one week later
Cyprus
After a long and agonizing month, Rain is finally back, and so are alpha Cedric and Zevrus. I stood up from my bed and got ready for the gathering, although Cedric has given me a serious punishment after he got back, he said that I'm still his third-in-command, and I have to be there whenever there's a meeting that includes pack business.
I passed by the main house on my way to the hall, and there I saw Rain standing by the window inside, with a mug in her hands. I was shocked when I saw her at first after she had returned with the others. She seemed thinner and pale, and that only made me feel worse. The punch that Cedric delivered to me, broke my nose, but I felt that I deserved another one, Zevrus and him were right, I shouldn't have let Rain go. I asked Cedric to meet him alone multiple times, but he refused, at that time I knew he had to stay close to his mate, Zevrus knew she can't eat deer meat, so he went all the way to the farms and barns on the area perimeter and hunted down two calves and brought them home, she had to eat to regain her energy and weight.
Rain smiled at me and waved her hand, I smiled and nodded , then continued on my way to the hall. Cedric sat in his chair, Zevrus sat next to him and to my surprise, Darious sat at the other side, where I was supposed to be sitting when Zevrus locked eyes with mine I gave him a questioning look, at first he was confused, but then I glanced at Darious and Zevrus understood, he sighed "Darious, stop fucking around and get your ass to another chair", Darious looked at me and snorted, as he stood up "sorry man, I was joking", I shook my head and rubbed my face, this guy tends to choose the worst times to be funny, one day I'll kick his ass.
Cedric stood up and cleared his throat, all the chatting and noise coming from the wolves who gathered in the hall was immediately replaced with silence, Cedric looked at each of them in the eyes for a while, then he spoke "I've been the alpha of this pack for a handful of years, as you all know, I've always been the one responsible for solving major problems, saving pack members whenever in a war situation, wither with other packs, or with R.A.Ws." he paused and sighed "not once in my life, was I ever worried for my own safety, because the safety of others came first. Until Rain came along" there were murmurs as he paused again, but then silence came back as he continued, he started pacing around, passing wolves as he spoke "I'm sure all of you, or some of you remember the first time we met Rain", I looked at Zevrus for a second, he seemed to swallow but kept quiet as Cedric continued, " up till that point, we all saw humans as fragile and weak beings, fucktoys and food" everyone nodded, but Cedric shook his head, "this 'little' human, this fragile girl, saved both my and Zevrus' asses", he pointed towards one of the returning wolves "if it wasn't for Rain, Vasile wouldn't have returned to see his son grow up and become a man right before his eyes", the wolf named Vasile nodded and closed his eyes, Cedric reached out his arm towards the others "some of you had loved ones who were taken, but never returned, if it wasn't for Rain, you wouldn't have gotten the chance to avenge them". Surprisingly, Cedric then turned to face me and extended his arm towards me "but all of this, and the fact that my brother and I are standing right before you today, is because I knew they was a loyal friend, a loyal member of the pack, whom I could count on, and trust with my life" everyone's eyes were locked on me, Cedric smiled at me "Cyprus, stand up my friend", I stood up as everyone clapped, Zevrus stood up as well, holding a box in his hands, I haven't noticed that box when I first got here, and I was a bit confused.
Cedric nodded at Zevrus who stood beside him, he opened the box to reveal a ring, my eyes widened and I swallowed hard, I knew who that ring belonged to, Cedric smirked, "do you know who this ring belongs to?" I swallowed again and nodded "Alpha Alexander", Cedric nodded and reached out and grabbed it, then he extended it to me, "take it, wear it, you deserve it", I swallowed hard, I couldn't believe what was happening, "alpha, I-I can't take it, this ring belongs to you, it can't be passed down to anyone but an alpha", he shook his head "I know, but I'm not the alpha anymore", I stare at him in shock, so does everyone else, he takes my hand and places the ring in my palm, it felt heavy, as heavy as the responsibility that comes with it, Cedric raised his fist in the air as he spoke loudly "I, alpha Cedric, son of alpha Alexander, am stepping down for the new alpha, long live alpha Cyprus of the Steel pack", everyone else raised their fists and shouted "long live alpha Cyprus!", I looked around with wide eyes, still shocked, it felt like a dream. My eyes met Darious', who was standing aside with his arms folded, he smiled at me and shrugged "don't look at me, I ain't putting that ring on your finger", I growled at him as everyone laughed, "the fuck you doing here anyway? we ain't your pack and you seem to be here more than in your original place" Darious smirked and shrugged again "what? your pack has much more drama going on, sue me", everyone else laughed as I glared daggers at Darious and his shit-eating grin. Cedric patted my back and hollered, "alright, it's time to celebrate!".
Everyone was having fun outside, the smell of the barbeque and the sounds of joy made me relax, but as I sat there in the alpha's chair, I couldn't feel comfortable, it just didn't feel right, me? an alpha? my father wasn't an alpha, nor was my grandfather. Zevrus nudged my side, "stop worrying, you'll get used to it", I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, "this feels wrong, if Cedric wanted to step down, you should've taken his place, you're his Beta", Zevrus shrugged "actually I don't mind, I'm just fine that way, besides, I get to spend more time with Rain". I nodded and glanced at the main house, Rain was standing inside by the window, watching everything from inside, and I understood because it was freezing that night, and she was still weak, I raised my hand and waved it at her, she smiled and waved back, then she signaled for me to go to her, I looked at Zevrus "I'll be right back", he nodded.
As soon as I opened the front door of the main house, Rain launched herself at me, I embraced her fragile body in my arms, careful not to break a bone in her, she pulled back and smiled widely at me "congratulations Cyprus! you deserve this", I smiled down at her "thank's darling', though I don't know if I'm fit for the position" she waved me off "oh please, you are the smartest and most incredible planner in the world, you'll do just fine", I nodded and caressed her hair "I hope so". We stared into each other's eyes as we stood silently, her hands were still on my chest and mine were now on her waist, as I stared down at her, I noticed her pupils were dilated, her cheeks were pink, and he lips were parted, and then I smelled it, Rain was in heat.