The Alpha Heir - Archie

Chapter 3

The current Alpha of Black Devil looked up from his reading, the eddying energy of his son approach reaching him before Archie walked into the office.

Mirko understood that Archie had allowed him to be aware of his coming, as he always did. If he had wished, Archie could have camouflaged his presence right up until the moment he stood right in front of him.

Mirko sat back, his impressive build filling the oaken frame of his chair as he watched his son and frowned.

“Morning, dad.” His son smiled.

“Archie…” Mirko trailed off, eyes on the fangs poking out his son’s lips.

His son glanced at him, with his school bag in one hand, “Yeah?”

“You forgot to shift again.”

Archie laughed sheepishly, scratching his neck, “Ah, true. I don’t know what happened to me today.”

He realized he'd forgotten to shift to his fully human form before heading to campus, where humans were attending as well.

My head definitely isn't here this morning.

Archie closed his eyes and exhaled from his nose. He focused on his wolf ears, fangs, claws, talons, tail, patches of fur over his arms, shoulders and neck.

A second later, fur began to shrink, as did the wolf ears and tail, leaving behind hard skin and normal white teeth.

‘Human enough…’ He thought, curling his fingers to study his nails. They were pink and looked trimmed.

Archie still had issues with his ears - a part of the body always difficult to control; they would always stay pointy, but at least his black hair, thicker than usual, would cover them.

Overall, there was nothing obviously objectionable about his appearance. Sure, Archie wore a 15 shoe (AN/ size 48 in Europe), his shoulders were broader than those of an Olympic swimmer, and most pets growled at him, but he could still be classified as a human being. A colossal one, but still a human.

His father winked at him, tossing him the car keys, “Study hard.”

“Always,” Archie caught the keys with one hand without even looking.

Archie went over to the bookshelf in the corner, next to the window, just as there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Mirko said with a sigh, resting his big fists on the table.

The huge smiling face of Spencer poked its way into the Alpha’s office.

"Good morning Alpha," Said Spencer, bowing his head with a playful hint of sarcasm.

"Stop it, you fool, call me by my name," Mirko grumbled, eyeing the young werewolf.

Archie half chuckled at them as he bent down on one knee and fished a book out.

"Why of course Mirko My Alpha Sir and how may one serve one on this bright and sunny morning?" Spencer was bent over almost double at this point, in part to act the submissive servant and in part to also try and disguise the fit of laughter that was bubbling up.

He was one of the very few werewolves in the whole pack who got away with this type of disrespectful behaviour and only because he never did it in front of any of the others… oh, and also because he was one of the few people in the whole world that Mirko loved with all his heart.

"Well, you can stop acting like a demented wolf and be on time for once," Mirko threw a book at him, landing square in the back.

"Ouch!" Spencer yelped dramatically, "It isn’t my fault! Mom didn’t let me go. She spent ten minutes kissing my face this morning. What should I have done?!”

Mirko’s blue eyes softened a little before they narrowed, “Didn’t you use this excuse last week already?”

Spencer thought about it for a second, “Don’t think so, uncle.” And then he grinned. It was full of mischief, with a hint of fangs, quite appropriate for the wolf he was.

With intense orange hair shaved at the sides of his head, eyes identical to Uncle Mirko's, cheekbones so sharp that had cut the airways of several girls, Spencer has been the prankster of the family since he could walk. It was precisely because of one of his great pranks that his father had forced him to help Mirko with some administrative, boring work, between school and training. And it was unpaid.

“You didn’t.” Archie pointed out as he retrieved another book and placed it inside his bag.

“By today I need the budget forecasting figures file,” Mirko instructed his nephew with his daily tasks, “Use the last month’s report for reference. And tonight at seven thirty we have the-”

Spencer’s face noticeably sourced, “Seven? But I have a date!”

“Cancel it.” Mirko said in a deadpan tone.

“That would be rude! She’s the daughter of the Crystal Wolf pack’s Beta.”

Mirko pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. "What have we told you about fornicating with the daughters of Alphas or Betas?"

