CH1 - Kai's POV

It has been two years since I became the alpha of my pack. I can still recount the day I knew I would be the next alpha. It has been ingrained in my mind so much that I’ll never forget it.

I was sixteen when the sound of an alarm howl rang out through the pack. My parents, the previous pack leaders, told me to stay safely within the packhouse. I didn’t listen. I wanted to fight beside them, wanted them to know they could rely on me. That I was ready to be responsible for the pack.

By the time I reached them, it was too late.

The largest wolf I had ever seen threw aside their mangled bodies. Who was this alpha? I didn’t know. They were far beyond anything my parents had accustomed me to.

With the blood on his fangs, the alpha had yet to spot me, but my fear held me in place. I couldn’t move, my eyes still on my dead parents. War had always been something the packs had to contend with, but I had no way of knowing just how deadly it could become.

When the alpha moved on to his next target, I felt a hard body hit my side as someone knocked another wolf against me. That woke me up from my stupefied horror, and I knew I had to either flee or stand and fight.

I decided to fight.

Most everything else that day was a blur to me, but my pack had survived. What happened to the alpha that killed my parents? I don’t know. They didn’t die; I know that much, but I have never seen them again.

Since that day, the war has been on an unsteady truce. So many packs have lost loved ones and needed to recoup and recover. That isn’t to say little skirmishes haven’t happened, but nothing quite on that level since then.

As I gazed over the tombstones that were my parents’ graves, my beta Dereck stepped up next to me. That blond hair of his is all dishevelled, while that icy-blue gaze of his looks at me with tenderness. His hand gently lands on my shoulder, offering me silent support.

“Alpha Kai, we’ve heard news about the new alpha for the Crescent Ruby pack,” Dereck tells me in a mellow voice. They have been our biggest rival in the past, but I don’t really remember anything about the pack or their previous alpha.

As I drag my attention away from the graves, and onto him, I tilt my head to one side curiously. “What have you heard about him?” I ask.

“The only thing I have heard is that this new alpha is stronger than any other we have fought before,” Dereck told me. “I don’t have his name or where he came from. I assume he is the child of the previous alpha, but I’m uncertain.”

I nodded once and returned my gaze to the graves. I wish I knew who had killed them. Then maybe I could find some closure or even revenge. Perhaps another pack had killed him already, and that was why I hadn’t seen him since that day?

I could feel Dereck’s hand move from my shoulder to the small of my back. “I don’t know if he will resume the fight with us, or with the other packs, but we should be ready for anything,” he reminds me of our truth.

We can’t hold on to this uneasy peace forever. Eventually, the fighting will flare up again and the rocky peace will be over.

“Let’s go back into the packhouse,” I sigh out and offer Dereck a warm smile. I don’t know what I’d do without my beta. Ever since we met, he has been by my side as a loyal friend.

He gives me a nod, though his gaze lingers on me somewhat longer. I can’t always tell what he is thinking, but the look on his face now is one of concern. I attempt a small smile. He doesn’t say a word, but he knows this is the anniversary of my parent’s death and is doing his best to comfort me.

“I’m fine,” I lie to him as I stroll along the path through the graveyard. There are so many bodies resting here now that I’m surprised we have enough pack members left to protect ourselves.

Dereck catches up to me with easy strides, his gaze not shifting from me. “You’re not fine,” he says bluntly. “But I understand. You’ve been the alpha for two years, far sooner than anyone should. However, you’re not alone, Kai. You don’t have to carry the burden on your own.”

I turn my gaze towards him, offering a small smile. Dereck isn’t originally from my pack, but he acts more like family than anyone else. He is loyal and dependable and would make an amazing alpha.

Part of me always wondered if he might have been destined to be alpha in his old pack, but he never speaks about it. The same goes for me on certain things. The trauma we have both been through is not so easily shared.

“Thanks,” I tell him and turn my gaze back to my destination. Our packhouse is not too grand and feels more like a country home than some large place where leaders of the pack live.

I love it though. It is homely and although the memories of my childhood with my parents are painful to recall, I’m glad it has stood up against the test of time and the generations of war.

“How about we spend the rest of the afternoon with a game of cards?” Dereck asks. “Or chess, or maybe-” he pauses as he spots my expression.

I know he is trying to help me take my mind off of the memories, but there is no way I could focus on a relaxing evening. During moments like this, only two things can soothe my pain. Sparring so I do not have time to remember or to run so far and so fast that the world seems so far away from me.

“Shall we train then?” He asks. I glance at him and nod. Numbing my memories with fighting is better than allowing grief to consume me.

I can’t run as much as I would like. We might have had two years of what we might classify as peace, but that has never made it safe and running alone is far too dangerous.

I head towards our training field, taking off my shirt to prepare myself for a hard workout. With Dereck, nothing comes easy. He might be gentle with his words, but he has never gone easy on me in a fight and that is exactly how I prefer it.

“I won’t go easy on you today,” I warned him. Whatever mood I feel right now, the important thing as alpha is to show my pack that I am worthy of their trust and that I have everything together, even if I am losing it in my mind.

Dereck tosses his shirt away, showing off his muscular torso. He is slightly taller than me, and even more muscular, but I’m no slouch either. I’ve been training hard to fill my role as alpha, and looking the part is just as important as acting it.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way, alpha,” Dereck tells me with a smile.

He waits for my nod of approval before charging right at me. Although to the rest of the pack, this looks like our usual training exercises, to me, this is much more than that.

Just as I am about to counterattack, a loud warning howl sounds off at the pack’s border. My head shoots in that direction, eyes wide with panic and fear.

An enemy of ours is at our border! And on this day of all days!?