The Alpha Father's Game

Chapter 9: Late Night Meeting

Warning: This chapter may trigger some readers as there was an assault on a character.

Rick sauntered to his father’s office. He kept his strides slow and long, letting the long conversation with his brothers swirl in his mind. He felt worn out by the time he reached the doors that would lead him to his father. At the same time, he feels revved up to have that talk about having a fated mate and not a chosen mate. It was what led to him undoing his bow tie and unbuttoning his shirt at his neck. He even had it partially untucked from his pants, showing that he was frustrated at some point when they had talked about Lucky. They had even argued about her suitability in the pack as well as what kind of wolf she was to think she was strong enough to take on an alpha.

He felt confident that they would end this ridiculousness, but there was a bit of apprehension in him. He was not sure how his father would react to the news of their refusal. She was beautiful and kind from all that he could see, with a side of feistiness that he loved. When she smiled, it did not look genuine, until she turned to Easter and his father. It showed that there was something building between them already. She even showed her bravery. Still, she was not strong enough to be in the hierarchy the way she was now. She would kill herself trying to keep their father in check. Plus, they wanted a fated mate and not a chosen mate to end their loneliness.

Rick could deny that there was an attraction that made him want her. He could tell that she wanted them, too, with the smell of her arousal thickening on the air when she looked at him. Her eyes had darkened to brown that almost eradicated the green in them, but when her wolf surged, there was a yellow-orange ring around her irises. It made his wolf pant with the need to dominate her in every way. He doubted she would let him after hearing her scorching words that knocked down his pride. That was when he knew he would have to play his father’s game to get into her panties, but now, that was a problem. He was about to tell his father that she cannot be their Luna.

His shoulders had barely managed to stay upright these last few hours after Andrew and Dorran voted with him about Lucky as their mate. They felt her soothing aura’s embrace them. They wanted to revel in it like everyone else at the table. It was hypnotic. He remembered the way it seemed to wrap around his senses. She had power behind her, but she needed someone to teach her how to handle it. She needed her fated mate to see her through the shift, too. That woman deserved better than their treatment and even Andrew knew this to be true. He would be with them, except he was not there, like Dorran was to speak to their father about this. He retreated to his room like a scared puppy.

Rick scoffed at his brother every time he went off on his own to grieve over his mate. He was supposedly the stronger alpha brother, whereas they were the weaker ones. He was already over the death of his fated mate. It has been five years now. Dorran was over his, too, and he had had less time to grieve than either one of them. He wished that his brother would just be like other men and grab a woman to mate. It would relieve his baggage that anyone could see weighed on him every day.

Dorran stretched over him and knocked on the door, giving Rick a meaningful look. It was derisive and sarcastic, wrapped into one that said he was taking too long. He knew that he had stopped and looked at his father’s massive doors for a while longer than he usually does. Lucky came to mind and reminded him of his mate. They are both similar in a way. Both were kind and caring with a feistiness that drove his need to know them in all ways. He just could not walk into this office to tell his father about his brothers and his decision. It felt like a taboo.

“You are such a chicken,” Dorran muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Shut up,” Rick growled back, offended by his brother’s attitude.

Get in here, both of you!

Their father’s harsh voice through the mind-link made them rush through the doors. They saw the lamps turned on to create a soft orange glow in the semi-darkness of this room. The corners are rounder than they were squared, making it look like something from the past. Rick wanted to scoff at how stuck in the past his father was. He even snaps at him for taking too many women to bed. It was not like the other male wolves of his status did not do it.

He looked at the great Alpha Edge sitting behind his desk looking weary and angered, per normal. He even had a bottle of whiskey sitting on his desk that smelled strong in the air. It mingled with his anger that was still fuming inside him. The alcohol was the good kind that he would peel the label off so no one knew what it was he was drinking. That was why his tie was undone and his shirt nearly unbuttoned all the way down to his pants. He wonders, though, if Lucky had seen him like this… Would she try to mate him?

Rick sat down in the chair on the right with Dorran taking the one on the left. He had to shake the thought from his head that spurred a bit of jealousy from him. It was better to not think about that woman being turned on by any one of them. He did not want to think about her while in his father's office with his nerves drumming along his skin. His wolf wanted to dominate this room, which made him feel antsy just to be there. The man’s aura is a little too dark for their tastes, but at least, he calmed down from dinner to let him be able to control his wolf.

“Father,” Rick began strongly at first, “we, my brothers and I, have come to a decision about the marriage contract.”

“There is no decision about it,” Edge huffed grumpily. “She is the only she-wolf that would come here to become Luna. Well, the only suitable one.”

