The Double Alpha

Chapter One

The sound of the pencil scratching across the sketch pad consumed Aura’s attention as she focused on the vision playing in front of her eyes. The glowing emerald green of her eyes her only tell. She squinted as her hands flew over the page; a scene of an old castle and deep woods revealing itself to her, but before her vision could fulfill itself, she was interrupted by the hard knock of a fist against her door.

   “Come in!” She called.

Cooling her eyes back to their calm gold, she looked up to meet the face of her aunt Athena. Her aunt was dressed in a teal off the shoulder top with large bell sleeves , some form-fitting blue jeans, and white sneakers. She looked more like Aura’s sister than her aunt. Her youthfulness equal to her wisdom. 

Unlike her aunt, Aura’s natural looks made her stand out differently. Her olive skin was offset by her rich auburn hair tipped in black, and the flaxen gleam of her eyes made them pop against the rest of her body.  At twenty years old, Aura was a well-practiced witch with the natural gift of foresight. Her gift manifested in visions that she could articulate through drawings. It was because of said gift that she decided to become an art history major. She felt it suited her as a witch. Her family had an expansive history of witches all the way back to Salem and Amazonia. Aura was especially excited this year because she was finally turning twenty-one. Outside of being able to drink, legally at least. She was going to be initiated into her family’s coven and in line to becoming the next head of her family line. 

Aura must have been staring off into space as her aunt was snapping her fingers in front of her face. 

   “Earth to Aura. Earth to Aura.” She said in a maternal tone.

   “Sorry Aunt Thena. I drifted off I guess.” Aura finally responded.

   “I see your visions have become more vivid lately. That’s good, it means your magic is growing.”

Her aunt paused before continuing as she struggled to find a way to gently speak to her niece. She wasn’t good at giving bad news. It was a problem she had with her patients regularly. As a couple’s therapist for Supernaturals, she had to mediate quite a bit of bad news over the years. Her niece was a completely different story. What she had to say, she hoped would not disappoint her too much. 

“Sweety, this year is very important for you, and after talking things over with the coven I think it would better to wait another year before your initiation.”

My aunt’s words sounded like glass breaking around me.

Another year? Did she think i wasn’ ready? Did the coven? What did I do wrong?

 Millions of thoughts and emotions ran through my head before I settled on anger. 

I spent all my life studying. I was ready. Hell, I was more than ready. I was the best young witch to have been born during my mother’s cycle. 

I glared at my aunt and saw her face fall with an apology ready on her lips. Before she could say the words, i rose from my bed and grab my bags. I had planned to spend the rest of summer break at home honing my magic for my initiation before fall classes started, but right now home was the last place i wanted to be.

I didn’t look at her. I pointed two fingers at my bedroom door and signaled as if to tell it to come to me and the door floor flew open. Without a word, I asked my aunt to leave, but her stubbornness kept her in place. My cat Midnight however took the open door as an invitation into my room.  Midnight was my familiar. 

Naturally, all witches have one, but not all of them are cats like the movies try to make people believe. My aunt’s familiar was an owl. It didn’t help the whole Goddess Athena thing she had going on, but it did fit her perfectly.

I spelled my clothes from my closet to my duffel bags and made sure to pack my laptop and grimoire. I did all of this without saying two words to my aunt, but i could feel her staring into my back. The irritation from it causing me to lose focus on my spell and drop my mother’s necklace. The heavy clink of the bronze crescent moon drawing my attention. Picking it up with my hands, I caressed the pendant said to be filled with the water the rivers in Vosvain. Witch paradise. Drawn into the piece of jewelry, I missed my aunt coming up behind me.

   “I miss her too.” She cooed behind me.

She rested a hand on my shoulder and I felt a stream of emotions bubble back up the surface. I wanted so much to turn and tuck myself into her arms, but I felt too exposed, hurt, angry. I felt too everything. Stroking my hair, my aunt tried to soothe me.

   “Aura. This is not a punishment. There are things that you don’t understand yet, and right not would not be a good time to go through with your initiation as they are now. Believe me when I say the entire coven knows how wonderful of a witch you are.”

I shrugged away from my aunt, not finding any comfort in her words.When my bags were packed. I looked at my aunt with pain and betrayal clear on my face.

   “I know my mother was better than me.  I’ve spent the past ten years of my life trying to live up to her and make her proud. I just thought that if you didn’t believe in me you would have come straight out and told me so.”

I left in Midnight hot on my heels as I flew out the door to my car. I refused to let any tears escape until I was alone. Jumping into my black Ford Focus, I waited for Midnight to get comfortable in the passenger seat before peeling out of the driveway and away from home. I was going to prove to the coven that I was ready no matter what. There wasn’t a force on earth strong enough to stop me.

***

 "There are worst ways to pay me back Owen. You're fortunate that I've have heard such interesting stories about your daughter." The voice uttered sadistically.

"I would do anything to please you Alpha."

"Oh really? Then I have very high expectations for you pack whore."

"Her name is Marie"

The words came through gritted teeth as the man was held down by two men. His Shoulder burning from the wound inflicted earlier. The Alpha's eyes burned a hot silver and a dangerous smirk slid onto his lips. He turned to Owen’s daughter and looked her over. 

She had sizeable breasts, wide hips, and huge hazel eyes. She was cute and her lips told tales from what he had heard from the members of her pack. Cupping her chin, he looked deep into her eyes and felt no pull that she was his mate or anything more than a release when he needed it.

