The Alpha and the Fool

My muscles burned from training and all I wanted to do was take a shower, but Father sent for me, and when your father was the alpha, you had to obey.  I sniffed, trying to wipe some sweat off my forehead. I only managed to mix it with the sweat on my arm and make me feel all the more miserable. Wesley, Father’s beta was leaning against the gym door frame. His muscled frame made the doorway appear smaller.

“Any idea what he wants to talk about?” I said, walking up to him.

“No idea, but he’s in a mood after he went out hunting with new enforcer recruits and demanded to see you.”

I sighed, running my hand over the short stubble on top of my head in irritation. “Let me guess, he screwed his knee didn’t he?”

“I think so.”

I scowled and rubbed the top of my head again. The plane crash that took Mom’s life and almost took my father’s was nearly twenty years ago, but his knee never did heal right. It was only thanks to the doc he kept his leg at all. He was lucky, but he didn’t see it that way. In his mind, he had been scoured with a weakness he couldn’t allow. “Great, now he’s going to be on the warpath to prove he’s not weak.”

Wesley chuckled and shrugged his massive, meaty shoulders. “It’ll do no good to keep him waiting.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” 

I followed him to Father’s office, and as soon as Wesley opened the door and I saw the gnarled scowl on my father’s angular face, I knew whatever he wanted it wasn’t going to be pleasant. 

“Don’t just stand there, Nicole. Close the door and get in here, girl,” Father barked, nodding in dismissal to his beta.

Nicole. He called me by my full name. He hadn’t called me that since I was a little girl. It had always been Nic. Lifting my chin, I did as he told me and sat in the chair in front of his desk. “You wanted to see me, Sir?”

He rested his forearms on the desk and leaned forward to look at me, his expression was grim as usual. I tried not to squirm and kept my chin high as he continued to stare. After a moment he sighed. “You would’ve made a fine son. Pity.”

Oh, so it was that again? “I’m as good as any son.” Better. I stayed, and Brandon didn’t.

Father’s derisive snort told me he disagreed. It hurt. No matter how hard I tried, it always hurt. “Doesn’t matter. The trackers can’t find your brother, and I’m getting too old.” I blinked and stared at him, not sure if I honestly heard him right. “Don’t look at me like that! I’m no idiot. I know when my time is up. The knee is getting worse, and it’s harder to hide. It’s time for a new alpha and for me to retire.”

My heart sped up. Was Father going to step aside for me? I wasn’t sure if I was ready. Most alphas came into their position in closer to their thirties. I guess I’d have to be. “I see and what do you need from me, Sir?”

“A mate.”

I blinked and stared again. “A…what?”

“A Mate, Nic. Pay attention. You’ve got the support of the council and our pack, but you need a mate - Someone strong. I will not allow you to take over without one.”

No. This couldn’t be right. Father had to be testing me. Yes, a test, nothing more. “I’m a suitable alpha all by myself. I don’t need someone strong father, I am strong all by myself. Ask any of the enforcers.”

“No, you’re not. You’re a woman, and you will always be weaker than a man.”

All the breath left me as I stared at him. This couldn’t be happening. My heart clenched in my chest. All the hard work I’d put myself through. All the hours training and make sure, I’d fit in with the guys, to be one of the guys just to have him tell me it wasn’t enough?

“The annual alphas meeting is coming up next week,” he said, clearly oblivious to how he just shattered my world. “It will be held in Blue Crescent pack territory this year, and you will be coming with me. With so many alphas and young men around, I’m sure I’ll find someone suitable, and I would like to see my grandsons before I go. ”

My nose wrinkled before I wiped my face of any emotion. “Father-”

“No. There is no discussion here. You will do as I say and learn your place. Wesley’s mate will make sure you’re ready by the time we need to leave.” 

My mouth was dry and my hands shaking as I stood. I hid them behind my back in a military stance. “Yes, Sir,” I bit out and marched out of his office without a word. As soon as I turned the corner, I leaned against the wall. How could he do this to me? My eyes stung, making me even angrier. I would not cry. I would not cry like some sissy girl.

No, I wouldn’t give Father so much. I ground the heels of my palms into my eyes until they hurt and sniffed. There had to be a way to change his mind.

Feeling more in control, I pushed off the wall and headed back to the gym. Before anything, I took out my phone sent a quick text then marched over to a punching bag. I didn’t even bother with the gloves as I started hitting with quick jabs, imagining my father’s face there. I didn’t stop until my knuckles were bloody. I heard someone whistle as I shook out my hand. 

“Whatever it is, it must be bad,” Jon said.

“It is,” I replied, turning to face him. He sat on one of the weight benches. He was only a little taller than I was, but his build, while muscular, was lithe and slim. His father’s Korean heritage made him appear about my age when he was actually a good ten years older. He worked for Father on the enforcers’ team and was my best friend, well my only friend.

He lifted a single eyebrow at me, no doubt trying to decide if I was exaggerating or not. I may or may not exaggerate things time to time. “What happened?”

“Father’s decided it’s time to retire,” I told him.

