Alpha: Who usurped your throne

Chapter 2

In the world of humans, everything seemed to be different. The light rain that fell soaked Grace’s clothes, making her feel cold and helpless. She took shelter under an old building, but couldn’t sleep. Her wolf, alert and restless within her, wouldn’t let her rest. In Grace’s mind, humans seemed more dangerous and deceitful than werewolves.

The next day, she didn’t know what to do. Where to go or whom to ask for help? She felt hungry and an anguish that constantly exploded in her chest.

Two days later, while searching for food in a trash can, sharing space with enormous rats, Grace was interrupted by a gentle touch on her shoulder and a woman’s voice behind her.

“Hi, miss,” her eyes sparkled, but there was sadness when she looked at Grace, “Are you hungry?”

Grace backed away, shrinking her body. The woman didn’t seem threatening, but she couldn’t trust anyone anymore. She just shook her head, confirming the desperation of her body.

“Do you want to come with me to the place where I work to have a meal?”

Grace didn’t say anything, but the woman insisted and eventually convinced her to trust her. Her name was Barbara, and she treated Grace with a dignity no one had ever shown her. For the first time, she felt safe beside someone.

As the months went by, and Barbara noticed that Grace’s belly kept growing, she demanded that they go to the doctor immediately.

Grace knew she was pregnant, but what she didn’t know was how many she was expecting.

“Triplets?” she collapsed into the doctor’s chair.

Grace felt her thoughts get lost in the confusion as the doctor spoke about how lucky she was to have three beautiful babies at once.

Having triplets seemed like an insignificant fact compared to the hell Grace had gone through since she fled the pack. However, she couldn’t hide the fear she felt. She cried while her wolf howled at the crescent moon, unsure of how she would take care of three babies alone.

“You’re not alone anymore,” Barbara said. “Now you have me.”

The one thing Grace would never forget was the difficult moments she lived through to adapt to the human world. Barbara took her to live in her house. She arranged a job for Grace at the same diner where she worked. She was ready to start over, far from the shame of being rejected and where no one would discover her secret.

Nevertheless, there were many memories to remember related to her new beginning. Memories that Grace kept alive in her heart, so she would never forget where she came from and where she was now. But she knew that every change left traces behind.

Six years had passed since Grace buried the past in the deepest darkness of her memories. Elijah’s rejection gave her the chance to start again, in a place far from the cruelty and enslavement she had endured for years. But she almost didn’t make it; for a long time, her will to live emptied. She no longer slept or ate, and her wolf slowly fell asleep until she couldn’t feel it anymore. She adapted to her new life, feeling more human. And when the triplets were born, she gained more reasons to live and fight for them.

They were her salvation.

The first light of day illuminated her surroundings. Grace had barely opened her eyes, and the twins were already running frantically around her bed. Aydan shouted from the other side, making Grace almost jump out of bed.

“Bryan, what did I say about not biting your brother?” she looked into the boy’s eyes, who smiled, proud of what he had done.

“I wanted to be a wolf, Mommy,” he growled.

Grace rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. It was clear that the twins didn’t know they were wolves. Grace resisted the idea of telling them. Whether it was too early or not, she didn’t feel prepared for that moment, even though she knew it was inevitable. She pushed those thoughts aside while considering whether she should get up to separate the children. On the other side of the bed, her phone vibrated. She reached out over the bed to grab it.

“I’ll be twenty minutes late.”

It was a message from Barbara, or as Grace preferred to say, her guardian angel. She had also become the protector of the children, and how could she deny the love Barbara felt for those kids? It warmed Grace’s heart.

A trail of mess left by the children almost prevented her from reaching the door. Barbara opened a wide smile before embracing her.

“I’m sorry to leave you in the middle of all this mess,” she observed, disappointed because she never managed to keep the house tidy.

“When you come back, everything will be in order.” Barbara crouched down and started picking up the scattered toys at the entrance of the house.

“You know you don’t have to do that, Babi,” she reminded her. “The kids are already enough work.”

