The Alpha Tiger's Baby Bun Buns

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

"Royce! It was horrible! We were talking as he was drinking his morning coffee." Anthony paced the room, placing his arm on his forehead.

Royce sat, listening on the couch, watching his distressed brother. He had to know how their father died.

Never had Anthony felt so exhilarated telling this tall tale to his elder brother. He knew it hurt him deeply, and he loved it.

"We were just talking. One minute he was fine and the next..." He sniffled as a fake tear streaked down his cheek. "He was dead." Anthony loved the dramatic act that he was playing. The distressed brother that had seen their father die. Would make a g********l. Or a movie. But only if he got the leading role.

"What about?" Royce needed to hear every last detail. Something wasn't right, he knew that, but it appeared to be logical the way it happened.

Why was he questioning the doc? Or the coroner?

There was just something wrong with this whole thing. Something he couldn't quite place a finger on. Why was it bugging him so much?

"He was just babbling something about the old days when dinosaurs walked the earth. It wasn't really that important, so I wasn't paying much attention to it." Anthony said, flopping down on the chair and kicking his feet up on the glass table.

"Yes, father was a man of integrity and kindness." Royce mused. A smile played on his lips as he thought of his alpha father.

He wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. He'd seen first hand how treating people with respect was the right thing to do.

"Yes, he was."

Was that contempt he heard in his brother's voice? He knew he and father didn't get along, but he could at least show some respect.

"How did he die?" Royce demanded. He didn't want to hurt his brother, but he had to know.

"We were talking and then...then...his eyes bulged out and he dropped his coffee."

Royce listened, feeling daggers shred is heart. He wondered whether his brother was in deep mourning or faking it. How he could be so callous to his own father?

Why did his morbid curiosity continued to push him? Should he continue this and hurt his brother even more? He didn't have the heart to. Opening his mouth to speak, his brother interrupted him before he could say anything more.

"I rushed to his side as he struggled to breathe. He was trying to say something, but couldn't get out the words. Not knowing what to do in this situation, I dialed 911." Anthony jumped to his feet and paced the room.

"It took forever for them to get there. I watched as our father slowly died." He screamed out, grabbing Royce by the shoulders.

"It was horrible to see him struggle to live. I was there, but I had no clue what was going on."

Royce nodded. His brother must have gone through hell watching father die. He couldn't imagine the pain he must be going through.

"I didn't know what was happening. Thinking back on it, if I would've known he was suffering from a heart attack, I could've done something. But I'm no doctor. I thought maybe he was choking on his coffee." Anthony replied.

In reality, Anthony loved seeing his father laying on the floor, gasping and fighting for his life. It was a very powerful and profound experience for him. He'd finally rid himself of the old man and made him suffer in the process. It truly was a win-win situation.

The younger tiger knew that the medication he gave him worked quickly, but it was also extremely painful.

Anthony only wished that it had lasted longer.

"I ran around the kitchen looking for something, anything that I could use. But there was nothing I could do. By the time I got to the phone, he was gasping his last breath and there was nothing more I could've done to help him." Anthony shook his brother's shoulders as if he was reliving the event. "Trust me, I wish there was."

In truth, he'd staged the whole thing. He'd planned for this for months. Making sure everything would go off perfectly.

Even this was an act. And he could tell that his older brother bought it hook, line and sinker.

"When they said he was dead. I didn't know what to do. How can a 44-year-old man die of a heart attack?" Anthony shook his head.

Royce nodded, knowing he could not face what his brother had. If he had been in his brother's place, watching his father die of a heart attack, what could he have done?

"Don't blame yourself, Tony. I couldn't have done any better." He hugged his brother, feeling a hot tear drop on his shirt. Maybe he had him figured all wrong.

"But I do, brother. I'm the reason he's dead right now. If I'd just called 911 sooner, he might be here today." Anthony said as he leaned against the wall.

Tony allowed a brief smile to cross his lips. He had to admit that he was a great actor. The fish had been hooked, now it was time to reel him in.

He forced himself to think of something extremely sad and moments later, crocodile tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I'd really like to work for the business. I know father gave me a million, but I still want to work for the company." He said.

"Sure. You can have the office right by mine." Royce said, relieved that his brother was trying to move on with his life.

There was nothing else to do but move on. Royce knew the irony of life. It couldn't stop just because someone died or there was a problem.

"Thank you. I'll do my best to make you proud of me, bro." Anthony promised.

"I know you will. Oh, omega father and I are having a dinner tomorrow night. Will you be able to attend?" Royce asked.

"He just emailed me about an hour ago. I said yes as long as he cooks Craft's Wagyu Ribeye Steak." Anthony flashed his brother a smile as if he were attempting to get on with his life.

"For you, he'd buy the whole damn cow." Royce joked.

