The Alphas Heir

"s**t!" The word slipped out more desperately than I intended. I wanted to sound angry, frustrated even, but instead, it came out choked, like a sob trying to escape. I pulled my knees up to my chest, pressing my back against the tree I’d run into. The cool bark scraped against my skin, grounding me as I let the tears come. Sometimes I felt like even my wolf, Asena, was ashamed of me. In the distance, I could still hear the bass from the Ritual Weekend party I had bolted from. Everyone else was having a blast, while I was out here tasting the bitter tang of panic. I didn’t fit in. I never did. The pack—the one I was born into,—felt foreign. Like I was only here by some cruel technicality. I should belong, but instead, I was a spectator, watching them thrive while I just… survived. A twig snapped nearby. “Who’s there?” I demanded, trying to sound tough, but even I could hear the tears in my voice. “Relax,” a male voice called back, calm and nonchalant. “No one important.” I squinted through the darkness as he approached, his silhouette framed by the distant lights of the bonfire. Asena could sense his presence before I saw him—his energy wasn’t threatening. It was more like he just didn’t care. Not about me, not about anything. Still, I stiffened. “Keep moving,” I said, managing to keep the tremble out of my voice this time. “I’m not looking for company.” “Oh, that’s not fair. You’re way more interesting than the snobs back there.” He stepped into the light, his face now visible under the soft glow of the moon. He pouted playfully. “Please don’t send me back.” I eyed him cautiously but inside, she was curious. There was something about him that intrigued me—he wasn’t like the others. His scent was secure, almost comforting, but there was a mysterious edge to him, something different. He wasn’t sizing me up like most people did. He looked… amused. “Fine,” I muttered, reluctantly softening. “But there’s no party out here, so don’t get any ideas.” He laughed, and the air between us shifted. His eyes gleamed with a sudden amusement, like I’d just walked into a joke I didn’t know I was a part of. “What’s funny?” I asked, feeling my annoyance flare. He was laughing at me. Great. “You,” he said simply, still chuckling. “I know who you are. You’re the one they all warned me about.” I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. Of course. The new guy had already gotten the rundown on the pack’s social hierarchy, including where I ranked: rock bottom. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it stung anyway. “Congratulations. You found me. Now, leave.” “Nope. Can’t do it,” he replied, still smiling to himself. I stood up, dusting the dirt from my pants. I wasn’t in the mood for this—especially not from some stranger who clearly thought he had me figured out. “What did you just say?” The growl bubbled up from deep within me, low and rough, but as always, too quiet for him to hear, like it was just in my head. Another cruel joke from the universe. I couldn’t even growl properly. To my surprise, his expression shifted, the amusement fading just enough for him to take me seriously. “I said I can’t go. Not now,” he repeated, his voice softer but still tinged with that lingering amusement. I glared at him, frustrated. He didn’t seem fazed by the growl or the fact that I was clearly trying to get rid of him. His calmness unnerved me, but I didn’t have the energy to figure him out. With the full moon so close, everything in me felt on edge, Asena was ready to snap. I couldn’t risk staying out here with someone like him, someone who thought this was all a game. I shoved past him, heading back to the party so I could leave. He didn’t follow, but his voice trailed after me. “We’ll see each other again soon, Grey.” I froze, glancing back. He knew my name. Of course he did. But the way he said it—so casually, like we were already connected somehow—made my skin prickle. “And what makes you so sure of that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. He smiled, one side of his mouth quirking up. “Because I have to find out what else they got wrong about you.” That stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t the usual taunt, the kind I’d heard a thousand times before. It was something else. He was curious. About me. And she liked it. Ugh. But I didn’t stick around to figure it out. I had enough on my plate already. I turned and kept walking, feeling the weight of his words hanging in the air behind me. Back home, I retreated to the safety of my room—the only place in this town that truly belonged to me. It was my sanctuary, the one place where I could hide from the world outside. If it weren’t for the natural demands of our kind, I might never leave this room. I curled up