The alpha's last chance

Chapter seven:Richard

Markus entered the pack house.

He spotted his mother who was sitting in exactly the same spot as she did yesterday. "Did she leave for bed all together, or did she spend the night in that retched chair", Markus wondered.

Instead of saying anything about it, he smiled at his mother and wished her a very good morning.

"And a very good morning to you, son" She said. She looked at him with her head askew, her eyes strangely alert.

"Do you have a hug to spare for your mother" She asked.

It had been ages since she showed this much affection and Markus happily approached her, giving her a bear hug. She answered the hug and sniffed into his neck, that was about the highest spot she could reach. Markus only now realized how much he missed this and growled softly, enjoying this little moment before he had to face Richard.

"Mom," he started. But she interrupted him with a distant look on her face. "Markus, where have you been? What happened?"

"Nothing" he swiftly answered. "There were a few rogues at the border, but Moses and me fought them off without a problem." Her eyes darkened just for a second at the mention of the word "rogues".

"That's not it, honey. There is something off about your smell. You smell... stronger. Have you ... talked to someone?"

Before he could answer, Robert and Richart entered the packhouse.

"I'll explain later, mom." "Richard failed his border duties again" he mind-linked her.

"He's starting to be a problem" She replied. "I'm afraid you'll have to take a firm stand with him this time".

Markus took a deep breath and turned around to face his pack members.

"Hello Robert, Richard. Please take a seat."

"I'd prefer to stand" Richard said, looking Markus straight in the eye. Markus could hear his mother utter a small gasp upon hearing this much arrogance.

"As you wish" Markus replied. "This morning, when we arrived at the West border, we spotted three rogues on pack lands. It's my understanding that the West border was your responsibility last night, Richard. Is this correct?"

Richard looked at him with a smirk on his face, "and what about it if it was" he asked.

For a moment, Markus was taken aback from this answer.

"Well, if it was your responsibility, why didn't you spot them?" He asked Richard.

"Because I can't be everywhere at the same time, can I" Richard replied, still looking Markus dead in the eye.

Robert cleared his throat. "Or was it because you've spent the night in your own bed with some pack wh#re, instead of watching the borders?" He said.

Richard glared at him and didn't even have the decency to look ashamed.

"To be honest Robert, I don't feel obliged to lose my sleep over the safety of this weak excuse of a pack. It's only a matter of time before we are taken over by the rogues."

Markus looked at him in disbelief, Napoleon let out a soft growl.

"You can't be serious" I said to Richard. "We all have our duties to keep the pack safe and as long we all take up those responsibilities, we will remain safe."

To Markus' horror, Richard started laughing at this.

"What world did you wake up in, if you sincerely believe that we even stand a chance against them? You have never been a strong leader, not like your father. And we all know it. It's only a matter of time before we turn on you and throw you over, he said".

Before I could even react, my mother jumped forward and smacked him right in the face, leaving a trace of red fingers behind on his cheek. Her eyes spat fire as she said: "I knew your mother, Richard, we fought side by side to defend this land and she gave her life for this pack. She would be disgusted at your behaviour. How dare you disrespect your alpha in this way".

Richard looked down, and for a second, Markus saw remorse glinting in his eyes. But when he looked back up, there was not a trace left of it on his face. "This is not my alpha. Do you hear me, Markus? You are not a fit leader!" He started to raise his voice now. "YOU ARE WEAK! YOU'RE SO WEAK THE GODDESS DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO BLESS YOU WITH A MATE! AND IF SHE DID, SHE WOULD PROBABLY BE SO WEAK WE'D HAVE TO PUT HER OUT OF HER MISERY!

Richard wasn't finished, and as he took in a breath to continue his tirade, he was cut off by Napoleon who plunged his fangs in his throat, just barely not cutting over his arteries.

He just had the time to think "What the f#ck?" before he passed out.

Robert and the Luna looked at Markus with a look of complete surprise on their faces.

"Throw him in the dungeons" Markus said, barely regaining control over himself. "I will deal with him later".

Robert nodded quickly, picking Richard up from the floor and taking him downstairs to the dungeons.

"Finally" he thought to himself, and a thin smile appeared on his face.

The Luna looked at her son with a mixture of pride and fear.

"Is there anything you need to tell me, Markus?" She inquired softly.

Markus, still with his back to her took his time to answer. He was surprised himself about his reaction, he had dealt with the arrogance of Richard before. But when he mentioned killing Barbara...

She was weak though, if she had no wolf to protect her. If his pack wanted to hurt her to get to him, they wouldn't have to put up a fight, she would never be able to defend herself against a shifted wolf. It only heightened his feeling of having to protect her.

He turned to his mother. "Mom" he said, "I have to tell you something. I've found my mate."

His mothers eyes lit up with so many emotions when these words left his mouth. There was pride and happiness, and something else, ...was it determination, acceptation? But those feelings quickly faded when he said: "And she's human".

Markus looked at his feet. He felt as if he disappointed his mother, but he would never let Barbara go. He loved her and he was proud of her.

Slowly, he looked up at his mother, the Luna. For some reason, she looked majestic.

"Son", she said. "The Goddess gives us a mate because this mate is supposed to make us stronger, a mate completes us. Even if she isn't what you expected, she will have qualities that you never knew you needed before you met her."

"I never expected anything, Luna. But I love her and I already need her."

Mother just smiled at me.

"I have to go now, mom. I need to get back into town. I need to, ... I don't know, I need to...".

"Go son, Moses can handle this. Go find your Luna and bring her home."

With this Markus turned on his heels and walked straight to his car, mind-linking Moses: "Luna will fill you in"

"ok" the answer came, and Markus could've sworn he heard a grin through it.