The Alpha Father's Game

Chapter 26: Misty

How is that b**** able to get under the skin of all four alphas?!

That question went through Misty’s mind over and over again while she laid on her bed. It was almost like a mantra that had formed with its own beat. Her fingers even drummed on her soft, pink covers to its music while her mind reeled over the truth that was before her. The silence around her should have given her an answer to any question, except she found it agitating her. There was no one in this light pink guest room to distract her from that one burdening question that she needed to answer. Her clock radio on the brown dresser next to her bed did not tick its seconds nor did she turn on the music. There was no dripping water coming from the bathroom across from the foot of her bed. Hell, there were no windows that let the squawking birds annoy her or give her mind solace. It was only her breathing soundlessly in this large bedroom that filled the quiet.

Her mind replayed the scene from earlier, again, feeling her heart beating steadily in her chest. She kept trying to keep her emotions from getting to her, so she could think clearly, like her father had taught her. It still didn’t work to tell her why those men clamored after Lucky like she was a prized f***ing jewel. Even the cold Andrew Titan showed care when he was usually indifferent. Her softened face hardened, pulling her pink lips into a frown before a growl was emitted from her chest through her clenched teeth. It p***ed her off to see them like that when she had worked hard to gain any ground with them.

She had f***ed Rick for years, and then, she had brought two of her best friends to keep his brothers occupied to achieve her goal. She wanted to be his Luna and rule this pack to make her father proud of her. Her mother had said that her father dreamed of his grandchildren living on Dark Amber Pack’s land. She wanted to make his dream come true, since he passed away when she was sixteen. She was now twenty-five, finding her goal becoming unattainable all because of a blonde haired newbie that was stealing her man. Well, he was the easiest one to swindle to bed, she thought with a snort.

“She is a nobody,” Misty snapped and pounded her fists into the bed.

Their new “Luna” had passed out half on Alpha Edge and half on future Alpha Andrew. Future Alphas Rick and Dorran had rushed to see if she was alright while leaving Rachel to her and Cara. In the past, one or the other alpha would have been kind enough to help them out when they were hurt. Hell, she does not remember any of them ever getting as mad as what Edge had been when Rachel hit Lucky. He looked inhuman even for a werewolf, and she had seen mad from her father before he died. He looked like a man protecting his mate. All four tried to carry her down, except the alpha gave orders for the brothers to check the guards and escort them wherever. She had never seen such careless actions towards her friends and her from any one of them before.

“That b**** has to have spelled them or something!” Misty growled, feeling her canines slip down.

She wanted to take a bite out of her, but then, she remembered something. Andrew brought Lucky close to Alpha Edge, and it was like a soothing wave was coming off her. There was pain in it, yes, but there was something else. It was a nameless thing that she could not figure out. It seemed to ease the anger in Edge and make him withdraw from killing Rachel. That was unusual for him, she thought, with a twitch of her brows. He has never stopped from killing when he sees his prey in sight. There was not one supernatural being that he gave mercy to in all his years as alpha. It made her wonder what Lucky had done to make him change so suddenly.

“Misty! Misty, are you in here?” Cara called out, sounding agitated.

“Yeah, in my room,” she called, sounding normal instead of letting her anger show. She needed to keep the practice, so she could be a good Luna for this pack regardless of her current situation. “I was waiting for you to return.”

Rachel entered, first, looking ticked off with her wolf shining in her eyes and her arms swinging in her steps. She stomped into her room with bruise marks still on her neck. It made Misty want to roll her eyes at the drama she was stirring up. Then, her friend stopped next to the bathroom and put her hands on her hip looking peeved. Cara came in next with a firm frown on her face with a lot more graceful walk. Her steps did not even make a sound as she stood next to her. Her wolf is not in her eyes, which means that she is ticked.

And that was why she liked her better than Rachel. She knows how to have class, while her other friend just acts like a spoiled brat. She perked her brows, though, looking at them, like she had no idea why they would look so angry.

“I take it neither man came to kiss your boo-boo’s?” Misty questioned, making it sound like she was guessing.