“And?” The eyebrow lowered, giving me a flat stare.

I returned the stare. “I’ve been ordered to accompany Father, so he may find me a mate next week.”

“Wait, he’s not-”

“He’s not,” I said, my tone as flat as the stare earlier. “I’ll never be ‘man’ enough for him, so he will not give me the alphaship unless I have a mate.”

His lips quirked in a start of a smile, but he knew me well enough to not laugh. “Well, that is unexpected.”

“What am I going to do? I don’t want to change myself for a man. I don’t need a man. The pack doesn’t need some stranger coming in who doesn’t know our pack and crap. Seriously? What am I going to do?” I kicked the bench, biting back a yelp of pain.

“How about you start by not breaking your foot,” he suggested and patted the bench next to him. “Okay, so this isn’t exactly the end of the world here, Nic. There has to be a way around this. Perhaps something like a fake boyfriend kind of scheme. I’m sure I can find some guy willing to live the pampered life and leave the hard stuff to you.”

I chewed my lip. “Maybe I can talk him out of it. I don’t want to lie to my father, Jon.”

“Right, so barefoot and pregnant it is then. Hopefully, the guy won’t be too old or too ugly or weigh a lot, and perhaps you’ll get even luckier to have twin boys so your Father can have his heir and a spare. Cause one grandson isn’t going to be enough, and he will demand you have more.”

My chest tightened as I stared at him in horror. “Okay, so we lie to my father. How?”

He grinned at me. “We find us some lazy, second son of an alpha with no ambition or dominance willing to be a kept man and let you lead. Don’t worry, you play along with your father, and I’ll find us the lackluster alpha’s son.”

I curled my fingers into fists and uncurled them, only to repeat the process as Sade, the Beta’s mate, tried to decide what I should wear for the evening’s little meet and greet. We were now in Blue Crescent territory and tonight would start the week long meeting where all the alpha’s of the country discussed policies, issues, and other politics. Under other circumstances, I’d be excited to be here, but Father made it clear, I wasn’t allowed in the actual meetings, only the social events.

Jon was right, as hard as I tried, Father wouldn’t budge. I was to come and be his bait for his replacement. It was now up to my friend to work his magic and find me some idiot willing to be my fake mate. I really hoped he found the guy quickly, I wasn’t sure how long I could play along. I already wanted to hit something.

“How about this?” Sade said, holding up a navy blue dress with white collar and cuffs.

“No,” I ground out. “It looks like something you’d put on a doll.”

She pursed her lips with her hands on her hips. “You’ve said that to everything I’ve shown you so far.”

“And it’s been all true.”

Sade sighed, rolling her eyes and put the dress back in the closet. “I get you don’t like this, Nic, but your father’s orders are clear - you -” 

“Need to look like you which never is going to happen,” I said. She had thick brown hair that fell around her like a waterfall, bright blue eyes, dainty frame but plenty of curves, Sade was the essence of what it was to be a woman. I was average height, broad shoulders, and muscles that took out any softness I might ever have. 

“It could if you tried,” she said, turning her back to me and looked through the closet of clothes she’d brought for me. “What about this?” She held up a black dress. I wrinkled my nose. “You know what, you’re wearing it. No arguments.” Sade threw the dress at me. “Go, get dressed.” I started to argue, but she narrowed her eyes at me.

Okay, so I wasn’t the only one at my limit. “Fine,” I spat and pulled on the dress. It was a little tight, and the knee length skirt would be hard to walk in, but at least I didn’t look like a doll. She handed me a pair of strappy heels, giving me the same narrow-eyed glare which told me these were it, end of story. I rolled my eyes and put them on, wondering how women walked in these things. Yet, at the same time, they looked kind of lethal. Nice. 

I smirked, standing, trying to get a sense of balance. “There, done.” 

“Actually,” Sade said, waving a make-up brush at me. 

“Seriously?”

“Yep,” she said, returning my smirk.

A half hour later, we left my room and met my father and Wesley in the hall. The beta rubbed his chin, obviously trying not to laugh as Father looked me over with a narrowed glare. “Well, it’ll do I suppose. The hair is a problem, but there’s nothing to do about it now.” 

I curled and uncurled my fists, doing my best to keep my temper in check. “I think,” Sade said, smiling and giving my arm a squeeze. “It makes Nic unique and exotic. She’ll be something they don’t see every day, and I believe that will work in your favor, Alpha.”

Dad stared at me a little longer before nodding. “Fine, let’s go.”

We came to a large room filled with people, and I followed him, trying my best to play the part. I noticed Jon was there as well. He gave me a thumbs up with a nod of approval, though he was also trying not to laugh. I narrowed my eyes at him and discreetly flipped him off before giving whoever Father was talking to a tight-lipped smile when I heard my name mentioned. I nodded mutely which seemed to be the adequate response. 

I scanned the room and saw the auburn-haired woman I’d met briefly when we arrived, walking over to me. “Hey,” she said with a wave.

