The Heart of The Alpha King

Chapter 7

Tyson's POV

Getting out of the SUV that drove us from the San Diego Airport, I stretch my legs, thankful to be done with the car ride. I may have to get back in the car since it’s so damn hot. I’m sure the paint is about to melt off the car. The warrior that picked us up opens the trunk to help take the bags out and into the house.

I left Odell, my beta back in Idabel, with the other warriors to pack everything back and drive to the Diamond Crest pack. I know he’s pissed. I’m sure he cussed me out behind my back, but someone has to supervise the house getting cleared out. Isaiah, my gamma, made the trip with me since the gamma always travels with his alpha.

Isaiah gets out of the car and immediately reopens the car door and grabs his water bottle to finish the rest of his ice water.

“Shi.t, it’s hot as hell here, man!”

“Hurry the hell up and get your ass out of the car so we can get inside to cool off,” I ramble off at him, walking towards the royal family residence. It’s too hot out here to be complaining. I’m 2.5 seconds away from stripping down to my draws. I’ll leave his ass out here with the warriors. I just want to get in, sit down, and get this reunion over and done with so I can meet my cousin Evander at a party over in his pack tonight.

After a year, I have mixed feelings about returning to my pack and being home. At Alpha training, I let my guard down and could be myself. It sounds backward, but I didn’t have to deal with the pressure. Of course, the other future alphas had it in for me to see if they could beat me at anything. It's a matter of pride for one alpha to beat the alpha to defeat the alpha king's heir. Evander beat me in every area. I’m okay with that though, since I view Evander as more like a brother than a cousin. We were close, like siblings.

“Anybody home?” I say, walking into the house with Isaiah and heading to the kitchen where everyone hangs out.

Before I take another step, I hear fast footsteps and tiny arms wrap around my waist, squeezing me tight.

“You’re home. I can’t believe you’re home Ty!” Lillie, my youngest sibling, barrels into me.

I pick her up and swing her in the air. “Of course, I’m back, baby girl. I couldn’t stay away from my favorite girl for too long,” I laugh, setting her down on the floor. She takes my hand and leads me into the kitchen to where my parents are.

Isaiah follows us into the kitchen and heads straight for the fridge. Typical hungry ass wolf.

As soon as they see me, my parents jump up out of their seats to give me a hug.

Pulling me in for a hug, my father squeezes my shoulders while I greet him.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were on your way home, son? We could’ve planned something for your arrival.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. I don’t want a big deal made. Being home is enough.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re home, baby,” my mother says, giving me a kiss on the cheek. Yes, I’m a mama’s boy BUT I’m not the kind to tell her all my business. Especially with the ladies. You know what I’m sayin’?

Before I can ask what’s for dinner, the voice of one of my least favorite people fills the room with her nasal voice.

“That’s nonsense! Winston, we need to have a big celebration for Tyson. The celebration needs to be big and invite all the nearby alphas. They need to see who they’ll be bowing down to.”

Oh boy, Grandma Wanda is here. Here we go. Deep breaths Tyson. Deep breaths.

Hearing the nasally voice, Raz, my wolf grumbles. “Damn, not the smelly witch”. Raz cannot stand grandma Wanda.

Grandma Wanda is not a person I wanted to see upon my arrival.

I have a weird relationship with this woman. She’s not the cuddly and loving grandmother type that many people have. She’s like the parent that criticizes you for an ‘A’ on a test because you didn’t get an “A+”. Nothing you do is good enough for her. Every decision my father makes, she always butts in and provides her unwanted input. She acts as if she’s been a queen, luna, or is someone who rules the kingdom.

Every time she is around, I get this unpleasant sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Grandma Wanda always makes everything into competition with Evander and his family. Whenever we have a family gathering and she’s allowed to attend (that’s another story for a different day), she makes snide remarks and somehow usually ends up in an argument with Auntie Alicia, Auntie Nicole, or my mother. When Auntie Alicia gets involved, she reads Grandma Wanda for filth. I think that’s what girls say these days? Oh, if it’s Auntie Nicole, well, let’s just say she gets cussed out into the next week.

That s**t is so funny, yo.

Most times when I see her coming, I walk in the other direction.

Greeting my grandmother, I give her a tight smile. “Hey grandma, I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“Well, your father decided to grow a pair and invited me over for dinner”.

Oh s**t, whew, let’s brace ourselves for this cussing out that’s about to happen.

My mom’s eyes grow big and she takes a step forward, but my dad shakes his head to let her know he’s got this handled.

“That’s enough, Mother. You’re only here because I allowed you here. You agreed not to start a bunch of bull, but if you disrespect me or Renee again, you’re outta here.”