“Worse,” Cara said sadly while anger flared in her eyes. “They were only mildly asking about the injuries to Rachel’s neck and scolding her for attacking their Luna.”

“Plus, Alpha Edge is going to be calling my father about my behavior,” Rachel rasped. She pushed out her lips for a moment before she went on ranting about Lucky. “And that stupid b**** had the nerve to give us a smile and ask if I was alright. It was her fault. She should be apologizing to me about lying to Alpha Edge and letting him hurt me.”

“She’s the one who brought Alpha Edge to kill her,” Cara said with an attitude. “She did it deliberately.”

“Of course, she did!” Misty squealed, crossing her arms as she sat up. “Why do you think she did it? A little nobody with nobody blood. We were born to be Lunas. It is our birthright, not hers.”

“What she said before really hurt, though,” Rachel said sadly.

“What did start this whole thing?” Cara asked, her attitude still in place.

“I went to Andrew when I saw him,” she answered slowly. “I gave him a hug. We exchanged pleasantries. And then, that b**** comes out of nowhere and removes me from him. The next thing I know, he is stomping off (probably to get away from her), and she is telling me that he does not want me. She was even laughing at me like she had the right to do so.”

Misty knew that she was lying, but it did not matter to her. She needed to make sure that they did not fall out of line with her. If she needed a patsy or to enact revenge, then she would need them. They have always helped each other when they were kids, even now. These women knew how rigid her mother was and how desperate she was to get away from her mother so she could be free to be herself.

However, she cannot abandon her family completely. Her father loved her, and he meant the world to her. He was the one to teach her how to fight, how to hunt, and how to be the best person she could be. Although she was somewhat abandoning it because of her mother's tactics. It did not mean that she wanted to do it. She had to fall in line or risk the punishments given to her for failing to do as she was told. Still, she had to make sure his death meant more than rogues tearing him apart. If he loved this place, then she was going to make sure someone of his lineage was there to enjoy it.

Right now, she needed to get to Rick on her side, and her friends were going to help her… as soon as she got a plan. That was what frustrated her more. She had nothing to go on to make one. She was only going to observe her quarries to see the best way to exploit their weaknesses. Her first prey will be Lucky. That woman ticked her off for doing something to make the alphas want her, but still, it felt like it was not enough. She had to have something better to ensure that woman would leave permanently.

“What are we going to do now?” Cara whined and plopped on Misty’s bed with her.

“She has them all wrapped around her finger,” Misty pointed out sadly.

“Yeah,” Rachel snorted and joined the other two on the bed. “It is not like we can make her choose Alpha Edge and not them."

“Or can we?” Misty asked.

Her lips slid up her face in an evil smile. Her heart thumped with excitement and a giddiness filled her. A plan was forming in her mind that screamed perfect to her. She let her imagination go, wanting a clear picture of what Lucky would look like when she got done with her. She hoped it would make that b**** cry and feel the pain that her friends and her are feeling now. The way their hearts were breaking over losing the men that they had been waiting for years to notice them. She wanted Lucky to cry in misery as she watched each alpha betray her one-by-one. It would give her immense pleasure. She wanted to laugh about it, but she knew that she had to control herself.

“I know that look on your face,” Cara laughed as she rolled onto her side and crossed her legs. “You’ve got a plan."

“We all know about Alpha Edge’s idea of a contract Luna,” Misty purred as she rolled to her. “This Luna wannabe is going to be broken hearted when we steal Andrew, Rick and Dorran back from her. But first, we must wait until my mother comes so he can be distracted. That is when we go after them- our men.”

“It has merit,” Rachel chuckled as she, too, rolled to look at them both, “but I was hoping someone would kidnap her for us. It would give us a better chance with our men.”

“Do you think she will choose a man that is caught wanting another woman?” Misty pointed out.

“No,” Rachel agreed quickly, “but I just want revenge on her.”

“You’ll have to wait for her to lose the contract or Alpha Edge will be p***ed,” Cara stated with a shiver.

“True,” Rachel said in a small voice as she gently rubbed her neck.

