The Alpha Father's Game

“We’re almost there, Lucky,” Mom called out with a broad smile on her doughy, slender face. She rolled her eyes at her mother's cheerful tone and turned her head back to the window. She continued to count the trees. Most of them were a blur that made her want the car to stop so she could go romp in the woods. Every now and then, a house or two would pop up that aggravated her more than she already was. It was something that blemished the beauty of nature that was unfurling in the semi-darkness crawling around every tree. She wanted to see the sun shine over the green leaves and the small flowers sprouting in clusters. Green or silver moss is on the few rocks that magically sprouted out of nowhere. It would be good to dodge them in her wolf form when she gets it, but no one would let her go free to just run. She was a prisoner. She knew that her agitation was, in part, her wolf's agitation at being in a car for too long. Plus, she hated her family. She was just as disheartened by her parent’s eagerness to ship her away. They have never loved her. They put on fake smiles and carefully toned voices to sound like they are one big happy family. It was only to match the other suburban families who were actually happy. Behind their closed door, she was accused of being a miserable wretch that ruined everything like two weeks ago. That is when everything went wrong for her. She still remembers that night. It was too painful to not have it embedded in her mind when she should have woken happy. She should have had more than her family stabbing her in the gut. All she had was pain from this memory. And it started when she woke in a stone building feeling cold. It had been strange and scary to find herself in a place that was not her bed. She had to move her blonde hair from her slender face just to see it clearer. Sharp pains went to her shoulder. She winced her hazel green eyes at the burning in her arm. Tears started to sting her eyes, and her breaths felt restricted by the hardened ground as she sucked in some air. She knew that she had to move or the pain was going to get worse, but that is when she noticed the pink tips in her hair. She had thought she had gone buck wild last night and landed in some old, abandoned dwelling. It was the furthest from the truth. The coloring of her hair made her believe that is why she was lying there on a cold hard floor aching from its hardness. Plus, the thumping in her head told her that she had drunk too much last night. She would blame her cheek pressed into the floor, but she knew it was not that. Only her cheekbone hurt. It had taken her a while just to move her other arm and put some feeling in it other than pain. Her legs came next, feeling hurt all the way to her hips and pelvis. She grunted out in her struggle to right herself. She endured it all just so she could see that she was not in her room at the packhouse. It took a full two minutes before she could come to a sitting position. She turned her eyes around, finding nothing familiar. Fear had slammed into her chest, beating her heart harshly at the sight of no wooden walls or a bed. The light was not from the bathroom or her nightlight. It was from four torches near a brown wooden stand. There was a brown wooden door that looked ancient, too, and it was open to show her that she was in the woods. There were green leaves waving to her while the sky was turning blue, which meant it was dawn. Then, she noticed that this room was circular. Was she kidnapped? Who would do that? The last thing she remembered was being at the party celebrating her twin sister, Lucy, becoming Luna. She was actually having fun instead of living in misery while ignoring her sister and her mate- Alpha Cullen. It was one of the few times that her parents let her do anything she wanted. They were too busy with her twin to really care about her so long as she did not embarrass them. However, it does not look like she had complied with their rules. Her senses kicked into gear, reminding her of the consequences of disobedience. She scrambled to her feet, disregarding the pain surging through her that magically disappeared in the next second. She realized that the cold was gone from her too and a heat was filling her from her head to her toes. Only a hiss came out of her that lasted for a few seconds, but she refused to let it deter her need to run. She needed to make sure that she was in her room before her parents found out, regardless of anything. They would be furious even if she was kidnapped by someone. It does not matter if a psycho had her. She was more scared of them. Lucky started to move when her bare feet hit something that made a noise. It was too loud when it rolled around, making a clicking sound. Her captors could hear it. She needed to make a clean break before they came and do whatever to her, but when she turned her head down to look at the stone floor, a silver metal chalice was there. It was plain with symbols etched on it that she did not recognize. Her brows furrowed curiously at it, wondering what was in it. Dread pooled into her stomach at the thought of her drinking whatever was in it, making her feel sick. She did not want to be poisoned or given a potion that witches had concocted for their nefarious purposes. Her mind swirled with the possibilities of what supernatural beings would want to hurt her. She was a nobody. Then, the door jerked, making it open wider, with someone rushing into the room. She jerked her head up and a shriek fled from her mouth. Her fear hit her harder, making her bend down, scoop up the chalice, and throw it at him quickly. Her