under the weight of my heavy blanket, hoping to escape into the quiet. I could feel Asena become cozy as well. But the memories always found me. When most people remember their childhood, they think about things like their mom cooking breakfast. The sound of her scraping the pan to flip pancakes, the hiss of bacon hitting the hot surface, the click of the stove turning on and off. They hear the sound of home. For me, those sounds turn into something else entirely—metal scraping against metal, the hiss of a broken radiator, the sizzle of burning flesh. The click of the stove becomes the clicking of hazard lights—on, off, on, off—flashing against the wreckage of a crumpled car. I’m not the type to swear off driving after the accident, but at the worst moments, the pain creeps back in. The loss is always there, lurking at the edge of my thoughts. I wondered, like I often did, if tonight would have been different if they were still here. My brother, my parents. I would have had a little sister now. She’d be seven years old. But none of it mattered anymore. They were gone, and I was stuck in this world, a world that had decided I was little more than a fool for the pack to mock. And maybe one day they’d grow up, but until then, I was stuck in my aunt’s house, surrounded by her husband and their raunchy, entitled kids—Dillon and Jane, who ruled over the younger members of the pack like high school royalty. Lucky me. Newcomers weren’t exactly rare, but they weren’t common enough to make it feel normal when one showed up. That guy tonight—there was something off about him. Sure, he had the same arrogance as the rest of them, overflowing with self-confidence that didn’t quite match his brainpower. But if the pack had warned him about me, he should’ve known better than to approach. Social security within the pack was everything, and I was a risk. There was a soft knock at my door. "Come in," I said, knowing who it would be. Aunt Renna stepped into the room, her soft presence filling the space with a kind of quiet concern. She had always fought for me, even after my family died. She’d taken me in, despite the whispers and the tension within the pack. To her, I wasn’t the outcast everyone else saw me as. And yet, no matter how much she nurtured, I never felt at home. But there was comfort in her effort, especially on nights like this. Without a word, she walked to the bed and sat down gently, placing a hand on my blanket-covered form. It was such a simple gesture, but it worked. Physical affection among wolves is essential for emotional health, even if it’s awkward. Asena leaned into her touch through me and it reminded me I wasn’t completely alone. She didn’t need to ask what had happened tonight—this had become a familiar routine. On nights when the pack gathered for their bonding rituals, I always came home early, tail tucked. And she always followed, offering her quiet support before leaving me to my thoughts. But tonight, something was different. “Rough night?” she asked, her voice soft but probing. I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to open up. Should I tell her about the strange encounter with the new guy? About how his interest in me had unnerved me? Instead, I sat up, pulling the blanket down from my face, my expression saying everything. She nodded, reading me like she always did. “I’m only thinking,” she said, “and we don’t have to discuss it now, but I want to explore some things that might help you.” I stared at her, waiting. “Grey, it breaks my heart to see you like this, so dejected. I long to see joy on your face again. You come home like this, and I feel like Danny is disappointed in me. I know things are... different for you, but different doesn’t mean wrong.” I couldn’t stop the bitterness from creeping into my voice. “You mean because I’m a wolf, but not really a wolf? Different, as in I have to live in a world where everyone else shares these qualities that make them great, and I don’t? What exactly are you planning to do about that? I’m genuinely curious.” Asena was always offended when I thought of myself as ‘not a wolf’. She took it personally, as if I were calling her something other than magnificent. Renna didn’t flinch at my words, her expression calm and understanding. “I’m not sure, sweetheart. That’s why I said ‘explore.’ We’ll talk about options tomorrow. I just wanted to let you know that we’re not ignoring this. You won’t always feel this way.” She stood, moving toward the door, but paused and looked back at me, waiting for my response. I sighed. “That’s fine, Aunt Renna. But I won’t be subjected to therapy or, worse, involve Dillon or Jane in any of this.” She gave me a small, knowing smile. “No, I wouldn’t do that to you,” she said, closing the door softly behind her.