The Alpha's Shadowed Bond

The Alpha No One Asked

Ares

The howls of the Blood Moon Pack are still echoing through the night when I realise Uncle Damon is looking at me. I cock a brow.

“What do you want?” I ask. He smiles as if expecting that very response.

Yeah, Jayce took his rightful place. The firstborn becomes the Alpha, something that has happened since the beginning. He has inherited Dad’s Alpha power, leaving Uncle Damon with none. That annoying smile makes me want to give him the finger, but that’s a tad immature.

His smile continues to grow as if he’s finding something amusing, and it’s only pissing me off.

“Fucking weird old man,” I mutter, turning away from him. Carter cocks a brow as if I’m the problem.

Uncle Damon will get sworn back in as Alpha now.

I don’t need to linger; it’s nothing special.

I take one last look at Jayce – he somehow looks different.

And it’s not just because he’s become Alpha…

I’m not sure if it’s his mate, him finally realising where he belongs, or maybe it is the power that was destined to be his.

It suits him.

But no one is ever going to drag that out of me. As far as everyone else is concerned, my opinion is that he has been handed it all on a silver platter. Some of it he has. Asshole.

My eyes flicker back to Uncle Damon, who, although now standing beside Dad, is still looking at me, and I almost growl in irritation. The fuck is he looking at?

Don’t make your distaste for Jayce becoming Alpha so clear, brother; it’s not a good look, Carter says through the mind-link.

I look at him and narrow my eyes. Don’t make me break your teeth; you already don’t have much going for you, I snarl.

He rolls his eyes as if I’m annoying, and I swear, if Uncle Dickwad Damon looks at me one more time, I’m going to-

“I know everyone is expecting me to be sworn back in as Alpha, but I have decided that I will be stepping down.” I stop, surprise flickering in my eyes at Uncle Damon’s words. He’s looking at Dad now, who smiles at him. Jayce also doesn’t seem surprised.

Right… So both packs will become one…

Things are going to get a lot louder in my head. I can already imagine Asher annoying the fuck out of me at all hours.

A murmur ripples through the Blue Moon pack members who were currently expecting Damon to reclaim the title; everyone was. The information is obviously new to most; even Grandad looks shocked.

“The pack will not become one with the Blood Moon Pack either,” Dad says, answering the question that is probably playing on many people’s minds. I frown, then what?

Are they about to make Artemis Alpha? She’s a decent fighter, strong enough to make it into Midnight Academy, but she’s no alpha…. My frown vanishes as I look sharply at Uncle Damon, who is speaking, as a thought settles into my head.

“It will remain its own pack and one that will technically no longer even be considered a sub-pack since the Alpha power would not be borrowed.” He looks at Dad and smiles. But my mood is souring; the long looks, that knowing smile…

Right, this is where I slip away. Being the shortest brother doesn’t really do shit when everyone else around us is still fucking shorter than us all. I turn, making my way quietly through the crowd, but I’m barely four metres away from the stage when Uncle Damon’s voice makes me stop.

“This time, an Alpha-born will lead this pack to new heights. It would be my greatest honour to call to the stage your new Alpha! Ares Westwood!”

I close my eyes. I’ve always tolerated – ok, maybe liked Uncle Damon, but right now I’m wondering how I can turn him into a football and kick him around the entire Blue Moon territory until he’s as black and blue as his pack’s namesake.

I feel all eyes on me as I turn and look at Dad and the soon-to-be football, and narrow my eyes. “No.”

My wolf stirs, and I can feel my aura swirling around me, subtle and restrained, but there.

Dad looks at me, but Uncle Damon just smiles and exchanges one look with Dad before he steps off the stage. I shove my hands in my pockets and walk away.

You always wanted to be Alpha, Carter’s sharp voice comes through the link.

Ares, don’t cause a scene. What are you doing, man? Come back, Lord Jayce commands, as if his command matters.

Hey, you’ll make a good Alpha. Come on, Renji says, trying to calm the tension between the four of us.

No, I’m only chosen because Thickhead Theo ain’t here. If he was, he would have been chosen; I’m just the spare.

“Ares,” Uncle Damon says as he catches up to me at the edge of the clearing. I turn to look at him, only to find Royce’s sister watching me over his shoulder.

Charlotte Arden has one eyebrow raised, but it’s fucking pointless when her hair is sitting about three inches higher than what’s considered natural and is clearly winning whatever competition her face is trying to start.

