The Alpha's Pride

2

Pack light. Pack plain.

Uncle Noir's voice rang as I finished packing the last t-shirt into my backpack. My mother leaned against the wall, her face twisted in worry as she watched me pack.

"Are you sure you want to do it? You still have a few days to think about it." My mother questioned me. Her eyes softened as she watched me zip up my backpack.

“Yes, I’m sure.” I sat on the edge of my bed, seeing the discomfort of the idea written on her face.

“But the pack won’t be able to keep you safe."

"That's the point, mom. I'm going to be Alpha one day and I need to make sure I can protect them. I'll never grow up if I keep living under your protection." I sighed, running my hand through my hair as I attempted to calm my mother. She looked unmoved by my arguments, yet understood she could not talk me out of my decision. My mother sighed to herself in defeat and gave me a sad smile.

"You certainly have your father's blood." She laughed to herself, placing her hand on her shoulders. She attempted to make light of the situation before her face turned serious. "We will miss you, Oliver. The family won't be the same without you." I stood by my bed, wrapping my mother in a tight hug.

"I'll be safe mom." I smiled, pulling away from her hug. "Don't you have meetings today?" I questioned. She laughed in response, nodding her head in response.

"Yeah, I may have skipped my first one, but I didn't really have to be there anyway." She shrugged, attempting to make me feel better about passing off her work to make sure I was okay, just as she always had.

"And what about your second meeting? Wednesdays are always a rush for you."

"It's fine. If I rush, I can do it."

"Then rush! Mom, I'm fine. You head to your meetings. I don't leave until Friday. I'll just spend some time with Ricky and the twins."

"Well. If you insist you're fine." She patted my hand before leaving to make it to one of her many Alpha meetings.

I laid my backpack casually against my closet and left to see what the rest of the house was doing.

Maverick was sitting at the dining table, working on his Luna duties on the laptop. Meanwhile, the girls were in the backyard attempting to climb some of the larger trees.

"Good morning Oliver, You look more awake than usual." Maverick looked up from his computer, giving me a warm smile. "

"I am, yeah. Uncle Noir came for a quick visit." I returned his smile, shoving my hands in my pockets. At that point, it was only 11:30, a time I would usually just be waking up.

"Uncle Noir came by to quickly visit me this morning."

"Oh, what did he want," Ricky lightly prodded, his eyes revealing concern, but he attempted to hide it. He tried instead to sound casual.

No matter how much the two attempted to get along, it was easy to see that the two didn't like one another. Ricky would always find a reason to be out of the house when Noir showed up. He would often go shopping or even go on trips when Noir showed up. Noir, however, would simply ignore Maverick's entire existence.

"He stopped by to see if I wanted to go on a trip with him on Friday," I spoke casually, shrugging my shoulders. Ricky nodded his head in response, turning his attention partially back to the work that had to be done.

"Well, as long as you both are safe and your mother says it is okay.

"I will be," I reassured him, looking out the window at the girls halfway up one of the tall trees.

"Your Mom said she wouldn't be back until late. I'm thinking of calling the chef."

"As long as mom doesn't find out." I laughed before giving him a large grin "Good luck with that."

I felt a low vibration in my pocket, causing me to pull out my phone to see the message that flashed across the screen.

Park?

Sure, be there in 10

"I'm heading out with Ty, Amilia and Jayden". I looked up from my phone, Ricky peeked up from the top of the laptop before returning to his work.

"Okay, be safe. Text me if you need anything."

The park was almost completely empty, with only a few people hanging out in the playground watching their children. The group was waiting for me at the gazebo by the lake. Ty was sitting on top of the picnic table, a cigarette hanging from his lips. Amilia, his longtime girlfriend, rested casually between his legs, chatting with Jayden. Jayden was leaning against the railings of the gazebo, typing away on his phone.

"Hey guys, training finished early for you today?" I inquired, casually leaning against a railing next to Jayden. Between 18-19, all wolves within the pack had to go through three months of combat training in the case of war. As Alpha blood, however, I should have been trained from birth. Therefore, I was exempt from all normal pack training.

My mother and Ricky hired many different instructors to train me. However, each instructor attested to the fact that I simply wasn't good at combat. Maybe that would be a part of Noir's training for me.

"Yeah, we finished disarming combat early." Amilia nodded casually before grinning up at Ty. "And I kicked your ass too." Ty nodded his head in defeat, taking a heavy draw of his cigarette.

"I wish you could be doing the combat with us, Oliver, so I could have a partner I actually know." Jayden groaned. I laughed in response, patting his back playfully.

"You'll be fine Jayden, you just have to fight them. You don't actually have to talk to them." Ty piped up, causing Jayden to roll his eyes in response.

"Easy for you to say, you have Amilia to keep you company." He complained before looking at me. "So what do you think? There are still a few spaces left." he wiggled his eyes, practically pleading with me to join them in combat lessons.

"I would. But I can't". I shrugged my shoulders at them, looking between all three of them before continuing. "I'm going on a trip."

"Oh? Where are you going? When are you leaving?" Ty questioned, tapping the cigarette's used embers onto the ground beneath him.

"Uncle Noir is picking me up on Friday. I don't know where we'll be going yet.”

“Do you know anything about it?” Amilia piped up, leaning foreword from between Ty’s legs. Meanwhile, Ty flicked his cigarette to the ground, quickly stepping on the still lit embers.

“I know it involves humans?” I offered. All three friends faces turned completely stiff and void of any emotion.

“Are you sure that’s,” Jayden paused for a moment before continuing “safe?”

“Noir wouldn’t put me in danger.” I retorted to them calmly. The three looked at one another with a concerned look.

“Well yeah, we know he wouldn’t knowingly put you in danger. But man, humans literally used to hunt us for sport. They’re cruel and closed minded. You don’t think they would torture you or drag you off to some torture facility?” Ty spoke, his face filled with concern. Jayden, who noticed the look on my face, spoke up.

“We’re not telling you not to go. We’re just asking that you think about it and be careful.” Jayden nodded at me with a comforting smile.

“But really, f**k humans.” Ty interjected, the group nodded in agreement.

“f**k humans”