An Alpha's Charge
Chapter

The Journey

A journey begins before Lane and Steven are born; before their story begins, their parents; are Everest Bronx Alexander and CeCe Tigerlily Camilo. Everest became the Alpha of his pack when he turned twenty-one when his parents decided they needed to retire and travel the world. He lived in Witpoint, Canada, near the Northwest border to Alaska.

A few years earlier, his brother, Borson, had met his mate when he turned eighteen and moved to her pack in Blizmore, where he took over as Alpha of his father-in-law’s pack. He and Everest were two years apart in age, and each had a twin sister. One died in a fight against rogue wolves, bears, and a couple of vampires. The other sister met her human mate and never told him of her heritage. They never heard from her again, and she decided to live with her mate amongst the humans. Their parents were unhappy about her choice, but she did not trust her mate enough to tell him the truth. She felt she was protecting her kind from being hunted by hunters.

A few years later, Borson called Everest, telling him that his mate had just lost their cubs, and she lost her life just minutes after giving birth. Everest was going to see him, but Borson said it would be a pyre funeral with a few short words, and that was it. Nothing major, just the pack only, but her sister was there and would stay for another two days and leave to return to her pack.

He did not want Everest to waste his time since their parents would be visiting, and he would be fine. A few months after the dust settled, he called Everest again, asking him to see him. Borson did not receive an answer immediately and waited patiently for his return call. Lily had been to see her brother-in-law and discovered that he had stage-4 cancer, plus a broken heart because he had lost his mate and children. The loss proved deadly as his bear could not withstand the poison that was killing him and could not heal Borson.

A few hours later, Everest called his brother back and told him what had happened. He explained that a group of rogue bears and two vampires had just wiped out his pack and that he was the sole survivor. Everest told him the names of the two vampires, Henry and Norric.

Borson gasped and told him they were the same two that had attacked their sister’s pack, wiped out with no survivors. Everest said that he would come to see him, and he was leaving within the hour. A few hours later, he arrived at his brother’s pack. Borson’s beta and gamma stood on the stoop waiting for Everest to pull into the driveway.

Lily had left for home to go to her pack since she was the Alpha and could not be away for an extended period. Her being a doctor in the nearby town helped support her group. She dreamed of being a full-time doctor in her pack and helping with other werewolf packs nearby. She trained to work on all supernaturals and humans and was good at what she did. Lily was honored as the top surgeon in her hospital and the number-one doctor in her state. She was board certified in all 52 states and four other countries. She sought out her peers and the supernatural world.

“Welcome to The Ice Ridge Pack Alpha Everest; we are happy to have you here. Your brother is in pretty bad shape, he is doing OK for now, but we are unsure how much time he has. We are sorry, Alpha Everest.” The beta said.

“Thank you, and thank you for your warm welcome. I want to see Borson immediately if that is all right with you?”

“Yes, sir, I will take you to him, and Gamma Jameson can take your bags to your room. It will be on the Alpha floor next to Alpha Borson’s room.”

He nodded a thank you and followed the two gentlemen to the fourth floor for the Alpha and his family. He walked into his brother’s suite and saw Borson hooked up to monitors and a couple of bags of IV fluids. He scrunches his face in pain, not liking to see his brother like this. He masks his look quickly before Borson looks up at his brother with a small smile, and Everest takes a deep breath and walks over to his brother, pulling up a chair and sitting by his side.

“It has been a while since I saw you. You look fabulous, brother. How are you feeling?”

“Try not to flatter this old man; I look ghastly compared to you.” Borson chuckles. “I am doing OK; seen better days, however. We need to discuss something, and my beta and gamma will be here along with Alex, a council member.”

“This must be serious if you bring in a council member for this talk. What is it about?”

“Everest, I am dying and do not have much longer to live. Pascal, my bear, is dying off due to the broken heart of not having his mate here, and he cannot heal my cancer. So that brings me to this; I need an alpha to run my pack, and I no longer have any heirs. I hope you take over as the Alpha soon, like today or tomorrow. I have spoken with the pack and told them of the situation, and they will be happy if you take over for me. I know we both run our packs the same way, stern but fair and love our people no matter what shifter or supernatural beings they are.”

