(Alaric's POV)
Knock knock knock.
I sit up on my bed. The curtains are closed, so the room is very dark. It seems everything has gotten darker these past months.
"Alaric, get your ass out here now," I hear Arsenio yell from outside of my room door. I haven't heard him this angry since the last anniversary of my half brother's death. Is it already that time of the year again?
I pick up my phone from the dresser and check the date. It's not the anniversary yet, so it must be something else. But what would it be? He has never come up here to my room. I've never even seen him walk on the second floor of the mansion.
"You better not make me repeat myself, boy," I hear him growl out. It's barely past seven in the morning. What's so urgent that he has to come up here and wake me up?
I get up from my bed and put a shirt on, not wanting to anger him more. I didn't feel like getting into a fight at this hour. I go to my door and unlock it just for him to harshly push it open and grab me by the shoulders.
"What the hell is your problem," I ask him, shoving his hands off of me. Instead he just places a finger hard on my chest.
"Where are they? I know you know where they are?" I look at him like he's insane.
"Who are you talking about?"
"That whole group of friends you hang with! Chris, Donaghy, Hanna, Jaisley, and Anne. Where the hell are they? I'm tired of this game of hide and seek!" I can see him on the verge of popping a blood vessel.
"Why do you care to find them now? You didn't care before and it's all your fault they're gone anyways. This is not my problem, it's yours. If it was up to me, I'd leave too. And never come back," I throw back in his face. If he had fought to keep Chris out of jail, everyone would have stayed.
"Don't talk to me like that! Just whip your ass into shape and get downstairs. Make sure the whole pack is downstairs in half an hour." He stomps out of my room and doesn't even close the door behind him.
I close the door myself and breathe out a tired sigh. He should know better than to ask me to do anything for him, especially if it involves the pack. For one, they don't respect me enough to follow my orders and for two, I don't care what happens anymore. The only reason I'm still here is because I have no choice.
It's easier for humans to leave home after graduating. They become of age and they just run away. But for me, it's not the same.
Because I'm next in line to be alpha, I'm bound to this pack. They're my chains and I can't get out of them. If I ever did find a way to leave the pack, I'd die instantly because that's how it goes. Moon goddess made it so that if an alpha rejects his pack he dies because his main purpose was to rule over the pack and keep them in control. If he's not doing that anymore, he has no reason to even live.
I take a shower and get dressed like I was told to do. I can't even remember how many members we have in the pack, but I make sure to knock on every single door and tell them to go downstairs, knowing that most of them will ignore me anyways.
Once I'm done I go downstairs and there is only 20 pack members there. As I expected, but it seems to drive Arsenio crazy because he's pacing back and forth. He walks towards me with furious eyes.
"You had one job, Alaric, and you couldn't even do that," he yells at me, but he doesn't get to continue his angry rant because the door to his office opens and three people walk out of it.
"That's enough, Arsenio. It's not his fault if you couldn't get your pack in order on time. Now it's time for your inspection," a lady says. At first glance all I can tell is that she's very tall. Next to her is surprisingly, Anne's father and Giovanni. When I glance back at the lady again, I recognize her as Kora, the vampire head of the court.
Kora's face doesn't give off any of her emotions as to what's about to happen, while Gregory's face has a satisfied smile on it. On the other hand, Giovanni looks very worried for what's about to happen.
Inspection? What's going on right now?
Gregory sends me a slight nod, as to say that everything is going to be ok. My body relaxes.
"I need more time, Kora, and I promise everything will be in shape," Arsenio says, panicking. I've never seen Arsenio panic like this before. I watch as Kora walks around looking at the pack members that are in front of her.
"I've seen enough. Your pack lacks discipline and you have five missing members. This is all signs of neglect. Not only on your behalf, but on Giovanni's behalf. I've visited five other packs today and they all have signs of neglect, meaning Giovanni is not doing his job," Kora states.
"What does that mean," I ask Kora, feeling curious.
"Well, I see that Giovanni has only been using his position on the higher court for vengeance instead of doing what he's actually supposed to be doing. He's a werewolf representative, not a dictator. He's supposed to be helping make sure all the packs get what they need. It's even more crucial now because of the rogue attacks and people going missing," Kora explains to me.
"I can assure you that none of my pack members are missing because of rouge attacks," Arsenio tells her. It seems he's fighting hard to keep Giovanni on the higher court, but why?
"How can you be certain? You haven't been keeping track of them," Kora says and Arsenio is stuck in a trap. I watch as he tightens his jaw, but he doesn't say anything.
"What's going to happen then," I ask. Giovanni seems to hate my question as his face turns to one of anger.
"If the next pack house I go to has signs of neglect as well, Giovanni is off the higher court," she says and my eyes bulge. Is this a dream?
"There has to be a law against this. You can't kick him off the higher court. Each higher court member is supposed to have equal power, meaning you can't kick him off," Arsenio says. Kora smiles, not looking phased.
"Actually, Giovanni has been abusing his power in the absence of Cassandra and I. I am here in representation of both of us. If two high court members wishes to vote the other higher court member off the board and have proof that they are not using their power in the correct way, then the two higher court members have that right."
This must be a dream.