The Runaway Luna's Daughter

Where Loyalty Lies

“Don't you think we should tell the Alpha? I think we should. What do you think, Warren?”

“What I think is that you should learn to mind your f*****g business,” Warren growled.

“Come on. We can't just pretend we saw nothing. What if this piece of information helps to know what she's up to? We haven't seen her since the day she disappeared from the pack house. Jon, say something,” he looked at the other guard, his arm waving wildly through the air.

“You know Warren,” Jon said looking at him, “we should listen to Rowe. He has a point. Why would she come to visit the dungeon alone and at night? It doesn't add up.”

“She's gone Jon,” Warren's voice rose with exasperation. “She's f*****g gone and I don't think she's coming back but if she eventually does, we'll be ready, waiting for her.”

“You seem to forget she tossed us around like pebbles,” Rowe said. “That woman is f*****g powerful. We don't stand a chance against Orchid. Heck, the full pack warriors don't stand a chance against her and we need every bit of information we can gather if we are to beat her. If you won't tell the Alpha, I'll tell him myself.”

“Tell me what?” Ferguson said flatly, his voice bouncing off the walls. His beta, Karl, stood beside him.

The three wolves turned around quickly, their bodies jittery as they faced the Alpha. They hadn't heard him come.

“Nothing, Alpha,” Warren said quickly, standing straight, his eyes staring into the Alpha's face.

“Don't f*****g lie to me, warrior,” Ferguson growled, walking up to him. His eyes burned into his as he came, a foreboding aura surrounding him.

Warren stared back hard, his eyes meeting the Alpha's.

“You got something you want to say to me?” Ferguson growled again, his cold eyes resting on his face.

“No, Alpha,” he looked away, his eyes staring down at his feet.

Jon and Rowe glanced at each other as Ferguson turned to face them. “Do I need to ask again?”

“Your Luna, Cora…” Rowe caught himself. “The witch, Orchid, she came to the dungeon the night before you came with her.”

“And no one deemed it necessary to tell me about this?” Ferguson's eyes sparked.

Rowe’s eyes glanced at Jon then back to his feet as he lowered his head. “I'm sorry Alpha. I didn't know how to break it to you.”

“Don’t make me question your loyalty to your Alpha,” Ferguson snarled as he walked away, his footsteps receding down the hallway.

Karl's eyes met Warren's as he turned away walking behind Ferguson.

“Told you, didn't I?” Warren scoffed at Rowe, his voice heavy with mock.

“What were you doing Warren, challenging him? Jon's voice came. “Did you forget he's the Alpha?”

“Not for long,” his eyes narrowed as he watched Ferguson walk out of sight. “Not for long.”

“That Warren is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode,” Ferguson ran his hand through his hair.

“He's an excellent warrior, Alpha,” Karl replied.

“With that attitude, I bet he is,” Ferguson said. “The festival. Has everything been put in place?”

“Yes Alpha.”

“And Warren?”

“He's leading the wolves securing the perimeters.”

“Good. An opportunity for him to put his aggression to good use.”

The omegas bowed as he walked past them with Karl, their feet slapping the steps as they climbed up the stairs.

“Any news about the Triad?” Ferguson asked, turning the knob on his door.

“None for now. We scoured the length and breadth of our territories but couldn't find them. Either we did a poor job out of it or they're really good at hiding. Chances are they left.”

“I don't think they did,” Luca quipped, opening the door and walking into the room.

“And how do you know this?” Ferguson asked, his eyes glancing at Luca and back to his beta.

“Because I saw them.”

The room grew quiet. Alpha and beta exchanged glances as Luca's words hung in the room.

“Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?” Ferguson inhaled deeply, taking his face in his palm. He let out a heavy sigh, his frame shuddering as he did.

“Maybe because they're scared of you?” Luca replied, his eyes fixed on him. “Have you thought about that?”

“An Alpha should be feared, Luca, if he wants to stay alive. He should show no signs of weakness. Not a hint. The slightest sign of weakness and someone else overthrows him and takes over the pack. I'm sure you know this already.”

“Their loyalty to you is borne out of fear and not respect then? What happens when you are unable to inspire fear in them anymore?”

“There's a thin line between respect and fear,” Karl's voice came. “And the Alpha, your father, has balanced it out.”

“I don't know, he seems to be leaning in a little too much to the side of fear.”

“Enough talk Luca!” Ferguson's voice boomed. “I don't care if it's fear I use to inspire loyalty in the pack. I don't care if they love me or not as long as the end result is favourable. As long as we remain strong and keep enemy packs off our territories. It's cruel out there and an Alpha needs to be strong as much as he needs to inspire fear in the pack. Respect won't get things done in the pack. Fear would.”

“I didn't come here for you to lecture me, dad.” Luca shuffled on his feet. “I came to report something. Noah was killed by the Triad.”

“Noah?” Karl's brows knitted together. “Your driver?”

“Yes.”

“How did that happen?” Ferguson's voice came, low and guttural.

“I found some girl alone in the woods, injured. I couldn't leave her there so I sent him to take her somewhere safe. He didn't come back.”

“You're too soft, Luca” Ferguson shook his head.

“What was I supposed to do? Leave her there to f*****g die?!” Luca gritted his teeth, his fists clenching tightly as his body quivered.

“Watch your tone, boy,” Ferguson growled. “What you did was a dangerous thing. You put the life of your driver in danger because of some stranger. You could have chosen to leave her to her fate. Life is full of choices and you have to make difficult ones no matter how ruthless or unethical they seem. Learn this or perish.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Don't you talk to me about easy, boy,” Ferguson straightened up. “I've had to make very difficult choices. I had to restrain my Luna, my fated mate… the only she-wolf I ever truly loved because she almost killed you in one of her rabid outbursts so don't you go about telling me about easy!”

He banged his fists on the table.

“I didn't choose you over her so you can stand here in my face and tell me I had things easy. Being a leader means making the difficult choices others wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole and damning the consequences.”

Ferguson's frame heaved as the sound of his breathing filled the room, his eyes red.

And for the first time, Luca saw it. He saw the pain in his eyes. He saw beyond the strong, fearsome Alpha, a wolf who had to endure a lot of pain for the people he led. He still missed her—his mum— as much as he did and that was why Orchid had been able to deceive them both.

“You have to learn these things, Luca,” he continued, his voice calm now. “You have a lot to learn if you're to do a good job leading the pack.”

“But what if I don't want to? What if I don't want to be Alpha?”

“Then Karl here,” he pointed at his beta, “would do a splendid job as one.”

“And what if I don't want to be Alpha, Alpha?” Karl asked, his hands rubbing together.

Ferguson's eyes squinted, flicking between the two.

“Thankfully…” he shrugged, “I'd be dead by then and so wouldn't give two f***s who leads the pack. You might as well take a donkey or a sheep for an Alpha for all I care,” he waved his hand nonchalantly over his head.

Luca's eyes twinkled. He clenched his jaws tightly to keep in the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. His eyes met Karl's. He suffered the same fate.

“And about the Triad,” Ferguson growled, “I know just how to handle them.”