Read Bittersweet Taste :: Patrick

Present

*Knock knock*

''Come in''

''Hello Alpha Patrick! You called me?'' ah right, I had called Jaden, i completely forgotten, with this job lately I get so engrossed in it that I barely notice I do things on automatic, ''Yes, come in Jaden sit down, I wanted to talk to you about an important matter, it's about Lisa and her position as the next successor of the pack.''

I look up from the papers and take off my glasses to look a little less ~old~ and ow shit I shouldn't be thinking about this, I have more important matters but I can't help it; but seeing how Jaden gets tense about the subject I have to be careful and look more approachable, it's really rare to see another Alpha fidgeting or hesitating

''Look Jaden, you are an important figure in our pack, you are in charge of helping everyone around here, I always see you busy with pack matters; you help the clinic, the community dining hall, in organizing activities that entertain everyone and even help Abraham in daily training, and you are also the Village Architect, hell boy where do you get the energy and time ah? Hahaha''

''Alpha, I just do my job and (...)''

''Nah, don't come to me with modesty, what I was referring to is that you are a very capable member of the pack and I see you achieving great things boy; we all see you as a leader and for that reason I wanted to ask you what you think about Lisa?''

''Lisa, sir?''

''Yes, Lisa my daughter'' why i have a bad feeling about this?

''Alpha, I don't think I understand the question; she is my best friend and she likes ...''

''Well I'll be more direct then, would you like to be Lisa's partner when she is the ...''

''Dad that would never happen!!!!''

Ah, so it was her listening behind the door, hell, someday listening behind the doors is going to be her downfall.

''How could you do this to me, you know it's not fair to both of us!!!!''

Just what I needed, my daughter yelling at me in front of pack members, disrespecting her father, well whatever, I'm her father first before I'm her Alpha.

''Calm down honey (...)''

''Calm down?! Is that what you want daddy?! An arranged marriage like yours?!!!!!''

ouch

Ah fucking unbelievable, this girl is going to kill my patience.

''Lisa, stop it, you know you can't talk like that to the Alpha''

And there's the third musketeer Nate, I had also forgotten that the three of them are really inseparable.

''Nate, you shut up, you also have something to do with this (...)''

Wow wow wow how this escalated so fast

''Everybody sit down and calm down''

''Dad seriously you (...)''

''So since this has become a family reunion, well then let's discuss how we are going to solve this (...)''

''Dad, there is nothing to discuss or solve, Nate and I have loved each other since we were kids and that is never going to change, Jaden is my best friend, besides I have never wanted to be the Alpha of the pack and you know it, so find someone else to marry Jaden who by the way is gay. Let's go Nate.''

What.

I didn't even get a chance to say anything to her before she slammed the door so hard that it knocked the picture off the wall breaking into pieces on the ground. Well talking to Lisa has become a priority whenever she calms down so, first things first.

''(...) do you want a drink Jaden?''

''Huh? What?''

''The whiskey, on the rocks or just?''

''On the rocks', thank you''

As I pour the drinks I can't help but think of Amanda, ahhh if she were here she would really know what to do, raising a girl with my character is not easy at all. As I finish and turn around I notice that Jaden is looking pale and I think that with the confessions that took place today is enough for everyone, even for me. ''Well then, since Lisa is not interested in the Alpha position, how about you boy? Would you be willing to assume the responsibility of leading a pack?'' I go around the table in the middle of my study and lean on the armchair opposite to Jaden's.

''I ... Alpha''

''no pressure and obviously it wouldn't be immediate; every good process takes tim,e partly because there's a lot of bureaucratic paperwork to do but you know how picky is the Council '' i don't know if i'm trying to smooth things but i really hope so ''Sure Alpha, I understand and I would like to take my time to decide, it's not something I should take lightly or rush into.''

''Mmm, a vague but concise answer ok then it is decided, when you have an answer come and see me, that was all from me, you can leave, I don't want to interfere in your work.''

I hadn't noticed that he drank all the drink in one gulp until he put the glass a little more forcefully on the middle table, that was a whiskey to be enjoyed, it was a Macallan for God's sake. ''Thank you for the offer Alpha, I'll take my leave and have a nice day.''

Seeing him leaving my study in a hurry I get up from the couch and walk to my desk and think that after today's news and if Jaden accepts, the pack will give him a warm reception when he becomes the Alpha, my people after the attack 100 years ago were not the same, we all lost important people, I lost Amanda, my best friend, my confidant; Lisa lost a mother, Jaden lost his parents and the only thing that remained of it all were parts of our souls that even after so much time we haven't been able to heal, I didn't realize that I was rubbing my chest until I stopped doing it. Its hard to be an Alpha.

I lean back in my chair watching the spectacular view of the mountains through the back window and somehow I think that the memory of Amanda hurts less and less and that this is something that I can't allow, not after having let my guard down and let something happen to them that night, this is a guilt that I must carry and bear; I close my eyes and sigh thinking that I must talk to Lisa, I can't leave things like this; I try to stand up and fall back in my chair feeling like I have a weight on my shoulders that makes me feel weak for a moment and then nothing, it was as if nothing happened, I don't understand.

What the hell happened to me? I think no more whiskey for today

I continue my way to the door and pick up from the floor the picture of Lisa when she was a little girl over my shoulders and passing my fingers over her smiling face and long blond hair, I feel it's time to talk to her about what happened 100 years ago.