The Alpha's Forgotten

Chapter 2

The rain had picked up by the time we arrived at the pack house. Once more my brothers escorted me inside. The place was as full as it was when there were parties, but the atmosphere was not the same. Everyone looked tired, and worried. I felt multiple pairs of eyes fall on me. Some of these people I hadn't seen in nearly a decade, but that was my own doing. I stopped coming here once it was discovered that my brothers were Werewolves and I wasn't.

Laila quickly pulled me into a hug before I even noticed her. I jumped at the sudden contact, but calmed quickly afterwards. She was a mess, her face tear-stained. I did my best to comfort her silently. The Alpha of this pack, Erandius, was like a father to her. Something we shared in common and what made us grow close as children was being in the dead parent club. Though I was only missing my mother, she lost both of her parents in a freak accident.

Suddenly once again there was commotion and the back doors slid open furiously. "It was them! Those freaks from the Nightraider Pack!" One of the pack warriors, Myriam, shouted.

My father quickly approached her. "How do you know Myriam?"

"Beta, you've finally made it." She spat. "I see you've brought that disgrace with you."

I felt a sharp pang in my stomach. She was talking about me. My brothers were far from disgraces and I was the weakling of the family. I was about to say something in my own defence when my brothers began to snarl at Myriam. "Speak about our sister that way again, I dare you." Katston said with extreme malice.

"Katston, please." I mumbled, Laila still holding me in her arms. "Don't start a fight."

This wasn't a common occurrence in the pack, but it still happened from time to time and only came from certain pack members. My father was the Beta to Alpha Erandius and had great things expected of him when he was younger. When it was found out that his mate, my mother, was a human, many wanted him removed from the pack. But Erandius stood behind him and supported my father. Many still disagree with the decisions from all those years ago, and usually point to me as some kind of failure outcome of the whole situation. This was part of the reason I stopped coming to the pack house.

"Myriam, that's enough." My father spoke down to her. "Now tell me what you know."

"We caught one of them. Interrogated the hell out of 'em. Took a while but they finally cracked." She snarked in response.

My father gritted his teeth. "Take me, now." He said while taking off out the back door with the warrior.

Laila sighed, shaking her head. "God I can't stand her," she muttered. "C'mon, let's find you a place to stay."

I nodded my head in response as I followed her up the stairs and to a small room at the end of the hall. The room was tiny compared to the one at my own house, but I wasn't going to complain. I was being protected here, and the least I could do is be thankful for what I was getting.

I settled into the small bed, thanking Laila as she left. I felt deeply disturbed at everything that was going on, but I couldn't explain why. The weird thoughts in my head and the sounds from the uneasy Werewolves downstairs didn't help either.

I laid back in bed, not realizing how tired I was, and soon fell asleep in my clothes.

---

I woke up in the middle of the night to crashing and banging coming from downstairs. Without thinking, I ran downstairs to see the commotion. Laila sat in the middle of the kitchen with glass shattered around her. Her hands were bloodied and there were tears streaming down her face.

I ran to her, cutting my feet in the process and grabbed her in the tightest hug I could manage. She leaned into my embrace, sobbing the entire time and apologizing.

"He'll likely never be able to move on his own again," she finally mumbled, talking about Alpha Erandius.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. Werewolves were supposed to be able to heal themselves no matter the circumstance, but every now and then there would be an injury so bad that while they would still be alive, their body would never be the same.

I helped Laila back to her own bed after that, and cleaned her mess. Finally, I felt tears come to my own eyes as I imagined what it must feel like to be so close to losing yet another parent. I hadn't known my mother, she died shortly after I was born so I never felt the sadness of losing a parent. I only knew the sadness of only having the one.

Before I knew it, I could see the sky beginning to lighten up, so I decided to head back to my tiny room and get some rest. It was only as I returned that I noticed both of my brothers also in the same room, though they were curled up on the ground in their wolf forms and fast asleep. I guessed that they didn't have enough beds for all of us. I pet both of them gently on the head before climbing back into the small bed and falling back asleep.

When I woke back up again, I could smell the fresh air wafting in from the bedroom window. The sky was actually blue for once, and only white fluffy clouds floated way up high.

I could hear commotion downstairs, so I quickly dressed myself and made my appearance presentable before heading down.

There was a meeting going on, and I could see my father helming it. When he saw me, his eyes widened before turning back to the crowd. Next to him I could see Erandius' son and the next Alpha, Narien, along with his mother and Luna, Kaeala.

"Everyone, please!" My father shouted. "I know this is a lot of information to take in, and I know you all want to avenge our Alpha, but for now we need to bide our time."

"The Nightraider Pack has to pay!" A voice shouted, and the crowd echoed in agreeance.

"I agree," Narien said gently in response. "But we must wait until my Father is recovered before we can create any sort of plan of attack."

I knotted my eyebrows in confusion. Were they keeping Erandius' condition a secret from the rest of the pack? Why wouldn't they use his condition to fuel the fire that was the pack and enact revenge?

"We also have to truly confirm that it was the Nightraider Pack that attacked us." Kaela spoke in a soothing tone. "As much as I want revenge for my mate, we cannot act irrationally and hurt a pack that may not have even been involved."

The crowd calmed down at her words. I envied Kaela. She seemed like the perfect woman in every way. I hoped to one day be like her. Nothing would make me happier than to be a beautiful and loving wife and mother.

The meeting slowly dispersed after that, and I approached my father discreetly. "Why aren't you telling them?" I asked softly.

