The Alpha's Daughter

Chapter 20: The Decision

I sat alone at the table and reached for the letter. I was pretty sure I knew what it was, but I turned it over and read the salutation.

To Alpha Rex of the Black Mountain Pack

You have been informed correctly, Sir. Viviana Strong has indeed been given a place in the Black Wolf Pack, but not as a refugee found yourself as the Alpha. She is intended to be the future Luna of the Black Wolf Pack and has been for the last two years. Over fleeing your pack. Her father and I had come to an agreement before his untimely death that she would be welcome here if you ever this time, we have prepared for her and have been informed of all her training and successes directly from the late Alpha Vincent Strong. I know exactly the value of my soon-to-be-Luna.

Therefore, I would advise calling off your trackers and spies. You need to have no further contact with her. She is now and will remain in my pack and under my protection. Any attempts to remove her will be seen as an act of aggression against the Black Wolf Pack. I do not need to remind you of the strengths of our packs.

You will understand that I have no intention of submitting my future Luna to your brand of punishment. You can, however, send me a list of supposed grievances against her, and I will address them as I see fit. Any further attempt to gain access to my Luna will be seen as an act of aggression towards the Black Wolf Pack.

Alpha Kaleb Black of the Black Wolf Pack

I slid the paper away from me at first. What was I thinking? If I signed this, it would surely upset Alpha Rex, but what could he do? He had no power over another pack. He would, however, know that my father planned this behind his back. He would know my father never had any intention of my mating with Victor, Zander, or Max. If I signed this, I could never go home. No, I already know that. I argued with myself. The moment I ran, I gave up living in the Black Mountain Pack. I gave up my position and title, and I would do it again.

I considered what it would mean to be part of Kaleb’s pack as I weighed the pros and cons in my mind. Alpha Kaleb's pack was larger and stronger, and he would not be worried about the Black Mountain Pack. While I was nervous about what this would mean for my old pack, part of me was intrigued. I do not fully understand how Alpha Kaleb can actually want me as his Luna, but I will accept his offer. Trying my best to let go of Victor if I must, if I can. I do believe Kaleb to be caring and considerate of me. I do believe I can trust his words and that he has my best interests at heart.

Once Alpha Rex gets this letter, he will no doubt inform my pack that I intend to be the Luna of a new pack. That is sure to create some tension in my old pack. Everyone there knew I was supposed to be Luna, and my mate was supposed to be Alpha, but now none of that will happen, and Alpha Rex will remain in power only because people fear him. Victor will assume I have given up on him and find someone else, even if he is my mate. Part of me was angry at Victor, but he put me in this position. He let go of me, so why did I feel guilty? I would never have known that he was my mate if he had not sent that stupid letter. Perhaps Alpha Kaleb is correct, and he was lying about that. Would that make me feel better or worse when I betray my mate by choosing another?

On the other hand, Alpha Kaleb has been nothing but kind to me. Granite, it has only been a few hours, but he did let me voice all of my objections, listen to all my ramblings, and even let me cry on his shoulder. I thought about how he told me, “I expect to make myself as irresistible as possible.” I laughed at my thoughts. He was irresistibly handsome, that’s for sure.

My father had asked me to leave and find Kaleb. I do not know everything he had been planning, but I feel like he must have been aware of the type of man Kaleb was. Even though my father and I had our struggles, I have to believe that if he intended me for Kaleb, he saw something in him that he admired. One thing I could never fault my father for was his judgment of character. He always told me that Victor, Zander, and Max were not good enough for me, yet he thought Kaleb was. That alone was enough to help me make up my mind.

In the end, I grabbed the paper and signed it quickly before I was tempted to change my mind. Now to find Kaleb and inform him he has a new Luna. I smiled as I put the letter back in the folder he had left sitting on the table.

When I finally found the courage to open the office door, I saw him casually leaning against the wall, talking to Lucky. He seemed so different from the top males in my old pack. It was hard to remember that he was an Alpha at times. He turned and smiled.