nerves started to make her hands shake with her harshly beating heart. It took seconds to calm down as she stood staring at the doorway where the man had come through. The fear was becoming overwhelming, making her breathes heave. She tried to think of how to run around this large man, but her mind was buzzing too much with her need to flee. She had to blink several times to bring him into focus, hoping he was not her captor. A part of her could not believe she had just attacked someone with a cup. And it was not just anyone. Her eyes focused on Beta Ross standing barefoot and only in jeans with messy brown hair. It looked like he had rolled out of bed and grabbed only what he could to look decent. His bare tanned chest is shiny with sweat and a stern look is on his lean face. His grey eyes narrowed on her, then at the chalice rolling on the floor. “What have you done?!” he growled, snapping his head back up with a menacing look on his face. “Huh?” Lucky said in confusion. “What…? I just woke up here.” He curled his lips inward before saying, “Alpha Cullen will deal with you!” Ross grabbed Lucky by the arm and pulled her out of the door, half dragging her behind him. She swears it swung shut by itself with a boom that made her jerk and jump in his hands. She did not understand what was going on as he forced her to walk through the woods. Branches and twigs cut at her skin, she was sure, but later, when she had the chance to look, there were no marks. She only felt the sting of them hurting her. Her breaths were heavy and her head started hurting as everything passed by too quickly for her tear-filled eyes to process. She knew that she was in big trouble about something that she did not understand. Will they kill her? She was sure they would not, since she is the sister of the Luna. They would not do that to Lucy's family no matter what happened, but it did not mean they wouldn’t do something terrible to her. She tried not to think about it as she was half dragged all the way to the packhouse. Inside, people were slowly coming awake. It usually starts with the omegas, then the gammas and deltas follow, who would guard the territory. That is what she remembers being told anyway. She was thankful that Ross was quick in his movements to drag her through the packhouse. Hardly anyone was up or maybe it was timing that had her being taken to the alpha in shame. She did not want anyone to stare at her while in short shorts and her top being twisted. This was humiliating enough. He would not let her stop for a moment, even to catch her breath. Her hair was messy, too. It looked like she had been romping around with someone. That, she found, was the least of her problems as she entered Alpha Cullen’s office. The aura waving off him screamed anger, making her want to tremble before him and plead her case. He has red-rimmed eyes while dressed in navy blue pajama pants. His lean face was hardened. His muscular arms and chest had her worried that he was going to beat her right then and there, but again, something seemed to help her. A strange calm filled her being. The fear was gone and so was her shakiness. She thought it was Cullen or Ross sending a soothing wave to her. Wolves and fear were not a good mix, and that was why she had thought it was them that made her relax. She was most definitely wrong about that. Ross sat her roughly in a blue cushioned chair in front of Cullen's brown wooden desk. Nothing was on it, not even a computer or a notebook and pen. Did he not do work here? She wanted to ask her curious question, but she decided to keep silent. “Do you know what you have done?” Cullen asked loudly with his voice booming in her head. She shook it, being too afraid to speak with the anger that he was showing plainly on his face. “You were in our sacred temple that the Elders go to mediate.” “I… I did not know,” Lucky stammered shakily. “I do not even know how I had gotten there. The last thing I remember was dancing with one of your wolves.” “The chalice was there,” Ross snapped as he glared at her. Cullen’s head jerked towards him, looking alarmed. That made her feel scared. What is it about the chalice? What was in it? Will she die? She could not help the questions firing in her head that she had wanted to voice, but her throat was constricted by her fear that kept surging in her. She waited for someone to speak to sooth her worries and let her know that she was going to live. It felt like forever until Cullen sighed heavily, then looked at her. “Do you know if there was anything in it?” Cullen asked, easing his tone. She shook her head, hoping that it was nothing bad. “Do you feel off? Anything different about yourself that you noticed?” “I just woke a little bit ago, Alpha,” Lucky responded, feeling a little calmer now that he was. “I have barely had time to process anything.” “Keep her in her room,” Cullen ordered as he turned his head to Ross. “Have an omega…" Hey, are you going to talk to me yet? Lucky turned around looking for the voice that called out to them. It was being rude to the alpha. No one was supposed to talk while he was talking, but she only saw his mahogany brown wooden bookshelves and gold lamps in the corners. There was no one else in the room other than the three of them. It made her wonder if she was dreaming this whole scenario. Nope. You’re one hundred percent awake. And I am waiting for my introduction. “Who said that?” Lucky asked, furrowing her brows. She looked around, wanting to make sure that there was no one else in the room. It made her feel unsure and confused about the number of people in Cullen's office. She was sure that