My grandmother shakes her head in disbelief as she explains her foolish comment while struggling to keep her disdain for my mother in check.

“Well, I’m just saying this is how it is when it comes to your mate.”

“No, you weren’t saying anything. You’re trying to start some mess. It’ll do you good to remember that I am your alpha and Renee is your luna.”

For a split second, a scowl spreads across Grandma Wanda’s face, but it quickly disappears when she notices the look on my dad’s face.

It’s no secret that my grandmother thinks my grandfather should have chosen her as his Luna instead of his fated mate. Since he is the king, she feels she missed her calling on bossing all the wolves around to make them bow down at her feet. Hence, why she thinks we should have a party to put our royal family on display, but she forgets she’s not a royal. She’s not even a “Camilla” at this point. So any mention of the word Luna triggers her. The wolves would’ve rioted or deserted this pack if she became Luna. She’s not the most liked person in the pack.

“I forget how you alphas get about your lunas.” Waving an over-dramatic hand in the air to emphasize her point. “You’re all so overprotective.”

Before my dad can say anything, my mother already has a smart-ass comeback rolling off her tongue. “As if you would know. That’s why Marcellus never made you his Luna.”

Damn, mama.

I cough, trying to cover up my laughter at mom’s pettiness while Isaiah gets a good laugh from my mom’s quick comments. My dad gives my mom a look that screams, “Why you gotta go there?”

Grandma Wanda is not invited over often for this exact reason. It’s always some bull.shit with her.

Grandma Wanda says nothing back, but I don’t miss the way her eye twitches at my mom’s pettiness.

Shaking his head and giving my mom a kiss on the cheek, Isaiah turns towards my dad to shake his hand. “That’s my cue to leave. Don’t need to be a part of your family squabble. I’ll be back around 9 pm so we can head to the party, Ty.”

I need a break from the tension in the kitchen, so I walk Isaiah to the front door.

“Ty, I love your mom. She’s funny as hell and has the slickest comebacks.”

“Man, don’t let her get around Evander’s mom and his gamma’s mother because they are worse than my mom. She only holds back because of my dad.”

We dap each other up and he walks out the door.

“Be on standby. I may call you earlier if it gets out of hand here with the drama. I didn’t think I’d come back to this bullshit with my grandmother.”

Isaiah gives me a salute and gets back into the SUV so the warrior can drop him off at his house.

I walk back into the kitchen and my stomach lets me know it’s time to eat as I smell the delicious seafood jambalaya that’s plated in bowls waiting for me to demolish.

Sitting down in my seat, I grab the spoon and take the first bite of home-cooked food that I’ve had in a while. Looking around, I noticed my brother, Malik, wasn’t at the table.

“Where’s Malik at?” I ask taking another bite before taking a big gulp of lemonade.

“He’s at water polo tryouts at Full Moon High. I know you didn’t forget your table manners when you went to training.” My mom looks at me with a look of disbelief.

“Son, how was training? Were instructors Tanner and Salcedo still around? They were there when I went through. They’ve gotta be at least 100 years old by now.”

“Oh, so you’re finally admitting that you’re old, huh, pops?”

“Yeah, okay, keep calling me old son. Keep it up and I’ll show you how old I am when I kick your butt in training.”

Who am I kidding? My dad is pretty quick and he probably could kick my ass still.

“Sure, old man. I don’t want none of that old school whoopin’. Alpha Training was straight. Honestly, I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t have to think about kingdom responsibilities and all that. I also made a few good connections with some alphas.”

“The wolves there aren’t your friends, Tyson. They’re subjects. You weren’t there to become their buddies. When you rule, you can’t show them any favors,” Grandma Wanda interjects with her unwanted two cents.

Damn, I forgot she was here. It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes at her. I may not like her, but that doesn’t mean I should disrespect her.

“Mother, we don’t rule that way. Every alpha is an asset to the werewolf community. No one is better than the next. If we want to live peacefully, that’s how it will be, but don’t get it twisted. If someone wants to knuck we will buck back. However, we will do so if someone starts it first.”

Hearing my dad speak about how he rules the werewolf kingdom fills me with pride. Grandma Wanda never agreed with how my father and grandfather ruled the kingdom. They always explained to us about how there should be a balance. Now they ain’t no punks either. If they need to lay the hammer down and knock some heads in, they will.

I look over at my mom, and she's rolling her eyes at my grandmother’s annoying rambling.

“Did you spend time with Evander while at training?” She asks while passing me the sourdough bread basket.

