ALPHA: Heir Of The Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

     "'Under the full moon, we thrive, our moon, She sits on high.'" My eyes did not once part from the moon as I recited words that had been so deeply ingrained into my very being that I could never forget them. "'Our fate is written in the sky, our moon, She sits on high. Live to live or live to die, our moon, She sits on high.'"

     Countries had national anthems and declarations, all of which consisted of words that might have meant something once upon a time when love for each other and loyalty to your country was stronger than any divide between that country and its people. Wolves had something similar, a deep seeded loyalty that not even thousands upon thousands of years could uproot.

     I moved from a seated position into a kneeling one, all the while maintaining eye contact with the moon. "These were words I lived by. Words I believed in. The belief that no matter what happened to us, even if all of your children were wiped out of existence, our howls would still echo throughout the night and our moon would still sit high in the sky. It's that belief that keeps us strong. That keeps us from being afraid to die.

     "You know that I've never been afraid of dying. For a long time, there weren't many things that I feared. Our fate is written in the sky, and what is written cannot be unwritten. I always knew that. I always accepted that. But I refuse to accept this as your Will. I refuse to accept that you put Ava-Rain in my life only to take her away now. You took Emmy Grace from me because she wasn't mine to have, but Ava-Rain is mine. Her heart is mine. Her soul is mine. Her love is mine. I don't deserve her, but you gave her to me for a reason, didn't you?"

     I felt the blue slowly begin to rise to surface and the race between my emotions begin. Anger was the first one out of the gate and its momentum pushed me to feet.

     "So tell me why," I demanded. "Tell me how an abomination became worthy of love." I shouted. "Tell me how much more suffering I must endure before you'll put me out of my misery."

     The rage within me did not want to accept that, no matter how much I willed for one, no answer was going to be delivered. Despite its intensity, despite its fury, I wasn't angry with Luna as much as I was angry with myself.

     "And if you won't tell me that, then tell me what my purpose is. Tell me why you gave me life. If I'm not to find peace, if I'm not to have love nor happiness, then. . ." I lowered my head and shut my eyes,  "tell me why I'm here."

     "And who are you to question Luna?"

     The unexpected sound of my father's voice was enough to lift my head, but not enough to get me to turn around and face him. "I'm not in the mood for one of your lectures right now, so if that's why you're here then you can turn around and head back the way you came."

     It was harsh. It was, arguably, a step or two away from bordering on disrespectful. But twenty-three years of living life as Ezra Brandt's son had not taught me how to be any other way whilst in the presence of the former alpha.

     I was much more familiar with the alpha than the father.

     "Good. Because I'm certainly not in the mood to give you one. I'm sure you already know all of the ways that you failed that girl in there. No point striking you when you're already down."

     And that was my cue to leave.

     I turned around then and tried my best not to laugh at that joke of a statement. Leaving wasn't what I wanted to do, but the best thing to do in that moment was to walk away. "You sure?" I asked as I neared him, refusing to spare him a glance. "'Cause I could have sworn that was when you loved to strike me the most."