“Well, I think it’s time to get ready for dinner,” Misty said eagerly as she pushed off the bed. “You, Rachel, need to make sure that you are apologetic at dinner while looking stunning.”

She could feel herself starting to become happy with this new plan. She did not disclose it all, but Rachel was close to what she had in mind. It almost shocked her that she would come up with something relatively decent to do to that Luna wannabe . She wanted to pat her on the back or say something more to encourage her line of thinking. Her mind, though, was on the plan hatching in her head and her own musings to care about what was going on in Rachel's mind.

“She’s right,” Cara shrugged, giving her friend a sad look. “We need to do something more than usual to draw attention to ourselves.”

“See you,” Rachel said, pulling herself up with a renewed vigor and a sharpened smile.

She waved to them as they left, watching her friends looking renewed to get their men. It made her feel bad for them that she had swindled her friends into believing that Andrew, Dorran, and Rick were obtainable. She had a long conversation with them a few years or more back about how dreamy those men were and single. She pumped them up with stars and lavished living to entice their appetites to go for the brothers. At the time, she had felt bad about convincing them to go for the brothers as mates, but she did not want to abandon her goal. It made up for the heartache she felt inside for them. She was desperate to make her father proud, even if it was from beyond the grave.

Somehow, though, she did not believe he would be proud of her. There had always been this nagging feeling inside her that said he would be ashamed of her. She remembered how he talked about mates being the best thing for a wolf and an alpha. And she remembered how he would always encourage her to keep herself from mating any male-wolf. And now, she had no virtue and no chance of gaining a mate. She doubted that the Goddess of Wolves really cared about her. She went to all the mating balls and pack, coming up empty-handed and broken-hearted. Why would he swear that she had a mate when she was old enough to be a Luna but have no alpha to become one?

When the door closed, though, she lost all her sympathy and leaped off the bed letting the eagerness fill her from the sadness that wanted to creep in. She grabbed her phone from the dresser, and she pressed a button to dial a number. She bit her lip, filling up with trepidation at what she had to report, but her plan might win her mother’s approval. Her mother was not an easy woman to please when it came to her. She was always belittling her and scolding her for something that made her feel less qualified to be an alpha's daughter. It did not matter how hard she tried to be someone that she hated, but she tried and it still was not enough.

“What?!” a woman’s voice snapped.

“Mother,” Misty said with a low voice. “I have met the new Luna. She is a newbie and well…”

“I did not raise you to be like the omegas,” she snapped. “Now, speak up and clear. You should know how to carry yourself by now. I swear I should have switched you out at birth."

“She is able to calm Alpha Edge with her aura,” Misty said, pushing aside her hurt. “I saw it myself. I am looking for an omega who will confide in me.”

“She can?” her mother said, sounding a little shocked. “That’s impossible. He has never let anyone affect him before… She must be using magic.”

“I am in agreement,” Misty said, breathing out her relief silently. “Plus, she has the sons enraptured, too. I am working on a plan to redirect their attention to me and my friends, but I need you here to distract her.”

“And how am I supposed to get the alpha under my control?” her mother purred.

Misty knew that tone. It had so much sweetness in it that had a shiver ready to wrack her body. She had to stiffen herself against the fear that wanted her to back down from her mother's anger that was starting to escalate. There were times she was sure that she was going to die by Ava's hand. The death of her father had really taken its toll on her. She went from a loving and kind woman to a vicious b**** that would rip her daughter's head off. She had to think fast before her mother would think of a punishment for her. The last one made her cry for a month.

“If I am marked by Rick, then you, as my mother, will want to be here to plan our wedding.”

“I see,” Ava chuckled. “I still haven’t heard the entire plan.”

Misty closed her eyes, struggling to keep calm between her fear and her eagerness to get it all out. She knows that her mother has been trying to seduce Alpha Edge while she has been after Rick. Ava has not been successful on her part where she has been. It ticked her off, but she managed to smooth things over with her and boost her ego. Every time she mentioned Rick marking her, she became happy. When she mentioned the wedding to come... It made her even more so and saved her a lot of pain. She could care less about marrying anyone so long as she was Luna of this pack. Her real mate had not even shown up yet, which makes her desperate to be mated to anyone just to get rid of her mother. This was golden opportunity, and she would not give it up to anyone.

