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Chapter 87
Last Updated:
2024-12-19 23:58:59
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In Service of the Alpha Chapter 88
JohnathanThe only reason I decide to leave the mountain is because I can feel Mara waiting for me. Her emotions are carefully controlled, and she refuses to let the sadness in. She keeps it at bay, allowing it to nibble at the fringes of her mind, but all her attention is focused on me now. She's watching me. I can feel her eyes, even from a distance. Her concern is for me, not herself or the pack, or even my son.There have been moments throughout the day when I felt pangs and stabs of intense sorrow from her, and every time she purposefully pushed it all away. First so she could take care of Preston, then Gregory, the pack, and now me. She had a very busy day, doing my job, keeping everyone and everything together. And what did I do? I hid in the mountains like a proper fucking coward, wallowing in self-pity.Half an hour later, I find her at the foot of the mountain, sitting in a clearing with her legs outstretched, leaning on her hands, face turned to the moon. For now, she is
Last Updated : 2024-12-20In Service of the Alpha Chapter 89
JohnathanIt’s business as usual at sunrise. The weekend is drawing to a close and our visitors are leaving, none of them even aware of the drama that unfolded around them over the weekend.I sit on the ridge overlooking the road, watching the humans drive in and out of Haven's Crest. “We have to close the town,” I say to Kahn who decided to join me on my morning excursion.“Those humans bring the money. They're the reason your Omegas have jobs.”“They could also be spies, assassins.” I don’t care about myself, but anyone who knows just a little about me, knows how much my son means to me. How much Mara means to me. They could just as easily kill them to get to me.Kahn snorts loudly. “No human would ever be able to get close enough.”“A sniper could.”“And kill you with what?”“A silver bullet.”Again the vampire lets out a derisive little snort. “Please. Nothing so pedestrian. It will take more than a little silver to kill you, Johnathan. They need to get closer than that.”“In Mara
Last Updated : 2024-12-21In Service of the Alpha Chapter 90
MaraI find Donovan at the old pack house where a crew is busy cleaning up, carrying decaying furniture and debris from the crumbling building. “What is going on?” I ask the Beta.Donovan straightens and wipes sweat from his brow with his forearm. “Well, yesterday, before everything went tits up, Beta Preston told us that Alp- King Johnathan wants to fix this place up for the Alphas. "Preston left before he could put a crew together, so I decided to do it.” He gives me an uncertain look. “I- I hope I didn’t overstep. You gave us a home. Safety. We just want to be helpful.”Much as I hate to admit it, Donovan would be a good second Beta. He has all the leadership skills and training for it. The crew consists mostly of the Gammas and Deltas from our old pack, and a handful of Omegas I’ve seen around the town and new pack house. I don't know who we can and can't trust anymore, but I doubt anyone can do much damage while they're busy cleaning up the massive pack house. The ones we need
Last Updated : 2024-12-22In Service of the Alpha Chapter 91
JohnathanThe days bleed into weeks, the weeks into months. The wheels at Haven’s Crest keep on turning, the world keeps on spinning. If it weren’t for the wolves that showed up here every day, reporting about the vicious attacks that befell their packs, I could go on in blissful ignorance, believing nothing’s wrong.Every night, the vampires search the town and surrounding forests, looking for the assassins and spies who fled when we started our interrogations. We caught two in my house. One of them was Susarah.Gregory was heartbroken when I arrested his nanny. After all the work he put in to be a good boy for her, her betrayal crushed him. I can't get over the fact that I blamed my son for mistreating Susarah, but after Kahn spent ten minutes with my boy, he declared that Gregory could see her true intentions - he just didn’t understand what he was seeing. His violence was a direct reaction to her true heart. It wasn’t an excuse for his actions, but my son fought against his inst
Last Updated : 2024-12-23In Service of the Alpha Chapter 92
