2

Axel

“Hurry up, Logan! Dad’s going to beat our ass if we’re late once again,” I shouted, glancing back at Logan, who was trailing behind me.

“It’s your fault!” He bit back. “If you weren’t Mister Popular and didn’t have to talk to so many people on the way, then we would have reached the training grounds by now.”

I chuckled. “Don’t act like you weren’t chatting up Trina under the bleachers. I was the one who was waiting for you to finish. I’m glad that you finally had the guts to talk to her. You’ve been crushing on her since what? 8th grade?” I asked, nudging his shoulders.

Ever since Logan came to our house, we’ve been pretty much inseparable. Although we weren’t brothers by blood, I felt like we were brothers by heart. We already went through a lot together—we played, went to school, endured our father’s training, and even suffered punishments together.

I noticed that Logan didn’t respond to my question, so I stopped running and glanced back at him. He bit his lips and looked down on the ground, looking disappointed.

“What happened, bro?” I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Nothing important. Trina just told me that she liked somebody else.”

I frowned. “Who?” I asked, concern laced in my voice.

He didn’t respond and just looked me straight in the eyes. I cocked my head to the side in confusion. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Just then, a deep and intimidating voice interrupted our conversation. It didn’t take a genius to find out that the source of the voice belonged to none other than my father.

“So, talking about girls is more important than the training now, huh?”

Our eyes both widened in shock, none of us bothering to turn around. I grimaced as I heard his footsteps nearing us, the ground shaking with every step.

I chuckled nervously and finally turned around, ready to get down on my knees and plead for his forgiveness. Although my father was a great and loving parent, I still fear him as the Alpha of our pack. He once made Logan and I run around our borders for ten times as punishment for attending a party rather than going on night watch.

“Dad—” I started off, but he held onto our ears and dragged us to the training grounds before we could even explain ourselves.

Our groans of pain were the only things heard as we made our way to the training grounds. The other wolves and even some of our schoolmates were watching on the sidelines as father roughly pushed us down the dry bedrocks.

“Shift,” he commanded.

We both scrambled to get up and looked at him in confusion. “What? Why would we shift, dad?” Logan asked, wiping his soiled hands on his jeans.

My father ignored his question and repeated his command. “Shift,” he said in an even aggravated voice.

Without any hesitation, I shifted into my silver wolf, making the bystanders exclaim in awe. My ears perked up when I heard them praising my rare wolf. There weren’t many people that had silver-colored fur, so it was definitely an extraordinary sight. In our pack and possibly in the entire world, only my father and I had this gift.

As Logan saw my wolf, he also shifted into his black one. Black wolves were also on the rarer side, but there were a handful of black wolves in our pack. We both stood in front of each other, puzzled as to why our father asked us to shift in the middle of the training grounds.

“Now, spar,” he said, making us turn to him.

“What?” I asked out of shock.

“Do I need to repeat myself every time? This is your punishment for being late. Did you forget that I was supposed to announce who’s going to inherit the Alpha position this afternoon? How could you both be late for this ceremony?”

Shit, I cursed in my mind. That totally flew over my head! It seems like Logan and I had the same thought as we both guiltily looked at each other.

I stretched out my paws and cracked my neck. “Sorry, bro,” I uttered in our mind link and got ready to fight with him.

We circled around each other while maintaining eye contact. I observed the way he maneuvered his body, trying to spot any weaknesses that I could attack. Suddenly, a blur of black moved past my vision, and Logan quickly pounced at me from behind. However, I wasn’t caught off guard.

I internally smirked. Wrong move, baby!

Just as he pounced on me, I turned around and bit his stomach, making him howl in pain. I bit enough to hurt him but not enough to draw out blood from his body. It seems like he was maddened by my action, as his movements started becoming quicker and more aggressive.

He managed to cut a gash on my ear, and I saw as blood dripped down on the dry gravel. I scoffed. So, this is how he’s going to play, huh?

Our bodies collided with each other, both of us eager to get a nip out of the other’s flesh. When I saw his unguarded shoulder, I quickly sank my teeth on the fur-covered area, eliciting a growl from him. He tried to shake me off, but I didn’t let him. Instead, with all my strength, I picked him up using my teeth and flung him to a nearby tree.

A loud thud resounded within the training grounds, followed by the gasps of the people. Logan growled and slowly got up, now having a murderous glint in his eyes. I froze for a second. Logan had never looked at me this way, not even when he always lost during our sparring. He sprinted to where I was, and I could feel that he was out for my blood.

Before his teeth could touch my flesh, my father went in between us and held us both in our necks. I stayed calm, but Logan kept on snapping his teeth at me. My father sighed and commanded Logan to calm down. After a couple of moments, his body finally relaxed, and his breathing became stable.

“Shift back,” my father said, tossing both of us a pair of shorts. I quickly ran behind a tree and shifted to my human form, wearing the shorts that my father gave. The both of us came out, none of us bothering to speak after the bloody fight. I had a cut on my ear while he had various wounds on his body.

Dad started walking towards the platform and gestured for us to follow him. We obediently followed behind him, then stood in front of our pack members.

“Greetings, my constituents,” dad started off. We all bowed in respect and waited for his announcement.

“I’m sorry for the minor delay in my announcement. If my sons weren’t late, then we would have started on time,” he said, glancing at the both of us.

I smiled sheepishly and bowed my head down to signify my remorse.

“I know that you are all aware why I have called you here. Since my sons have come of age, it is time for them to replace my position as the Alpha and take over the pack. I have been training them thoroughly for the past years so they can protect you just as I did, and now I believe that both of them are ready.”

He cleared his throat before he continued. “It is a shame that only one of them can be the Alpha, but that’s the rule of the pack—only the strongest can be the Alpha.”

Just as he uttered those words, I felt my palms becoming clammy. My heart started beating faster while I waited for what he was going to say next.

“Without further ado, I present to you the new Alpha of the Silver Raven Pack—Alpha Axel Steele!”

The crowd erupted into cheers while I stood frozen in my spot, unable to comprehend what my father had just said. I wandered my eyes to look at the pack members—my people. I raised my hands up in victory, eliciting another round of cheers from them.

“Alpha Axel! Alpha Axel!” They chanted in unison, making me smile. Everything felt surreal. I’ve always imagined being the Alpha of our pack, and now I’m finally here.

I glanced at Logan, who was at my side, expecting him to be smiling proudly at me. However, what I saw was the complete opposite. He glared at me with profound hatred, making me frown. His fists were clenched in anger, and it seemed like he loathed every hair on my body.