“What are you looking at, Arden?” I ask.

The eyebrow rises a further quarter of a centimetre. “You,” she says. I narrow my eyes, but Uncle Damon cuts between us. “Walk with me; just hear me out,” he says softly.

I don’t like this.

Not one fucking bit.

Still, I follow him away from the crowd, because if I don’t, he’ll probably say whatever he wants to say right here, and I hate people in my fucking business, especially those pretending they’re life-sized dolls with too much free access to hairspray that it should be illegal.

We stop near the edge of the garden, beneath one of the trees wrapped in fairy lights, and I feel a sensation around me, knowing Sienna has probably cast a spell. One smile and nod from Uncle Damon confirms it.

Who else was in on this fucking shit?

“Look, I know it’s sudden, but-”

“Yeah, it is. I don’t need a charity pack,” I cut in.

“It’s my life’s work…” Uncle Damon says, looking mildly offended. “Not a charity. It’s an incredible pack, Ares, one who deserves a strong Alpha in their stead.”

I fold my arms, looking away. The Blue Moon Pack has always been tied to the Blood Moon Pack, always close enough that the lines between them blurred, but it is still its own pack.

Its own people. Its own history. A pack that followed Uncle Damon because Dad gave him that place, because he earned it, because he stood there and carried what came with it.

I wanted to be Alpha at one point, by competing for it, not because I was simply given it.

“Yeah, and if Theo were here, you’d have picked him,” I growl.

His faint smile vanishes. “No. I debated between you and your brothers, but I didn’t even consider Theo.”

“Because the dickhead ain’t here.”

Uncle Damon sighs. “I was thinking this would be easier if I just announced it publicly… This isn’t charity, Ares.”

“It is. If you think I’m becoming Alpha of a pack I didn’t ask for, then you’re in for another surprise.”

“No one asks for titles like this,” he replies, calm in a way that only irritates me more.

“But such responsibility is placed on the shoulders of those who can carry it. The final battle is destined to be held here, on these grounds, and when it does, the Blue Moon Pack will need to be at its strongest, to protect its brother pack with an alpha strong enough to lead at its head, and there is no one in either pack more worthy of that title than you.”

“There’s Renji or Carter.” Although I don’t like that bastard right now.

“Making hard decisions requires a special skill, and you are the best fit for the job, Ares. Nothing changes that. So I need- We need you to accept it. Because you are not just an alpha spare; you were born an alpha in your own right. One day, I believe all five of you will have your own packs, and I am simply handing you yours a little earlier.”

“Not convinced,” I say, glancing across at some of the Blue Moon members. I used to beat up the Blue Moon kids at training, and picking on them was one of my favourite pastimes. They definitely wouldn’t want me as their Alpha.

“But I am. Your dad is, too.”

“I’m not Dad.”

“I know that, and I don’t need you to be anyone other than you.”

“If I accept, I’m not listening to you or Dad try to puppeteer the show from the shadows. If I accept, Uncle Damon, I will make every decision, and I will answer to no one.” I look him in the eye, and his smile is gone, replaced by something determined.

“That is what I want.”

Does he, though?

“I’m asking you to become Alpha Ares of the Blue Moon Pack, not the face of the pack,” he continues.

The title sounds strange, not one I imagined either…

“You’re loyal,” he says, ignoring me. “You notice everything, even when you pretend not to care. You complain first, but you’re already there, ready to protect. You don’t like politics, which frankly might be refreshing after some of the nonsense I’ve sat through.”

I scowl. “This is supposed to convince me? Because it isn’t.”

“No. This is me telling you why you’ll be good at it.”

I look away again, jaw tightening.

Across the garden, Jayce is speaking to Sienna, his hand resting at her waist, his posture relaxed despite the power now sitting on his shoulders. He was always meant for this, even when he tried to run from it. There was never really a question of who he was beneath it.

Alpha.

Deimos King.

The bastard had titles chasing him from every direction.

Me?

Ceremonies make me want to jump off something high enough to cause damage. I hate speeches. I hate being watched. I hate being expected to say the right thing when most people deserve the wrong one.

“I don’t want people to look to me for answers; it’s fucking annoying.”

Uncle Damon chuckles. “You may not realise it, but they already do.”

“No, they don’t.”

Uncle Damon gives me a dry look. “You think those kids kept coming back to you during training because you’re friendly?”

“Friendly?” I scoff.