ALPHAS CONUNDRUM

Condolences or bids?

ANABELLA

My eyes fluttered open and the very act itself gave me a piercing migraine. I tried to sit up but there was an ache in between my thighs. That was when it all came rushing back.

I had slept with a stranger and came to his house when I was partially drunk. “s**t! s**t! s**t!” I stumbled out of the bed, almost tripping. Kade or Wolf wasn't even here. f**k.

I had a meeting with the three Alphas. “f**k, am I forgetting anything else?” I picked my clothes and clumsily wore them.

Our realm had three different packs under my father’s control. Or was under his control before he died and I was supposed to be the next Grand Alpha and today was the meeting and my head was like a hundred horses stampeding on it. f**k, could this day get any worse?

Where the f**k was even my one-night stand? I needed to get back home.

The way home was all I knew given that my father never let me leave the house for any other reason. I was too sheltered and when Sebastian left that became more apparent as the walls kept closing in on me every single day.

Through a car window, I saw myself. My hair was equivalent to a bird’s nest and my white shirt was tucked out and crumpled. Safe to say, I looked like s**t.

“State your business.” A guard demanded through the intercom when I rang the doorbell. The mansion had an old-fashioned look, almost Victorian flair, glaring at the world with its power and strength but truly the house was as big as it was empty.

“Anabella Coleman. Let me in.” I said resigned.

“Miss Coleman!” The guards realized and immediately the golden gates with an embroidery of two wolves on both sides, slowly opened.

I walked into my home, servants bowing their heads at me. This was my life now. The next Grand Alpha. Yay!

When I stepped into the living room of the mansion, I saw both Sebastian and another man with a bored expression on his face, leaning against the walls, waiting for me.

“Belle,” Seb called out and I averted my eyes when I saw the inquisitory gaze he shot my way. I ran away from him and turned up looking like a hag.

“You've kept us waiting for almost two hours, care to tell us where you wandered off to, Grand Alpha?” asked the other man, the mockery in the last two words seeped into my bones.

“As far as I am concerned, Alpha, it's none of your business.” I responded.

“It is my business since you are meant to lead the Realm but you can't even show up early to your own meeting.” I narrowed my eyes at him and Sebastian’s eyes darkened.

“Remember your place, Ryker or I’ll be more than happy to remind you.” Sebastian said, his jaw set and the tension thickened as the two men silently glared at each other.

So this was Ryker. The name stood out because my father wanted me to marry him for a reason I couldn't comprehend. He was very handsome dressed in his outrageously expensive looking tuxedo but Seb was taller and bigger. There was a darkness to Ryker that warned people off. A darkness that was tempting and misleading, perhaps.

His icy blue eyes were as cold as his personality.

“Maybe you should stick with what you’re good at, Sebastian which is protecting and leaving the threats to the underdogs.” There was a flicker of disinterest in his eyes.

“Of course. Your only importance is your wealth because without it you’re just a sniveling little wolf with no backbone.” Seb retorted, a thin-lipped smile plastered on his face.

“Says the boy that his whole existence is attributed to her father. The irony is that you always have to serve them.” A sneer tainted his features and I couldn't believe his audacity.

“At least he has an existence outside of money. He is the Alpha of the largest park, the Protector’s pack, and you have what? Three yachts and a fancy car?” I deadpanned and Ryker turned to me about it saying something glib when another person finally arrived.

“Sorry, I’m late. I had a very interesting night.” There was no remorse in his words that was for sure. I spun around and my breath caught in my throat.

My eyes widened in shock, “Kade?”

His eyes met mine and his lips stretched upwards, “No wonder you were so feisty. I didn't think you would be our next Grand Alpha.”

The other two men looked between us, Seb frowned.

I couldn't meet his eyes because it felt like I had betrayed him. We hadn't had a proper conversation and I slept with another man just after my father died. Kade must think very low of me and I didn't want to find out Seb’s reaction. f**k my life.

“Now that we are all here, can we begin?” Ryker’s deep voice jolted me out of it and I stood in the middle of three of the most powerful men in the Realm.

“Yes, we can.”

“We are here to offer condolences for your father’s death and to take the next course of action which your father had wanted.” Ryker drawled, carelessly. The arrogance in him made my head pound the more.

I needed to grab something or I’d fall.

“Which is?”

“For us to get married. As your father’s closest confidante, it was his wish for us to get married, Anabella. An alliance that would be fitting, of course.” I took in a deep breath. We were supposed to go on a date but he was away on a trip and by the time he came back, my father was dead.

“What!? That is not happening!” Seb’s sharpness made me wince and the world spun around me. “She is not marrying you. She is my girlfriend. We didn't properly break up when I left to train, so it's only natural that she is with me, Ryker. Stop daydreaming. We all know what you truly want.” He sniggered.

“Marry you?” Kade asked Ryker before turning to Seb, “Get back together with you?” There was a reckless danger to him. Props of being the Alpha of the pack that runs the underground activities.

“My dear cousins, why would she do that when she had an amazing night with me?” He grinned and there was a pin-drop silence.

“What!?”

I didn't know who shouted but my vision became blurry, my breath coming in short. The three men I was entangled with were related by blood, cousins! Why was my life so messy? I couldn't do this. I couldn't be the Grand Alpha. I couldn't. I was too weak. I gasped.

The last thing I saw was Seb’s concerned eyes on me before everything turned black.