“Don’t exaggerate, Grace,” she laughed. “I love the company of those boys. Speaking of which, where are they?”

The boys ran toward her, as they always did when Barbara arrived. They hugged her with so much enthusiasm that they could suffocate her with their dedication.

“Are you sure there’s no problem staying here overnight?”

“Don’t make me angry at you by answering that question,” she showed her teeth, still wrapped in the children’s arms. “You can go to work in peace. I’ll take good care of everything here.”

Grace smiled, unable to hide her concern. It was the first time Grace would let Barbara spend a night with the triplets. Something bothered her, squeezing her heart like a warning that something bad could happen. Grace decided not to talk about it with Barbara, so as not to embarrass her or make her think she couldn’t take care of her children.

Before leaving, she hugged each one of them.

“I promise I’ll take care of my siblings,” Bryan squeezed her in a hug.

It was almost inevitable for Grace to look at Bryan and not remember Elijah. Even his courage resembled that of his father.

“You’re my wolf king,” she ran her hand through the boy’s hair, “and you’ll protect the entire pack because you’re strong and brave.”

The words made the boy laugh.

“I promise, Mommy.”

She hugged him again and then left the house for work. Although Grace didn’t tell the children who they were, she always kept the werewolf stories alive in the boys’ hearts. She told the stories she had experienced herself as if they were legends, so that when they were ready for the truth, they would never forget their origins.

When night fell in the city of Manhattan, Barbara felt like a war had been waged where she was the defeated warrior. Aydan, Dante, and Bryan were peacefully sleeping on the couch. It didn’t seem like they had spent the day running and shouting around the house. She put them to bed and tried to relax. She was sitting in an armchair, holding a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, when someone knocked on the door. Barbara furrowed her brow, looking at the time on the clock and wondering about visitors at that hour. As she set the cup aside and contemplated whether to answer the door, the knocks grew louder. She paused midway, her heart racing, hoping that the person would give up and leave. Barbara wasn’t willing to open the door, being defenseless with three children. After some time, the knocking ceased, and finally, she heard footsteps fading away. When her heart calmed down, she turned promptly to go to bed when the front door was torn off and forcefully thrown, narrowly missing her.

She was terrified. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. When she was ready to escape, she felt a hand grab her by the hair and cover her mouth.

“Where are the triplets?” the man’s high-pitched voice made Barbara tremble.

It seemed like a nightmare. Barbara could see what was happening, but was not in control of her own emotions. How did those men know there were triplets in that house? And why were they after the children?

“Go through the house”

Barbara shook the body, out of despair of running out of air and the chance of those men to harm the twins. A tear ran down her face, wetting the hand of the man holding her. He squeezed her face so tight she could feel her teeth have broken.

The fulminant cry of the children broke the silence of the house.

Barbara’s cries intensified. She wanted to beg, ask them not to take the children, but she only managed to emit small groans of pain, while the three boys were dragged out of the house and their cries silenced, like animals.

Barbara froze in horror, except for her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath.

“Kill the slut,”

The man’s hurried steps were the last thing Barbara could hear before a knife was driven straight into her heart. They left the body lying on the ground and fled, leaving a huge trail of blood.

A shiver invaded Grace’s body as she arrived at her door. There was a small trail of blood leading straight to the main entrance. Fear slipped through her as she opened the door and saw Barbara lying in a pool of blood. She was dead. Tears of despair choked Grace’s throat when she ran all over the house and did not find the triplets.

But she couldn’t feel them. Her wolf was asleep. She could go to the police and wait for the humans to help her, but it would be useless. Grace knew she couldn’t wait.

A growl escaped her throat as she hugged Barbara’s lifeless body. After a few minutes of whining, Grace got up and left the house. He did not dare to look back, because he knew that once he did, he would lose his courage and stay there to give Barbara a dignified burial.

Barbara was special. At least in her eyes, and Grace promised to avenge her death.

As I walked away from the city, I knew there was only one place to go. Only one person could help her find her children: Elijah.

It was time to rediscover the past and tell him about the future.