“Yes, we hung out a lot with our officers. We trained together often. Dad, you should’ve seen Evander. His wolf grew while we were there. During training, it was like he was on a whole different level. He moved so fast and when we sparred I could never beat him”.

I know I should be upset or feel some kind of way that my cousin beat me, the future alpha king, but I don’t. It fills me with pride to talk about my cousin this way.

However, I probably should’ve brought it up at a later time because the mention of Evander’s name sets my grandmother on a totally new rant.

“You let him beat you? Were you goofing around? You’re the future king. No one should ever beat you. It’s time to up your training because whatever you’re doing clearly isn’t working.”

I release a breath before I respond, like I’ve lost my damn mind, because that’s what I feel like doing on this damn old hag. “Grandma, I’m not training more and I wasn’t slacking.”

“Well, you need to train 5 times a day. Every day because what you’re doing isn’t good enough.”

Raz is 5 seconds from coming forward and grabbing ‘nothing is never good enough’ grandma by the throat and throwing her out the window.

‘Let me at her Ty. I’ll show her and her white Diamonds-smelling ass who’s not good enough.’

‘Naw, man, let it go. Mom is bout to take care of this’.

I can see smoke coming from my mom’s ears. Mom stands up quickly as if she’s about to launch herself across the table, but sits back down quickly, remembering that Lilly is at the table. Not one to let things go, my mom goes in on my grandmother. “If you don’t be quiet about my son,” my mom starts off, but my dad grabs her hand to prevent her from saying more.

“Mother, he’s training more. Evander is a good opponent for him to go up against. My nephew trains with my brother and father. Leave Tyson’s training to me. Why don’t you focus on being a supportive grandmother and less on something you know nothing about or ever did?”

Well, if that doesn’t shut her up, nothing else will.

Grandma Wanda doesn’t respond, but her eyes twitched again.

Blocking out her foolishness because I’m about a second from cussing her out myself, I take another deep breath to clear her negativity out of my thoughts. I quickly remember a question I wanted to bring up with my dad and, since ‘get on my nerves’ grandma is here, I might as well bring it up since he is her favorite person to talk about.

“Hey dad, did you know that Ev has a similar mark like ours?”

“Yes, son, all the alpha king heirs, whether they are the future ruler or alpha child, carry a mark. Imani has one too.”

“Do Lilly and Malik have a mark, too?” I don’t recall either sibling having a mark.

“No, neither of your siblings has a mark,” my mother responds. There’s a look in her eyes that I can’t decipher.

“Does Uncle Eli have a mark like yours, Dad?”

“He does have one, too. Our marks are similar.”

“Evander’s mark on his right upper chest area. I’ve seen it in human and wolf form. His is more detailed than mine though”.

The sound of silverware crashes on a table while I’m describing the marks Evander has on his chest, followed by the screeching noise of a chair scraping the floor as it’s pushed away from the table.

Of course, it’s none other than ‘all eyes on me’ grandma with more theatrics.

“Uh, Tyson, it was good to see you darling, but I’ve gotta go,” grandma says while she grabs her purse and rushes out the door.

“Well, if that’s all it took to get her to leave, I would’ve started describing what people’s marks looked like as soon as she stepped foot in this house,” my mother says, chucking and even Lilly gets a laugh out of it.

I look down at my watch and see I have a few hours before Isaiah comes back to get me.

“I know y’all want to chat more, but I’m heading over to Moon Valley for a party. I won’t stay out late.”

Heading upstairs to shower, I can’t wait to head out and spend some time with the boys.

**************

Unknown POV

I can’t believe that little shi.t has the nerve to go hang out with that damn little boy.

I’ve gotta keep them apart before the truth is discovered. Leave it to him to be that observant of the damn Alpha King mark. When I black-mailed that witch for the second time, I made her give my son an identical mark of the Alpha King. That way, no one would question his legitimacy.

If Tyson saw Evander’s mark, then I’m sure other alphas and instructors at alpha training saw it too. It’s only a matter of time until someone questions his legitimacy. When they discover the truth, all answers lead back to me. I’ve schemed, stole and lied too much to give all of this up for me to be discovered.

That bougie witch had better have the same number because I need another potion made or a spell to remove the mark on that b***h’s grandson.

I curse the day Sandra was born. I’d curse Selene, but I don’t need the Goddess to send one of her reapers to come get me.

Picking up my phone, I scroll through my contacts to find my first line of defense to operation “keep the alpha king secret”.

The call goes to voicemail.

“Call me back bougie witch. There’s a problem that’s come up. If I don’t hear from you by the end of the week, I’m going to visit a certain person and you don’t want that”.

She can let the call go to voicemail, but I bet she’ll call me back after listening to this message before I left her ass.