JohnathanGregory sits quietly in his car seat, staring out of the window as we drive into town. The two of us haven’t had a lot of father-son time lately. Maybe he’d open up more if I gave him my undivided attention for a few hours. “Hey buddy,” I say on a whim. “How do you feel about ditching school and going to the waterfall slides instead? Just you and me.”“Really?” he asks, his eyes widening with surprise, and his face lighting up with delight.Mara spent the last several months teaching him how to say his Rs properly. I have to admit I sometimes miss the way he used to speak - it was sweat and innocent - but they grow up fast, and as much as we want to, we can’t keep them babies forever.“Yes. Let’s swing by the cafe, get some snacks and drinks, and head out. Winter is around the corner, and this could be our last chance before the rains come.”“Yes,” Gregory says and claps his hands excitedly. “No one else? Just you and me?”“Just you and me.”I just want my exuberant boy back
Last Updated : 2024-12-24In Service of the Alpha Chapter 93
MaraOnce outside the town, I easily trace Preston’s scent. He doesn’t bother to hide himself, and the newer wolves are afraid of him. He smells of despair and sorrow. body odour and blood.I find him close to the foot of the mountains, staring up at the peaks he will never be able to reach. When he sees me coming he turns to run away, but I quickly hold him in place, using my new magical talents.Elemental magic can harm or heal. Earth elements heal. I’m still not sure how it all works, or what it really is, but I know how to wield it, and that’s the only thing that matters now.Preston freezes and slowly turns to look at me. He is a mess. Dirty, smelly, his unkempt beard covered in twigs and the dried blood of the animals he killed to survive.“What is that?” he asks, his voice hoarse and low.“My magic,” I answer. “It’s new.” And I'm getting really good at it too. I'm often surprised by my own abilities.“I know it’s your magic.” Preston huffs, his voice laced with anger. “I was th
Last Updated : 2024-12-25In Service of the Alpha Chapter 94
MaraI slowly walk back to the pack house, swinging the heavy velvet bag by my side. I haven’t given Rose any thought since Johnathan took her to live with the vampires. I don’t know if she’s doing okay, if they’re mistreating her, or if she’s even learning anything.Guilt gnaws at me like a hungry caterpillar. After what happened with Ally, I should have gone and gotten my sister. What she is, and what she became, isn’t her fault. Just as it wasn’t Ally’s fault for being raised in a man eater pack. She was a child. She didn’t know any better. Rose doesn't know any better.I come up to our pack house from the back, walking across the sunny deck and past the glittering pool. The days are getting cooler, but not cold. The heat is just about bearable, but the pool still looks very inviting.Instead of jumping in, as I’m prone to do of late, I walk past the blue water and into the mansion. Everyone should be back by now, and they need to know that the Lunae is on their way.I wonder what
Last Updated : 2024-12-26In Service of the Alpha Chapter 95
JohnathanMy Beta’s scent hits me when I step into the pack house. Bergamot and oak - his favourite cologne. Mara actually managed to convince him to come back. I smile to myself. I really have to stop underestimating my mate. I gently nudge Gregory on the small of his back, turning him in the direction of the stairs. “Run upstairs and change for supper, buddy.”His skin is glowing after a day spent in the sunshine, and he’s in good spirits. More like the boy I remember. “I don’t like my woo-” he stops, frowns, and deliberately corrects himself, “rrrrr-oom anymore, Daddy.”“Why not?” I ask. “It’s where all your toys live.”“It makes me think of Susarah, and it makes me sad.”I nod, and crouch in front of him. “I know it’s difficult, kid… but people die. They leave us here and we have to find a way to go on.” It’s just a shame he had to find that out before he even turned six years old.“She didn’t die, you killed her,” my son says, his tone flat, even, and scary cold.I flinch at my
Last Updated : 2024-12-27
Latest chapter
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 145
