Vince POV
End of senior year, my best friend and Beta Griffin is turning 17 tomorrow and hopefully, I will soon be ALPHA VINCE OF THE RED MOON PACK. My father, Alpha Zeus, put together a pack party for us.
"Get off me you big mountain," Griffin grunts as we wrestle in the middle of the yard. I chuckle.
"Make me future —-" he interrupts me by flipping me. He stands up, eyes black as his wolf Gabe is now in control.
I laugh at him, "Hey big puppy calm down" He growls, almost challenging me. My wolf Victor comes forward. 'He's challenging us, I'm going to break his spine.' I push him back.
'Stop it, Vic, he's just mad I taunted him.' I say to my wolf. Trying to keep my eyes green so his wolf doesn't push it. "Griffin, control your wolf!" I use my alpha voice, making him submit to my command. I walk past him hearing Joey, our pack cook, yell it's time to eat.
Walking into the kitchen, I find Joey. "Need any help carrying the food?" I ask him.
He replies quickly, "No, Alpha Vince. Thank you."
I nod and continue my way to the front yard of the pack house where the tents are set up.
"Vince," my mother calls for me, "Does Joey need help with anything? Most of the food is already out, but I don't want him to be overwhelmed." She asked.
"No, I already checked in with him," I replied. Taking my seat next to my father, to his right. My mom is to his left. Alphas always sit at the head of their table with their Luna to the left and heir to the right. If no heir is born yet, then the current Beta would sit to his right and the Gamma following that. Their mates would sit across from them, covering their Luna in case of any attacks.
"He went all out for this buffet; Ribs, chicken, pork, burgers, hotdogs, brats, and all the sides you can think of," My dad says eagerly.
I chuckle at him, "I doubt there will be any leftovers with you eating."
"Not me, you and Griffin eat more." He pipes back at me.
"I am a growing wolf and Alpha. I need all the energy I can get." I responded.
"Yeah what Vince said," Griffin says as he sits down.
I turn to Griffin, "Glad to see Gabe put away." Smirking at him.
Griffin just nods and taps at his plate, ready to eat. Joey walks to my father and hands him a microphone and takes his seat at another table.
My father stands as everyone settles in their seats. "I hope you are all hungry. If you have any pups with you, you may go up and grab food. Then our elders, Alpha table and then the remaining tables." He finishes establishing order and everyone replies with 'Yes Alpha'.
My father has always taught me that Alphas must be strong, ready, and kind. For every meal, the children and elders get food first. Helps keep the pups busy instead of waiting and getting antsy and shows our respect for our elders who guide us during hard times. The kitchen staff quickly fill plates as the parents and elders go down the line.
The staff then turns to the Alpha and nods that are ready for us.
As we all finish eating, My father stands and everyone goes quiet.
"Good Evening, friends and family, I would just like to announce that our future Beta Griffin turns 17 tomorrow." The room erupts in applause and cheering. I nod at Griffin and smile. Turning back to my father, he holds his hand up and the room goes silent. "With that being said, Vince." Motioning for me to stand up. "Our future alpha will be taking over the pack this Saturday. I believe with the help of his Beta and his family, when he turns 18, he will no longer need us, just his mate."
The room cheered and yelled out "Alpha Vince!" I look at him stunned and smile as my green eyes flicker black. Victor growls in approval. Proud of my title, I looked down at my mom and then at my Beta. His chair is empty. I look around and watch him walk towards the house.
Victor growls at the disrespect. 'You need to check our Beta. Gabe is not responding to me.' Victor says to me. 'Don't worry. I will find him, I just don't want to cause a scene.' I replied.
I turn my attention back to my pack. Taking the microphone, "It is an honor to protect, guide, and be a part of the Red Moon Pack. I look forward to taking over this Saturday and knowing my pack is ready as well. I hope you all have enjoyed the day and the food, thank you, Joey. Please have dessert and a goodnight" I finished my speech to more clapping and cheering.
The night settles down after my father announces that I will be Alpha soon. I need to find Griffin who has yet to come back to the party. I try to mind-link him and get blocked right away. I find his mom walking toward the Beta wing.
"Harper, have you seen Griffin? He left dinner and I can't get through the mind-link?" I ask her.
"No, Alpha Vince, I have not seen him. I know Gabe has been a little restless lately, he could have gone for a run. Is it serious?" she asked.
"No, I just wanted to check in on him, and using my Alpha voice doesn't seem appropriate for that. If you see him, have him call me or find me in the morning." She nods to me.
'Hey Vic, you up for a run?' I ask my wolf. I just get a howl in response.
I'll take that as a yes. I laugh at him. Walking through the backyard to the forest edge, I move behind a tree to strip. Feeling Victor push forward, my bones crack and my nails grow. Standing on all four, my jet black fur shines in the moonlight. Victor lets out a loud howl, letting all rogues know there is an Alpha close and claiming my land.
I take off towards our northern border, I should check in with the border patrols. I picked up Griffin's scent so he must be on a run. As I reach the border two wolves come out on each side of me growling until they recognize Victor.
"Alpha, is there a problem?" Dylan, one of our warriors, asked me through mind link.
"I'm just on a run and thought I would get a report of the last few hours. Joey has food set aside in the fridge for all patrol warriors who missed the party." I replied.
"Thank you, Alpha. There have been no sights during our shift. The wind changed direction about an hour ago and we caught a scent but during our investigation, it faded quickly. The west border caught a similar scent but it faded as well. We are on high alert just in case a rogue is near and is looking around for a way onto the territory. The East and South border have had a quiet night." our lead warrior, Kyle, answered.
Victor lets out another loud howl as a warning to any nearby rogues. "Keep me updated if there is a change. Inform all border portal warriors and the next shift." I say to both warriors. They nod and bark to confirm.
I didn't catch Griffin's scent for the rest of my run, so I decided it was time to return home since it was already after midnight.
The pack house is quiet and calm, a few teenage pack members are in the living room watching a movie. I make my way up to my room to shower and head to bed.
"Alpha rogues!" I hear warriors yelling through the mind link. I sit quickly only to hear growls and the strong stench of rogues. As soon as I stand up I can feel Victor coming to the surface. I need to check on my parents and help get the women, pups, and elders to our panic room. Right before I reach the door, two wolves burst through. 'HOW DID THEY GET IN MY HOUSE' Victor growls. I try to shift, failing, as they both lunge at me. I can feel my eyes go black as Victor lets out a furious growl.
"You walked into the wrong house, rogues!" I yell with Victor's voice echoing through mine.
I watch both of them as they begin to snap their jaws at me when a dark shadow appears in the doorway firing a gun at me. I barely dodge it as the bullet grazes my skin and searing pain begins.
The bullets are silver! Victor groans. I smash into my bedpost and hear a rib crack.
Rolling onto my back, "Fucking rogues are going ––!" A scream came from my parents' room. My head snaps in their direction. "Mom!" I yell for her.
The two wolves pin me down as I try to move, despite the searing pain, to find my parents. The dark figure comes closer, dropping his hood. "Griffin?" I growl. "How dare you turn against your Alpha!" Tear his head off. Victor growls and tries to force a shift. The wolves holding me down notice the change and one of the wolves pushes on the bullet graze and the silver moves further into my skin. I hiss to the pain but refuse to let them over power me.
Griffin knees down to my face; "Don't worry, your parents are already dead. You should've paid more attention when on your run today. I guess the new title is 'Dead Future Alpha' now." He says pulling back from my face, while I struggle to release the wolves from my chest. I feel the searing pain in my stomach and everything goes black.