They laughed as they clasped hands and Tony left.

Anthony made sure his brother drove away in his viper, before pulling out his phone.

"Jesse I need you to cause an accident. I want to foreclose on the QuickPaw residence. Have you got any information on the family?"

"Yeah, boss. They paid their mortgage payments on time and are almost done. Peter QuickPaw is a hard-working carrot farmer who is well-respected in the community. His son, on the other hand, is a worthless, lazy rabbit who spends all his time dreaming of writing the best novel." Jesse told him, flipping through his notebook and reading the information on the family.

"How soon can you arrange an accident on the father?" Anthony tapped his fingers on the windowsill.

He didn't care how hard-working they were as long as he got his money from the foreclosure. He'd make a lot of money from cheating these bums out of their property.

"In a few days, boss."

"Good."

"What about your brother?" Jesse said.

"That fool? He's still depressed over the old man's death." Anthony snorted.

"When will you knock him off so you can run the business your way?" Jesse knew things would change once Anthony was in complete control of the business.

"Soon." Anthony purred as he leaned up against the wall, thinking of how good it would be to finally get rid of his goody-two-shoes brother.

It couldn't be the same way that good old dad died. That would be too obvious. He wanted something painful and very drawn out, before his big brother left this earth.

Royce parked his vehicle and went down by the lake. He found some rocks and skipped them over the water, thinking about what his next step should be.

His mind was like the undertow of a body of water. He may have appeared calm and composed, but inside he was still grieving.

He watched an omega father duck call to his babies who followed him as they swam across the water.

Royce felt another jab of guilt. He'd never found his soul-mate, which meant no little ones. His father never saw his grand-babies or was able to enjoy their antics as they crawled around.

"I'm not interested, Mick." A voice floated across the water.

"Oh come on, you know that you're just a lowly omega and I'm a superior alpha. What I want, you're going to give it." The male's voice growled. His threat was clear, the omega was going to give him what he wanted or he'd take it.

That's no way to treat an omega! Royce strode across the bridge, making as much noise as he could.

"No!" The omega cried out.

"Yes!"

When the omega screamed, Royce broke through the thickets and saw a large, burly bear of a man ripping off the shirt of the helpless, pinned omega.

They both looked at him with shock in their eyes.

"Help me!" The omega cried out, pleading with his wide, brown eyes.

"This is none of your business, so beat it." The man snarled, his eyes boring into the were-tiger's.

"I say it is." The powerfully-built were-tiger said, not giving an inch.

The burly man stood up and in a puff of black smoke, turned into a large grizzly with intimidating black eyes.

"Oh look at the teddy bear." Royce mocked the bear as he turned into a large were-tiger.

The omega watched the altercation with wide eyes.

"Does the little puddy tat want to play?" The bear said with an evil glint in his eyes.

"As long as the little bear cub wants to play." He said, realizing it had been a long time since he'd used his karate skills.

"You asked for it, dude." The grizzly charged.

The tiger side-stepped and kicked him in the rear as his momentum carried him past the tiger.

Royce spun around and waited for the bear to get to his feet. He watched the grizzly shake his head, get up and jump towards him.

The were-tiger grabbed his wrist and threw him over his shoulder. The grizzly slammed down on the ground.

Dazed, the grizzly staggered to his feet, panting for breath. Royce waited while his foe gathered himself.

Shaking his head, the bear realized that the battle was over. The tiger could have killed him. But he didn't.

The bear gazed deep into the tiger's green eyes, then turned and walked away.

"If you want the runt, you can have him." He said, talking over his shoulder as he retreated.

Royce glanced at the young, 18-year-old man who still had his back to the tree and was staring at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"My name is Royce." He knelt down on one knee as he looked at the young man.

A scent tickled his nose and he tried to push it away. Smelled like lilac combined with something else...

Carrots.

He shook his head, trying to rid that fragrance from his mind. He'd never smelled anything like it and knew its meaning. But carrots?

It called to him like a siren and he found himself even more drawn to the young man. The young omega looked as if he were trying to puzzle something out, too.

"I'm Roger QuickPaw," the omega said, looking up at the tiger like he was a God. "Thank you."

"You're more than welcome," he replied.

"Roger Quickpaw..." The great cat purred the name on his tongue. "I've heard that name before. Any relations to Peter QuickPaw?"

"Yes!" Roger exclaimed. "He's my alpha father."

Royce smiled, remembering the old farmer. He struck him as a wise, compassionate were-rabbit. He always paid his mortgage payment on time with a smile and always had a story or two about farm life.

"What are your hobbies?" He asked, sitting down on the ground next to the omega rabbit.

"I like to write novels. I want to be like Kevin King - a great novelist. My dream is to someday make enough money off my writing to live in a big mansion and travel the world." He told him as his eyes brightened up.