The Luna's Alliance

Chapter 2: Retirement

Beta Theodore Wilson was exhausted from training and dripping with sweat as he guzzled down water. His best friend, Jace Tila, did the same on the bench next to him. Like all warriors in the Northern Forest pack, they trained hard twice a day when at home to be ready for front line battle when called upon. They both became used to the schedule even before they had graduated from upper school.

Jace, however, pushed himself harder than anyone, forcing Theo to keep up the pace too. While they were almost the same height, easily towering over most in the pack at about 6’5”, they each had very different perspectives in a fight. Jace was incredibly strong, thanks somewhat in part to his mother’s Lycan ancestry. If Jace’s beast caught you in his jaw’s vice-like strangle, then it was over. Of course, he had to catch you first, and Theo was fast; beyond fast. So far, not even Jace, the Alpha or Theo's own father, had beaten his wolf in a race, nor his instincts when sparring in human form. It gnawed at Jace for years; the single dent in their otherwise flawless friendship. Once again, Jace was in overdrive today.

It was understandable to Theo though. The row from the Alpha family was heard all the way through the packhouse, including the Beta’s second floor quarters where Theo lived. Jace was next in line to be Alpha - when and if his father ever relinquished the title. Most Alphas retire quickly after their sons become of age at eighteen, especially those who have endured the hardships of war. After all, that is what Theo's father wanted as Beta several months ago, though Alpha Brock held him off, too. Retiring meant being able to enjoy the life you earned and spending more time with your mate away from the burdens of constant work and raising a family.

At twenty-two years old, Jace was desperately trying to appear ready to take the mantle. However, Jace’s father, Alpha Brock Tila, seemed wholly uninterested in retirement. Theo could only figure out two reasons for his reluctance. Either he was determined to devour the lands of the Southern Forest pack himself, craving the vindication of his own self-importance, or he didn’t wish to spend time with his mate as most did. While Alpha Brock only had a chosen mate, not a destined mate, Theo still worried the real reason was the former. Theo’s concern behind the reason was the not-so-subtle hint that Alpha Brock didn’t trust his own son to complete his crusade. And if that was the source of Alpha Brock’s misgivings about not retiring, then perhaps the Alpha knew his son Jace better than he thought.

Jace gave every appearance of supporting his father in public, but when he was alone with Theo, he dared to express how tired he truly was of what Jace called a ‘senseless’ war. Even though Northern Forest was still the biggest and strongest pack this side of North America, they had wasted so much of his birthright. He was angry that his father had made such enemies of the surrounding packs.

Jace’s internal Lycan naturally believed itself above those other packs. Lycans were notorious for their bigotry and species-ism, even though werewolves were their direct descendants, and those old-world philosophies were leading to their own kind’s extinction. Yet, Jace thought it was better the other packs gave from their knees rather than their death beds.

Theo started towards the gym’s showers, noticing that Jace was still sitting on the bench staring off into the past. As boys they shared everything, down to superhero birthday parties planned by their mothers. Theo tried to melt away his worry under the intense water pressure of the gym showers, yet Theo worried there were some things Jace kept to himself. Jace had skeletons buried somewhere deep. Theo simply chose to trust him anyway.

Theo’s thoughts trailed on as the water continued to soften his muscles...

As Beta, Theo knew there were more reasons for Jace's father, the Alpha, to be wary of Jace. First and foremost, Jace hated him. Alpha Brock mated, marked, and bred Jace’s mother not for love, but for rank. She had royal Lycan bloodlines from a diminishing pack in Europe. A coveted and dying lineage that Alpha Brock desperately wanted for his own bloodline in Northern Forest.

Once Jace was born, everyone thought Alpha Brock would adore his son, if only out of his usual pride and condescension. Of course, the primary flaw of Alpha Brock’s character was not pride, but jealousy. Finally seeing his replacement, and watching Jace grow to be even stronger than himself, maddened the Alpha. Therefore, Jace was always kept at a distance. He was taught duty above all else; a duty to bring the Northern Forest pack to rule North America by any means necessary. Jace’s mother, Luna Samia, tried to balance the scales over the years, but an Alpha’s actions carry too much weight.

When Jace turned eighteen and mated to Celia, the only daughter of an average Omega warrior from his own pack, his father saw red. Celia would dilute the bloodline Alpha Brock had struggled for. Their children would never be strong enough to dominate surrounding packs; especially those of Southern Forest with their unfathomable good fortunes. Nor could a mating to Celia even bestow additional strategic lands or wealth on the pack. Essentially, she had nothing but herself to offer; a currency that held no value to Alpha Brock.

Jace was forced into rejecting his destined mate the same day. He would only ever have a chosen mate. Of course, that choice would not be his own either. That is how Alpha’s Brock’s disdain and control of Jace’s life was met with agitation and loathing. It remained to this day.

Jace kept that last secret of his mating well guarded, but as his best friend, Theo knew. The blow of separating from your other half wasn’t something Theo would wish on his enemies, let alone his closest friend. So he understood every reason why Jace hated his father and he agreed. So, Theo let the future Alpha push him into near collapse daily, so long as the workout eased Jace’s mind a bit. Such was the life of a Beta. And they were like brothers.

While Jace’s Lycan could be conceited at times, Theo was already Jace’s Beta in truth, not Alpha Brock’s. The strategy meeting Theo was dragging his feet to attend this morning was more proof of that. Jace’s Lycan cousin, Nico, was to be introduced at the meeting.

Nico was nearly forty with features as sharp as his canines. He was infamous for killing his own younger brother over the last piece of dessert as a teenager. That was the way of Lycans. On further consideration, perhaps there was one person Theo would wish such a severe pain on. Nico embodied every reason the Lycans in Europe were declining, and Theo shuddered at the idea of his influence protruding into this war; on their mountain. Change was on the horizon, one way or another it seemed.

Jace was ready and willing to become Alpha, and Theo hoped this would be sooner rather than later. The war needed to end for the future of their respective peoples. If it went on much longer, the majority of humans in their territories might become aware of the werewolf population. Or worse, humans may pose a threat with their overwhelming numbers. So many lives were at stake in this war, whether they knew of its existence or not. So many to save. Theo did not fear his own death, but neither did he relish a pointless one.

Theo further hoped that maybe if the war did end, then perhaps he would see little Lucy with the golden eyes one more time. The eyes that still haunted his dreams every night...