“Hey.” I lifted my chin in greeting as I strived to come up with a name. I remembered it started with a B - Brandy? No that wasn’t right.

“You settled in alright?” she asked.

Again I gave her a tight-lipped smile. It wasn’t something stupid like Bambi. “Yes, your alpha has been very generous letting us stay here.”

“Well, you can’t exactly invite someone to your house then expect them to get a hotel, right?” she said with a laugh.

“True,” I said, my smile easing into a more authentic one.

“So would you like a tour or I could introduce you to some people?”

“Oh, thank you but you-” I started, but my father give me a little push.

“She would love that, Future Luna of Blue Crescent pack,” he said.

The woman stiffened and gave him a wooden smile. “Great.” She turned to me. “So, follow me.” She waded through the crowd, and once she was halfway across the room, I heard her mumble. “The next person to call me future Luna I swear I’m going to scream at them. God, it’s so much easier to just say, Brook.”

Brook. Of course, that’s what it was. “What’s wrong with it? It’s who you are?”

She flushed as she turned to me. “Yeah, well, it makes me feel depersonalized. It’s like that’s all I am to anyone. It’s either that or the future alpha’s mate,” she ranted then sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Five years and I’m still trying to get used to werewolf craziness, sorry.”

Oh right, she’d been turned when she nearly killed herself pushing the Alpha of Black Mountain’s alpha off a cliff to keep him from taking over Blue Crescent.

“You don’t like to talk much do you or is it the scene? Not your thing or too many people?” She said when all I did was nod in reply.

Well, she’s perceptive, or I wasn’t doing a very good job at going along with the plan. “No offense is intended,” I said, again forcing a smile on my lips.

She snorted and waved at me dismissively. “None taken. Until I met Ryder, I was a loner myself. How about we make our rounds, I’ll introduce people, so everyone’s happy we’re playing our parts, and then we can get out of here.”

“Cool,” I said, offering her a small grin.

“Great.”

We were almost finished going around the room when Brook at the sight of a blonde woman and man. The blonde spotted Brook said something to the man with her. The man glanced over towards us, smirked at the future Luna then shrugged. When they started walking over here, Brook swallowed and muttered, “Great.” She forced a friendly smile on her face. “Hey, Alice, right?”

The blonde grinned. “That’s me. I didn’t see you when we arrived, and I wanted to say hello and thanks for your help a while back.”

“No problem,” Brook said then took a breath before addressing the man. “Hey, Mike. Oh, this is Nicole, daughter of Alpha Joseph of the…” Her eyes widened as she scrambled.

Mike snorted with a smirk.

“Golden Plains pack,” I said, saving her. “I’m the future alpha of the pack.”

“Don’t you mean Luna?” Mike said.

“Nope,” I told him and gave him a pointed glare, daring him to say otherwise.  Mike Howe was a strong alpha, I’d love to have a chance to fight him. See who’s the strongest. 

“Right,” Alice said, furrowing her brow at me for a moment. “It’s nice to meet you and good to finally meet you in person.” She smiled at us. “Well, we’ll have to make the rounds. Hopefully, we’ll see you around. Come on, Michael.”

“Whatever you say, Peaches,” he said, then nodded to both of us. “Brook. Luna.” He gave me a smirk.

“Meet me outside and see what happens, Howe.”

“Sorry, Luna, but I’m taken, and I like my women to actually look like women,” he shot back.

“Michael,” Alice said, shaking her head at him.

“What, she asked for it,” he said, following her into a crowd.

Brook blew out a breath. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“Impressive, I think if I were you, I’d go kick his ass,” I admitted honestly. To my surprise, she started to laugh. 

“It’s crossed my mind a few times,” she told me then gasped, and I jumped when some guy ran into her, nearly knocking her over, and hugged her to him.

“Hey, Brookie!”

“Dean, you idiot! You scared the crap out of me,” Brook complained.

“Aw you know you still love me. So who you talking to?” he asked, releasing Brook partially from the hug and face me.

His scent, a fresh, almost citrus smell, washed over me and I felt as if the floor dropped away from my feet. The guy, Dean, got a similar expression of surprise. My heart raced, and my mouth dry as one word jumped to my mind — Mate. He let go of Brook and stepped towards me, in which I stepped back.

“Wow, you’re…” he said with a goofy grin on his face. “I started to think... and you’re wow… and wow.” The smile grew, and my heart sped even faster. My whole body was high alert with sensations and feelings so new and intense I could hardly breathe. “So what can I call you besides beautiful?” He asked and reached out for my hand.

Panic seized me and instinct took over - I jerked back and punched him hard. The guy’s eyes rolled up, and he fell flat on his back, out cold, blood and rushing from his nose.

“Dean,” Brook yelled, patting his cheek. “Why did you do that?”

My throat tightened, my eyes were wide, panic still in control. I turned and ran out of the room, shoving people aside if I had too. Back in my room, I slammed my door closed and leaned against it. I covered my face with my hands. What the hell did I just do? Brook called the guy Dean...as in Alpha Brent’s second son? Oh crap, Father was going to kill me!