Chapter 67: A New Beginning

AXEL

~A fresh start isn’t a new beginning; it’s a new mindset.~

In the aftermath of Reign’s challenge with Samson, it was eventful, to say the least. Many of his friends and family challenged our authority as a family, even calling our Pops’s ruling into question.

Claims of us being barbaric and a family too comfortable with murder had been wafting around the pack all week. Most of it was just rumbles, so we let it slide.

While the females were overjoyed that finally someone had stepped up and said, “I can do it too,” the males had plenty to say, and a lot of it not very nice.

Arlo and I got into many a fight with the males of the pack to protect Reign’s honor.

And yet they still continued to question her abilities, despite the fact that she was a well-known and respected warrior and tracker before the challenge.

“Axel, you really need to stop fighting the wolves of the pack. It’s not exactly good damage control right now. We as a family are meant to rise above the rumors, not add fuel to them.”

I winced as Mom tended to my wounds, rubbing disinfectant on a cut above my eyebrow

“Couldn’t help it. He called me weak,” I mumbled, remembering how Christian Dean called me weak for backing out of the challenge.

“Well, maybe he deserved it then,” Mom rumbled.

I nodded in agreement, wincing again as she dabbed my cuts some more.

“I don’t want to be alpha, Mom. I never did. I only wanted it because Dad wanted it. We all know Reign would do a better job. She’s a warrior and a tracker. I’m just a wolf that’s more witch.

“That’s where I’m comfortable.” I huffed, crossing my arms.

The whole argument was stupid. Forcing someone to be alpha was not going to help. How was someone supposed to lead well when they never wanted the position in the first place?

How can someone set an example and care for others when their heart isn’t in it?

Reign wanted it, so she stepped up, and I let her. Big deal. Everyone just needs to get over it.

I’ve got bigger fish to fry right now than listening to people’s pity parties about ~how wrong~ it is that a woman is in leadership.

~Leave the pack, then.~

“At the end of the day, Reign has the support of the king. People will come around eventually, but not everyone is okay with change, Axel.

“They will need time, and you and Arlo fighting every wolf who has an issue is not helping. We need you to lay low and focus on Keir. Let Reign handle the pack. It is her job now.”

Mom looked at me sternly. I rolled my eyes but nodded reluctantly.

She did have a point. I knew she did. But it still didn’t change the fact that these wolves were backward. How was it that we lived in modern-day times, and yet people were so backward?

I got up from my seat and left the room. Hoping to find Reign, I wandered through the house. She wasn’t home, so I headed to the pack house, hoping to find her there.

I climbed up the steps and headed for Dad’s office. She’d be in there now, reminded of him every day.

A lump rose in my throat as I walked through the doors to find my sister sitting on the other side of the desk, buried in paperwork, instead of my dad.

“Hey, Sis. How’re you doing?”

She looked up from her piles of paper and smiled. “Hey. I’m doing okay. Just putting out more fires than I ever thought I would have. But it’s all right. I’ll get there eventually.”

She shrugged her shoulders, standing up to give me a hug.

“It’s weird being here without Dad, eh?”

We both sank into the chairs opposite his desk, looking at his empty one. She nodded, sniffling back a tear.

“Yeah, it is. But you know what, he would’ve been proud of us either way, Axel. He would’ve wanted you to be happy regardless of what you chose.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, just taking it all in, before a commotion outside caught our attention. We rose from our chairs, turning to face the doors.

“I will speak to her, and you cannot stop me!”

“Get out of my way, you pompous bitch!”

“Excuse me, sir. You cannot go in there.”

“I said fucking move, whore!”

The doors burst open, and there stood a man wild in the eyes, panting heavily. I stepped slightly in front of Reign, my fists clenched.

Rita, the secretary, appeared behind him, breathless and red in the face. “Alpha Reign, I’m so sorry. He just burst past me—”

“It’s fine, Rita. I will see him.”

“You,” he growled, stepping into the office.

I growled in warning, but Reign stepped out from behind me, staring down this man who dared to meet her gaze and challenge her.

“You don’t deserve to be called alpha, you little slut.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she smirked, jutting her chin out, daring him to continue.

“I will take great satisfaction in proving you wrong, ~asshole~.”

His snarl echoed through the room. “You think you’re worthy of us? You think the pack should follow you? You’re a woman! ~Women can’t lead! Women can’t win! They will always be outsmarted and outmuscled!~”

He lunged at her, flying through the air, heading straight for her. In a flash, she grabbed his throat and redirected him into a bookcase which smashed when he hit it.

“Really? Because I think I did? I won fair and square, and whether you like it or not, I am the alpha of this pack and will remain so until my last breath.

“If you don’t like it, you are more than welcome to go rogue. I will take great pleasure in hunting you down.”

“Oh, so that’s how it will be, is it? We were once a peaceful pack, but you and your family have decided to make it violent by killing an innocent wolf.”

“He was far from innocent,” I snarled, clenching my fists, my rage dancing in my chest, ready for a release at this gorilla of a man.

“He invoked the old tradition, not me. He invoked an old tradition where he knew one of us was going to die.

“So either way, whether I had won or not, the pack’s new alpha would still have blood on their hands. Your issue is not the age-old tradition; it is the fact that I won and he lost.”

Reign stepped closer to him as he raised from the floor, her eyes dancing with fury, the air crackling with the pent-up magic oozing from her pores.

He shifted on his feet, his fists still clenched tightly, his teeth grinding together.

“If you don’t like how I run things, fine; get out; I won’t be sorry to see you go.

“But don’t you dare burst into my office and challenge me, because ~I am the alpha~, and next time ~I will kill you~. Now ~get out!~”

She threw her hand toward the door, blowing up half the office in her wake, causing him and me to jump. He looked at her wide-eyed before nodding in submission and leaving.

She squared her shoulders back and took a calming breath before facing me. I smirked at her. “You didn’t mean to do that, did you?”

“No, but it really added that extra touch, don’t you think?” She laughed, looking around at the mess. “I’ll be here a while cleaning this up. Wanna help?” She peeked at me hopefully.

I sighed. “No, not really, but I will.”

Together we set about cleaning up the office and throwing away the broken things to be replaced.

I had no doubt that Reign would be an amazing leader, but seeing how she handled that wild wolf gave me confidence that she won’t always need her big brother to fight her battles.

And that makes me a little sad, I guess