~Alexei~
"FUCK!"
Shattered pieces of the mirror fell to the sink and the concrete countertop as I stared at my reflection, hoping for something, anything to come out of what I thought was anger. But there was only the numb feeling that took over, no burning sensation, no crazed emotional state. Just a slight pain in my knuckles and a bit of blood on the sink to show for what I hoped would become a feeling for something, anything.
But the same numbness that continues to torture me ties down my very soul and holds me down with its dark weighted cloud.
I stare at the boy in the mirror and barely recognize his face. The fifteen-year-old staring back at me held a deep-set frown beneath his wet ruffled jet black hair. His dark brown eyes held tiny flecks of crimson that blurred themselves into the dark of his iris.
I let out a long sigh and dug into the sink, throwing away the larger pieces in the bin while washing the rest down the sink along with the blood of my knuckles. The cool drops of water from the shower still dripping down my back as I did my best to hide what I had done.
"Alexei? Are you okay?" My foster mother Rene knocked on my bathroom door and I hummed to myself. Patting the blood dry with my towel.
"Yes, I uh, just took a quick shower before the ferry out," I tell her and I know she suspects more but never bothers asking or double-checking.
"Okay hon, King Mason wants to meet with you before you leave so do you have everything packed? Need help with anything?" She asked and I drew a towel around my waist as I walked across the cool tile floor to the door.
"I know, I'm ready I'm just going to give it a once over before leaving," I tell her and I hear her slight sigh.
I hold nothing against Rene. After she lost her husband and daughter in the terrorist attack on the Kailea castle, I was placed in her care. Even though my own father, Damian Crimson, the ex-alpha of the Crimson pack was the one who led the attack, she never held it against me.
At the end of this coming school year, when I retake control as the rightful alpha of my pack, I'll make sure I pay her back for the time and effort she put into making sure I was never mistreated again.
Once I'm sure she's gone, I slide back into my bedroom. It wasn't anything extravagant like all the other alpha's have, but Alpha Mason Kailea wanted it that way. I have everything I need to survive and Rene to look after me, that's it.
Next to the single large rolling black trunk on my bed marked with my name, I already laid out my school uniform. I throw on the white dress shirt, tucking it into my black pressed slacks, push up my already tied navy blue tie, and lastly stare at the colored blazer.
It was navy blue, because at school it symbolized which pack house I belonged to.
On the island of Kailea, to which I have the pleasure of living, there are four separate, distinguished packs.
The house of Forester, who represent in emerald green, contributes to the construction on the island and preservation of its forest. The house of Lotus specializes in witchcraft and healing, often wearing a rich purple.
The house of Crimson provided well-trained soldiers to guard the packhouses and the island itself from invasion, they wore a deep shade of burgundy and held great pride in their soldier heritage. Currently with a Kailea elder temporarily taking my place since I was five years old until I was of age to retake my position.
And finally the house of Kailea, home of King Alpha Prime Mason who oversees all four packs as his kingdom. The navy blue symbolized I belonged to them and it was the house of Kailea I represented instead of my own pack members who I went to school with.
I feel like an outsider and spent my entire life tiptoeing on the gray line between Crimson and Kailea. I am Crimson, I am the next Crimson alpha, but I've grown up in Kailea, the culture I've grown up around has been Kailea.
Where do I fit into all this?
I take the navy blue blazer sporting the Kailea badge. I've worn the navy colored uniform every year to school since I was six and it never bothered me until now. I guess the closer I get to being of age the worse it feels.
"You look so handsome," Rene comments and I turn to her as I slip on the black socks and shiny black leather dress shoes.
"Thank you, I guess I'll go find Alpha Mason," I mutter under my breath and she dries her hands on her apron. Her long gray hair tied back out of her face as he silver eyes watched my every move.
She nods quietly as I step past her and walk out the door to our small apartment into the main hall of the Kailea pack mansion.
"Ah, just the man I was looking for," A deep gravely voice finds me and I turn to find Alpha Mason's ever-powerful presence walking towards me. Dressed in Kailea's traditional navy clothing, he wraps his arm around my shoulder and I give him a small smile.
"So the time had come Alexei! Are you excited for your last year of school? I can't believe six months from now, you, Juniper, and Waylon will all be mated adults," Alpha Mason sighs and I just blink a few times.
"I can't believe it's all coming so fast," I tell him honestly and he rubs my shoulder before letting go.
"You've come so far Alexei and I'm so proud of the man you're becoming. You've always been like a fourth son to me so I convinced the elders to let me tell you the good news myself," he says as he leads me down the hallway towards his wing.
"After this last year of school when you come home and you've been given your mate, the counsel thinks its time for you to re-take your place as Alpha of the Crimson pack," He says and the thought of having a mate this year wasn't even on my mind. Was I even ready to lead a pack I had only been allowed to visit for the past ten years?
"Do you think I'm going to make a good Alpha for my people?" I ask him and Alpha Mason stops in his tracks.
"Of course I do. Don't worry, the elder will still be there to help you when you first get there and we'll go over all the details later. But Alexei you are brave, strong, and the spark. I think when your mate comes along the spark will be ignited and you'll just know," he said and it made me feel a little better about the oncoming responsibility. I can only hope my mate is accepting of being with an alpha.
"I have a gift for you, here come inside," Alpha Mason opens the front door entrance to his family's wing and it was like a small bomb had gone off.
That time bomb, being his daughter and the next alpha, Princess Juniper.
Standing in the living room, surrounded by seven royal navy blue trunks Juniper counted her things while rushing about the room.
"I'm ready dad I swear, I just have to cou- oh, hey Alex," Juniper notices me but her light green eyes dart away as she continues running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Panicking to find her uniform in her disaster.
Her twin brother and beta Waylon, however, was a different story.
The complete opposite, Waylon perched himself on top of his singular navy trunk next to the window deeply invested in a book on his reading tablet. Already dressed and ready to go, he basked in the morning sun sparkling on the blonde highlights in his light brown hair. Illuminating his dewy light skin as he pushed his black-framed glasses up his nose.
"Juni, you were supposed to be ready an hour ago, the ferry to Antum leaves in thirty minutes. Hold on Alexei, I'm just going to grab it from the other room." Alpha Mason excuses himself and walks away leaving me with the twins who were the same age as me.
Juniper sprints when she finds her uniform leaving just myself and a boy who didn't even know I was in the room. Drawn to his calm aurora, I walk up behind him and try to get a peek at what he was reading.
"What are you reading?" I ask, spooking him to his core as he nearly jolts off his trunk. Dropping his tablet but I catch it before it can fall to the floor.
"You scared me," he gasps while clutching his chest. I look at the tablet only to have him snatch it back before I can even get a look at the title. The slightest touch of the back of his hand just grazing mine had me holding my breath after a wave of sudden warmth washes over my body.
"What? You didn't answer my question," I say as I try to shrug off the feeling and he holds his tablet close like it was holding his deepest darkest secret. But I can't imagine what that could be considering the kid is so bright-eyed and innocent.
"I-I-I," He grows shy and refuses to look at me with those brilliant angel blue eyes.
"You can always talk to me you know," I reassure him and just as his lips part his sister burst into the room dressed in her uniform with her Alpha father behind her carrying what looked like a dry-cleaning bag.
"I'm ready Wei, lets go!" Juniper calls out and our Lunos Tristan comes in followed by their two beta mates.
"Here this is for you and I already called the school and fixed your title," Alpha Mason says and I slowly unzip the bag to find a wooden hanger with a burgundy blazer and my family's firey emblem as their crest pinned to the front.
"Alpha Alexei of the house of Crimson,"