"Telling them what?" My father asked in response.

"About Erandius' condition?" I said inquisitively.

"Alpha Erandius," Narien's voice cut through our conversation. "Who are you?" He asked with narrow eyes.

I blinked a few times. "Do you not... remember me?" I asked softly. Sure, I didn't interact with Narien often, but he was the same age as Torka and had spent time frequently at our house as children.

"If I remembered you, do you think I'd be asking you that question?" He asked with venom dripping from his voice.

I felt hurt, though I knew it wasn't something he was saying to be intentionally hurtful towards me. I was about to respond when another woman grabbed his arm and dragged him away from my father and I. I looked to my father with inquisitive eyes, to which he shrugged in response.

"To answer your question, Amethia, Luna Kaeala didn't want anyone to panic or act of their own accord. When the time is right we will say something, but for now, please keep that a secret. I assume Laila told you?" He spoke solemnly.

I nodded. "She was crying in the kitchen last night," I said softly. "I hope, despite everything going on, that everything will be okay soon."

"It will, don't worry." My father reassured me by patting my shoulder. "Your brothers and I are headed out to do recon and perimeter defence. Please do me a favour and stay inside?"

"Okay, I will." I gave a small smile in response.

I made my way back to my small little room and passed time by playing puzzle games absent-mindedly on my phone. I had woken up in the afternoon after falling asleep around 5 am, so I was simply passing the time until dinner. The women of the pack house usually cooked the most delicious meals and my mouth watered at the thought of it.

When I could finally smell food being prepared down below it occurred to me that I should at least go offer my assistance. I entered the kitchen quietly to see a few of the mothers laughing happily and cooking around one another. I cleared my throat and they all looked to me.

"Um, is there something I could help with?" I asked gingerly.

"Oh! You're Otto's daughter, right?" One of them exclaimed happily. "We'd love the help darling!"

Another pulled me in closer. "My my Amethia! How you've grown up to be such a lovely girl. Do you remember me?"

I laughed nervously. "I called most of you Aunty as a kid, so I don't really remember, sorry."

They all smiled at the memory. The first spoke back up. She had beautiful dirty long locks and piercing golden eyes. "I'm Lathia, dear."

The second then spoke up. Her hair was a warm brown and her eyes a beautiful grey. She stood slightly taller than Lathia. "My name is Karrie, but feel free to keep calling me Aunty!"

Another smiled and handed me a spoon. She looked to be the oldest and kindest with dark brown hair and brown eyes to match. "I'm Nancy, could you help me stir the pot?" She motioned to a large soup pot on the stove behind her. I nodded moving towards the pot.

As I began to stir, the last touched my shoulder gently to get my attention. She was beautiful, with red hair and green eyes. She was also the shortest of the bunch. "Dear, could you help me cut these onions when you're done with that? I'm Ranie by the way."

I smiled happily in response. "Of course!"

They all resumed their conversation and cooking shortly afterwards. I felt happy just to be included in the circle. Every now and then one of them would ask me a question and I'd respond politely, but I mainly listened to their conversation. Not much later after that we were all done and preparing a buffet line for the other Werewolves to grab whatever they wanted to eat.

Before they called the others in however, Ranie ushered me to take my own food first so that I got what I wanted and didn't have to fight with one of the boys over the scraps that remained. I thanked her and took a small portion of the soup I'd stirred early on and sat at the bar stool in the kitchen.

The pack house filled quickly and Laila sat next to me while she dined on what seemed like a 4-course gourmet meal.

"You made this?" She exclaimed while shoving a bun into her mouth.

I laughed. "I helped, it was nothing special. I figured if I can't help out there I might as well do something in here."

"Well it's really good!" She replied with her mouth full.

"I'll be sure to let them know," I nodded, shoving another spoonful in my mouth.

As the herd thinned once more I took to start doing dishes. There were so many and I felt like I'd be washing all night long when I heard Lathia's voice call out for me.

"What are you doing darling?" She asked.

I blinked a few times. "I'm cleaning...?" I replied meekly.

She shook her head, pulling me away from the sink I'd filled with soapy suds. "No you're not, that job is awarded to the slow pokes." She then pointed over to the last few people eating at the table. "In essence, you snooze you lose."

I laughed at that. "Alright. I guess I'm just too used to cleaning up after Werewolves." I tried to joke but her face turned sour. I was about to ask her what was wrong when a moment later Nancy strolled in the back door with both of my brothers held by their ears.

"Ack!" Torka exclaimed. "Aunty what's the meaning of this!"

"Could you please let go of my ear, it hurts!" Katston matched Torka's tone of voice.

Lathia's face was stone cold as she turned to them, Nancy finally releasing them from her death grasp. "Did you two really let your sister clean up after you all these years?"

Both of my brother's eyes widened. They suddenly began to act like little puppies in trouble. "Please, I didn't mean to!" Torka shouted.

"She always said she didn't mind!" Katston added.

I giggled at the sight. "Aunty, it's okay. It's true, I did them because I wanted to, not because they forced me to."

Nancy raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say anything. Lathia shook her head. "What am I ever going to do with you three?" She asked, a small smile finally peeking at the corner of her mouth. "Fine, go. But if Amethia tells me even one more story about you two neglecting her I will not hesitate to send you to the pound."

My brothers stood stiffly. They nodded once before speaking in unison. "Understood!" And then they both took off once more out the back door.

"C'mon," Nancy then said, grabbing hold of me. "Let's go relax somewhere else."