JohnathanMara wipes her tears away and gives me a stern look. “Stop feeling sorry for me.”Surprised, I just look at her, scrambling for something to say. “I’m not-”“Then you’re feeling sorry for yourself… but whatever it is, stop it.”Dumbfounded, I just keep staring at her.“You are an Alpha. A Lycan king. Did you expect this job to be easy?”“No.”“What life did you envision?” she asks and pushes away, her eyes piercing straight through me.I actually haven’t given it that much thought. Whatever it was, it was simpler than what we have now. “A house, a few kids, our pack-”“And what else?”I roll my eyes at her. “That’s not enough?”“Sure, but difficult as it may be... I think this is a worthwhile life. If I stayed with Lucas, he would have beaten me to death. If some other Alpha bought me, he would have bred me to death. Or, I would have married an Omega, sweet and kind -we would have had a boring uncomplicated life… until the humans came to kill us.“At least with you, I’m doin
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 144
MaraI stumble through the mansion, barely seeing anything around me. I have no idea where I'm going or what I'll do when I get there. I just know that I can't stop now. I can't think about what we've done. If I do, I'll never be able to get back up.As soon as the crew cleared out, I killed Finnian. The only ones I would allow to stay were Johnathan and Kahn. I love them. I trust them. It was worse this time because I knew his name. He wasn't just a threat I needed to get rid of. He was a person to me, and he wasn't our enemy. Not really. He didn’t hate us. He had no problem with us. He just wanted to save his child.Shortly afterwards, Oberon showed up and wanted to take my pain away, but I refused. I can’t keep hiding from it. Easing my suffering makes it too easy. Everytime he does that, I feel a little less, and I am sure if he keeps doing it, I will become cold and indifferent. I can’t allow that to happen.At long last, I I turn right into an unkown room, and end up in one of
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 143
MaraThey enclosed the brain thing in a glass container that reminds me a lot of an upside down bowl. It’s to contain the toxic gas it’s giving off, but I think it’s harming him. He looks sick. Greyish-white, the pulsating slow and uneven, like he’s gasping for air.He’s well away from the rest of the town, hidden in a vast cave that's not too high up. “We can’t film him like this,” I say and give Johnathan a pleading look. “They will call us cruel.”My mate nods. “Agreed. Everyone stand back. I don't know what that gas will do to you. I’ll release him.”The film crew that came with us disappear from the cave, but Kahn doesn’t budge. The vampire’s eyes are filled with sorrow. “You know… at least we have the decency to treat our blood bags well.”“Yes,” I answer without missing a beat, “but the problem is that you think of them as blood bags, not as humans with feelings.”“We acknowledge their feelings,” Kahn says in a huff, “which is why we don’t lock them up in cages.”“Don’t argue,
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 142
JohnathanMara is sitting in her favourite spot on the windowsill, staring out over the wilderness. The storm clouds are gathering again, and I expect another good downpour as soon as tonight.She is upset. Six of the wolves didn’t make it. Even with her present in the temple, and with Oberon’s shield, they still burst into flames immediately.But she is not upset because they died. It’s the way they died that bothers her the most. “Are you okay?” I ask as I adjust the towel around my waist, and run my hand through my wet hair.“They died terribly.”“Probably for a good reason, Mara,” I say. Not that I disagree with her. Watching someone burn to death is horrendous. “We couldn’t trust those wolves. The Goddess allowed everyone else to turn.”She sighs, a heartbreaking sound that tears me to pieces. “I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”“No, it doesn’t. There’s something else we need to talk about.” And she’s not going to be happy. Not at all. I’m not happy about it ei
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 141
JohnathanI catch Mara and Donovan just as they leave the forest. They are surrounded by dozens of wolves - the ones I’m starting to think of as the originals - who went to visit with their children.“How did it go?” I ask.As soon as I ask the question, my mate’s eyes are filled with tears. “I almost couldn't say goodby to him. I didn't want to let him go.""I'm sorry, baby," I say gently. "I know it's not ideal.""He asked about you.”A heavy weight of guilt settles where my heart is supposed to be. “What did you tell him?”She pulls one shoulder up her ear. “I told him that you are working very hard to keep the pack safe, but that you will go see him soon.”I feel my own tears trying to push their way up my throat. I swear, I hadn’t been this emotional and teary since I was a child. “He was okay with that?”“Yes, because his daddy is his hero. He is very proud of you, Johnathan.”The love that wells up in my chest is overwhelming, but so is the sorrow and longing to see my child. “
