“Hm…are you glad to see me, Mama?” I ask just as my mother pulls away. I begin wiping at the tears streaming down her cheeks, cradling her face fondly as she frowns and nods timidly.
“You have changed, mi hijo…” she murmurs as she inspects my face, then places a hand on my head and smooths her dainty, delicate fingers over the top. “Where is your hair?”
“Ah, Mama… you know how it is in ops…” I chuckle nervously as I bend my head and run a skittish hand over the stubble of my buzzcut, cheeks heating up with a blush.
“Well, you look just like your father did when he returned from his missions,” my mother smirks, showing off all thewrinkles she grew during my time away, and wearing them proudly as her chest puffs out. I know it’s pride she feels because of the work I’ve done to follow in my father’s footsteps, joining the werewolf black ops squad—a family tradition—to uplift our family’s name within the pack.
But I plan on doing so much more than just completing my time in the black ops squad. Goddess knows how many missions we completed out there to secure the safety of werewolf kind, but it was only the beginning. It was more like the training I needed to get through the alpha trials that are coming up soon, and that’s where the real work will be done.
“Thanks, Mama,” I say as I press a kiss to her cheek, then take her hand and lead her back inside the house. I stop to take in the familiar aroma of a freshly cooked meal wafting from the kitchen, my lips curling with a smile as I quickly lose any apprehension I might have felt before.
I had no idea that seeing Cecelia so soon would affect me this way. I’d spent all my time in the black ops squad rigorously training to accomplish what I set out for, but I could never stop my mind from drifting to thoughts of her. Sometimes, when I lay in the bunker bed at night, I’d catch a whiff of her scent and wonder why it stuck with me even after I’d left, as if the floral scent clung to my flesh regardless of all the showers I’d taken.
The only reason I need to clear the air with her is to clear my conscience. It’s not like she means anything to me, except that she’s my little sister’s best friend. If I am to become the alpha of this pack when I win the trials, I can’t have that stain on my name.
Cecelia Morales is just an omega, and I can’t have her lingering in my thoughts as if she dictates them. But it’s as ifthe grudge she holds against me keeps me bound to her, and maturing is realizing that I need to cut all ties with my past.
It’s a past in which our family fell from grace. My grandfather’s loss in the trials meant that the Rivera family no longer ruled the Lunaris Pack. Even my father failed to win the alpha trials of his time, keeping the Barker family in power. It was an injustice to a family of powerful werewolves who’d ruled this pack for decades, and I’m going to rewrite history the way it was meant to be written in the first place.
I don’t need any distractions from the past, and Cecelia Morales is both a distraction and a past I’d like to bury.
Luckily, my mother’s doting keeps me preoccupied and reminds me that I’m actually glad to be back home. She fusses over me, and both she and my sister can’t quit reminding me how different I am.
“It was what was needed,” I tell them as I shove a spoonful of broth between my lips. “I had my fair share of fun, and the real work begins now.”
My mother nods thoughtfully. “I heard the alpha trials begin on Monday. It’s been the talk of the town for weeks now.”
“Exactly. I’m going to do what needs to be done, and I will become alpha.”
“You know that they haven’t dropped the law about mates,” Donna comments, hiding her face behind her glass of orange juice.
I gulp hard, my nostrils flaring with irritation. “Unlike the law they passed about attending college, the mate bond law is one we’ve followed since ancient times. They’re not gonna change it now.”
Donna sets her glass down and stares at me curiously. “Does that mean you’re gonna follow through with tradition? You’re gonna take a mate?”
I shake my head firmly, lifting my chin with an air of indignation. “Of course not. I am strong enough to take the position of alpha of this pack without needing a mate.”
“Dominic,” Mother sighs, disheartened. “You know that the elders won’t accept you as the alpha if you don’t have a mate. That’s one rule that cannot be changed. It determines the true strength of a male werewolf when he has a she-wolf standing beside him.”
“Then I am not just going to prove that I’m worthy of being this pack’s alpha, but I’m also going to show them that the law is redundant, and I will change it myself. When I’m alpha, of course.”
I notice Donna and our mother exchanging wary glances, but I don’t allow it to faze me. In the past, our family failed to make the cut during the trials, even with their female mates beside them. Not only will I prove that the Rivera wolves are the strongest to exist in Lunaris, but I’ll also show the elders that the law shouldn’t exist anymore.
It’s what makes us weaker—having mates. I’ve seen my mother become frail after my father died, and it’s a curse to be tied to another werewolf if that’s the result. I can’t imagine becoming alpha and then being mated to a she-wolf who will only become my weakness. It’s a known fact that once mate bonds are formed, the only way those tethers can be severed is through death. But it leaves the remaining werewolf weak, and I can’t risk that.
“Good luck with that,” Donna sneers as if she has no faith in my abilities. I can’t blame her; she wasn’t there when I was inthe black ops squad, successfully completing taking direct orders from the main Werewolf Council of New England. What I’ve seen out there, the things I’ve faced, have made me stronger and more entitled to the victory of the alpha trials.
I’m certain that no one will object to me being mateless when the time comes. All I have to do is win.
“Do you not believe that I can be alpha without a mate?” I scoff, raising a skeptical brow at my sister.
“I know you want my support on this, Dom, just as you supported me during the college uprising,” Donna says sarcastically as she focuses her attention on me, laying her fork down. “But it’s not that simple. This is a tradition we’re talking about. One that dictates the course of a werewolf’s life. I’ve read enough books to know—”
“Are you being sarcastic, Donna?” I scoff, to which my sister chuckles.
“Of course, I am!”
“You two need to start taking things seriously,” Mother warns. “Especially you, Dominic. If you are to win these trials, rules have been put into place for a reason.”
