The Alpha’s Only Daughter

Layla’s POV I looked down at the stats from the daily report handed to me by my father’s Beta and sighed. Another member of my father’s pack was found dead this morning by the edge of our territory. My pack, I corrected myself. This is my pack. I swallowed hard and prepared myself for some more grim news as I mind-linked to my mother. Mom, how is Dad doing? No response. She must have been talking to our pack doctor or tending to one of my father’s many needs. Or she was avoiding me, which had become the norm since I turned seventeen and began creeping up in age to find my mate who would take my father’s place. To be honest, I wanted to avoid me too. Or at least, I wanted to avoid turning eighteen. I had never cared about this moment before until my dad came back from a seemingly normal border patrol mangled and barely alive when I was fifteen. I can still remember my mother’s screams as she simultaneously felt her mate being ripped and torn to shreds before other members of our pack came to his aid and brought him home. Her sobs as he was wheeled into the pack hospital are etched in my memory. I grew up that day and every day after since. Before that moment I had just wanted to train to be the best she-wolf/future Luna I could be and wear pretty clothes, do my hair, or ogle over boys when I was just me. My mom and I were so close. When my dad came back hurt, things changed quickly. My mom and I no longer talked about what my commitment ceremony might look like or what my daily duties would be as the pack’s Luna. Instead, she would ask me to come to my father’s office and then leave me with my father, who I suddenly realized I barely knew, who would teach me how to be the Alpha. So that I could teach my future mate. I can’t say that I was not bitter initially. This was never supposed to happen this way. I was supposed to find my mate and then the rest would fall into place naturally. My father would teach him how to be Alpha and then step down on my 21st birthday to hand the titles of Alpha and Luna to my mate and me. Or if we go back even further, my stillborn older brother should have taken Alpha and I should have been normal, old Layla. Free to do anything she likes. But things didn’t work out that way. My father, Alaric Ghostwalker, was seemingly cursed. The only good thing that ever happened to him was that he found his mate in my mother the day before his eighteenth birthday, which was unheard of. After that, nothing good came. My mother, Elizabeth, became pregnant only a year after they mated. They were anxious and a little scared of being parents as they took on the titles of Alpha and Luna within the next year. But something happened, and before they became Alpha and Luna, my mother gave birth to a stillborn male pup. My parents never talked in depth with me about this, so the details I learned were gathered from around the pack and listening to my parents’s whispers when they thought I was not around. Alaric and Elizabeth had to wait another 20 years before I was born. Rumor has it that my mother never left the bed the whole pregnancy to ensure that nothing would happen to me. But 38 years of being Alpha can be rough on a werewolf’s body, and after what happened to my dad, it was clear that he may not be here for much longer. And because of that, I had taken over the day to day Alpha duties despite the fact that I would never truly be Alpha. “Layla, how would you like to proceed?” James asked with worry drawn all over his face. James had faithfully been my father’s Beta for the past 38 years and my father’s best friend for the past 50 years. He had never found his mate, so therefore he had never had any pups. Because of this, he was like a second father to me. I looked up at him and sucked in a breath before blowing it out. “If it’s possible, I would like to double the patrol at night and bring in the perimeter a little bit.” James looked rightfully concerned. “Are you not afraid of losing that territory if all of this is another pack’s doing?” I blinked, holding back tears because I felt as if I was failing my pack. “I can’t lose another member of this pack.” He nodded, “Perhaps things will change for the better soon.” I swallowed hard and looked down again. I knew he meant my upcoming birthday. It was in less than a week. My mother was currently putting together a celebration for this coming Friday, but I knew what it was really for—to find my mate, our future Alpha, as soon as possible. Everyone hoped for another Alpha’s son for me, whether it be from a neighboring pack or farther away. My mother had invited everyone she could get ahold of. Even Betas had been invited. We couldn’t risk leaving the title empty and my father’s condition was not getting any better. I looked up and smiled at him, my lips forming a thin line, unable to hide the fact that none of this was pleasant for me. “Please have our some of our omegas bring food to our newly deceased member’s family. I’m sure Layton’s wife and children are devastated.” “I am on it. Is there anything else we should do?” I shook my head, “Not right now.” He nodded and began to exit. “Thank you, James.” He stopped at the door and nodded again, and then left the room. I sat down in my father’s chair. I had never felt so small in a chair as I did in the Alpha’s chair. It wasn’t even the chair, it was the whole office. It never quite felt inviting. I closed my eyes and braided my long black hair as I thought of all the things I used to do before taking this on. I missed my best friend Camila. She had recently mated to our Delta’s son. I considered Louis to be the next Beta if I had to choose, seeing as our Beta line was ending. But I knew my Alpha would likely be the one to choose his Beta, potentially even bringing him from his own pack. I decided to mind-link her. Cami, are you around? It took a moment, I am currently indisposed. But I can come to you in a moment? I could feel her blushing through the connection. She had always been very private, but it’s hard to hide what a mate bond does to a couple and she was having a hard time with her bedroom life being public knowledge. Take your time, I’ll meet you in the kitchen. The connection closed and I chuckled. Only to follow it immediately with a sigh. Would I ever have a moment of reprieve to be able to enjoy my mate the way she does? Or would I even find my mate? James had never found his. And who is to say the curse did not pass down to me from my father? If I did find my mate, would I be able to have pups normally? There were too many concerning questions circling around my brain. Panic started to creep in, so before I could sit and wallow in my various problems, I got up and headed for the kitchen. As I opened the door to the office to exit, I was surprised to see my mother standing at the door.