"Marie? That's cute sweetheart, but your name is now Via. You will only respond to that name as every member of this pack now belongs to me. Just like you."

Marie shifted under his gaze as if to challenge him,  but the silver of his eyes grew more molten and she submitted.

"Good girl."

"Your mother will hear of this Christian."

Her father spat. His words dripping venom and pure hatred. Christian's eyes glowed as if lit ablaze. He stepped on Owen's neck and spoke as his wolf came through just slightly.

"My mother is not Alpha. She too answers to me, but don't worry Owen. You won't have to concern yourself with pack matters from now on."

Pulling more strength from his wolf, Christian added more pressure to Owen's neck until he heard a loud snap. Owen's pack howled at the loss of their Alpha, and others that Christian had taken from them.

" Hear me Blue Mist Pack. I am your new Alpha. Your Alpha, Beta and Delta are gone. This pack w***e is mine to use as I please. Any, who go against shall suffer a similar fate if not far worse. Welcome to the Shadow pack mutts."

***

My breath came in heavy puffs as I staggered to my feet. My strength was waning, but I refused to give in to my body's fatigue. Six straight hours of training and I was starting to see double. The pair of eyes across from me focused on my every movement.

"You have to be able to push past your limit. There may come a day when you need it." My father's deep voice echoed in my ears.

We continued to circle each other. Both of us watching for any opening or sign of weakness. I had managed to dodge his attacks up until now, but I was sure he could tell that my stamina was thinning. Before I could barrel towards him, my father pulled a shining silver blade from his belt. 

So today was gonna be one of those days.

Whenever my father pulled out one of those it meant he wanted me yo fight as of my life were on the line. Carefully I watched the blade, and in a split second my dad crossed the space and he moved so quickly I could barely keep track of the blade's edge. He swung violently and with purpose landing a few blows to my forearm and thigh. I was heaving by this point but saw a small opening. Using the last of my strength I crushed my fist directly into my dad's rib cage hearing a slight crack. My father wilted slightly as he went down to his knees. Knocking the blade out of his hand across the room, I bared my teeth at him. The auburn of my eyes threatened to turn bloody red.

" Yield!" I growled.

My father's eyes glowed a hot silver in rebellion, so allowed my wolf to share my consciousness. My eyes shifted. My pupils expanded and the cool auburn of my irises were filled with crimson. Only the flecks of grey played in them. A small sign to show the relation between us. The blend of white and black spread throughout my father’s hair matched the grey of his eyes. He had lived one hundred and ninety years. That was still fairly young four our kind, but he trained hard and kept his wolf Halo active to help with that. To the outside world, my dad didn’t look a day over thirty-five. It’s partly what made him so hard to beat.

"Yield! Damn it!" I growled with more dominance and base.

With a smile and a nod, My father admitted defeat and relaxed into a heap on the ground. I took a moment to catch my breath and allowed my eyes to return to their cool auburn color. 

"You could have gotten him to submit sooner if you would have let me out earlier."  My wolf grumbled.

I rolled my eyes at Onyx's comment. For as long as we had been together, one would think I’d be used to his surly, moody, aggressive ways. In one aspect I was, but I couldn't help that were so different from each other. Fortunately, we're at least able to work together. Albeit we argue a lot.

"We didn't have to. With his injury, he didn't have a choice."

"All this training and you're still too soft."

"I am not soft! There's a line I just won't cross unless I need to. Now help me get our father in the house."

Dismissing Onyx, I went to my dad's side and helped him to his feet. His ribs were cracked and he had bruises from our training session. His wolf would help heal him, so he would be up again in a few hours. Onyx on the other hand was taking his time healing me as payback for dismissing him. The wounds from the blade already taking even longer to heal. Pure silver was a b***h to deal with when you were a pureblood like me. That's why my dad trained me with it so often. 

My dad leaned on me as we made our way out of the trees into our back yard. Reaching our backdoor, I shifted his weight to ease some of my own pain and got us both inside to rest. I laid him down on the couch and found my usual spot in the nearby LaZboy chair. The feeling of soft support made my breathing easier. I closed my eyes and let Onyx do his thing.

"You did well today. You should have no issues with the organization.  This is an important year for you." He spoke with pained pride.

"I think you're more excited than me."

"Son, when you come next year, you'll be ready for everything I have to show you."

"I'm gonna hold you to that old man." I joked.

Both of us laughed and then winced in pain. Our bodies reminding us that we were still not fully healed.  I looked forward to my dad finally answering my questions.

What happened to my mother? Why did he give up his status? Why don't we live in a pack community?

So many questions and few answers, but according to my dad I would get all those answers by being a member of the Ironpaw organization at Timber Creek University. 

It was one of thousands of  institutions around the country run by supernaturals. Even humans attended these schools. You had the option to go and obtain a standard degree or not if you wanted. However for Legacy Alphas like me, we were required to attend one year at university as members of the Iron Paw Organization. It was a program of sorts meant to take higher ranking wolves and train them in the way of their rank. While there you would have to find and name your own Beta and Delta. You would either officially take over your family's pack or register your own. While all of this is happening you should be searching for your mate. If you ended the year without finding them. The Grand Elders gave you a territory pass for two years that allowed you to pass into any packs territory under the permission of finding your mate and leaving with them unharmed. After that you were on your own.

I wasn't all that excited about being inducted into the organization this year. I just saw it as a gateway 

to the truth with dad.

Who needed a mate anyway?