“And that is because she is a newborn,” Dorran stated firmly. He is almost laughing at the way his father is taking anyone that would walk through those doors. “She is ignorant of wolves and has no idea about this pack. That is unfair to her. Besides, we cannot help feeling like she will be ripped off from her fated mate."

“I will court her myself if I have to and produce another heir,” Edge warned them with a shake of his finger. “I even made it part of the contract. Do not test my patience on this matter. One of you will wed her, mate her, and produce an heir while being alpha over Dark Amber Pack. I will not allow any of you to wiggle your way out of it."

“We are not trying to wiggle out of it,” Rick defended them. “We are asking if this woman is the right choice. We know that you are tired of being an alpha. Hell! We’re tired of you being alpha, but we do not want to hurt her like her family has done. We have already heard from her father that she needs a mate to live. We don’t want her to do this because she is…”

“Desperate,” Dorran said when his brother could not find the word. “She will miss out on her fated mate. That is an experience none of us can say would be wrong to have.”

“If you want to know what I think of Ms. Green- Lucky,” Rick said, deciding to come clean. He was not comfortable with revealing his feelings to anyone about his interest in women, but he knew that he had to do it. He had to show his father that he was looking at her in a perspective that signifies mate. “I think she is like Maria. She is strong-willed, feisty, and has something of the qualities of a Luna. She is beautiful and almost graceful.”

“There is even kindness in her that makes her a great Luna,” Dorran added with fervor. “We just want to know if this is the right candidate for this pack. She has already had a troubled life. This place…”

“She is perfect for our pack,” Edge interrupted sharply. He breathed in and softened his face, showing his true emotions to his sons, as they did to him. It shocked them both to see that he was sad about something. Rick was especially shocked that he even let his emotions show at all. The man never showed one iota of his true feelings. “That young woman came here wearing a dress that was an old style with the colors of this place. It shocked me when I first saw her that she would look like something from the past. I thought I was losing it and seeing a ghost, at first, but Finn stood beside her looking dismayed. And I was enchanted by her childishness to look at the fish you so blatantly walk over.”

“Sorry Father,” they said solemnly.

“Then, she fought me with her aura,” he continued and took in a deep breath. He released his feelings into the air through his aura, which concerned Rick. “I nearly succumbed to the calm that she exerted. I never fought so hard to not let an aura affect me, but that woman is stronger than she lets on. There is something about her that is different. And I am willing to believe that Fate sent her our way. Everything is pointing towards that, but I have to know if it is true before I can believe it. She is showing all the hallmarks of someone who was sent our way by an entity. From the way she was tricked into drinking the potion to the way she seemed to know how to speak to us… All of that and more is evidence that something sent her our way.

“Still, we should be weary. It could be for any reason- our downfall or her demise.”

“She was tricked into drinking the werewolf potion?” Dorran asked, furrowing his brows.

Rick is curious about that, too. Only the Elders handle the potion, which worries him that one of the pack members of the Crescent Pack is a traitor. Someone had to hand her the potion already made and left after she drank it all. It made him want to demand that his father have someone investigate it, but he was more curious about his father’s intentions with Lucky.

He noticed that Edge was enamored with her from the moment he walked her to Luna’s seat to now. His father had flicked glances at her when no one was looking while hiding his emotions well. That cold reserve was always in place. There would be a glimmer in his eyes that showed a softness towards her or an admiration of her body. If he had not seen it for himself, he would have thought it was just one of his father’s tricks played on someone. And now, he was talking like he had succumbed to Cupid’s arrow, which made his jealousy spur to life.

It was strange to feel this way about a woman and his father. He wanted to blow it off like it was nothing. Still, Lucky's feistiness was in his mind and had him hardened in all the wrong places, right now. He did not need to think of her that way in front of his family while discussing her dismissal from the contract. It was a contradiction to what he was asking his father to do, but he did not want her to stay. He wanted her to have her fated mate for some reason, while his wolf was huffing at him like he was an i***t.

“Yes, it occurred during the Luna Celebration,” Edge answered gruffly. “Alpha Cullen had Beta Ross search the temple for evidence concluding for or against Lucky. There was none found including…”

A scream halted the alpha’s words and sent a shiver down Rick’s back. That was Lucky’s scream. He was sure of it, but he did not know how he knew that or how it reached several floors down to them. His heart hammered and his wolf growled at the sound of it, disregarding his curious questions. His head snapped to look at Dorran, quickly, noticing that he felt the same way with his eyes as wide as his. Their father was already on his feet and his wolf in his eyes, like he was about to attack someone. He wasted no time either and began running all the way there using his wolf’s speed.

