Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“Your father’s lab, your treehouse… I had to order the official destruction of those places,” she said quietly.
Alexander felt that painful tug on his heart as he thought of the empty hole in the ground.
“You did what you had to do, Mom,” he said, “I know that.”
Fiona smiled.
“Of course you do,” she whispered. “You’re an Alpha.”
Alexander sighed and looked away.
“No,” he said. “Not anymore.”
Fiona reached over and turned his chin, forcing him to look at her.
“You’ll never stop being an Alpha,” she smiled. “It’s more than just a role you play, Alexander.”
He swallowed but said nothing.
“You will find a new role to play, but you will always be an Alpha. You will always lead, whether you want to or not. You will always put others before yourself, whether you want to or not.”
Fiona took a deep breath and laughed.
“It’s who you are, who you’ve always been,” she sighed. “It’s who your father was… and who Galen is… no matter how much he tried to fight it.”
Alexander took a deep breath and turned away from her again. He placed his hands on the railing, squeezing it.
“Summer has changed since you’ve been gone,” she repeated.
She licked her lips and took a deep breath.
“But it’s still the same if you really look.”
Alexander furrowed his brows and looked at her.
“For three years… I rebuilt, I bandaged, and I stopped the bleeding. I did everything I could to keep this pack the same, to preserve it in your place… to keep it just as you had left it.”
Fiona paused, lowering her eyes.
“I mourned when Cain’s lab was destroyed, when your treehouse was ripped from the earth,” she said softly. “And when Galen became Alpha.”
Alexander swallowed.
“Why would you…?” he asked quietly.
Fiona gave a sad smile.
“At the time, I thought I was just angry. For allowing him to convince me to give up on you,” she said. “But after I went through the mourning process in Broken Crag… when I returned to Summer, I realized something.”
Alexander felt his heart beating quickly. He felt as though whatever she was about to say was important, not just to her but for him as well.
“What?” he asked.
Fiona turned and looked into his eyes.
“When I saw the changes that Galen had made, the progress he had made in the three months that I was gone… I realized what I had been doing…” she said.
Fiona paused and took a deep breath.
“I had refused to let Summer move on,” she smiled. “I had locked us all in a constant state of grief. Frozen in time. Clinging to the past.”
Alexander felt a weight in his stomach, pulling, dragging. He swallowed and turned from her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“No,” Fiona whispered.
Again, she reached out and touched his chin. She pulled gently, and he let her turn him to face her.
“It wasn’t for you,” she whispered.
Alexander furrowed his brow.
“What… do you mean?” he asked.
Fiona licked her lips.
“It was Cain,” she said with a sad smile.
Alexander swallowed. A strange fluttering feeling in his stomach made him uneasy.
“I realized,” she continued, “that I had been fighting for even longer than three years to rebuild, bandage, and preserve Summer, and so had you.”
Alexander’s eyes widened and then moved away from hers.
“The last few years of his life, Cain was so busy trying to solve all these problems on his own… he left the pack to me. I did what I could to keep it running, but I was not an Alpha… all I could do was maintain,” Fiona said.
She turned back to look down at the people below.
“When he died, I just kept doing it,” she continued. “Even when you took over, I still encouraged you to keep as many of Cain’s plans in place as possible.”
Alexander closed his eyes. His father had been at the front of his thoughts in all his most important decisions. There had been many things Alexander had done that Cain would not have agreed with, but he couldn’t deny that the way he ran Summer was almost exactly as his father had taught him.
Until the moment he met Selene.
Meeting her had changed Alexander’s entire world. His priorities, his interests, his future. Before she came into his life, everything was planned according to what was best for the pack. What was best for the Alpha of Summer.
“I tried to keep Cain alive through the pack,” Fiona said. “Through his plans, his way of doing things.”
Alexander lowered his head, taking in a shaky breath.
“And so did you…” she said softly. “But neither of us ever realized it… we never knew how much we were holding ourselves back.”
Alexander listened, but his mind had already wandered to the memories of his father. Of watching how he worked through the problems of the pack and how he approached each situation. Of all the times, his father had reminded him that he would be Alpha one day. That it was his only role, his responsibility.
There was no future outside of being Alpha of Summer for Alexander. That was the only life he was ever meant to have.
“Summer has changed,” Fiona repeated for the third time, “the uniforms are different, and some of the buildings are gone. New programs, new people… a new Alpha…”
Fiona lifted Alexander’s chin. She looked into his eyes with a warm smile.
“But the people are still the same. The goals are still the same,” she whispered. “Galen is still the same.”
Alexander took a deep breath and nodded.
Fiona moved her hand to touch his cheek. He leaned into her warm touch and closed his eyes.
He thought of the family inside the house he had imagined, of standing outside the window. He felt as though, somehow, Fiona was opening that window for him.
“Everything has changed,” Fiona said softly, “and each of us… you, me, and Galen…. We’ve been given a chance for a life that none of us would have ever dreamed for ourselves.”
Fiona paused and lowered her eyes.
“It may have been forced on us… painfully,” she said with a sad smile. “But it is ours nonetheless.”
Alexander opened his eyes, looking up at the gentle expression on his mother’s face.
“Alexander,” she whispered gently, “it’s time that we let the ghosts of our past rest… and enjoy these lives we’ve been given… I think we’ve more than earned it.”
770 No Promise of Tomorrow
Alexander took a deep breath.
There were still things he needed to figure out about his place in this world. About what his new life would look like. But listening to his mother and seeing the peaceful expression on her face made him feel a little more hopeful than he had only moments before.
It was true that he had always wanted to live up to the dreams his father had for him, for the pack. It was expected of him, of his blood. He was always meant to lead Summer and, when the time was right, to produce a child that would take his place.
He leaned against the railing and sighed.
“I know this isn’t the life you expected… that you planned for,” Fiona said. She touched his back gently.
Alexander gave a sad smile and shook his head.
“No,” he replied. “It’s not.”
Fiona smiled and leaned against him, gently resting her chin on his shoulder.
“But is it so bad?” she asked in a whisper.
Alexander swallowed.
“I…” he began and sighed again, “don’t know.”
“Look,” Fiona said, standing up straight and pointing down below.
Alexander followed where she directed. He saw Galen walking through the streets surrounded by four other wolves, seemingly talking at once.
Alexander let out a soft chuckle. He remembered moments like those. Constantly surrounded by people needing answers, opinions, and approvals for every little thing. It was the most frustrating part of being Alpha.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?