Andrew Titan

Andrew walked to his father’s office feeling trepidation, starting to fill him with each step. It warred with the anger inside that wanted him to fear the alpha, but his anger was too great to let his father's aura affect him. He wanted retribution or something for Lucky to compensate for the damage Rachel had done. What she did to a pup just starting in their world was irreprehensible. Their soon-to-be Luna was a newbie for another week or so and needed to be left to grow into her wolf, not beaten.

The images of Lucky were firmly planted in his mind. She was swaying and gripping onto him for dear life as she tried to go to Edge to calm him down. Her wounds did not matter to her. She was doing what she thought was right, which sent a growl rumbling out of him. She should not have been put in that situation or hurt that badly. His wolf agreed with him and wanted those other women to be put in their place, to understand that the contract had now been signed. That was why his face was hard as granite and his eyes blazed in anger with his wolf at the forefront. He could not forgive their trespass.

At the same time, he wanted to be a fair alpha that did not let his emotions get out of hand like now. He did not rely on them to make decisions even when Eliana was alive, which was why he showed none on his face daily. He knew that someone would try to take advantage of his kind nature. If he were honest with himself, he knew his anger was mostly at himself. He knew he should not have left her alone with that woman.

Rachel was a devious she-wolf and a great fighter. Lucky was just learning the ins and outs of being a werewolf with no real skills as a fighter unless ticked off. It was not her nature to be that way. Her wolf was a different subject. He found that intriguing, though. The only reason he had left was because he did not want to be in Rachel's presence a minute longer. He was ready to do something irrational. That was another reason he had to speak to the one man that he knew would let him do the things that he wanted to do. He would never go behind his father’s back and do them without consulting him, first. Plus, he finds something completely odd about Misty’s “timely” arrival.

Andrew knocked, which sounded more like a pound on the door. He did not care at that point. There are more important things than for him to not disrespect his father. He knew something was brewing that would hurt her, and, for some reason, he felt like he had to protect her from it. His father would use her as a pawn to set anything in motion that he deemed fit. This was the one thing that Edge and he disagreed on the most. He did not like using people, like chest pieces.

Get in here!

His father’s harsh voice would have had him jumping, once upon a time ago, but not anymore. He stood there a moment with his face and eyes fixated on the door before opening it. It was like he could already see the man on the other side and was speaking to him without facing him. Every facial expression, every word spoken by him, and every gesture that screamed that he was going to be pacified by his father in some way. This time, it was not happening. This time, he was determined to get what he wanted, plus some answers.

“Father,” Andrew called as he slammed the door shut and continued to walk to him. Edge just looked at his son with his brows raised and no emotion on his face as usual. It used to unsettle him, but over the years, he had gotten used to it. “We need to talk about Lucky’s safety.”

“We also need to talk about why you’re not with her soothing her wounds,” he retorted back.

He flinched at that. It stung that his father would think of him as callous towards a woman. He raised them to care for one as if she was glass when they are hurt. Other than that, they all knew that if a woman wanted to be strong, then they had to support her regardless of the truth. Then, they kiss their hurt ego or boo-boo’s. He had fun kissing Eliana’s wounds and making them better, but this was about Lucky, their future Luna.

“I was, but Rick wanted to apologize to her, too,” Andrew explained firmly. “Apparently, he feels some responsibility for what Rachel did.”

“Really,” Edge said, sounding interested. There was a gleam in his eyes that said it had his attention before he cleared it up and moved on. “Then, what is this pressing business you have? I don’t see you in here any other time.”

“I am and you know it,” Andrew retorted against the jab he gave him. “I am in here more than my brothers. So, let’s stop the jabs and make a plan. We both know that you have a reason for inviting Luna Ava and it is more than that she is a friend of Dorran’s mother. You knew it would draw Misty and her friends here. And you, also, knew that she would go for Rick. Out of the four of us, you know she has a beacon on him. She knows where he is and what he is doing at all times. Dorran, you and I have not figured out how she knows that, but Rick could care less until now. He wants her gone. I agree. Those three must leave before something worse happens.”

