Alliance of Shadows: NEIL

Life has a way of blindsiding you when you least expect it, of upending everything you thought was going well and shoving you into situations you really don’t want to be in. One moment, you're caught up in the ordinary rhythm of your daily routine—doing workouts to stay toned in case of attacks, completing college courses, and watching your father remarry. Having single-handedly taken care of me and the pack since I was eight years old, I honestly thought he was within his rights to have a new woman at his side. When it turned out that she was the new Prosecutor for the city and his Mate? Well, the story speaks for itself. Damn, I got off course. What was I saying? Oh, right. Life handing out lemons and all that good stuff. Well, if you had your ducks in a row, then buckle up. From moment to moment, you're doing what needs to be done, then you’re grappling with news that shifts the very ground beneath your feet. Caution gives way to curiosity. For me, that day started like any other, but it soon took a turn that I didn’t anticipate. A turn that not even my closest friends would have ever seen coming. Allow me to take you back a little. Back to when she first arrived, moving into the place I called home – a huge six-story mansion on the outskirts of the city. To before her scent was in every nook and cranny and I was fighting a different kind of battle. The type of fight that steals your sanity if you let it. “Morning, Clara,” I grunted, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and running the tap to get myself a drink. Still dressed in my workout attire, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to deal with her or her tactics. What tactics, you might ask? Well, the kind where she tries in an attempt to get me to talk when I don’t want to. Instead of her usually bubbly nature and chipper, sing-song morning routine, she was demure, and lost deep in thought. “Neil, I need to speak to you and your father in my office. Would you mind getting him from the garage? He’s working on the SS Nova again.” “Uh… is something wrong?” I asked, hoping I hadn’t pissed her off. “It’s nothing to do with you, but something I need to talk to you both about since I’m about to upend your lives once again.” Clara, her long golden curls hiding her face, said. The hair might have hid her from view, but not the scent of tears that permeated the air around her. “Whatever. Yeah. I’ll go get Dad for you.” Once I finally pulled my father, the Alpha King, from his precious car, we headed to the Grand Luna’s office on the third floor. Without knocking, Dad walked in first, and I followed behind him quietly. I really wasn’t interested in what she had to say. She was just the replacement that happened to be Mated to my father. A replacement for the original Luna Queen: my mother. “So, what do you want?” “Neil!” My father’s sharp reprimand got him nothing but a snort and a raised brow. Yeah, I had an attitude, but I was also on my own for a nice chunk of my life. No friends – they were all off learning their own ranks and powers – and no father – he was basically a shell after my mother died. If there was one thing I was grateful to my stepmother for, it was that she somehow pulled him back from the brink of insanity and taught him it was okay to love again. “Ignore him, my dear. What is it?” My father asked, his Irish roots shining through in the tender (blah) way he spoke to her. Their verbal vomit wasn’t cute. Damn. Would that be me if I ever found her? My Mate? “I received word this morning that my sister and her husband have died.” She stated, her voice dulled. Wait, was that… disgust? I was sure she said the term husband with a hint of distain. Did she not like her sister’s Mate? Time to stir the pot. “How is that my problem? And why did it sound like you don’t like your sister’s Mate?” I asked. That… that might have been a stupid mistake to make in front of the one person remotely capable of making me wish I was dead. Dad got to his feet, the growl emanating from deep in his chest as his wolf spirit rose to the challenge. “You watch your mouth, Child.” “Okay, okay! I’m sorry. But still, what does it have to do with me?” I breathed out, already done with the day. “It’s got plenty, ye damn brat!” Dad snarled. “The child of my Mate’s sister is alone in the world. Bring her here, Clara. I will open my doors for her.” A fresh wave of tears gathered in her eyes as she looked at my father. “Thank you, my love. To be honest, Neil, no. I can’t stand the ground my sister or her chosen Mate walked on. My only concern was for her innocent daughter. Izaria.” A small voice of reason told me to listen, to engage and keep the peace within the family, but I was a rebel. My give-a-s**t-o-meter was busted. I knew I was being an asshole. I didn’t care. “Again, what does that have to do with me?” “I need you to help me keep her safe, Neil. She’s young and fragile after everything that’s happened to her.” Clara breathed out, her nostrils flaring. “Fine. Whatever. Don’t expect anything special,” I groused, leaving the office with dad’s growled warning trailing behind me. I hope he lost his voice for a while after that one. Six incredibly short days later, it happened. Clara went to get her niece, Dad was busy getting the Omega’s to handle prepping a room for her, and I was trying not to be seen. Some Alpha, huh? I was hiding out in the humongous oak that sat central on the plot of grass and flowers surrounded by hedges when they arrived from the airport. From my vantage point, I could see her in the back seat of Clara’s Mazda. She got out, her long mahogany hair shimmering in the midday sunlight as she moved to the boot of the car. What I saw was pathetic. There she was, a girl only about the height of one of my n*****s, with only the clothes on her back and one lousy suitcase. I had been expecting more. Maybe even a demand to go shopping or something, but she quietly followed her aunt into the mansion. Staying put, I looked at the hall window to the fourth floor, where they were showing her into the room… uh… Hell no! Right across from mine? What kind of Devil’s Lettuce was my father smoking?! Hold on… right. That room was one of the smaller ones, while I still owned the largest room on that floor. Good. By her reaction to the room – a hug and sad smile for her aunt – it was clear that she was happy enough to get what she already received. She didn’t even seem to care that it was one of the smallest rooms, and it made me think that she would eventually want more. “Probably some prissy little princess,” I muttered darkly. Balancing on the limb of the Oak, I put my hands behind my head and crossed one ankle over my knee. “Dad’s probably going to… to… What the hell? The Hyacinth’s weren’t in season, so why was I smelling them? And… I sniffed the air again, my mouth watering. “I wonder if Laura is baking again.” “Alpha Neil, your father is looking for you.” An Omega… Oh, right, her name was Sondra – said. I looked down at her, giving her a bored look. “Your point?” “Moody, aren’t you, Alpha Prince?” She shook her head. “I was just relaying the message.” “Hey, Sondra, is Laura baking sugar cookies?” I asked before I could stop myself. “Laura is visiting her mother in the hospital today, so that’s a no.” She answered before walking off to handle whatever it was she was doing. How strange… I thought. It was rather surreal to smell things that weren’t even there. Was I the one going nuts? Dropping the twenty feet to the soft grass below, I nailed the landing and stood up. Walking into the garage where I knew my father would be, I sighed heavily. “What now?” “I got a nice right hook for that damned attitude of yers, boy.” My father snapped. “Now, you saw the girl, I assume?” “Yeah, and?” He threw the wrench in his hand at me, but I caught it and set it down in the toolbox. “Get it together, Neil! I want you to watch over her. Let her explore the lands, but do not, under any circumstance, tell her about the existence of our world. Not magic, not wolves, not even them damned Fox Shifters, ya hear? Her mind, it isn’t ready for that.” I raised a brow. “Seriously?” “As Alpha King, I demand your understanding and uncharacteristic compliance,” he snapped. Ah. There it was. The Alpha command. My body tensed as I tried to fight it, but it was no use. I fell to bended knee, my head tilted to show my inner wolf’s most vulnerable spot: the neck. A submission I was aching and fighting to rebel against, yet I was losing. My father earned his place when his father thought it would be fun to set his own son against the strongest Warriors the pack contained. It was a powerplay, and my dad proved his worth my handing the Lead Warriors head to my grandfather on a platter. Literally.