Prologue

- - Prologue - - 

THREE YEARS AGO

Brax’s pov

"So, can I have a hug to say goodbye?" Airk asked me.

"Sure," I replied, opening my arms. Airk moved his small frame towards mine and placed his head against my chest.

"I’ll miss you."

It felt right to hold him, but it shouldn’t. Airk was only fifteen, and I was eighteen and unmated. Perhaps in time we would find out we were mates, but speculating about future mates is something my mother always warned me about.

At the White Claw pack where I grew up after we left home, it wasn’t allowed to speculate about mates. You weren’t permitted to date anyone without a wolf, once you turned eighteen, either. You wouldn’t want to risk someone falling for you before they met their true mate.

Of course, people still dated in secret, but it was much easier to get my freak on once I turned eighteen six months ago. I had experimented with whoever seemed interesting. I didn’t want to limit myself to just one gender; I could find something attractive in almost anyone.

But Airk, Goddess. He was special. But he was fifteen and Alpha Asher’s son. I was a guest here at the Iron River pack, where I got extra training to become an Alpha before trying to get my pack back. I thought I’d have more time to get ready, but an opportunity arose for Alpha Asher’s daughter to take over as Alpha and for us to win my pack back together.

It would be Aeryn’s first chance to prove herself, but I wasn’t worried she wouldn’t deliver. That girl could kick ass.

Suddenly, I realized Airk and I had been holding each other for at least a few minutes. It felt good holding him and relaxing. His scent was amazing, and he fit right into my arms.

‘If by relaxing you mean you have a massive boner right now, then sure, let’s call it relaxing,’ my wolf Hudson teased.

Shit.

I had no clue if Airk noticed, but if he did, he was playing it cool. It was funny; between him and his twin brother, he was the calm and shy one. But around me, he was different. He was the one chasing me, instead of me trying to get him.

Airk pulled away, and his hand brushed my dick. He looked up with a smirk, and I shook my head, "don’t Air."

He got the nickname when he kicked the wind out of my lungs during a heated sparring match. He literally made me stop having air for a moment.

"Why not? You clearly like me; I mean, just look at you," he teased, biting his lip.

Damn, he was hot. His brother, Argo, was the total opposite of Airk. They were definitely not identical twins. Not only was Argo straight, but he had curls, and his mixed heritage was a lot more visible. While Airk was passing as white with his blond hair, green eyes, and white skin. Argo was a lot more muscular too, but I kind of liked Airk’s lean physique and the fact that he was shorter than me. It made me feel even bigger.

‘Which is saying a lot, since most people compare your body type to a bear.’ Hudson said inside my head, teasing me once more. He was more cheerful when Airk was around as well.

"I do. But you’re fifteen and off limits." I replied to Airk, looking down at him with a stern look.

"And once I’m older?"

I chuckled, "we’ll see, Airk Omari."

He smiled, "you know, we Omari are really stubborn. Once we want something, it’s hard for us to give it up."

I shook my head, laughing at this brave boy in front of me. "Good to know, Air."

"Good luck, Brax. Or should I say Alpha Brax?" Airk replied with a smirk.

"It will always be Brax to you," I replied before walking off. Why did I say that? It sounded so serious.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The trip to my old pack, the Blood Rock pack, was several hours, but it gave me time to calm my mind and heart. It had been years since I had been here.

"Are you nervous?" Elora asked me.

I had picked her as my beta just a few days ago, but from the moment I met her, I felt a connection to her. As Airk’s big sister, it wasn’t easy for her parents to let her go. Elora had a difficult childhood. She had been kidnapped with her big sister, Aeryn, and raised at a school for young girls since she was three. Just a few years ago, she had reconnected with her family, and now I was taking her away from them.

"Are you nervous?" I replied with a wink.

"Yeah. But that’s normal, right?" she replied.

"Do you think it will feel like home to you there?" I asked instead of answering her question.

She shrugged. "I thought once I found my family again, I’d feel at home. But I didn’t. Did you feel at home at the Silver Claw pack?"

I shook my head, "no. It’s my family’s pack, but I always knew I’d be back here to claim what was mine. My father might have been a piece of shit, but he was the Alpha and that makes me his heir. Not that poor excuse of a beta that’s running things now."

"Do you think it will take long?" Elora asked, and I knew what she really meant. She was recently mated to her boyfriend, Darian. Like me, he had liked Elora since she was younger. He had felt a connection to her when she was fifteen, but he waited until she was seventeen. Thank the goddess they were mates, because that would have been a lot of drama otherwise.

"We’ll be fucking fine," Storm, Alpha Aeryn’s mate, growled. "Now focus, because we’re almost there."