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 140
JohnathanI sit with Rose and try to follow her disjointed report. She is speaking for all the Lunae and the whole bunch of them are babbling at once.It takes them a while to settle down and allow Rose to translate.As far as I can tell, each of them explored a different part of Red Ridge, and they are not telling me anything I don’t already know. Experiments, pain, suffering, families torn apart, unbelievable, unbeatable soldiers. Everything Mara already saw in her vision.It was an absolute waste of time and resources to send the Lunae to Red Ridge, but at least I now know that Mara’s visions are scary accurate.Which does not bode at all well for our future.“Last I go see Douglas. He feel Lunae presence,” Rose says.My stomach goes a little cold. “What was he doing?”“I no know. He sent me away. Say we need run. Hide. He no help.”I slowly nod. “Where was he?”“In big white room. Lots of glass… what you call those things?”“Test tubes?”Rose shrug. “Machines I no understand. Bloo
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 139
MaraFor once, it’s not raining. The sun shines brightly in the clear, blue sky and birds chirp merrily in the trees.Johnathan is still asleep, wrapped around me like a blanket. I slide out from under him, grab his t-shirt and walk over to the window, throwing it wide open and inhaling the clean, crisp air.The sun might be out, the clouds might be gone, but it’s fucking freezing cold. I feel like it should be snowing, not raining.Running on my tiptoes, I head back to bed and crawl under my mates warm arms. It’s just cozy enough so I won’t freeze to death, but not so hot that I’ll dehydrate.“Morning,” Johnathan says without opening his eyes.I jerk at the sudden sound of his voice. There was no indication that he was waking up. His breathing didn’t change, his heartbeat didn’t speed up - nothing. “I think it’s closer to afternoon,” I reply.“It might be,” he says and finally turns his head to look at me.His eyes are clear and wide awake, but he’s deeply troubled. I can tell that
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 138
MaraI pull Johnathan into the shower with me. He follows me inside without any complaint, even allowing me to help him wash. It’s awkward and difficult—he’s so tall that I can’t reach everywhere, but he still lets me do it.I don’t know what his plans are anymore. I don’t know if he changed his mind at all, but I saw him fight for us. I saw him stand up to Thrax, brilliantly weaving a strategy I would never even have considered.I am not sure if he was just acting in the moment, and if still wants to abandon the pack, us, and go his own way. And I will not ask him. Not tonight anyway. He’s carrying a veil of sorrow around that’s so thick I can feel it, and I refuse to let it consume him.He needs to know, has to understand, that I am here for him and that he isn’t the one who always has to keep me standing. He has to know that it goes both ways.Johnathan grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to look at him as he shields me from the water with his body. Then he a
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 137
JohnathanStaring at Thrax’s disembodied head is quite disconcerting. I hold him up by his hair, looking into his slack-jawed face. His mouth is open in a silent scream, and his eyes keep blinking at me. “How do we keep this thing alive without blood?” I ask Kahn.“A vampire as old as him can go several months, if not years, without blood. He will be fine.”Donovan holds a canvas bag out to me, and I drop the head into it, rubbing my bloody hands on my jeans. Not that it helps much, but it makes me feel better.That was absolutely revolting, and probably one of the worst things I have ever done in my life. “Do not beat yourself up, Warlord,” Oberon tries to comfort me. “He deserved it.”Maybe he did. But it still feels so, so wrong. The floor is slick with blood, we’re all covered in it, and my office smells like death. “I need a shower.” And about twenty bottles of rotgut whiskey to forget this night. I'll take the cheap moonshine the rogues used to distill - it's a hundred perce
