The Alpha's Fallen Princess

Ch. 9: Jinx

(Alex’s POV… Cont’d)

After he left, I thought about what he said. Are we really so bad that it’s affecting the pack? I mean, we bicker a bit, but I don’t think it’s so bad that we’re affecting the entire pack.

Yeah, well, you're wrong. Not that you’d notice it, but people have been talking. They try to avoid us as much as possible, too. Because when you’re drinking you're an as*hole and when your not you're a f*ckin d*ckhead.

Max’s comments shocked me. He’s always been straight forward about things, never really being one to sugar-coat anything. And generally I’ve always appreciated that. But now I’m wondering if that’s really how the pack sees me or if it’s just him nagging me again.

He’s always taken issue with my drinking ever since the day I started. Back then, it was my way of dealing with everything over losing April. Now it’s just because I like it. I guess I developed a taste for it.

It’s not like I can’t quit if I want to. I can. Easily.

I just don’t see any reason to do so. I like the oblivion that comes with it. Being able to shut it all out for a short time, at least. I don’t know why Max can’t understand that.

(Tyler’s POV)

I was standing outside the room when Alex woke up. I heard the entire interaction.

I’d stayed out here because she and Wyatt were finally speaking to one another. It’s been since the day of the battle that Wyatt’s been off with her. Though after almost five years, I’m not sure that I can say he’s “off” anymore. After almost five years, it’s more like this is the new norm.

He’s my best friend, yet he won’t talk to me about this. I wish I could help him, help them, but unless he talks to me there’s not much I can do.

As for Alex? No one seems to know what’s going on with that kid. He has these extreme mood swings to the point where you never really know what Alex you’ll get from one minute to the next. I think he takes a lot of it out on April. But again, she won’t talk to me about it.

In her case, I think she’s just afraid of what I might do to him. Or what Winter might do to him if he finds out. So she cries on her mother’s shoulder and swears my mate to secrecy about it. It’s causing our family a lot of stress and if something doesn’t give soon I’m not sure what I’ll do.

Maybe I’ll give up the Beta position again. Take the family away from here. The kids can start their own pack and build it up to be what they want it to be and not have to worry about Alex or Wyatt anymore.

Anything to see my princess smiling again.

When April came out of the room, I backed away, stepping around a corner where I was out of sight until she was gone. Then I went back to Alex’s room intending to give him a piece of my mind. But then I heard Wyatt and was shocked to hear him defending her.

The fact that I was shocked by that spoke volumes to me and in that moment I made up my mind. As soon as April was discharged, I was going to hold a family meeting. It’s time to decide. Stay or go. No more games.

(Crystal’s POV)

I don’t know how much longer I can take all this turmoil. Five years ago, when I got my baby girl back, I thought everything would be alright again. And for a short while it was. Then we started noticing weird personality changes in everyone.

The kids seem to be finally coming out of it, but the adults? They just seem to be getting worse. Wyatt can barely stand to be in a room with April, Lily can’t bare to be away from the grandchildren and the twins are reaching an age where they don’t want to be cooped up in the nursery all d*mn day…

… When Lily doesn’t have the children she’s in Rambo-Luna-mode. She’s all over the place trying to be the perfect Luna, as if she weren’t already practically perfect in every way. I mean, seriously. Mary has nothing on her…

… And Kendrick? He never really comes home anymore. He can’t seem to bear being here anymore and Tyler seems to think he might form his own pack and move away for good.

Conner and Austin have gotten better since April gave them a mission to work on. Now they travel the world with Greg and all their mates looking for that Goddess awful poison that can kill any supernatural being. When they find it, they destroy it and have enough cure sent to that region to protect everyone.

April also asked them to check in on Nick. We haven't heard much from him in a while and everyone is worried about him. Apparently, he’s been on the run from some vampire. They actually accused him of being a part of the murder of their queen. April’s ready to step in if the need arises, but the last we heard from Nick he didn’t want us interfering.

The whole situation there is freakin cr*zy. But we’re monitoring it.

Jeremy and Jake seem to be faring better as well. Poor Jeremy was s*icidal for a while, so it’s good to see him nearly back to normal and Jake had Cassy to help him get through it all. So they are now picking up the slack left by Alex, who often just up and disappears on everyone.

When he is around he’s moody as f*ck. And then I get April coming to me telling me all about how he’s been treating her. They way he speaks to her is sometimes horrible. She says it's like talking with a stranger who knows all your weaknesses. It’s hard to listen to her cry so much, but even harder not being able to do anything about it.

She pleads with me to keep it all between us for fear that either her father or brother will kill Alex. Not that I haven’t wanted to kill him myself, a time or two. But she’s put her trust in me not to go after him or make any more trouble for them than they already have.

I’ve already had to stop Bethany from having it out with him more than once. And Leo? He’s ready to bite Wyatt’s head off. He’s actually left us for a little while because of all this. Gone back to the Am*zonian kingdom.

He had returned home about six months ago. But after a few months here of seeing what was going on between them, he decided it was best to go back before he literally bit Alex’s head off.

Leo is very close with April. He’s come to think of her like his own daughter. So seeing Alex hurting her and her not letting him get involved was just far too difficult for him to deal with.

Me? I feel like the pack is falling apart. And there’s not a d*mn thing I can do to stop it.

(April’s POV)

Once I was back in my room, I went over to the pile of clothes that was sitting on the windowsill and began to get dressed. I was hurt and angry, and I just wanted to get out of here as soon as humanly possible. I knew Raine felt the same way. Her silence spoke volumes.

