Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“But she doesn’t have anything like that for herself,” Alexander said.
Galen looked back down at his friend.
“She doesn’t?” he asked.
Alexander shook his head.
“What about the flower garden in the forest?” Galen asked.
Alexander sat up, crossing his legs and taking a deep breath.
“She goes there to think sometimes, but it’s not the same,” he said. “That’s a place for the Luna of Summer, not just for mom.”
“Oh,” Galen replied.
He wondered to himself if he had ever seen Fiona relax. Since he had lost his mother and his father had become ill, when Fiona wasn’t working, she would have been spending time with Alexander and Galen. But she didn’t seem to do much for herself when he thought about it.
“You love mom too, right?” Alexander asked.
Galen furrowed his brows and looked up. Alexander was sitting up and staring at Galen.
“Of course,” Galen said.
Alexander smiled.
“That’s why,” he said.
“What?”
“That’s why I am going to choose you as my Beta,” Alexander said, “Yeah, I already know you would take care of the pack. That’s obvious.”
He chuckled before continuing.
“But you’re also my brother,” Alexander smiled. “And I know that if something happens to me or Dad, you’ll always take care of Mom. She’ll take care of everyone else, but I know you’ll take care of her.”
As the memory faded, Galen was left looking at Fiona standing before him.
Dark circles under her eyes, her natural smile drawn into a weary frown. She leaned heavily on the cane she had always abhorred using, but now, it never left her side.
‘After everything that he sacrificed, do you think that Alexander will find the cost of retaining his title worth it!’
Galen swallowed hard as Landon’s words shouted in his mind.
“He won’t…” Galen whispered.
Galen stood up straight and faced Fiona.
“You don’t want to be Alpha of Summer,” he said.
Fiona furrowed her brows and looked back at him.
“This isn’t about what I want,” she said.
Galen nodded.
“It’s about making sure that Alexander can still be Alpha if he returns,” Galen replied softly.
Fiona stared back at him, tilting her head slightly.
“When,” she said. “When he returns, he will still have his rightful place in this pack.”
In the three years since Alexander disappeared, Galen and Fiona had kept their hope of his return alive. And though they had talked a few times about that hope, they both tried to keep their minds set on reality.
Hope was a wonderful but dangerous thing.
Because they were both very well aware of that fact, neither had ever been willing to state that Alexander would absolutely return. They tried their best to keep the pack running in a way that was ready for his return, but it was always a hope, a wish, and never a guarantee.
But as Galen looked at Fiona now, he realized that, at some point, her hope had begun to change into something else. More than just a want or desire, it had become a need.
She was already wearing herself down, using all her strength and energy to keep Summer moving forward. But if she became Alpha, the pack’s needs would only increase. Alexander had told him how it felt when he was made Alpha, the sudden weight that pressed down on his shoulders. He could bear it. He was strong and prepared. He was devoted to the pack and did everything he could to guide and protect them.
If Fiona took that role, hoping only to hold Alexander’s place until he returned, she would kill herself in the process.
Galen couldn’t let that happen.
“Fiona,” he said.
She looked at him.
“He made me his Beta,” Galen said.
Fiona furrowed her brows.
“I know,” she replied.
“He asked,” Galen said, “and I accepted.”
Fiona stared at Galen, a puzzled look on her face.
“You will still be Beta. I have no intention of choosing someone else…” she said.
“No, Fiona,” he said with a gentle shake of his head. He swallowed and continued, “I was his Beta, as such… it is my job to lead the pack if he can’t anymore.”
Fiona turned so that she could face him fully.
“You have led and will continue to help me lead until Alexander returns,” she said. “But if you mean to say that you will become Alpha…”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Galen took a deep breath.
“Fiona–”
“Galen, I don’t doubt you. You would make an excellent Alpha,” she interrupted. “But Alexander is the Alpha of Summer, and the only way to ensure that there still is a Summer and that he is still Alpha when he returns is if I take the role now. So that is what is going to happen.”
“Fiona,” Galen said. “That’s not what Alexander wanted.”
Fiona’s hand tightened on her cane, and her jaw clenched.
“No,” she said. “Alexander wanted to lead his pack with his Luna by his side until they grew old together and could retire. At which point, his child would rightfully assume the role of Alpha.”
“Fiona,” Galen called softly. “That’s not what I meant… I just mean that as his Beta, my duty—“
“I understand what you meant,” she interrupted, “and under normal circumstances, I would have been the first to encourage you to fulfill that duty. But these are not normal circumstances.”
Galen stepped toward her, but Fiona raised her hand to stop him.
“What happens to Alexander?” she asked. “When he comes home and learns that he is no longer Alpha of Summer, what happens to him?”
Galen swallowed and lowered his eyes.
“Answer me, Galen,” she growled. “We have spent the past three years keeping this pack running. We have fought and worked ourselves to the bone!”
“I know,” he said.
“Why did we do all that?” she asked, moving toward him angrily. “Why did we struggle to keep this pack together?”
Galen swallowed but kept his eyes turned down.
“So that when he returns, we could look him in the eye and tell him honestly that we did our best!” she growled.
Fiona took short, heavy breaths through her nose. Her jaw was clenched tightly in anger.
Galen raised his head and looked into her eyes with all the guilt and pain he felt.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” he whispered.
Fiona furrowed her brow. She looked into Galen’s eyes. She saw the pain. She saw his guilt. But mostly, she saw the worry that was directed entirely at her.
She didn’t understand. Why was he suddenly so worried about her? Why had he suddenly decided it was time to fulfill his duty as Beta? It couldn’t just be the wolves. She had given him a solution for that, one that kept the door open for Alexander to return. So why was he choosing the option that closed that door?
There was a pit forming in her stomach.
“What aren’t you telling me, Galen?” she asked. Her voice shook, but her eyes held firm.
Galen swallowed. He knew what he needed to say to her. What she needed to hear.
“For the past three years,” he began, “Myka has quietly been looking for any sign of the ley lines reconnecting to our world.”
Fiona’s eyes widened, and she took a step closer.
“Did he find something?”
Galen nodded.
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?