Chapter 2

Jake

"Where the fuck is my father?" Jake questioned as he stormed into the pack house. He could see the pack elders flinch because of his language but he did not care. He had never cared. To him they were vultures and they had come for their pound of flesh.

"He is resting," the pack healer's acolyte said with her eyes down. She was small, timid but she… Jake pulled his mind from the direction it was going.

"What happened to him?"

"I do not know. The pack healer has given him some herbs for strength but only him can tell you what happened."

"We have concerns," one of the elders spoke. Jake could not remember his name. Maybe it was because he did care to find out or perhaps it was because he was too drunk to remember but the fact was that he did not care.

"Your concerns are not my business," he seethed out. He felt his anger brew. He knew what the elder was implying but he wouldn't have it. He would not let them dictate to him.

"Jake," the elder called. "I believe what we have to say is your business. It involves the pack, your pack. "

"I don't-"

"I suggest you pick your next words carefully," another elder warned. Jude. He was the elder Jude. An old short wolf. White hair littered his barren scalp and his eyes were clouded with age.

Jake remembered him because he was the oldest. His words were almost as powerful as the Alpha's.

"This meeting can be held at another time," Jake said as he stared at Elder Jude. His voice was calmer, gentler. He did not want to anger the wolf by being disrespectful. He did not care about anything but he also did not want to be stripped of his right to become the next Alpha of the Red Moon Pack.

"Your father fainted during the Remembrance Day ceremony," another elder stated. Jake did not know him. He did not know any of them apart from Elder Jude. "In front of the whole pack. I am sure you know what it means."

Jake hated the may the man spoke of his father. "It means he needs to rest. The Rogues, the pack, everything is a load that he and my mother shoulder."

"It means he has grown weak," the man said dryly.

"Maybe you should look in the mirror and see who is truly weak," Jake took in the man's form. He looked like a gust of wind could urge him into the afterlife.

"I know you are upset, son."

"I am not your son." His anger was sobering him up. He wanted to punch the man. But doing that will invoke dire consequences. Consequences that even his status can not spare him from.

He inched closer to the man. He towered over him with ease. His frame was bigger, wider but the man was small. He was weak.

"My father is the Alpha of this pack. He is your ruler," his eyes were fixed on the elder but his words addressed them all. "If you want to share your concerns you can do so when he is well until then, your presence is not needed here."

"You cannot dismiss us," another elder spoke. "It is unacceptable."

Jake turned his back to them and started walking. He knew if he waited a second more, his father's health won't be the only thing that concerns the pack. He cared for little but he cared a great deal for his family, for his title.

He walked past the acolyte and he had completely forgotten about her presence. She was like a statue, a quiet decor that no one paid mind to.

"Where is my father?" He asked as he climbed the stairs. He wanted to see him. He needed to see him. He needed to prove to himself that the elders' concerns were unfounded. Being an Alpha's son was greatly different from being an Alpha. He was not ready for such responsibility regardless of the fact that he was twenty seven years old.

"In his quarters," the acolyte responded.

His heart pounded as he grew closer to his father's quarters. He hoped for the moon goddess even though he considered it foolish but he needed to believe that his father would be okay and he could continue the life he wanted to lead. And if that entailed believing in a woman that is stuck on some white ball in the sky, so be it.

He stopped at his father's door. He did not understand why his heart was hammering against his chest. His father would be okay. He has to.

He was not sure how long he was going to stand there but he knew that he needed to face whatever lied behind the door. He knew that he was powerless to change what waited for him.

He was scared. He had never seen his father cough before but now he had passed out in the middle of a ceremony, in front of the entire pack. Something was not right. He could feel it and no matter how much he tried to hide from everyone else, he knew he could not hide from himself. He wondered if he would be able to hide from his father and his mother.

Let it be stress or something not worth all these worries. No matter how much he tried to convince himself, doubts still slithered into his resolve.

He sighed and opened the door.

His mother sat by his father's side; even now she remained at his side. He wondered if it was because of the bond or because of the love they shared.

He had never experienced it and sometimes he wondered if he ever would.

His eyes trained on the bed. His father was pale. He looked… weak. He hated to admit it but it was true. The wolf he was looking at now was not the wolf he knew.

"What is wrong with him?" He asked gently. He tried to not let his voice crack but he couldn't help it.

"No one knows yet," his mother replied. "But he was awake a few moments ago. He asked for you. The Healer said he needs rest and with time we can know how to handle whatever ailment he has."

He walked in deeper into the room. He did not know what to feel. He was still trying to convince himself that his worries were for nothing. That his father would be fine.

"You weren't at the ceremony," his mother said. "Where were you?"

He did not know how to answer that question. He was out with friends in the human populace drinking and having fun.

"Where I was does not matter," he said. "I should have been here with you. With him."

"Jake," his mother called softly.

"I know what you have to say, mother," he said. "I met the elders on my way here and they wanted to share their concerns with me but I turned them down."

A pause lingered in the space. He did not want to think much less say it. It was not that he was against it but it would make all what was already happening too real and he was not sure if he could handle that.

"Jake, I know you already know what I want to say but I have to say it nonetheless."

He sighed.

"You have to stand in as the Alpha of the Red Moon Pack." She stated.

"I know."

"Can't we talk about this tomorrow or some other time?" He asked. "We are supposed to let him rest."

"No, we can't." She said "What you do not know is that you can't assume the title if you do not have a mate."

"What do you mean?" He turned toward her. "It is not like I haven't been trying to find my mate, you know how hard I looked. Maybe I don't have one and I am perfectly fine without a mate."

"A mate completes you, Jake." Her voice was so relaxed, so calm he wondered if she was worried about what was happening at all but he knew she worried even more than him. "A mate completes you in ways you don't even know are possible. I can't explain it. It is something that is experienced. Something like breathing."

He had tried to find a mate. Ever since he turned eighteen, he had searched endlessly for the special person that the moon goddess made for him. He just dismissed the entire concept and figured it was outrageous.

But then he looked at his parents and he knew that what they shared was something deep, something that was impossible to explain.

"Why can't I assume the title without a mate?" he asked.

"Because the task of Alpha is borne by two not one, although only one bears the title." His father answered. He was awake.