Alpha Amos’ home was in the middle of the pack settlement, so I had to make my way through the dirt paths and do my best to avoid most of the people. I know being an alpha, basically the future alpha of this very pack, I had to be social, and normally I was, but I was tired and not really in the mood.

I was too distracted by the dream I’d had the previous night, understanding well how I could have been making tortured noises in my sleep. Even when I dream about Malcolm my heart aches, because I know logically he isn’t really there with me, I know when I wake up he’ll be thousands of miles away on the other side of the country, so even in my dreams when his hands are on my face and his lips against mine, I still cry from it.

There were a handful of soldiers loitering around the front porch of the Alpha’s home, but they spread out and provided a path to the front door for me when I stepped up. They were all wearing similarly grim expressions, I could smell the lingering stench of inevitable death hanging in the air, and my heart squeezed in my chest as I moved faster, into the house and down the hall to Amos’ bedroom.

I wasn’t surprised to see the room was occupied by more than just Amos and Priscilla. The sick alpha was lying in bed with covers tucked around him and his face pale, and Priscilla was kneeling beside him with lips pressed into a tight line, hands clenched around one of her father’s and eyes shut.

The beta was standing just behind her, his hands clenched and his pained gaze on the leader he’d followed from the moment he was given the title as second in command so many years ago, so many years before I’d shown up. Their Shaman was in the room as well, on the other side of the bed with a hand on Amos’ forehead and his eyes closed peacefully, the lines in his face dark as he read the old wolf’s aura before looking up at the beta and shaking his head.

“Scott is here,” Amos said gruffly, and I stepped further into the room as he opened his dark eyes to me, a fatherly smile gracing his wrinkled face as the Shaman stepped back and let me take his place, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking the hand he lifted to me.

“I’m sorry I took so long, alpha.”

“Nonsense, I know you have a child to look after,” Amos assured me, “I know how taxing raising a pup alone can be. I raised Priscilla without any help from her mother. My beautiful Luna,” his eyes became glassy, “I’ll be seeing her soon, though.”

I shook my head, “What are you talking about? You’re a picture of health!”

“Don’t mock him,” Priscilla hissed at me, and Amos pulled his hand out of her grip to pay her shoulder, laughing richly before coughing hard, covering his mouth.

“Nonsense, Scilla. Laughter is good for my health.”

I gave him a weak smile and squeezed his hand against my chest, “What did you call me for? Can I help with something? Do you want me to pick up any medicine from town?”

“No, son, this visit isn’t about me,” Amos corrected, pulling his hand away from his mouth and rolling his head to the side to look me straight in the eye, “These past eight years I have been blessed to have you in my pack. The ambassador trial I set up with Alpha Wade has ended up being one of my better decisions. I was admittedly wary when we first decided on it, but I’m happy to say I’m pleased with the results.

“I took you under my wing because I saw endless potential in you, and I still see it. There’s a fire in you, Scott, a fire that I want to sit at the forefront of my pack and lead it into the future. You are my heir, it’s already been established, and I’m not getting any younger.”

I somehow knew what he was going to say next as he pulled his hand from mine and lifted it up, a motion for me to bow my head to him so he could set his hand in my hair, “I am proud to have been your mentor, Mr. Dannell.”

“I’m honored to have been taken in as your student,” I whispered back, and Amos hummed.

“My helm is passed to you, Alpha Scott. I know you’ll make the best decisions for this pack. Lead them home, my boy. Lead them to unite the packs.”

I pinched my eyes closed to keep the tears in, my voice choking, “I will, alpha.”

His hand slipped from my hair, and my eyes snapped open as I caught his wrist before he was entirely limp, looking up to see his eyes were closed, face white, chest still. Priscilla gave a horrible whine and raised up on her knees, leaning over the bed and burying her face against Amos’ chest, sobbing.

I carefully set his hand down onto the bed, squeezing his fingers and swallowing down my tears before standing up and rubbing my hands over my face to compose myself.

“What are your orders, alpha?” the Shaman asked softly, and I looked at him before turning my head down, fingers flexing and curling into fists.

“We need to honor our fallen alpha, giving him a proper funeral, and bury him.”

“And after?”

“We honor his wishes,” I said, wiping my eyes, and looking over at the beta, “We unite the packs. It was always supposed to happen, it was just delayed because alpha got sick,” I cleared my throat, “It was his last wish.”

