Chapter 2 - Kiera

In a quiet and sterile room in the Healer's Quarters, I sit by my father's side, my heart heavy with worry as I watch his frail form.

Sunlight from the window dances around the room and illuminates his pale and drawn face.

My father, Kanan, had always been a strong and proud man, but now he looked weak and vulnerable. It breaks my heart to see him like this.

He had just falllen asleep after vomiting thrice and I was about to leave after I had adjusted his bedspread and wiped his brow when I heard him call out my name faintly, "K-k-kiera, please wait".

With a labored breath, He mustered the strength to speak, his voice quivering with a lot of emotion. "Kiera, there's something I need to tell you, something that I should have shared long ago."

I turn back and lean in closer, my eyes locked onto my father's, concern etched across my face. "Yes Father, you can tell me anything. What is it?"

His eyes glisten with regret as he begins his confession. "I've carried a heavy secret for years. I'm not the real Alpha of our family's pack, as I've led everyone to believe. The true heir, the one who should lead our pack, is out there, and it's not me."

My brows furrowed in confusion, struggling to comprehend the enormity of what my frail father was revealing. "But Father, you've been the Alpha for as long as I can remember. What are you saying?"

He sighs deeply, his breath shaky. "When I was younger, I faced a difficult choice. It was during the war that killed my best friend and the former Alpha Xavier, after suffering a fatal blow, and lying on the brink of death, he made me promise to take care of his Luna Lumina as she was heavily pregnant with his son and I tearfully agreed and he died shortly after, It was very painful but I had to be strong, I hurried back and went straight to Lumina to break the news, from my face she already guessed the truth, I consoled her and told her I'd do my best to take care of her and the baby, she begged me to let her run away, saying her son's life would always be in danger and that I should be the Alpha in his place until he became of age, I immediately refused as I couldn't betray my friend like that and I managed to pacify her and make her stay."

He hasn't spoken for this long in a while and starts coughing, I quickly pour him some water from the jug on the table and guide the cup to his lips for him to drink.

"There there calm down father" I say as I wait for him to regain his breath.

My mind racing as I try to process my father's confession. "Who is the real heir, Father? Where are they now?"

He closes his eyes, his face contorted with remorse. "I don't know, Kiera. I thought Lumina listened to me, but that very night while everyone was sleeping she snuck out and ran away. She only left a note on her bed saying she had gone somewhere safe and that we shouldn't look for her. I tried to look for them both over the years but to no avail. It's crucial that you find them, that you bring them back to lead our pack. It's his rightful place, not mine."

"But how father, how will I find him if even you couldn't?", I retort as it sounded like an impossible task.

" You are my brave and wonderful daughter and I have full faith in you my dear, with Aiden's help I'm sure you can find him, "

Tears welled up in my eyes as the weight of my father's words sank in. I nodded, determination welling up within me. "I promise, Father, I'll do everything I can to find the real heir and make things right."

He nods his head feebly at my words and gives me a smile that looks more like a grimace and closes his eyes to sleep. I guess he's tired out from the effort.

"I'll be back soon, Father", I say as I kiss his head and adjust the covers.

"I have to see to the training of the young pups, you know Aiden is hopeless without me", I say with a watery smile, trying to lighten the mood even though I feel like bursting into tears, I hurriedly turn and leave the room before he can see my tears, there's no point in making him more upset than he is.

I decide to meet up with Aiden at the Training ground later than I planned,i send him a message via a maid and I take a detour to see Elith the Head healer of our pack to ask about my father's condition. She is more like my Aunt than my teacher as she had basically raised me since I was a pup and taught me everything I know.

I make my way into her room and I'm instantly enveloped in the warm and familiar scent of incense, I loved coming in here when I was little because I was fascinated with the incense and potions Elith used, I still love it but my adventures reduced as I got older and shouldered more responsibilities as the Alpha's daughter.