“I am listening; please go on,” Everest says, trying not to shed tears growing up in his eyes.

“I want to do this very soon. Alex and his mate, Alecia, will be here this afternoon to help with the command. I am sorry I have failed my pack, Mom, dad, and you. Mom and Dad are here now and want to see the change.”

“I will go down and greet them.”

“No need to Everest, we are here now. It is so good to see the both of you together again.” Their father says.

Everest gets up and hugs both parents trying to hide their tears. They are happy to see each other but wish it were under different circumstances. For an unknown reason, Borson got cancer, and now he is lying in bed and withering away from cancer. Pascal is almost gone, and ultimately, Borson will pass out simultaneously.

Everest called his only living sister and told her the news about their brother, and she broke down crying and started packing her bag to come home and see him. She told her mate what was happening, and he came with her. Tigerlilly was nervous about him coming as he would not know how he would react. Several hours later, she and her mate arrived in the pack with a somber expression.

When they arrived, her mate’s back stiffened, knowing they were in werebear country, which did not settle well with him. He gave a knowing look at his mate with disregard that she had never told him of her secret life. He had to let the other hunters know his mate was a shifter. They helped to eradicate all shifters by working with Wade, Norric, and Henry. I did not settle with him, but what could he do as he is the mate of a werebear, and they have four children? He questioned himself while looking at his babies if he would be able to defend the species or if he would kill them. Mates are supposed to protect each other no matter what.

He turned to his mate, asking why she had not told him about who she was, and she told him they would talk later as he left. She followed him to see what he was going to do. He pulled his phone out and called another hunter, letting him know his mate had betrayed him as she was a shifter in her brother’s pack up in Canada. She knew what to do but had to talk to her family first.

“Travis, just called Wade, telling him we are here. I do not know who he is or what he means to him, but I know it is not good.” She knew he did not have shifter hearing, so she could speak freely.

“He is a vampire and one of the three that keeps attacking our kind. He wiped my entire pack out, and who is this, Travis?”

“My mate, duh! He is a hunter, which is why I never come clean about who I am or who we are. I have been trying to protect my pack and family, but I am failing.”

“Our beta is confiscating his phone and putting him in the dungeon as we speak. So that you know he will be punished for his crimes. Sorry sis, but you know this has to be done; it is the law.”

“I understand and have been thinking about rejecting our bond if I could; I love him but cannot stand by when he kills our species.”

“Alex and his mate will be here so we can involve him in that process. I will ask him for you?”

She nodded her head yes with eyes filled with tears. She would not know how it would work for him, but she knew it would be excruciating as she is of alpha blood. When Alex came to the office the following day, he was nearly bombarded by everyone asking him question after question about what and how they transferred power from Borson to Everest since he was sick. He had a meeting with the Alpha first before anyone could decide.

“Councilman Alex, thank you for coming. I know a lot is happening now, and I appreciate your help. The first order of business is the transfer of power. How do you think we should proceed?” Everest asked.

“Borson is pumped with Morphine since he is dying of cancer, which keeps his pain at bay. We need to have the doctor give you a shot that will dilute this when the hand is sliced open, so you are not weakened or feel the effects of the Morphine when we do the transfer.” Alex states.

“Sounds good to me; when can we do this? We have pressing matters to attend to and could use your help.

“Sure, call the doctor here to give you the shot, and then we can get on with the transfer, and Alpha Everest, thank you for doing this for your brother; you mean a lot to him.”

Everest got the shot, and they did the swearing-in ceremony inside Borson’s bedroom while sitting in his chair. Borson asked for assistance to get back in his bed as he was getting weaker when the power transfer took place, and it would be a matter of time now.

The doctor kept him on high Morphine to keep the pain away. His bear was already gone, so it would not be much longer. He gave Everest Lily’s number to call her and let her know what had happened. Somebody took care of Travis, and the death of Travis dissolved their sister’s mate bond. She would get a second chance, mate, this way.

The only problem was that the hunters would attack because Travis opened his big mouth. Everest felt terrible for his sister, but she and her cubs could move to the pack’s everyday life and be safe from the hunters. The only problem is that she was friends with some of his friends who were hunters. She could not tell if they knew who or what she was, but she did not want to stick around to replace out.