“You should write to Alpha Wade,” the Shaman said, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder, and I nodded firmly.

“I will. Can I trust you with the preparations for Amos’ funeral?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll write to Alpha Wade,” I turned, “Come get me if something happens.”

“Yes, alpha.”

Alpha. It felt weird to be called that. I was alpha born, and I already knew that the pack would be passed to me at the time of Amos’ death, but it had come so suddenly, far sooner than I’d been prepared for. There was still so much I needed to learn, I didn’t think I was ready.

When the front door to my home was shut, I leaned against it and slid down, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them before burying my face and letting the tears fall. I just lost a man I considered to be my father, and suddenly so much responsibility was weighing on my shoulders. It was all too much.

“Daddy?” I lifted my head from my arms and gave Rebel a watery smile when I saw him standing down the hall, leaning out of the kitchen doorway, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, little man,” I lied, sniffing, and wiping my arm under my nose before cleaning the tears away from my cheeks and holding my arms out for my son, “Come here, give your dad a hug.”

Rebel hurried over to me and knelt beside me, wrapping his arms around my neck and hugging me, snuggling his face against my neck, “It’s okay, daddy, I love you.”

“I know baby,” I whispered, hiding my face in his hair and stroking my fingers through the curled inky locks, “You still wanna see him?” I asked, and Rebel nodded furiously before turning and situating himself so he was sitting on my lap, and I pulled at the silver chain hanging around my neck, pulling the locket out from where it was hiding under my shirt and setting it in my palm, popping it open and holding it out for Rebel to see.

He drew his little fingers around the picture, his golden eyes glimmering in awe, “Can I meet him someday, daddy?” he asked, and I wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him back against my chest and kissing his forehead.

“I hope so.”

“Scott,” I looked up to see Shaede stepping down the hall, cleaning his hands on a towel, his brow drawn in distress, but before he could ask me why my eyes were red, he stopped walking, bowing his head, “I see…”

I sniffed again and closed the locket, letting it hang and standing up, rubbing my eyes and setting a hand on Rebel’s head, “Would you mind helping him pack his things?” I asked, “We’ll be leaving soon.”

Shaede simply nodded and held a hand out for Rebel, who looked at me with a small frown, “Are we going somewhere?”

“We’re moving,” I explained, smiling warmly, “Back to my hometown where I was born and raised. I think you’ll like it,” I picked him up and propped him on my hip, “It’s surrounded by redwoods, we’re only five hours away from the ocean, there are freshwater ponds, oak trees, hills covered in grass and flowers. It’ll be like we’re camping every day!”

Rebel seemed to muse through my words before brightening up, “Can I make friends?”

My already wounded heart seemed to break even more, and I gave him a warm smile, “Of course you can make friends, sweetie. You know what else?”

“Hm?”

“You’ll be able to meet your papa,” I said it breathlessly, and immediately Rebel was all for it, wiggling in my arms until I’d let him down and he ran down the hall.

“I’ll pack and we can leave right now!”

Shaede chuckled a little, watching the eight-year-old disappear down the hall before turning back to me, the smile fading as he stepped up to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, letting me bury by face against his chest, shivering a little from the sharp inhale, letting more of my tears fall.

“I’m not ready for this,” I whispered, and Shaede squeezed me securely, chin on my head.

“You are. You’ve been training since before we met. You’re ready, you’re just scared and inexperienced. I’ll be right here for you if you need any help,” he pulled me away and wiped my tears with his thumb before putting a hand on my back and turning me towards the hallway, “Go on, you have a letter to write, your own things to pack. I’ll help Rebel.”

“Thanks,” I offered him a weak smile, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Something painful seemed to flash in his eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared, and he shrugged one shoulder, pushing me forward gently, “Go on.”

I cleaned the rest of my tears from my face before I got to my room, shutting the door, and making my way over to my desk to sit down and pull a piece of paper in front of me, grabbing a pen and taking a deep breath, my fingers playing with the silver locket hanging at my chest for a moment as I considered what I was going to say.

I’m sure they would be happy to hear from me, I didn’t write as often as I could have, they were probably mad at me for that, but if nothing had changed, then they would be ecstatic to hear from me. I really hoped Malcolm would be happy. I was finally coming home.

A slow breath slipped in before I leaned over my desk, putting my pen to the paper.

Dear Alpha Wade,

You don’t have to bother responding to this letter. We’ll be seeing each other soon…