Spencer shrugged, "To do it only when we want to be attacked by angry fathers, so then we have an excuse to destroy their pack without attacking first?"

"No!" Mirko bit back.

"Mmmm…" Spencer thought about it, as he stretched his legs out in front of him and clasped his hands behind his head, "The more, the better?"

Archie tried to hide his chuckle behind a book - that day he had various classes and needed various books.

Mirko crossed his arms over his gigantic chest, his stern, impassive expression would have made most wolves faint. It had little effect on his deranged nephew.

“Come on, uncle!” Spencer grinned, “That was a pretty good joke. You have to admit it!”

Mirko looked unimpressed, “Do I look like I am laughing?”

With the bag that slung over his shoulder, Archie strode towards the door, “I’ll see you guys tonight at dinner.”

A full day of classes awaited ahead.

He almost decided not to go to school, distracted as he was. What was the point to go if he would just think about her?

How is she? Who is she? Who is she with?

"Wait up!” Spencer called. Archie halted and watched his cousin rushing to catch up with him.

“What are we gonna do tonight?" He clapped Archie’s shoulder once, “Movie and run? ”

Archie tried to think of his day tasks but he just couldn't seem to focus on any of it.

"I don't know, Spens.” Archie sighed, closing his eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“We dreamt of her last night...”

His cousin rose his light brown eyebrows, “Again?”

“Yeah… twice in one month.”

Spencer whistled low, “How’s that even possible? Do you think she is really your mate?”

Archie heaved in a deep breath, “I don’t think so. Xerius does”

“You two aren’t agreeing?” Spencer’s blue eyes widened, “Can that even be possible!?”

Archie’s nostrils flared, “Apparently.”

“Hey, I think the dreams show you have a strong bond with your mate,” Spencer laid his hand on his cousin’s arm, “And it proves that you do have a mate!”

Archie sensed the protective energy of his cousin and was glad to have him in his life.

“Mmh.” He hummed, eyes lost in the lines on trees around them, “It proves my wolf wants a mate.”

"You know what? Who cares if she's your mate or not!" Spencer exclaimed, "We're going out tonight! You need a break, dude. You work too much!"

Archie chuckled, the mood lightened. "You have to work today. And how about the date?"

"Nah, I'll move it to tomorrow. Lisa can wait another day. Tomorrow I have training," He whistled, "Last time she nearly dislocated my hip and I don't think Uncle Crucio will care if I show up again with pulled muscles!"

Archie laughed.

As they continued to chat, they followed the path into the forest ... ignoring them and the rustles.

From creepy, it had become such a normal occurrence that no one cared anymore… At least their family members.

By the time they had reached the small clearing, where the garage was, a dozen wild wolves had gathered around them.

Watching. Waiting.

Most were sitting quietly. A few paced back and forth.

"Don't follow me today. Stay here in the forest." Archie and Xerius ordered in unison, without looking at them. A shiver went through Spencer, the hairs on the nape of his neck lifted. It didn't matter if Archie was his cousin, or even if they grew up together. When Archie and Xerius talked together, in that deep and almost double voice, Spencer’s instincts of survival were ignited.

Archie had noticed how his cousin had stiffened.

"Sorry…" He murmured, in his normal voice. It was a little sad; even his cousin was afraid of him… of Xerius.

Spencer seemed taken aback and opened and closed his mouth. "Nah, I'm just stupid today. It's that Uncle Mirko stresses me," He lied candidly. Archie pretended to believe him and sent him a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

He opened the door of the pickup and jumped up, "Hurry to my dad, before they put you in detention again," Archie managed to joke.

Spencer laughed, this time with honesty.

“Hey! Wait! Aren’t you forgetting something?” He nodded towards Archie’s feet right before he shut the car door.

Archie gazed down and noticed how he had forgotten to wear shoes and chuckled quietly.

“Damn!”

Mate or not, he was indeed distracted that day.

AN/ Do you like Archie?

Heheeh welcome Spencer!