Thinking about my father makes me sad and I remember why I came here in the first place, I gaze around the room and take in the multiple bookshelves stuffed with books on all manner of things from small palmsize books on magic and spells to a big tome that contained the history of werewolves, the huge black pot she uses to mix her potions, her workstation for cutting things up and finally find Elith on hands and knees with her back to me under her desk where she's frantically looking for something.

I stride to the desk and join her under it,

"Hey Elith, what are you looking for?",

She jumps and hits her head on the bottom of the desk, "Kiera! I told you not to sneak up on me like that."

"I"m so sorry Elith I didn't know you didn't hear me come in," I apologise as I help her get to her feet, she mock frowns and finally cracks a smile when she sees my puppy eyes, "Alright alright I forgive you, but what can I help you with?"

"I'm here for Father, I just left his room and there's been no change in his condition infact he's worse than before, is there really nothing we can do?"

"You know we've tried our best and done all we possibly could but nothing seems to work, we can only just pray to The Moon goddess and hope for the best."

She looks at my worried face and drops the book she picked up from the ground onto her desk and pats my cheek, "Don't worry my love, he'll soon be back to his old self and start ordering everyone around again"

I try to smile but i can't help but worry because the man I just saw didn't look like he'll be back to his former self anytime soon.

She reaches up to hug me, she has to stand on her toes because she's so tiny, at 5'0 and with her blonde hair and blue eyes she looks more like a porcelain doll than a a werewolf mage. But I know first hand that underneath that innocent exterior is a ruthless fighter as she has beaten me severally in mock fights during training.

I hug her back tightly and whisper,

"I just want him to be OK, he'll be fine right Elie?",I'm crying freely now as the thought of my father dying is unimaginable.

She pats my back and calms me down and I finally let go.

"I have to go train now but i'll be back soon, please look after father," I say as I wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Don't worry he's in the best hands," she says softly.

I nod tearfully and leave her chamber.

Once I get outside, I head to the training grounds. It's on the far side of the Ranch and I have to walk a while before I get there.

The training grounds are just a bunch of buildings with a very large field in the middle.

The buildings house the armory, the Olympic standard gym and the living quarters of some of the pack members.

The field is grassy and not made of concrete as we wolves get really rough and boisterous during training and even while playing and a concrete field would just cause a lot of injuries.

I see Aiden's red hair glinting on the field as he talks to the pups,the young children of the pack,and I jog over to join him.

At the sound of my footsteps Aidan looks up and when he sees the look on my face, he dismisses the pups and guides me to a bench to sit.

"How are you doing Kiera?"he asks with concern as I lower myself to the bench.

"I don't know", I sigh "I'm so worried about Father, he seems to get worse day by day and I can't do anything but watch helplessly, I feel so useless" I cry out.

"Don't worry Uncle Kanan is strong he'll overcome this illness you'll see", he consoles me.

"I know he will, and anyways I didn't come here to cry, I came to train"

"Okay, hand to hand combat or we should we do some spear training?" He asks as he gets up and stretches.

"Let's do spears" I reply hoping training would help distract me from thoughts of my father.

We get some long wooden spears with blunt tips and some shields from the weaponry and head down to the training field.

We circle each other and I watch him closely trying to look for an opening but Aidan goes hard and immediately tries to stab my left arm, I try to feint to the right and counter his strike but I'm not fast enough, his spear catches me in the shoulder. He does a quick turn and strikes at my other shoulder and as I raise my shield to protect myself, he rakes me off my feet and the weight of the shield makes me fall, he points at my chest with his spear and gives me a playful poke.

I understand his message, if this was a real fight I'd have been a goner.

"Where's your head at Kiera huh? "He asks as he helps me to my feet.

"You're never this sloppy" He says with a look of worry and concern.

"Well Aidan, I have to tell you something my father told me ...,"I don't complete my sentence because a maid is running towards us with tears in her eyes.

I hope it's not what I think...

I hope it's not about father...

O Moon Goddess...