The Bad Boy's Oath

Chapter Two

***Ludovic’s POV***

Late nights that never end. That's what my life is. 

The smell of stale beer, warm liquor, and cheap perfume filling through the air. Nothing but slutty shewolves walking around in tight or hardly any clothing. Men with no mates or dead mates wasting away.

Constantly churning in my stomach, sticking to me like a second skin. Embedding it's stench to me.

I've literally spent my whole life trying to be the best of the best. Just to be told that it was for nothing. That it was just to be a backup plan. Number is what I'll always be.

"Ludo, you need to head back to the pack house. Your brother is trying to mind link you. He needs you there now." The bartender Chris tells me. I'm a regular here now. Everyone knows me because I'm the Alpha's second son. And the New Alpha's baby brother.

"Tell my brother, the Alpha, I said to fu.ck off. I'm closing this place down tonight." I said with a slight slur and a chuckle. 

His eyes go wide in fear. I know he won't actually tell my brother to fu.ck off, but he will tell my brother what I said in a more respectable way. 

Since I know he won't serve me anymore. I reach over the bar and grab two bottles of my favorite alcohol. Peach Crown Royal and Jack Daniels Honey. The two together with a little sprite is magical. 

The atmosphere is stiff. But this is the life I chose. Three years ago, when I was 22. I thought that would be the day I’d be announced Alpha. I thought growing up all my hard work would lead to that day. My dad pulled me and my brother into the office. Said that it was the day that the new Alpha would take over. 

He looked directly at my brother and asked him if he was ready. I was shocked. Dumbfounded. 

It was like it wasn’t even a question. Like it was just supposed to be him all along. And when I asked about it, my father looked me dead in my face and said, “It was never going to be you, Ludovic. Your brother has always been the rightful Alpha. We just needed you to be close in his training as a backup or if your brother wants you as his Beta.”  

That night was the first time I got drunk. And I haven’t quit since. Crown and Jack are the only things that haven’t let me down. It got even worse after I met her...

“LUDO!!” My brother roared through the bar. Welp, he’s pissed. Haha.

“Hahaha, hello Alpha.. To what do I owe the pleasure?” I recited as sarcastically as I could.

“I have been trying to mind link you all night. Is this where you have been??” He is seething. Oh well.

“Yes dear Alpha, I have been sitting here, wasting away in liquor. Just like every other night. What do you want from me? Why did you come all the way here?” I sneered. I’m over this bullsh.it already. 

“I want to rip you to pieces for all of your bullsh.it. But the only reason I am not going to do it right now is because I need to know where mom is.” What the hell? How should I know?

“I don’t know where she is?” I said sincerely. Why would I? I tear my eyes away from my bottles to look at him and he is pale...

“Are you serious? She is our mother, the former Luna. And you were supposed to be with her tonight for dinner with her friends!? She didn’t want the guards going with her, and dad is being an a.ss. You agreed to be her escort tonight!!” He is seriously pissed. He never really cared for dad’s approval. Mom was always the one he strived to gain the attention of. She loves us both the same, and has never treated either of us better than the other. 

But dammit, I didn't realize that was tonight. Fear and panic are coursing through my veins.

“f**k!! I didn’t realize that was tonight. I’m going on three days of not passing out cold for a week. s**t! Who was she supposed to meet and where?” I growled. Frustrated with myself. I should've paid attention. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and see I have a few missed calls from her about 5 hours ago... Sh.it. Sh.it. SH.IT!!!!!

I jumped from my seat, spilling my shots on myself and the table. The bar is quiet. I am growling and so is Lou. “We have to find her!!” I stormed out of the bar, stumbling as I am intoxicated, but also enraged. It takes a lot for a werewolf to get drunk, and my constant drinking has made my tolerance extremely high. But when we get shipments of alcohol to this bar, they are altered to make the same great tasting liquor easier to get werewolves drunk.

“Get in my car you fu.cking i***t!!! If anything has happened to her it is on you.” He growled. And he is right. I hate it when he’s right. And right now I am drunk so I don't really care at this point.

“You're the i***t that ALLOWED your drunk little brother to be the escort for OUR mother away from the packlands. This isn’t just on me for forgetting. It’s on you, ALPHA, for allowing it. And it’s on mom for going without protection anyway.” I seethed. In some sense, I am right too. But if anything ever happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself. 

"That's because I thought that AT LEAST Mother could count on you. But I was so wrong..." He spat out at me.

