family?
Naah.
It wasn’t really necessary.
Plus, he was pretty sure the news would definitely cause her to leave the town… she was in college after all, and the family had money and connections.
He didn’t want that!
“Tell you what,” He started, just as the bell for classes rang.
Shit.
“Uhm… how about I take you some place special tonight? Just to take your mind off everything. It’s-it’s a public place and all, and I promise to be nothing but a complete gentleman.” He blabbered quickly, the action causing a chuckle to escape the silver haired girl’s lips.
“Is— are you asking me out on a date?”
“What? No! I-I mean yes… I mean do you want it to be? It could be anything you want it to be.” Tristan mentally face-palmed himself.
God, he was such a disappointment.
To think he had never had a problem asking girls out, and look at him now…
A complete wreck!
His sputtering mess on the other hand was both a totally hilarious and an endearing sight for Natalie to see. The beautiful girl just couldn’t stop chuckling. She didn’t know why, but the whole thing found her comfortable around him. It made her feel that he wasn’t some smooth talker who just wanted to have his way with her.
She could trust him.
“Sure. I would like to go out with you.” She admitted.
“Great!” His joy was contagious. “So, I’ll pick you up at 7?”
Natalie grinned. “Sounds like a plan!”
*******
Tristan pulled up in the driveway of the pack house, still feeling as though he was on top of the clouds.
Nothing could possibly ruin his good mood today!
Not even his uncaring asshole of a father.
Speaking of the man, he hadn’t seen him the whole week, but things like that were no new news. He was always holed up somewhere, going on one meeting or the next with his ideal son, Atticus.
It didn’t really bother Tristan though… or at least it did deep down and he refused to dwell on it. The young man had gotten used to it now. He had learnt to seek companionship in friends— and of course, women.
The young man stepped out of the car and locked up, the action snapping him out of his murky thoughts. He had about an hour and some minutes to get ready for his date with Natalie, and he had just the perfect place in mind.
As he made his way over to the front door stairs, he heard the sound of a car driving in and turned to look, his father’s black Range Rover catching his attention with its angry roar and swift movements.
What had happened now?
It was obvious from the reckless and swift way the old man was driving that something was wrong, and though Tristan tried to tell himself that he didn’t care, he knew that a part of him would always care for his father, and so he stood over there, transfixed at the main entrance of the grand mansion and waited for his father to approach.
“What’s wrong, father? Is everything okay?”
“Come with me, Tristan.” The old man huffed, brushing past his son and heading inside, straight for his study. “You and I… we need to talk.”
Tristan frowned.
What was the whole rush for?
“Well, I’m sorry, father,” He apologized. “But I have an important engagement to attend to that cannot wait. Maybe we can talk when I get back or we can even make it tomorrow. I’m already late as is.”
The young man’s words froze his father in his tracks. He slowly turned to face his son. “Cancel whatever plans you have, this is very important.” He ordered.
“I’m afraid I can’t, father.” Tristan stood his ground.
Knowing his father, the old man was probably going to latch on a speech in which the entire focus was Atticus, and Tristan didn’t think he was in the mood to exchange something as interesting as getting to know Natalie better for an encounter that was just another day in his life.
He groaned softly, “What has Atticus done now? If he’s the reason why you’re summoning me into your study again, then I’m sorry… but I haven’t seen him in almost a week. Can I leave now?”
“The pack needs to start becoming your main priority, Tristan,” Luke Hemmingway advised seriously, a tiny voice at the back of his mind cautioning him that this was probably the worst time to break this kind of news, but he was too far gone to care. “You’re the new Alpha-in-line Tristan, so start acting like one.”
“What the f**k are you talking about? Where the hell is Atticus?” The young man asked in confusion.
“It doesn’t matter.” Came the reply.
“You’re going to be Alpha now… that is all you need to know. Now cancel whatever stupid plans you have, and come to my study this very instant. We need to discuss the way forward.” The old man turned to leave, apparently done with the conversation.
That was all it took for Tristan to blow up like a fuse. “I’M NOT GOING TO BE ALPHA, FATHER.”
Luke turned, his face red with anger. “YOU WILL DO AS I HAVE COMMANDED, BOY!”
“Or what?”
“YOU FORGET THAT YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOOK LOIS AWAY FROM ME!!!” Luke screeched.
Tristan reeled from the shock as though his father had struck him. Thankfully, no one lived in the pack house with them anymore, so no one could have heard the dreaded words.
“You took her life just to come into this world, and now you tarnish her memory by letting the position move to another family? You have no shame, Tristan.” An angry tear slid down the old man’s face and he angrily wiped it off. “You have no idea how much I hate you, boy… how close I come every day to destroying you for taking your mum away from me. Don’t f*****g test me!”
Tristan stood there, his heart shattering into a million pieces at each word that escaped his father’s lips. His face though was completely void of any emotion. He wasn’t going to give his father the satisfaction of seeing how broken he was.
It all made sense now, though...
The lack of attention, the lack of affection… why the man preferred Atticus over him,
His birth had killed their mother.
Tristan didn’t know how to take in the news. He tried to tell himself over and over that it wasn’t his fault, but he still could not shake off the guilt. His gaze shot up towards the man who had already left him, heading towards the study.
It was an open invitation and an order all at once… that much was very clear.
Follow me if you want to make things right… stay back if you want to topple down everything your mum and I had worked for.
Tristan took a deep breath. The way he saw it, he had two options;
He could either go find Atticus and talk him into reclaiming the role, or step in and become the new Alpha-in-line.
But Atticus wasn’t going to come back?
Tristan could only imagine what had transpired to make his brother reject the role. He knew that if the man had been able to do it, then the chances of him ever coming back were little if not zero. Atticus had always said he didn’t want to be Alpha, and now he had gotten what he wanted.
It was up to Tristan now to keep shame from falling on their family.
The young boy’s mind was made up in that moment.
He was going to accept the position.
Maybe then, he could put in all the work and make his father proud of him… maybe he could honor his mother’s death— let her spirit and the whole world know that it hadn’t been for nothing.
He trudged after his father with another sigh.
Not once did his mind flicker to the girl whom he had promised a date.
- Writer
