Chapter Two
John
I didn’t want to go to New York. I was happy being on the East Coast, but I understood that my brother, my alpha needed me to take his place. Because I was an Omega, I was able to keep him from falling deeper into moon sickness but only due to the cost of the pack. He had gone too long without a mate. An alpha without a mate was bad news for the pack. He starts turning to his wolf more and more. A mate keeps him grounded enough for him to be able to take on his responsibilities and shift without any issues.
After talking to Aiden about the pack I was about to visit, I was nervous. Their former alpha was coldblooded and cruel, doing whatever he could to get his daughter back and to use her as a pawn in his own selfish endeavors. Would it benefit his pack? Possibly, but at what costs? He told me that was how that alpha ran the pack.
We’ve come a long way in improving our laws in how we treat our pack members and our mates, especially females. Our Council had spent many painstaking years trying to rebuild our packs and rewrite our laws. They have stepped in on a few occasions to take over when a pack master felt they could not be swayed into following any new laws or when an alpha decided to attempt to break their pack away from the Council, making it their own entity. That would prove dangerous for us and the humans as we tried to hide ourselves from them as best as we could.
Aiden and I share the same father. He was a great alpha to our pack and taught us to respect our pack members, especially our females, and to keep the humans from knowing anything about us. He was a little tougher when it came to being a father. He was harder on me when he found out what I was to the point that he spent more time with Aiden, coaching him into taking over for him as alpha. I guess, deep down, he wanted two wolves that were dominant enough that when Aiden took his role as alpha, I would be strong enough to be his second. To have such a dynamic would strengthen the pack and help it grow.
When it came time for our father to step down, he was the only one who disagreed with Aiden’s choice to make me second-in-command. The Council said it wasn’t the best choice, but they would allow it as we needed an omega. Aiden had to choose a more dominant wolf for a third-in-command though.
I remember when he tried to offer the position to our cousin, Vince, but Vince declined it. Not long after that, Vince told us he wanted to go rogue. Aiden wasn’t happy but he had no choice in the matter. He told Vince that he would still be considered part of the pack and had to check in from time to time.
I truly hoped that Aiden knew what he was doing choosing Vince as pack master. He’s a great guy, but I was sure that he needed the freedom to come and go whenever he wanted to without the worry of being restrained by rules. I also hoped that Aiden had a backup plan in case Vince declined.
I didn’t want to be in New York longer than I had to. In fact, I prayed that I didn’t have to be there for three weeks. I had a feeling that I would be. I was fortunate to have Paul with me. He should’ve been Aiden’s choice to step in as alpha, if not take on the role of pack master. In my honest opinion, Paul was a more dominant wolf and a much better choice than Vince.