IrinaIf I thought dealing with them when they were teenagers was bad … Archer was looking forward to the day he was going to turn eighteen. As the two years ticked by, I could see the relationship between him and Hunter slowly deteriorate. There wasn’t much I could do about it. No amount of talking to the two of them helped.They were both alpha males. Hunter was trying his level best to teach Archer everything and Archer seemed to think he knew everything already. They were both stubborn as hell and driving everyone mad as their tempers would flare up at any time. Hunter even threatened to make Archer wait until he was twenty-one before he handed over control of the pack.“We’ve indulged that boy far too much! If he learnt things the hard way, he might not be so damn stubborn!” Hunter stormed into my office where I was busy teaching Ingrid about businesses. Archer would take over control of the pack from his father. That meant that Ingrid would take control over my businesses. Once
IrinaI walked down the stairs and had to stop for a moment to take it all in. It was so beautiful! Emily and Ingrid had outdone themselves! For weeks, everyone had been running around getting things ready for Archer’s Alpha ceremony, and tonight was finally the night.“It looks incredible! Better than my party.” Hunter grinned as he slipped his arm around my back and I smiled, pulling him a little closer.“The girls did all of it.” I breathed in his scent. Up until that very moment, I didn’t realize how nervous I was about everything. Handing over control to our children was probably the most nerve-wracking thing we had ever done. It felt worse even than the day I changed. I didn’t want them to grow up! I didn’t want them in those positions! In that kind of danger …Some of the pack walked over to greet us and I was pulled out of my thoughts and smiled. Everyone was happy for Archer, but as expected, everyone was nervous. There was a clear difference in managing styles between Archer
Irina“The alpha is hurt! The alpha has been hurt!” Those words will forever be burnt deep into my heart! I sat upright in bed trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Hunter was already up and dressed in a pair of shorts as I tried to gather myself. Archer and the others were going out for a second run after us old people went to bed.They were only going for a run near the lake! I jumped out of bed and put on the clothes Hunter threw on the bed and we rushed out of the house. Shifting as soon as we hit the forest, we rushed to the lake. My blood was rushing through my body so loudly that I was almost struggling to hear what the hell happened. Archer’s beta was trying to explain through the pack link, but the boy sounded so rattled that we couldn’t figure out a word of what he was saying.All we could hear was that Archer had been shot. We reached the lake and the group were huddled around Archer who was lying on the ground. My heart stopped. I had been trying to call out to
IrinaSince Ingrid wouldn’t turn eighteen for a couple of months, Hunter and I decided to take back our titles for the time being. Archer’s death still had to be investigated and Ingrid wouldn’t be able to handle that just yet. She had received some alpha training over the years, but she would have to do a crash course over the next couple of months first.The investigation that Hunter and the sheriff did launch to explain Archer’s death brought to life the events of what happened. The young wolves were playing around the lake in their wolf form and somehow the hunters got onto our land. Border patrol noticed their scent too late, and it showed us that we had become too complacent in checking our borders.After the war, we had our warriors checking the borders more stringently, but as time passed, Hunter cut back on the patrols. There was no big threat out there anymore, so such stringent security wasn’t necessary. Or so we thought. We never expected humans to come out and hunt us! No
IrinaIt hurt! It hurt so badly that it felt as if I couldn’t breathe! It hurt that I had to put on a brave face for everyone when I was slowly dying inside. I wondered if it would have hurt less if we didn’t have to go through the fake funeral and the trial, but I knew it wouldn’t. Yes, those were constant reminders, but I lost my son. Nothing would ever make that any easier.As the days slowly ticked by and we sat through the farce of a court case, my anger grew. It wasn’t directed towards the man who shot my son and killed him. It was directed towards the man sitting in the back of the courtroom studying everyone. The real reason my son was killed!All my life I have tried my best not to hate anybody. I believed that people acted the way they did because something in their lives wasn’t entirely right. I rationalized a lot! This time around, however, I couldn’t help myself. I hated the hunter! I felt like leaping over the rows of benches and ripping out his throat in front of everyo
IrinaThings seemed to return to normal around town, but with these small towns you never really knew what was brewing behind closed doors. Our wolves followed the hunter everywhere he went and when he disappeared, we all knew exactly what he was up to. There was no denying it. The only reason he would leave town so suddenly was to meet up with more hunters.A couple of months of peace went by and we planned Ingrind’s birthday party. Only this time around would it be a lot more official than our original plan. She was going to be named the new alpha on her eighteenth birthday. Technically, we were living without an alpha after Archer was killed, but everyone still obeyed Hunter.Everyone was just so extremely grateful that we had a second child who could take over! Ingrid had become a new person in the months that passed by and I hardly recognized my rebellious teenager those days. She had mostly taken over the responsibilities and I would never admit it out loud, but she was better t
IrinaIngrid looked so beautiful as she stepped out of the pack house and into the moonlight. It was such a bittersweet moment to watch her walk past the warriors and into the middle of the circle where she would soon be named alpha of the pack. Only a couple of months ago, we were standing here named Archer alpha and now he was gone.My heart was racing and I appreciated Hunter squeezing my hand a little tighter to let me know he was right there with me. I could see the sadness in Ingrid's eyes as she turned to look at us. I wasn’t feeling the bittersweet moment alone. As I scanned our pack who gathered around Ingrid, I could see it on every single face.We were all proud of Ingrid. We were all happy for her, but nobody could stand there tonight and not think about Archer. Hunter made his announcement and we both pledged our loyalty to our new alpha before, one by one, the pack did the same. The festivities felt a little less festive since there would be no run afterward, but I felt
IrinaHunter informed Ingrid of what was going on through the pack link and she took care to let the entire pack know that the hunter was trying to call us out. We needed all of our people to stay calm should they run into him. Nobody, not one single wolf, could lose their calm around him. It was clear that he wasn’t someone who would take us on in a fight.First, he hid behind the humans when he sent those human hunters after us and now, he is trying to get us to shift in front of the town’s people. Either this hunter was new to the game or he was playing a very dirty game! Getting humans to do what they either couldn’t or wouldn’t do themselves. There was no use in trying to figure out why he was doing things the way he did.All we had to do was figure out how the hell to get rid of the man.IngridTAKING OVER AS ALPHA was not part of my plan. I wanted to go out and see the world and once I was done, maybe then I would come back home and settle down. Then this hunter came into our l