An Alpha's Promise

Four

Colin

I stood there watching Cataleya drive away. Celian is whining in my head. If only Cataleya knew that I broke things between us to protect her. The prophecy I received 11 years ago said she would die, and it would be my fault. Her death was something I could never survive. I didn’t care if I suffered for the rest of my life without Cataleya. At least she would be alive, at least the world would still have her smile. Cataleya is human, and from what I could tell, she didn’t know about the existence of supernatural beings. I was scared she wouldn’t accept me as a wolf, much less an alpha, and the responsibilities that came with it.

But now that has changed. You’re not an alpha anymore. Celian reiterated.

I may not be an alpha anymore, but I’m still an elder of the council.

I let Celian take control and went on a run to clear my mind. The encounter with Cataleya left us uneasy, but we needed to devise a plan to make up for all the pain and sadness we caused her. This was our second chance, our promise.

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

Eleven years ago, my phone rang as I hung up with Cataleya. We sort of had an awkward, maybe even a little hostile, conversation about s*x or lack of thereof but we're going to dinner after she got off class. Whenever things got heated between us, I stopped. I couldn’t risk Celian going to the surface and frightening her. Hopefully, today we can sort everything out and I can explain shifters to her. I had a whole romantic evening planned. Also, the fact that I was still married was an issue we needed to discuss; I needed to come clean. There was no doubt in my mind that I would be getting a divorce as soon as I got back home because I had found her, my mate. But I knew how it looked to anyone viewing it from the outside, and that’s why I have been putting it off. Guy meets a young girl and fills her head with empty promises like he’ll leave his wife but never does, just to make her his mistress. It’s a story as old as time but it wasn’t like that. I valued Cataleya so much more. Celian and I couldn’t stand hiding part of ourselves from her. We needed to face the music and hope she would accept us.

As I looked down at the phone, thinking it was Cataleya again, I saw it was a call from Alex, my Beta.

“Alex.” I greeted him.

“Alpha.” His voice sounded tense and conflicted; I could feel he had more to say.

I stayed silent giving him the space to say what he needed to say.

“Emery just had a vision. It’s a bad one, her eyes we bloodshot.”

Emery is Alex’s daughter. Emery, Brant, and his wife Carla were in a horrible car accident. Emery watched her mother die. Emery also died for a few minutes before she was brought back to life by her older brother Brant. After the accident, her mother’s gift was transferred to her as the pack’s prophetess. But Emery’s gifts were far different from her mother's. It was both a blessing and a curse to see and speak with the dead as Emery did. I think her exposure to death in the accident changed her. Emery’s vision could change depending on decisions made in current events. They weren’t set in stone, but some of the visions are about immediate events. We do our best to forward the information when pertinent to prevent tragedies. The visions give us an advantage, kind of like a heads up, over certain situations.

“Is it about the pack?” I asked Alex

“No. It’s about your mate, Alpha.”

Celian and I growled.

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

Present

First, it’s clear that Cataleya needs some space, but leaving Crescent Valley to go home doesn’t sound appealing anymore. Nevertheless, some distance between us would be a good idea.

Just not that much distance.

Celian is going insane with the idea of being far from Cataleya, but I needed a moment to regroup my thoughts before I approach her again, I need to get my head together. I don’t want to make another mistake and cause her harm. Well, more than what I’ve already caused to Cataleya. Impulsivity caused me to lose her last time, I won’t make that mistake again.

I came to the Western Region to investigate an uprising in rouge sightings in a few Western Packs, including my pack, Crescent Moon Pack. The Elder Council took notice of the frequency of rouges attacks in the area and sent a few of the elders, of which now I was one. Zack, my firstborn, became alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack about 2 years ago when he turned 18. He’s 20 now. I stepped down as alpha of the pack when Zack came of age because he found his mate, Kristin, at 18. I felt the pack needed an Alpha and a Luna to guide them, and not a cranky old bastard. Two years ago, we started the transition of power. While the transition happened, I stayed on the pack's land because it was close to the company as well. Once Zack had a handle on the pack, I became an Elder and moved away to a new city. I needed a fresh start. Miles, my youngest son, will become CEO of the company if that’s what he decides. But the company is his if he chooses. Both my sons are board members, but only Miles works for the company.

Zack and Miles’s mother, Hanna, wasn’t my mate, and I wasn’t hers. After years passed, and I still hadn’t found my mate. The elders suggested we get married so I could have an heir to the pack. We never marked each other. Hanna was just the right she-wolf to get married to. She came from a respectable family as well as a long line of alphas, we knew our pups would be strong. Hanna’s mother was the second daughter of a European alpha, but her mate was a Gamma in a neighboring pack, and they relocated to the states.

After I met Cataleya, Hanna and I got divorced, which is uncommon and almost unheard of in shifters. I wasn’t going to stand in the way of her happiness if she ever found her mate. I knew what rejecting a mate would do to a wolf. Even if they didn’t reject each other, I also knew how unhappy Hanna would’ve been staying in a loveless marriage. I will be forever grateful to the Moon Goddess for her. Hanna gave me two beautiful sons. She deserved to have that once-in-a-lifetime love. A few years after I found Cataleya, Hanna found her mate, Alpha Patrick, but before Hanna found Patrick, she blamed me for a long time for breaking up our family. As soon as I arrived from leaving Cataleya I was frantic, and I immediately broke it with Hanna. I became distant after I found Cat, especially towards Hanna, even though I cared deeply about her, it wasn’t as lovers anymore. I admit my faults. Instead, I channeled my frustration into other aspects of my life; turned obsessive about training our warriors, creating and expanding the new company and my legacy. I worked myself and Celian to exhaustion. Anything to avoid the pain and hollowness in my chest.