We get into Lou’s pickup and he starts racing from the bar. He has the guards check her planner to see where she would be meeting her friends. And it is an Italian restaurant in the human town. Lou called her friends and they said she never showed up. They thought that she got hung up with Luna duties. Lou hasn’t found his mate yet so mom is still taking care of Luna tasks. But we don’t call her acting-Luna so she doesn’t have to travel to other packs. 

We whip into the restaurant's parking lot, and there are only a couple of vehicles here. I check the time and it’s close to 11pm. I don’t even see her car parked here. 

“There is nothing here for us if she didn’t even show up here, Lou. Come on, we have to take whatever road she would have taken to get here.” I said frantically, while slurring my words. I stumbled and fell into the car. 

I jumped back in the car, and he did too. Right now we are both mad. We are both freaking out. But we aren’t going to talk until her whereabouts are confirmed. I hope she is okay. I completely forgot I was supposed to be with her tonight. Why would she still go? I’m not reliable. She knows I probably wouldn’t show up. Why would she still leave with no protection??

Lou finds the road our mom always takes to the human town. She travels this way a lot. We haven’t had any outside threats. And how would someone even know who she is? If she’s hurt…

‘Quit torturing yourself ,Ludo. It isn’t going to do you any good.’ My wolf, Ragnar, remarked.

‘It will be my fault though.. It is my fault...’ I tried to reason with him over my pity party. 

‘We have to find her first. Control yourself. I am trying to get rid of this alcohol in our system so you can think better, but it’s put a strain on me. We will find her, Ludo. Just think smart.’ He exclaimed.

We come up to a car wrecked in the ditch on a side road.

“That doesn’t look like mom's car, Lou?” I said. Or more of questioned. 

“It isn’t but if someone attacked her, this could be their car.” He replied angrily looking around. 

I could smell a hint of blood. And instantly, my stomach turned. I shifted into Ragnar, and darted into the woods. The smell of the iron in the blood getting thicker, my stomach churning more. I know who it belongs to but I don’t want it to belong to her. Not her…

 I can hear Louis’ wolf’s feet pounding against the forest floor behind me. In a sense, I am faster. I have always been faster. Just not born first. 

  My whole body is trembling when I can feel I am coming up on a scene I never thought I’d see in a million years.

My mother, laying as still as a fallen log after a hurricane. I am trembling in Ragnar’s form even more. ‘Ragnar, shift back.’ I commanded and he whimpers, feeling my heartache.

“MOM!!!!” I scream as I reach for her. I stumbled to the ground, falling before her body. No movement. Not even a flinch. I hear Lou run up behind me. And as soon as his eyes land on her lifeless body, the most soul piercing roar leaves his throat. 

I know his eyes can’t leave her body, I can feel the anguish he is feeling. It’s exactly how I feel. I feel… Responsible. Helpless. I can’t hear anything, I can hardly see. My voice is gone. I finally feel a punch connect to my jaw. And I fall backward with my mother in my arms. When I look up I see Lou in his human form. He’s mad but he’s hurt. Tears are streaming down his face. He looks at me with pure suffering and he takes our mother from my arms. Leaving me in the middle of the woods outside our pack borders alone. Still slightly drunk and now dazed. 

‘I killed her Ragnar. If only I would have let go of my stupid hurt for one fu.cking day and just escorted her to hangout with her stupid friends she would be fine.’ I cried. I haven’t cried since the day Blair rejected me. She was the one the Moon Goddess made for me. She looked me dead in my face, no trace of emotion, and told me she would never love me and that she only ever loved Louis. He doesn’t know she was my mate. And I won’t ever tell him. 

I watched his retreating figure disappear into the forest and I just laid there. Hoping an actual bear, or another shifter, would find me and just end it all. 

I left the darkness to consume me. And completely passed out. 

-*The Next Day*-

I am burning up. I feel like I am sweating to death. What is wrong with me? I flutter my eyes open. Feeling this heat, I almost thought I had died and finally made it to hell. Just kidding hell is what I have been living in. 

‘Where the fu.ck am I, Ragnar? This isn’t my bed.’ I sat up, dusting what felt like dirt off of me. I can’t open my eyes, it’s way too bright here. My senses are coming back and I have this overwhelming and pounding headache.

‘We are in the woods. You went unconscious last night.’ He retorted. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

‘Why are you acting like I know what is going on?’ I asked him, starting to get pissed off. I run my hands through my shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Trying to remember last night.

Did I bring a woman here for a night cap, and she just left after it was over and I passed out?

Did I stumble into the woods after drinking too much?

‘Do you want me to replay last night's events?’ Ragnar asked solemnly.

‘Yeah, but why do you sound so sad and somewhat pissed at me?’ He was quiet. Not another word. 