I liked him, but he could be so serious, while I liked to approach life with some humor and positivity. He was the perfect mate for Alpha Aeryn, though, supporting her and their daughter like few alpha men I had met.

We stayed with an allied pack, forming a strategy. They were older than me and had more experience, but deep down, I didn’t want to win my pack back with plans, decoys, or secret entrances. I wanted to get Beta Wesley, or I should call him Alpha Wesley, to fight me one-on-one. Skip the whole war and just get it over with. Whoever was left standing was the alpha of the Blood Rock pack.

Elora and I discussed it before the attack early in the morning, unsure if we should mention my plan to the rest. I would only try this if I saw a window of opportunity. If I was sure it could work.

This was my pack, and I didn’t want any casualties if it could be avoided. Like my father, Alpha Wesley hired soldiers with pack finances instead of training our own members. And money didn’t mean loyalty. If those soldiers realized I had the rightful claim and they’d lose, they would hopefully go back to their families.

"I am Brax, the son of former Alpha Braxton and the rightful heir of the Blood Rock pack. I am willing to give you one chance to lay your arms down and step away from this fight before you lose your life for a war that is not yours to begin with." I said to the soldiers guarding the gate.

But unfortunately, this wasn’t as easy as I had hoped, and bullets began flying everywhere. Thank the Goddess my allies had my back because I kind of messed up their plans with my speech.

I didn't know if I fucked things up, but I had started this now and I needed to finish it. Challenging someone for the title wasn't something that was done anymore, but it was still part of our history and if Alpha Wesley didn't accept my challenge, he would reveal his true colors. 

"Come out, you coward! This pack is rightfully mine, and I will not leave without it. I challenge you, Alpha Wesley, to a fight to the death. Whoever is left standing will be the alpha of the Blood Rock pack. We can avoid all this bloodshed. Just you and me, Wesley. Come out or prove to everyone you value your own life more than that of your pack." I shouted, loud enough for my pack to hear. Not to mention, Elora was videotaping the whole thing and sending it to everyone inside and outside of the Blood Rock pack. Soon they would all see that Alpha Wesley was a spineless leader.

Everyone shifted around me, fighting in front of the Blood Rock pack’s gate, but I stayed in my human form, wanting people to see the face of their alpha. We broke down the gate, and I ran through the pack until I reached my old house.

Not much has changed since I left eight years ago. This was where I grew up with all of my siblings. This is where I had some of the best times and some of the worst times of my life. Life here wasn’t easy, especially not for my mother. As the alpha’s oldest, I was treated like royalty, but nobody realized that at home my mother was being abused. That she was bought by my grandmother as a breeder, a perfect luna for my father.

All my mom was good for in my dad’s eyes was to bear his children and to look pretty. When Alpha Asher had a chance to abduct my father and kill him, mom felt his death and seized this opportunity to escape the pack with us. I still remember how we ran away, me holding one of my siblings in my arms as we ran through the woods.

‘Focus Brax. We can think about that later," Hudson said, reminding me of what mattered right now.

Once I was close to the packhouse, I spotted Alpha Wesley shouting at pack members to protect him.

I laughed mockingly at Alpha Wesley and then looked at the few soldiers that actually belonged to the pack that were blocking the packhouse. "Do you want an alpha that needs your protection or an alpha that will protect you? Get out of the way. I have no desire to kill any one of you. You are my pack members, after all."

They stayed there, looking uncertain.

"He asked nicely, but I don’t have a problem killing any of you. You don’t belong to my pack, and your alpha is responsible for the deaths of my packmembers. I will kill you if I need to." Alpha Aeryn said, coming from behind me, naked and covered in the blood of the soldiers that had attacked us at the gate.

"Please?" I asked again. "I promise to be better than Alpha Wesley and my father. With me as your Alpha, this pack can become healthy and powerful. Give me a shot."

I knew begging wasn’t something an Alpha usually did, but I really did not want to hurt any of my people. They didn’t choose this life or their alpha. But this was their chance to have a say. Pick the coward behind them or a fresh start in front of them.

One by one, the people moved out of the way, and I ran inside, chasing after Alpha Wesley.

Once I came out of the packhouse carrying the lifeless body of Alpha Wesley, I felt the heartbreak and pain of what I had just done. It was something that would haunt my dreams, but what was the point in telling anyone? There was nothing I could do about it now. I had a pack to focus on, and one day I would somehow heal from this. Until then, it was better if I pushed the memory to the back of my mind, where my wolf was currently whimpering in pain. 

"Alpha Wesley is dead. I am now your Alpha. Let’s get our wounded help and burry our dead before we get to work!" I shouted, dropping his body on the floor for everyone to see.