The Childless Alpha

I'm Coming Home

Five years had passed since I had been back at the pack on a full-time basis and I could tell not much had really changed. Sure, I'd come back and visited whenever I had a break from university, but it wasn't the same as living here.

I found myself staring outside the large pack house, admiring the large wooden white French doors that led to the entryway of the pack house. Aside the entryway stood two columns that only stopped under the first balcony.

The pack house was ten stories tall, which would seem excessive for a house, but considering we lived as a pack it made sense. Generally speaking, most of the pack members lived in the nearby village, and we'd do pack events at the house. On the first floor, you had the main entrance which lead to a large dining area with a kitchen to the side. Sometimes we would host pack dinners here, and we'd enjoy a meal together like a giant family.

On the second and third floor, you could find a wide variety of entertainment. One floor was a dedicated home theater, complete with movie-grade popcorn machines which produced popcorn that tasted exactly as it did in the theaters. The other floor had a variety of other means of entertainment - arcade machines, a variety of gaming consoles, board games and the like. At almost any given time, you could find teenage pack members hanging out after school.

The third floor, and my personal favourite, housed a library. It spanned an entire floor, with floor to ceiling shelves filled with all kinds of books in almost every genre imaginable. Growing up, when I wasn't being taught how to be the future Alpha of the White Moonstone pack, I could be found in one of the secluded study rooms in our library, reading any and every book I could get my hands on. I could spend hours getting lost within the written words of the outside world and all that it had to offer. Aside from attending university, I wouldn't get much time to travel once I became Alpha. I would travel for to other packs for the purposes of meeting with their Alpha and strengthening alliances. It wouldn't leave much time for sight-seeing based on what my parents had told me. These meetings were for business, not for leisure. I planned to change that, if I could, when I was Alpha. I grew up watching others go on holidays, but my parents never took holidays.

Even though I was set to be the next Alpha, a position that anyone would have given anything for, I couldn't help the jealously that crept up when I watched my friends and pack mates would go on exotic vacations with their families. I never expressed this to my family.

We didn't have a dedicated hospital, however we did have the fourth and fifth floors dedicated to our medical needs. I tended to avoid this area as much as possible, I never enjoyed needing medical attention.

The sixth and seventh floors were considered our guest areas. I'd consider it almost hotel-like in the way it was designed. Each room had it's own king-sized bed, a desk and a private en suite. This is where we would house any guests that would come to stay.

Our eighth was the offices reserved for the packs Gamma and Beta. Unlike the Alpha. I hadn't spent much time in the offices of the Gamma and Beta, but if they were anything like the offices that belonged to my mother and father, they would be beautiful.

The ninth and tenth floor were reserved for the Alpha and their family. The ninth floor was dedicated to the offices of the Alpha and Luna, as well as a giant meeting room that could fit over twenty pack members in there, or wolves from other packs. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the offices of my parents. They told me that once I became Alpha, my father's office would become mine and I would be able to decorate it in anyway that I liked. 

Dad had decorated his office in neutral blues, and accented it with white furniture. He had two giant bookshelves; one housing a variety of books and trinkets, and the other housing binders full of notes and important pack information. Dad had these in electronic form, but liked to keep a physical set on hand - better safe than sorry, he would always tell me.

The way mum decorated her office was completely different to the way dad had his decorated. She had family photos decorating the walls, as well as artwork and various other projects I had made over the years. Mum always took great pride in anything and everything I created, and so she had it on display where she would see it most. She had a filing cabinet that sat in the corner, containing paperwork relating to all her Luna duties. She didn't plan to show me how to take on Luna duties, since I would be Alpha, but I asked her to show me anyway. It was an interesting conversation we had, back when I was twelve years old.

"But mum!" I whined, stomping my foot like the little girl I was, "I should be taught how to do this stuff as well - if I'm going to find a mate like you said, they won't know how to do any of this and someone has to teach them!"

"Alice, dear," she ruffled my hair as she spoke, "I can teach them, we want you to focus on learning to be the Alpha of our pack."

"I want you to enjoy retirement with dad!" I countered, "Not training someone to do your job, when you could just train me and I train them when the time comes. Besides, I may not find a mate by the time I take over."

Mum looked deep in thought for a moment before she answered me.

"I suppose you're right dear," she replied, "You are wise beyond your years, you know that right?"

While it wasn't common for the Alpha or Luna to know the ins and outs of both roles, even at twelve I knew that it would be important for me to know. Besides, I'm sure the pack could be run more effectively if the Alpha and Luna were both aware of the others jobs while being able to do their own. I digress.

The tenth and final floor was where the Alpha and their family lived. It was split into two apartments, which would allow for the retiring Alpha and Luna to continue living where they raised their children, or they had the option to move into a house in the village. It was entirely up to them, and I told my parents that they would always be welcome to stay near. The truth was, I didn't want them to leave me anytime soon.

"Welcome home ma'am!" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts, bringing me back to reality, "Shall I grab your bags for you?"

"Felix, hello, it's been so long," I greeted him with a wide smile, "And you don't have to call me ma'am, Alice would do just fine."

"Sorry ma-, Alice," he looked sheepish as he spoke, "Old habits die hard. It's good to see you home, though."

"It's good to be home," I gazed at the pack house once again, longing to run inside and into my old room.

"Here, let me take your bags," Felix grabbed the two suitcases I had sat on the grass, "And Alpha Richard would like to speak to you once you've settled in."

I went to question what about, but I knew Felix wouldn't know and it would be easier to just find out what dad wanted. 

I walked with Felix inside the house, discussing my graduation and university and whatever else had been happening in my life until we reached my room.

"Glad you're back Alice," Felix said as he put my suitcases down on the floor of my bedroom, "It was great to see you."

"Great to see you too Felix, we should catch up again," I replied.

I watched Felix descend down the hallway out of my sight. I entered my bedroom and flopped onto my bed. I was going to need a bit of time before I went and saw Alpha Richard - I'd spent most of the day traveling and I was exhausted!