The Alpha's Desperate Daughter

"What the hell do they want with the 'alter plant' for?!” my red-head companion shrieked as she pulled hard on the innocent plant—her hair looking almost ablaze in the setting sun. Her other hand irritably swiping at the unruly strands of her wild hair out of her face. “Easy with the plants' woman,” I remarked feeling sorry for the plant seeing as how its large spherical umbels of golden-colored flowers that look like little drumsticks on stout stems arising from its narrow, roundish basal rosettes of leaves bent sideways due to her gripping the stems hard as she pulls the plant along with its roots. She gave me and the trembling child beside me—who's holding on to my pant leg making it a shield from my angry red-head companion—a withering look. Her intense amber eyes looking straight at me, "Maria tell me why a Golden Dawner is here, again?" "Scar," I started with my placating voice hoping this will be the last time I'll have to repeat myself to her—me and my sorry excuse as what she had called it earlier. For me and the child's benefit, who looked like he's going to cry any minute which will probably make Scarlett even more irritated. She's not fond of children, especially the crybaby ones. "He ran away and got lost. Then ended up here and got mesmerized by the flowers—" "And wanted to get it as a peace offering for his brother," she finished my sentence on my behalf. "A-and—" I muttered hesitatingly, tucking a loose strand of my black, wavy hair behind my vaguely elongated ear—a deformity I always try to hide around strangers—and was about to add the same reason I had told her earlier. However, she cut me off. "And you don't have the heart to banish that boy out of our territory without granting his wishes," she finishes my sentence again, her brows furrowing in disapproval, "You are being unreasonable, Em. Well, I'm not against giving the boy some useless flowers but don't you think this is one of their ploys to expand their territory? Heck, this might be one of their plans to check the stability of our pack which we don't currently have." I flinched at her words making me go back to the reality of our current situation. An unstable pack. A pack without an alpha. Well, our alpha is very much alive however, it seems he's not there anymore. His mind, that is. She sighed, her intense amber eyes clearing—softening seeing my reaction. "I'm sorry, Em. I-It's just... t-there's so much that has happened these past weeks between me and my dad arguing, my mom recently birthed our youngest to the issues regarding the pack. I can't help feeling helpless. I know it's much harder on you, being the Alpha's daughter. I—" she spoke hastily blurring the words altogether—all in one breath and abruptly stopped, her eyes no longer meeting mine as she proceeded to look at the rocky ground we're standing on. "I-I... I'm sorry for being insensitive," she continued after a pause, stammering—her voice small and full of guilt. "Hey, don't be." I playfully bump my shoulder to hers giving her my toothy grin, purposely showing her one of my dimples which I know she can't resist, "I do understand where you're coming from. My father's health has affected all of us. However, I'll find a way for all of this to be resolved. I'll stand in as the Alpha if I have to," I added with all the courage I could muster even though I'm not feeling courageous at all. She playfully rolled her eyes at the sight of my dimple and gently flicks it, "Stop showing off your dimples and we'll find a way, babe. I've got your back, remember?" she stated matter-of-factly. I shot her an appreciative look and was about to respond a cheesy response as hers but was cut off by an incessant tugging on my pants leg. “May I have the flowers, please? T-the sky’s getting d-darker… I-I don’t like dark,” he inquired politely as he stutters, his voice barely above a whisper—his lips quivering as he glances warily at Scarlett and the sky as the sun’s slanting rays cast long shadows on the ground, the setting sun giving dull orange patches to the sky as the night begins to settle in. I patted the anxious boy’s head, “What did you say your name was?” I asked peering into his electric blue eyes which are full of worry as I crouched leveling my face to his. “Levi,” he simply responded as he wrung his hands together. "Lee-vi," I pronounced his name carefully, “Hmmm, that’s a pretty name.” He gave me a bright and cheerful smile. I stood up, stretching my whole body at the same time and stand to my full height as I reached for the flowers we had picked earlier and handed the flowers—three in total—to him which he gratefully took. “Since, you’ve got your flowers. Are you ready to go home?” He just nodded in response as he stared at the flowers in his hands, his eyes twinkling, awed with the 'alter plant' as it changes its color to white—as white as snow—as the sun gave way to the moon. The plant was called an alter plant for this very reason as it changes from white if it’s at night to golden when it’s morning. “It’s magic,” Levi remarked bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement and raising the plants in my direction showing me the now white flowers. “Isn’t it?” I agreed, appeasing his excitement, “Let’s go. We wouldn’t want to make your brother and your pack worry. I'll be right back Scar, let me know the updates regarding my father. Just whistle, alright?” Scarlett nodded albeit hesitatingly while Levi reached for my hand and intertwined it with his as he waved goodbye to her with the hand that's holding the flowers as we're about to leave. "Em, would you like me to come? It might get dangerous," she called, her voice heavy with worry. I smile at her protectiveness—with her mothering me all the time even though we're of the same age, "There’s no need to worry, and I’ll be alright. I bet, the Golden Dawners are diplomatic and I'm just getting Levi hom—" Crunching sounds hit my ears from behind, heavy boots scraping the rocky hard ground before smelling them cutting me off mid-sentence not recognizing any of those as one of our pack members. Both of my companions froze at the same time as they stared ahead past me. I counted the boots stumps my instincts kicking in. Five, eight... No, ten. All ten possible threats. Not if I act accordingly, I thought as my insides trembled. I took a staggering breath trying to calm myself down. "LEVI!" a deep authoritative voice thundered breaking me out of my frozen state making me turn my back to Scarlett while pulling Levi behind me. The child trembled with fear as he hugged my leg tightly burying his face at the back of my thigh refusing to respond to his Alpha. Scarlett recovered from the shock and rushed beside me as she put her guard up preparing for battle, if necessary, as we faced a golden-haired man—his hair shimmering looking almost platinum as the moon's light began to shine illuminating our surroundings, his staggering blue eyes blazing with unspeakable anger and surprisingly full of worry—together with his company, who stop a couple of feet away from us. All of them, male. All of them, much older and more capable of combat than us. I swallowed hard. They are the hunting pack of Golden Dawn... together with their ferocious Alpha, Lev Veron.