The Replacement Alpha

Chapter 1 - The Challenge

Ethan POV

“I still don’t know why I’m here,” I whined as I got out of the car.

“Because you’re my brother and have Alpha Blood. I need you with me.”

“You don’t even tell me anything that’s going on. How am I supposed to help?” I demanded. My brother and I have had this conversation many times in the last three years. My brother Jason is the Alpha of the Spruce Forest Pack. He took over for our parents eight years ago when our father passed away. He hasn’t found his Luna yet and I’ve volunteered to help him with some duties until he does, but he refuses to let me help. I’m only two years younger, for f**k's sake, and I’m not an imbecile. When he approached me to come to this meeting with him, he said, "I have a good feeling,” and ordered me to come.

So here I am, about to meet the Alpha of Blood Song in a stuffy suit and without a clue as to why. Our pack was only an hour and a half away. We didn’t need to be spending the night, but yet we were. I was missing the raid I needed to complete my armor set. If it drops and this is just another f*****g useless meeting, I’m going to be so pissed. “Stop being a twerpy little brother and have your brother’s back for once.” Eric, my brother’s Beta, and best friend growled as he pushed past me.

“f**k off.” I grumbled but quieted down as I saw the packhouse doors open and Alpha Brock stepped out. Behind him came a beautiful brunette that I assumed was his Luna. The evening was boring. They spoke of some sort of treaty. He included me in nothing. I had no knowledge of what he was talking about. What am I doing here? By the end of the night, the only thing stopping me from going off on my brother was what little my father ever drilled into me about being an Alpha’s son.

I sent some texts to my friends throughout the night to check on what was happening in our raid tonight. As luck would have it, my Paladin gear token dropped, and I missed it. By the time I got back to my guest suite, I was in a foul mood. I just didn’t understand what the point of my coming here was. None of this made sense. Ever since our father passed away, forcing my brother to take over as Alpha before he was ready, our relationship had grown distant. At first, I thought it was just the pressure of everything that happened, but now… it’s been years and he still won’t let me in.

I was still awake in my guest room at two am seriously considering just shifting and running home when I heard a loud angry roar shaking the walls.

‘Jason?’ I called out to my brother via mind link.

‘Back patio,’ he answered quickly, cutting off the mind link. I quickly dressed and made my way to the back.

My brother and Alpha Brock were in a standoff, surrounded by Alpha Brock’s warriors. “What the hell is going on?” I said as I took in the whole picture. My brother looked half-dressed, as did the Alpha’s Luna, who was cowering behind Eric and Jason. He wouldn’t. I looked over at the reddened face of Alpha Brock and the smirk on Jason’s face, my heart sinking. He totally did.

“Jason?” I asked, hoping I was reading the room wrong.

“She is my mate. I found her a week before her Luna ceremony. She rejected me because she felt a duty to him, but he isn’t treating her right. He beats and rapes her. I am taking back what’s mine.” He said.

“Becca?” Alpha Brock’s face changed from rage to confusion. It looked like whatever my brother had said was news to him.

“Don’t let him get me. He will kill me Jason…” Luna Becca cried.

“What are you t-.” Alpha Brock begins, but my brother interrupts him.

“I, Alpha Jason Wright, challenge you, Alpha Brock Carver of Blood Song, for your Luna and pack.” My brother said, and my heart sank. Unless both alphas agreed to withdraw, once the challenge was issued, there was no way to stop it.

“For the sake of your father, Alpha Jason, and the truce we’ve had with your pack for generations, I will give you one chance to rescind your challenge and talk like adults.” Alpha Brock said with a hard face.

“You don’t have to do this, Jason. She already broke your bond. The moon goddess will give you a second chance mate. She won’t let you be without a Luna. Please, brother, let’s just go home. I’ll help you with some pack duties and you can go look for your second chance mate. You don’t have to take someone else's.” I begged my brother.

Jason looked into my eyes, a look of betrayal in his eyes. “You would take his side over mine?”

I shook my head. “I am always on your side. This is why I want us to turn around and go home. The pack needs you and I need my brother. You’re all I have left.” I reminded him.

“Then let me do this.” He said before he pushed me to the side and stared down Alpha Brock. “My challenge stands.”

“Meet me here at nine in the morning. Now, get out of my lands.” Alpha Brock stated before he turned around without another look. Moments later, someone came and dropped our belongings on the ground before turning around. I noticed a bag for Luna Becca was also dropped. We walked around the packhouse and got in the car. Eric drove us to a motel nearby and got us three rooms.

I settled in my room in a state of shock. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Why did he never tell me his mate had rejected him? How dare she use him like this after rejecting him? How the hell was I supposed to get him out of this? Our father was dead. Our mother… our mother left after his death. It had just been him and me for the last five years. If you could call it that. Eric. Eric was always in his ear. Maybe he can talk him out of it.

‘Eric?’ I reached out.

‘What do you want, nerd?’ Eric growled back.

‘Help me convince Jason not to go through with this?’ I said.

‘Why would I do that? It’s two birds with one stone. We get a Luna and new members and we get you out of our hair.’ He answered.

‘Wait, what?’ - I asked, confused. How would this challenge get rid of me?

‘Yeah, we just had a meeting about it. Once he kills Alpha Brock, we’re leaving you to take care of the people in this pack as a representative of the Alpha. I don’t have to see your overbearing self-righteous nerd face so often.’ He laughed before he cut off the mind link.

I looked up at the ceiling of the dingy hotel room as I let his words sink in.

Call him. He always said he’d have our backs. This is the time we need him. – Hugo, my wolf, spoke up.

