Daughter of the Alpha

Chapter fifteen

AJ darted down the street from Lily's house, heading for home. Her stomach was churning with that bad feeling she couldn't shake. She had to get to her dad, he was the only one who could help her now, the only one she trusted. The street was dark and deserted, the dim streetlights not able to illuminate it fully. Out of the corner of her eye, at the end of the street, a much brighter light burned. The light in the Gathering house, someone was there. "Dad," she whispered to herself, it could only be him, she knew no one else that would pace there when they couldn't sleep.

It didn't take her long to run to the building. Pushing the heavy door open she practically jumped inside. But she wasn't prepared for the sight that met her. George's wide grin as he held a gun pointed at her father, the Elder Council standing back, self-righteous smirks on their pompous faces, just letting it happen.

"Dad!" she called out, preparing to run to him.

"Stay back," Alpha Winter warned her, stopping her with a raised hand. Out of surprise George waved the gun in her direction, Alpha Winter growled loudly charging at him, but before he could reach the Beta the gun was back, pointed at his chest, stopping him. "Don't you ever point a gun to my daughter," Henry snarled.

George chuckled, the gun shook, and his bloodshot eyes widened. "I didn't expect my future mate to see this, this wasn't supposed to involve her." He glanced at AJ, who stood gaping in the middle of the aisle, surrounded by countless rows of empty chairs. "I'm sorry, AJ. Rest assured his end will be quick and it will not interfere with our mating."

"I'm sorry?" AJ coughed out, wanting to laugh at his statement. "Our mating? You think I'm mating you after this? Are you insane?" George merely laughed at her, still keeping the gun aimed at her father, and she realized that he absolutely was. Something had clicked in his mind and he was no longer the man her father had made Beta.

George ran a shaking hand through his greasy hair, doing nothing to keep it out of his face, his wide grin darkened his face and his never blinking wider eyes made her nervous. "It is a done deal," he shrieked at her, his voice breaking, "You have accepted and there is no going back." The tick under his right eye jumped furiously.

AJ then realized exactly what was happening, realized what was going on. It was so painfully obvious she wondered why it hadn't hit her before. "You want to be Alpha," she said softly, "Of course you do. That's what all this is about."

"You should have challenged me," Henry stated, shrugging as he spoke, keeping his voice low and calm for the madman. "You should have done this the wolf way."

George's high pitched laugh filled the room. Swinging his gun back and forth, taking better aim he tried whipping his disheveled hair out of his eyes, but it was no use. "We both know what the outcome would have been, we both know my wolf could never take on the Alpha. This is the only way for me."

AJ knew he was right, her father's wolf was the strongest, he was the born leader. Not George, George would always just come in second. He would never be able to challenge him. But as Beta, he had to take the Alpha's place if he happened to die under different circumstances. "That's why you need me," AJ blurted out when the thought struck, "You knew damn well this pack wouldn't follow you, dad holds the whole pack's loyalty, you don't." It was all falling into place, he never wanted her for anything other than a pawn in his game. "You needed the former Alpha's family to support your rise to Alpha otherwise the rest of the pack would never go for it," she explained to herself out loud.

"Mating the former Alpha's daughter was a pretty foolproof way of doing that," Henry added sourly. "You would be family."

AJ had had enough, the Elder Council had been quiet during their exchange, too quiet. "Are you just going to stand there?" she screamed at them, or more precisely, at Councilmember Stone, who seemed to have the position of leader amongst them. "Stop this. This is madness!"