Chapter 14: Alpha and Beta

"Aaaa!!"

We snickered. Lexi, Trisha, and I stayed well hidden in the underbrush beside the road. Willow, on the other hand, peeled off her bag that was dripping wet, just like the rest of her. She scowled at the bushes around her then said,

"Right. Hope you're even now."

We snickered some more and let her continue on her way home.

We had decided to toss her the water missiles on her way back, so that she could change sooner. I didn't want to send her to school today in wet things. When I told of my plan, Lexi said she would come with me, and dragged Trisha in too.

We scrambled onto the road and began to walk to the house, laughing and talking about Willow's little peace negotiation after being splashed.

A car drove up and stopped. The window rolled down to reveal Jayden.

I nearly groaned. Why do I have to keep running into him?

"Hey girls," he greeted us.

"Jayden. If you're here to chat, you're not welcome. If you're offering a ride, maybe," said Lexi.

Jayden laughed and waved us in. Trisha took the front seat while Lexi and I sat in the back.

"You three have come to be quite the trio. Never seen alone nowadays," said Jayden.

"You jealous?" Lexi prodded.

"A little, yes."

"Jealous of what?" I asked cluelessly.

He waved as if I was supposed to understand. "You know."

"I do not."

"Let him be," Lexi mouthed to me. I shut up.

Silence ensued in the car. I used it to observe the people in it with me. Jayden looked at the road, a rueful expression marring his handsome face. I wondered what could have happened that he was thinking about. Trisha leaned on her arm that was propped in the window. She seemed thoughtful, watching the road too. Lexi, meanwhile, sat with her head back in the chair. Her eyes looked weary and sad. I realized that she had been putting on a happy, carefree face all day to hide the emotions on display right now. I guessed it was because of her boyfriend. Something had happened between the two and it had not ended well. I could tell she was wishing she had done something. Or hadn't done it.

I sighed, growing pensive myself. I remembered what he had said:

"...you did have a choice and you chose that pointless surveillance over me!"

I wondered what he had meant by that. Did he mean she was being followed? That would make sense, since she was the Alpha's daughter. Or maybe she was the one following someone? If so, who?

Everyone was silent, enveloped in their own thoughts.

What a melancholy group we are.

***

Back at the pack house, I decided to ask Lexi what Jayden meant when he said he was jealous. She sighed.

"You see, pack wolves are not meant to be alone. That's why they live together. But that alone isn't enough. Most wolves tend to pair up with someone else, so that they can be together. That's why packs have a higher percentage of couples than other beings. But you see, you never really know who your mate is until you're seventeen; and when you're pack Beta, it can be really painful for your girlfriend if she finds out that she's not the next Beta female. So neither the next Alpha nor the next Beta get girlfriends; they wait for their mates. For them, that means no coupling until you're seventeen."

"But you have a boyfriend," I reminded her.

She winced. "I had a boyfriend, yes. But that has nothing to do with it."

She had a boyfriend? So they broke up? Sad. "But you're the next Luna, right? So shouldn't you be waiting for your mate?"

She started. "No, Cindy, I'm not the next Luna. Not of this pack, at any rate. No one in this pack is," she added sadly.

"But you're the Alpha's daughter."

Lexi blinked at me, then sighed again. "Yeah. But I have an older brother. He's the next Alpha."

She seemed very unhappy when she talked about her brother. I wondered whether she was upset that he got to be the next Alpha. I was immediately proven wrong when she whispered,

"I miss him. So badly."

My arm wrapped around her shoulders. I asked gently, "Where is he?"

"At the Wolfsbane Luna's," she replied.

"What's he doing there?"

She sniffed. "He went there to complete his studies when he turned seventeen. After that, no one knows what he's going to do. No one talks about it."

"Why not? Is it something bad?" I prodded bluntly.

"You were obviously never taught tact," laughed Lexi wryly. "Everyone is afraid he'll become a Lone Wolf."

"What!?" I exclaimed. "He didn't find his mate? But still... he can't. He's the Alpha, he can't just leave! Who will run the pack?"

"Jayden will be forced to."

Oh yes. I hadn't yet registered that Jayden was the Beta, the second in command. "But he can't be the Alpha!"

"If Tyler goes Lone, he'll have to. It's his duty, though he doesn't want to," Lexi whispered.

This is horrible.

"But he wouldn't give up his position for that, would he? I mean Alpha of the Crescent Pack, it's a big deal, right?"

Lexi peered sorrowfully at me. "You have no idea what the lack of a mate can do," she commented. "And he is adamant about not settling with anyone else. And who can blame him?"

I pondered on this for several moments. Her brother Tyler is at the Wolfsbane Luna's. If he doesn't find his mate, he might forsake his position and leave the pack. He will not pair with anybody but his mate, so there is no way to get him another Luna to rule with him. That leaves this pack with an ultimatum: either Tyler finds his mate, or we lose our Alpha.

Tyler gotta find his mate. My pack should not be bereft of the natural leader.

"Tyler gotta find his mate," I stated.

Lexi nodded weakly.

"Tyler will find his mate," I vowed.