“This better be good, Ethan. Do you know what time it is?” Jesse complained, sleep evident in his voice.

“I need your help. Please.” I said.

“What’s going on?” He asked seriously. He must have heard something in my voice because his voice had quickly lost the annoyance and sleep.

I spent the next hour telling him what was happening. He agreed to come tomorrow.

I managed to get maybe an hour of sleep. I tried to link Jason, but he blocked the mind link. Some things didn’t make sense, no matter which way I thought about it. Jesse arrived 2 hours later, right before the sun rose. We talked extensively about everything and what my choices were. None of them appealed to me, but by sunup, I had to concede that I would have to pick the lesser of evils.

The following morning, before Jason came for me, Jesse left to speak to his father and make sure our plan would be legal to execute. I provided him with the location and time information, and he let me know he would be there. I dragged my feet in the morning when Eric came and got me.

Jason wouldn’t look at me. He only told me that when he killed Alpha Brock, my task was to remain as liaison with the pack. When I tried to argue back, he told me that I always asked for a way to help the pack and this was it. At least I found a little satisfaction to see the guilt in his eyes before he could turn away from me. Whatever was going on, I was the sacrificial lamb if things went his way. My heart hurt as the smallest ray of hope that my own brother wasn’t going to leave me behind in a literal wolf’s den without any preparation or help died when he walked away from me that morning.

“Jason, can we please talk about this?” I asked one last time as we arrived at the fighting grounds of Blood Song “You have to know this is insane. He’s been Alpha of the most dangerous pack for a decade. You can stop this. Apologi-.”

“Apologize? For defending my mate?” He roared at me.

“She rejected you! She isn’t your mate. There will be someone else for you. The moon goddess wouldn’t abandon you like that. An Alpha needs his Luna.” I argued.

“Where is she then? He took another’s. Why can’t I take his?” He snarled. I saw his eyes glaze over momentarily before he corrected. “Why can’t I take mine back?”

“Jason, what is really going on?” I asked.

“Just do as you’re told. I’m your Alpha.” He said before he turned and walked away, Eric and Rebecca at his side.

I heard my phone ping at that moment and pulled it out of my pocket to look.

Jesse: Slightly delayed. Hang tight.

I sighed and caught up to my brother. Alpha Brock was already waiting for him. He looked determined, but I saw the hurt flash in his eyes as his eyes landed on his Luna before he was able to school his face back to stoic.

“I will give you one last chance to back away, boy.” Brock warned as he removed his shirt and began flexing his muscles.

“You have tried to find an out twice already, Alpha Brock. Are you not ready to die for your crimes of abusing your Luna?” Jason asked. Hugo groaned in our link at my brother’s words and the growls of every member of Blood Song. There was no stopping the fight now.

“So be it.” Alpha Brock growled.

The fight began, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. Jesse had arrived. He quickly nodded at me and we turned our attention back to the fight.

It was clear from the beginning that Jason didn’t know who he had picked a fight with. He either underestimated his opponent or overestimated his own skills. I knew he’d been training a lot more for the last two months, but clearly, it was not enough. If I wasn’t already sure of what would happen at the end of the fight, I would be embarrassed by the way Alpha Brock was playing with my brother. Jason had never fought anything but rogues before. Our pack was relatively peaceful. We had no enemies and rogues never attacked in more than twos or threes. They were deranged animals with no pack. They were easy to dispose of and rarely led to casualties.

I looked around and noticed Eric and Luna Rebecca hurrying to the car.

‘You cowards! You convinced my brother to go through with this and then you leave him to die?’ I growled at him in disgust.

‘You would too if you were as smart as you pretend to be. Do you think they would let us leave alive after he dies?’ I could not believe the words coming out of his mouth.

‘If you come back to the pack after this, I’ll make sure you are executed for this treason.’ I growled.

‘See you around, nerd.’ He mocked.

“Maybe you don’t want to be here for this, Ethan,” Jesse whispered to me. I turned around and saw that Jason was bleeding heavily now. Alpha Brock was done playing. Jason backed up and shifted, letting Ben, his wolf, take over. I shook my head at Jesse. I would not leave my brother to die alone.

I continued to watch the fight. My brother and his wolf were putting up the fight of their lives, but it wasn’t going to be enough.

‘Where are Eric and Becca?’ Jason’s voice grunted in pain in my head as his wolf was sent flying.

‘They left Jason.’

‘Are you sure?’ He asked in surprise.

‘I’m sorry, brother.’

He said nothing again as he continued to fight, but I saw the change in him now. He was no longer fighting to live. He was going through the motions. He refused to surrender, but he had accepted his death. Alpha Brock’s giant black paws landed on his back in one swift move, breaking his legs and spine. I thought I would throw up at the sickening sound of my brother’s bones breaking. His howl of pain seared itself into my heart and brain. Hugo whimpered in my head as we saw our brother shift back into human form. Alpha Brock’s wolf put a paw on his throat. Jason looked at me one last time. ‘I’m sorry. I failed everyone,’ he told me before Alpha Brock crushed his neck.

His people cheered as I felt all feeling leave my body. I wanted to cry and rage and run to my brother, but all I could do was look at his mangled, bloodied, lifeless body on the floor. Alpha Brock shifted back to human form and put on the shorts provided by his Beta, before he let out a loud roar that had every pack member submitting to him.

“A life was lost today. There is nothing to celebrate. He fought with honor, if for the wrong reason. Prepare him to be transported to his pack with the respect owed to an Alpha.” He barked at his people. Everyone dispersed as I stood there still watching as they gently removed his body and took it towards the packhouse.