Suddenly, last night’s events flooded my mind. Oh FU.CK!!

‘LOU! How is she????’ I mind linked him, frantic to see how she is. If she… Oh goddess no. I can’t think like that…

‘Meet me in my office. Now.’ That was all he linked back. I let Ragnar shift into his gunmetal grey form. Feeling the sunshine on his fur, the wind slapping his back as fall is approaching. I am physically getting sick just thinking about the worst that has happened to my mom. 

I get to our four story pack house. It looks like a rustic mansion you would see on an old plantation farm. But bigger. It really is beautiful. I quickly shift and grab some shorts that are hanging from a tree near the front door. We keep clothes like this around so when we shift back into our human forms, we aren’t naked for long. 

I run up the stairs to the fourth floor for the Alpha and his family, former Alpha and Luna, and all the offices. I pass by several crying pack members. Oh no. Please don’t let it be….

I stop right in front of Louis’ door. I inhale deeply. Once I exhale, I knock quickly.

I hear Louis on the other side of the door telling me to come in. I scurry through the door. And desperately look around the room, searching for my mothers face. 

“Ludo. Sit down.” Lou’s voice echoes through the silence of his office..

“Where is she, Lou? Is she okay?” I demand, tears stinging my eyes. 

“SIT DOWN LUDO.” He said with his Alpha tone. Lou has never used his Alpha tone on me. Not in the last 3 years. Not since he became Alpha. I immediately sit down. Staring at him, enraged that he just did that to me. It’s bad enough he has everything that I worked for, but now he is taking my freewill too.

“Mom… She’s.. She’s in a coma… Whoever attacked her. They left no trace. But her injuries are extensive… They don’t know if she will ever wake up…” He said sniffling. I don’t think I have ever seen my brother cry. He has always been so calm and collected. Unless it was in battle, then all hell broke loose.

He takes a deep breath, and continues. “ You are being sent to Pocatello… It’s about an hour away if you take a car. We have set up a job, housing, and transportation for you. You are on a two year suspended banishment.” He finished. Looking me in the eyes, I want to break down but I can't do that.

So, I have become second best in everything all my life. And now, after one terrible mistake I am being kicked out of my home? My pack?

I'm beyond shocked. I can't leave. It's my mom too. Now I'm just even more pissed off.

"Our mother. Yeah, in case you forgot, she's my mother too. She's in a coma with extensive injuries with a slim chance of waking up and you want to banish me for two years?  What good is that going to do, Lou?? For fu.cks sake, I expected this from dad… Not from you." I said trying to fight back my rage and my hurt. 

"Did you forget that you are the reason she is in a coma to begin with? Or did you purposefully leave that tad bit out to make me the bad guy and make yourself feel better. " He growled out.

No. I didn't forget that part. "There's got to be something else, something different I can go. I can't leave her now, nor when she should've been protected with me. " I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face in frustration. 

"You should have been, Ludo. But you are too busy wallowing in self pity and what could have beens that you are neglecting your pack, your family and yourself. I don't want to send you away. I want you to lead next to me as my Beta. But I can't have an alcoholic that throws a temper tantrum every time he doesn't get his way. " I can't even say anything. 

And before he can continue, in walks the wicked bi.tch of the west right into Louis' office like she owns the place. 

"Darling, you said we would go and have lunch by the lake." Now that she rejected me last year and I accepted, her voice makes me cringe. 

"Blair, first of all quit walking in here like you're my Luna. You are not my Luna. I am waiting for my fated mate. Secondly, I am having a talk with my brother. So please, excuse yourself. Thank you. " He snarled. Wow he really isn't in the mood today. She looks between us and rolls her eyes and walks from the room.

"Can I at least visit her? I don't want to be away that long without at least coming to see her… and be updated on her condition." I asked with my head hanging. 

"You can come once a week when you aren't working. Spend the whole day with her. But Ludo, the big condition of your return is you have to quit drinking. It's poisoning everything about you." He said, this time with sincerity. 

"Fine… I'll leave today. But even if I do magically change my life around that doesn't mean I'll be your Beta. " I finished as I got up and walked out of the room. 

I made my way down the hall to my room and started packing. I think I'm still in shock that I'm being kicked out of the pack. He should've just killed me. But no, Louis has to do the Alpha thing and teach me a lesson. 

I look at the stuff I have packed. It really isn't much, I think in my mind after not being chosen for Alpha I started to minimize. 

Maybe I accepted one day I'd leave this pack for good. 

Still searching for the one thing that could only be mine. Not Louis', not the packs, just for me. Just for Ludovic… 

That would be a Goddess send...