it was only the three of them, but she had to look to make sure that no one was hiding to play a trick on her. “Said what?” Cullen asked as he turned from Ross to her. “Someone said they were waiting for an introduction,” she answered, “but I only see us.” Do you not know that I am here? “Lucky?” Ross said with a curious look on his face. “Are you sure you’re not hearing it in your head?” “I’m not crazy!” she snapped. She was offended by his insinuation, but to be honest, she would not doubt it after what her family had put her through. “And I don’t have a wolf like you guys. I’m human.” Ugh! You don’t know about me, then. I’m hurt. Between Cullen’s deep sigh, Ross’s saddened look, and the female's hurt voice, she felt like she was going crazy. She felt hurt that they would play a trick on her when she had been nothing but nice to them. The weirder part is that she feels like someone else is putting their feelings on her, too. It added to her anger, frustration, and her need to cry, but she did not want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her hurt like that. It would only give them fuel to do more to her. “Listen,” Cullen said softly. He looked like he was struggling to tell her something that was difficult. She wanted to ask if he was going to tell her that she had cancer or that she was adopted just so she could laugh it off. “We think that you took the… potion that turns you into a wolf.” She would prefer being told that her family is not really her family. That would be great. “Like my sister had done?” Lucky asked, scrunching up her face. “Yes,” he nodded, which made her eyes widen in the next second. Her heart thundered at what she had been told happened while her sister was missing for a month. Lucky had taken a beating from her mother, who believed that she had done something to her. It was furtherest from the truth. When they all found out that Lucy was mated to a werewolf, her mother had seen it as power. There was no disgust or even the remotest disappointment. She was ecstatic that her daughter had found someone strong and powerful, especially in the business world. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?” Lucky asked worriedly. “If we find your mate, no,” Ross huffed. “You may not even if we don’t,” Cullen stated firmly. “You will remain here in my pack so we can ensure everyone’s safety.” “What do I do?” Lucky asked, still too stunned by the news that she had a wolf. “Communicate with her,” he answered by giving her a list. “Get to know your wolf. Workout with our gammas to become strong for the shift…” “Where is she!” a woman shrieked. Lucky recognized that angry voice. She would know it anywhere even before Lucy burst into the office looking furious. Her eyes are orange with her wolf glowing in them when they were usually brown. It is the only thing that was different about them. The rest is the same from their slender build to their hair. It did not matter that they had the same face. Her sister would tear it apart and shred it to make her look different, to make her an outcast. She jerked out of her seat and to her feet with her head bowed. Her heart thundered in her chest. She was dressed in shorts and a light blue t-shirt with her hair just smoothed down. It did not make what was about to happen any better, as she felt like her soul was about to be spit on. “How could you do this to me!?” Lucy shrieked as she marched forward and slapped her sister. “Baby!” Cullen called, rushing to her. “You are always taking things away from me,” she accused, showing her hurt. “You are always trying to outdo me and when I think that you are trying to improve, you do something like this. How could you do this to me? You’re always the problem in our family…” “Ross, get Lucky out of here,” Cullen ordered. He wasted no time in grabbing Lucky's arm and pulling her away from the situation, while Lucy's mate held her back. She was pulled all the way upstairs to her room with her head down. She wanted to cry, but she could not. Her eyes burned with the pain in her heart. Her twin sister is mad at her- truly mad at her. She believes that she had done something heinous to hurt her. She had never done anything to go against her. It was their mother that had put the wedge between them. Even as Ross opened the door to her room, she felt like she had lost something special to her. She scuffed her feet as she moved into this lavished peach-colored room with its frivolities that meant nothing. She could feel herself becoming nothing- empty of all her emotions. A hollowness had built inside her, sagging her shoulders down. There was nothing more she could do than lie in this room and die. “I’ll bring you breakfast,” Ross said softly. His voice almost sounded kind. She would have latched onto it, but she could not let herself. She felt too much like sludge to let someone like him get close to her. The door closed, ending that kindness. She went to her bed, throwing herself on it and cried and cried. She did not even hear Ross come back with a plate for her. It felt like hours of her crying before she sat up feeling hurt all over and alone. Is now a good time to introduce each other? You’re not alone. I’m Star, your wolf. You’ll have me forever. “There’s no telling that I will survive the shift, Wolf,” Lucky said sadly with her knees to her chest. All you have to do is talk in your mind, Lucky, and I will hear you. Try it. My name is more like Unlucky. You’re doing well, but I have a lot to tell you. So, could we start now? Please? Sure. Why not drop more bombs on me than I already had?! Well, you’re not going to die from the shift. That is one…