I looked between the two, then asked, “Is Lucky your Beta?”

They both started laughing so hard I thought Lucky was going to fall over as he was clutching onto his stomach. Obviously, I came to the wrong conclusion. Lucky was the first to respond, when he composed himself, “No, I am a warrior as Sophia. I am not ranked. Sophia is a sister to the Alpha and is highly regarded among the other warriors. But I suppose you have not met the Beta yet. Stone holds the second position. You will notice, Luna, we are not much for formal titles in regular conversation.”

“So, I just call you Lucky then,” I snickered. I ignored the fact that he called me Luna for now.

“Yes, the only one who titles himself is this one here, right?” Lucky nudged Kaleb in the ribs, “Our Alpha.”

“Lucky,” Kaleb responded in a playful but harsh tone.

“Just kidding, he prefers Kaleb when just conversing with the family. Surely you have noticed,” Lucky cowered a little as he said this.

“I can speak for myself,” Kaleb added, slightly amused.

The dynamics between the two were peculiar to me. I never saw such play between wolves and the Alpha before. No one would have ever spoken to my dad in such a way. Even I never teased my father if other wolves were around. They were both looking at me like they were expecting me to say something, so I started, “I have noticed the lack of formality, but I must say I appreciate it very much. It is like a breath of fresh air. Is your brother's name really Stone Black?”

“Why? Have you heard of him?” Kaleb asked in a weird, almost jealous tone.

Making me laugh, “No, it's just a very odd name.”

“It's a nickname,” came an unpleasant voice behind me.

I turned, and I could see the family resemblance in their facial structure. His hair was jet black, and it surprised me that he seemed larger than Kaleb. He was definitely taller by at least three inches. However, unlike Kaleb, his eyes were cold and held no emotion. He just stared at me but did not speak again. He was not as friendly as the others.

As if noticing my discomfort, Lucky chimed in, “He always looks like that. Don’t be afraid, Vivian. It’s why he's called Stone because he always is cold and unfeeling.”

“Is that true?” I asked him, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

“I will let you be the judge of that,” Stone spoke indifferently to me, then turned to Kaleb, “Everything has been handled as you instructed.”

“Very well! Come, Vivian,” he spoke softly as he held out his hand for me to take. “We need to get going.”

“Have fun!” Lucky grinned, “But not too much now, the Alpha’s mansion is only so big,” he joked.

At this remark, Kaleb growled angrily, “Lucky!”

“Sorry, Alpha,” Lucky bowed his head as Kaleb led me away with his hand on my back. I laughed hard as Kaleb looked at me for answers.

“So, titles are necessary when in trouble,” I laughed.

Kaleb's face was serious, and his voice was deep and full of authority: “Titles are necessary when one forgets to show respect.”

I stopped laughing there instantly. Afraid I might have unintentionally offended him, “To you?” I asked.

“And you as well, Luna. It may not be official yet, but he needs to watch how he addresses you and the jokes he makes in public.”

I nodded my head. I could see Kaleb's point, “Wait!” I suddenly shouted, “I cannot leave the pack house. I need to get Valentine and Valentina. They can't stay here without me.”

Kaleb laughed, “I have already taken care of this; they are waiting for us at the mansion.”

I was trying to decide if I was angry or not that he had taken the twins away from me without telling me. I was trying to have trust in him. I hope that when we arrive at the Alpha mansion, I will find the twins there. He knows I want them. I needed to trust that when he told me he would take care of making it official, he would.

Kaleb had obviously been watching my facial expressions because when I looked back at him, he smiled before adding, “They are waiting for us at the Alpha mansion, and I can assure you they have been provided everything they need.”

As there were other people around the packhouse as we passed by, I leaned into him to whisper, “You think of everything, don't you?”

Our faces were just inches apart. “For you, I promise always to try,” he whispered back, making me blush.

“Oh, I look forward to seeing you keep that promise,” smiling up at him.

“As do I,” he chuckled. Lifting one hand to kiss it, “Very much, Vivian.”