Rick had been scared before, but not like this. This felt completely different, which had him worried about his sanity. He barely knows the woman, and he feels like she was already going to die. He did not know what had gotten hold of him. Even his wolf, Argo, surged forth, turning his eyes red and wanting to be free to defend her from whoever was hurting her. They knew it was most likely her mother or sister or both, but neither cared at the moment. His aura exuded from him, ready to command whoever to stop whatever they were doing to cause Lucky so much pain. It was madness for him to act this way, no matter how right it felt to him. He even tried to blow it off as his father's teaching about a woman.

He reached her room unsure of how he knew where it was, but it did not matter. He ripped the door off its hinges and went to her sitting room. The door to her bedroom was open, and the light was already on, making him tense. Her screams were getting louder, and men’s voices sounded from it- her father and Andrew- which relaxed him a little. His brother was a gentleman, and would never hurt a woman unless it was necessary. He just could not let his tension completely go when he did not know what was wrong.

Rick entered feeling his father and Dorran on his heels. He had not realized that they had followed him until now. He glanced at both, seeing that they had their wolves in their eyes and their auras were exuded like his. It almost worried him that they felt the same way as him, except their father made it known that women are to be treated well. He raised them that way. Then, there are the women that show so much strength in a fight. He could not help respecting them even while using their bodies for pleasure.

They reached the doorway, looking inside. Lucky’s father held her down on the mattress with all his strength while Andrew poured water on her. His teeth nearly exploded from his gums, wanting to kill his brother for trying to drown her. This is not how any of them were raised, he thought angrily. He wanted to take a bite out of him for making her hurt like that.

“Don’t come any closer!” Andrew shouted when he realized that they were there. “Someone poured wolfsbane on her neck. I’ve called for Dr. Burke. He should be here soon.”

Dorran Titan

Never has anyone in this pack used wolfsbane on someone. It stunned all three men in the doorway of Lucky’s room. They looked at her trying to thrash on her bed, but they could not see her face. Her father’s body hid it as he tried to console her with soft words and pats with a cloth. There was bubbling blood oozing along the sheets with each pour of water that dribbled onto the floor. A strangled cry would leave her when Andrew dumped each cup of water. Her flesh was still burning from the wolfsbane. The noxious smell of cooked meat tainted the air with fear from Lucky and anger from the men. It was all there fueling them.

Dorran looked at this scene horrified. His heart ached from Lucky's pleas and cries. He may not see her face, but he was sure it was red and wet with tears. No wolf could withstand this kind of torture, but she was struggling to do so in her condition. She is a strong she-wolf for a newborn, he thought, which made his resolve want to melt. He wanted to be her mate. It even thumped his heart to go to her and hold her hand, but he could not do it.

He loved his brothers enough not to compete for the title. He does not want to be an alpha, anyway, even with the blood and the power coursing through him.

He looked at his brother, Rick, seeing the anger course through him before turning to his father. His alpha was enraged at the sight of this woman's pain, and he should be, too, but his heart hurt for her. The only anger he felt was that someone would deliberately come onto their territory and hurt the innocent. That had never set right with him, no matter who it was, and she was in a weakened state, making his anger worse. It was the only reason Benton, his wolf, was in his eyes now turning red. His fangs are already in his mouth with his fingertips itching to release his claws. He cannot stand the ear-piercing screams of someone being tortured or hurt like this. He wanted vengeance for this woman.

“Someone came into my packhouse and assaulted my guest,” Edge growled his anger.

“Father,” Dorran called worriedly, making him turn to him and showing that he, too, was angry. “Don’t! Lucky will not be able to handle what you are doing now. She needs our calm to ease her pain.”

That seemed to do the trick. The old man breathed out his rage and began exuding calm in less than a minute. Dorran and Rick both saw this and found it curious. He knew that his father meant it when he made his declaration. He has designs on that young woman, and if he wins, then he feels sorry for her. He was hard on his mates. His mother was often crying from an argument between his father and her, or something like that. She would most likely be the same way or worse.

“From this point forward,” Edge stated sharply, “Lucky will have guards placed on her, whether in the shadows or at her side. She will not go anywhere without them. She is to be protected. I will not tolerate someone coming into my home and f***ing with my guests.”

“Yes, Father,” Andrew, Dorran, and Rick chimed together.

Dorran could feel his father’s hurt and anger swirling together even as he tried to control it. It almost shocked him that he would show that so willingly, like he had lost control over his reserved cold. In fact, it was his cold anger that he was feeling hitting him. His father never showed those emotions or lost control of himself ever. Something about this girl has his family falling over for her. Did anyone know that she would be able to enamor them? He was not sure, but like his father, he was not willing to trust that she was there for no reason at all. He was going to keep his guard up around her, hoping that she was not a patsy for their downfall. Or was she a part of her family’s scheme and pretending to be innocent?