I was just putting my shoes on when my Dad came in. “And just where do you think you’re going, Missy?” He asked in a teasing tone. I just smiled, partly to humor him and partly to hide my anger.

“Well, I’m feeling much better and Alex is awake now, so they’ll be releasing him shortly too. So I figured I’d go check on the kids. I’m sure they must be driving their Grandma crazy by now.” Was I using my three children as a crutch right now? Absolutely.

But Summer is three years old now. She wasn’t quite out of her terrible twos stage yet. Castor and Autumn, our twins, were a lot easier to handle. At the age of five, they were more calm.

My children were still my saving grace. Everything I did, everything I put up with, was with them in mind. They were what kept me from doing st*pid things when I am out on a mission of some kind.

I’ve made progress with my therapy, but I know I still have a long way to go. It’s my kids that keep me going, though.

But at least I’m trying. Whatever it is that’s going on with Alex he doesn’t seem to wanna get a handle on it.

He hides it from me, keeps his block up all the time, so I can’t even peek inside his mind. He won’t even relax his hold on the mate bond, so I can at least sense his emotions. All I know is that he’s in pain and I can’t help him.

Not because I don’t want to, but because he won’t let me or anyone else in. His stubborn pride simply won’t let him.

So I deal with things like what happened a little bit ago and, as much as it hurts, I try to tell myself it’s not really him. It’s not my Zander.

Sometimes it helps, but most of the time it doesn’t. If my Dad or Winter knew how he spoke to me sometimes he’d be in desperate need of a new jaw, that’s for sure.

For now, though? I’m just gonna talk to my therapist about it all once again and see if that helps any.

I may not be able to fix him. But I can at least try to fix myself.

Though I will admit, I was a little shocked when Uncle Wyatt stood up for me. It actually threw me off a little. I asked him to back off because I don’t want to be the cause of issues between them. It’s not fair to drag our families into the mix.

Which is another reason why I don’t talk to my Dad or Winter about any of this. I don’t want them in the mix. Sure, I talk to my Mom. But she’s my Mom. She’s the one person in my life, other than Raine, who’s always been there for me, no matter what.

She’s as much my friend as she is my Mother at this point. At least to me, she is. When she wanted to transition five years ago, everyone was shocked. But not me. Not really.

My Mom loves my Dad with every fiber of her being, and she’s devoted to Winter, me, and now my children as well. So her wanting to become eternal seemed natural to me.

I mean, Mom being a Hunter meant she’d be long-lived anyway, since Hunters tend to live to be well over a hundred. But most supernatural beings are eternal. Meaning we will live forever unless an outside f*rce intervenes.

Which is a nice way to say we can be killed, we just won’t die of natural causes. The prevailing theory is that, because we were created with Selene’s blood, it made us eternal, unlike Selene who is immortal. Meaning, she can’t even be killed.

Well, unless she loses her godly status, that is.

Anyway, Mom’s transition is finally complete. The downside to transitioning is that it can take years for the body to fully adjust to becoming a completely new species. But during that time “newborns”, as they’re called, tend to be hyper-sensitive and super-strong.

Mom didn’t suffer for long from the hyper-sensitive part, thank the Goddess. Otherwise, her hearing, sense of smell, and vision would have been all over the place. But the super-strength part? She got that in abundance!

And I mean that in a physical as well as an emotional sense. It’s helped her keep her emotions under control, which is sometimes more than I can say for myself. Which also brings me back to Alex.

She’s wanted to put him in his place on more than one occasion, but I wouldn’t let her. I just needed a shoulder to cry on. And I think she knew that all too well. She’s provided me with that shoulder more times than I care to count.

More importantly? She’s kept my Dad out of things. My Dad and Winter have become so highly over-protective of me I’m not sure Alex would survive an encounter with either of them should they come to find out what’s been going on.

One or both of them going after Alex would be a catastrophe. One that could potentially tear our pack apart permanently. And that's the last thing I would ever want to see happen.

But then again, that’s me. Everywhere I go, I seem to bring turmoil. This was a peaceful, flourishing pack before I came. Now it’s chaos. People have died because of me. H*ll, I still have nightmares over Carly and Gretchen’s deaths.

They died because they were my friend, plain and simple.

We were out buying Prom Dresses and on our way home we were attacked. The rogues were after me when they came at our group. Our limo was overturned. They wound up being on the bottom of us all when we fell from the impact.

Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can still their lifeless stares. All they wanted was to be a normal teenage girls, go to prom, and live the normal lives of an Omega. But because of me, they lost their lives that day.

That’s not true, April. They were there because they wanted to be. Because they were honored to be a part of a loving group of friends. Friends who would have given their lives for them and whom they would do the same for…

Blaming yourself when it was rogues who attacked us that day only denigrates their memory. I heaved a heavy sigh over what Raine had just said. There was a part of me that knew she was right, but at the moment I couldn’t find that part.

It doesn’t change the fact that they were put in that position because of me, Rai. I mean seriously, how many bad things have to happen around or to me before you see what a d*mn jinx I am? I heard her growl at my words, so when she barked at me in response I was ready for it.

That’s not true! We're special, A. We always have been. Unfortunately, being special often means leading a hard life. I’m sorry that our life has been so hard, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I let a sad tear slip down my cheek.

I wish I could make her understand how I feel. But for now? I just wanna go home and put this whole thing away for a little while.