He finished his little speech, but he could not sit down. He was too unsettled by the turbulence inside his mind to do so. It was like he could not let this one incident go, and it had nothing to do with Rachel’s intentions towards him. This whole idea circled around her beating up Lucky. Even his wolf, Raja, was upset over the ordeal. That wolf had never gotten this riled up in all his years, but now, he was. Andrew could not figure out why, but he did not understand himself, either. He had never shown an interest in another woman in years until her. Is it the contract? It had to be with the title online.

That f***ing b**** is dead. She better stay away from Star.

Calm down. Everything is settled. She is fine. We tended to her with the help of our father.

Get off your a** and mate her, then. Stop letting your insecurities fill your head with nonsense.

“Son, I know that your wolf and you want to protect her,” Edge said, disturbing the silence between them. “We- Liken and I- are of the same mind. Today should have proved that. We don’t want those women to hurt her. And no, I did not invite Ava or those young ladies here as a ploy of any sort, but they are here. Now, we must deal with them. I have guards watching their every move. The omegas are even willing to help. Yes, yes, that shocked me, too. In such a short time, Lucky has charmed them. I don’t know how. She has had minimal contact with them. It could be that they see the effect she has on me and my sons. It could be just her wolf’s nature, which you and I know is a special wolf. I don’t know if Rick and Dorran realized it, but I don’t think Dorran really cares at the moment. She had managed to snatch his heart somehow…”

“What?” Andrew said, shocked to hear that.

“I had spoken to him earlier, and he stood up to me,” Edge chuckled. “There was a spark in his eyes that I never saw, even when he was mated to Casey. I would not worry or get angry. She has said that her wolf has a thing for the four of us, while she is unsure. She is still developing and wants to get to know us like a human would. I have a hunch that once she shifts then we will know who gets to be her mate. She should be done with the developmental cycle and hormonal displays by then.”

“Is that why you did not punish Dorran or Rick for their… interaction with Lucky?” Andrew asked with a smirk.

“She is effectively ‘dating’ us in human terms,” Edge said with an evil smirk. “Do they not have s****l moments?”

Andrew pursed his lips together, knowing that they were all taking advantage of Lucky’s growth to explore her. It was not like he could say too much about it, since he wanted to do the same thing. This morning on the field… He had never been that hard in his entire life. She oozed her arousal like she was heat. He wanted to take and show her how dominant he could be while pleasuring her. The only thing that was holding him back was the thought of Eliana. He was not sure if this would be a trespass on her memory or if this was the thing he needed to help him through his grief.

“I get the point,” he snapped, “but if she gains an attachment to all three of us, then what? What will we do when she chooses to be a mate to the four of us, Father? Polygamy is not unheard of in werewolf society, but it is odd when there are three half-brothers and one father.”

“We will cross that bridge when it comes, I guess,” Edge said with a shrug like he did not care.

“Don’t give me that,” Andrew snorted. “I know better than to believe you would be willing to share a woman. She may not be a fated mate, but I do know of your liaisons. However, this conversation needs to be put up for another day, so we can discuss a plan to thwart Misty. She is the ringleader that will make Lucky’s and our lives hell.”

“We cannot do anything without information,” Edge sighed heavily. “Like I said, I have guards watching her from the shadows. Once they hear anything, then we can plan. In the meantime, I think we had better get ready for dinner.”

Andrew was not happy with his father’s nonchalant attitude towards the situation. It was almost like he wanted something to happen. Maybe, the way he had come to Lucky’s rescue had him wanting to do that more and more, he thought. He shook his head, finding it ridiculous when an alpha wolf’s priority was to protect its mate. Even the ones that are under him, he protects them and not put them in danger. What could he gain from hurting the one that was supposed to be the Luna of their pack? Was it to distract his brothers and him from achieving their goal or was it to push them together? There were too many questions and not enough answers for him to understand his father’s mindset. But there was one thing that Edge did say that was true: he was going to have to watch and see what happened next. And that was exactly what he was going to do to his father and those women.