CHAPTER 9

I hopped in my red jeep and went home hoping no one would be there. I didn't see my mom's car so that was a good sign. I ran upstairs to my room after grabbing a snack. I hadn't had lunch and didn't want to be one of those twigs that starved themselves like someone I knew.

I laid across the bed thinking about Luca. I turned on some music and let it take over me wondering if Luca was thinking about me too.

It wasn't long before my parents arrived. I helped my mom fix dinner and was thankful that she didn't ask why I was home early. After I ate I went upstairs and took a shower. I put on some pajamas and did my homework. Before I knew it I was climbing into bed drifting off to sleep with dreams of him.

The next morning I was excited. I couldn't wait to go to school. I picked out a cute but conservative outfit wanting to look nice for Luca. I wore some skinny jeans and a floral top with matching wedges. My brunette hair was naturally curly so I didn't have to do much to it. I didn't bother with make up. It was for the dead in my opinion. Besides, I didn't need it.

I hopped into my jeep and headed off after some breakfast. The day passed on slowly and there was no sign of Luca. On my way to the cafeteria I overheard some people talking.

"Hey, did you hear about Luca?" someone asked. I immediately moved closer trying to hear.

"Yeah he just up and left," someone responded.

"Doesn't matter he was too weak to be in the pack anyway," the first person said.

Tears began to form as I heard those words. My Luca was gone and people were saying those awful things about him.

"What do we do?" I asked my wolf.

"We train and when the time is right we go find him."

"Train? What for?" I was confused.

"We will need to be strong to get to him and even stronger to stand by his side" I didn't completely understand what she meant but I trusted her. We were one and if she felt we needed to train we would. I would do whatever it took to find my mate.

Luca

I knew that everyone felt the exchange of power in the pack. Their alpha was just defeated and their true alpha had emerged.

I let out a strong howl letting all members know to come forward. The earth moved beneath my feet and it seemed like nature was even responding to me. It wasn't long before I heard the pounding of several feet making their way toward me.

"Maintain eye contact and speak with authority. They will respect us," my wolf said.

I stood on a tree stump and looked over all the pack members that were all standing in front of me. It looked to be around seven hundred.

"Your current alpha has been defeated. I am Luca Vega and have returned to take my rightful position as alpha of this pack. For all of you who don't know what that means let me enlighten you. I am King. This territory is my kingdom. Everything in it belongs to me. I will not tolerate disrespect from anyone. A new era has begun and it is mine. I will make you strong as I am strong, from this moment on our hearts beat as one. I will lead you to the best of my ability and you will bow to me."

They all kneel before me and I could feel the pride that my wolf had for our pack swell inside me.

"Rise. Starting tomorrow we will need to start a new regime. We will discover strengths and weaknesses. You will be pushed to the limit so rest, you're going to need it."

I stepped down and people came up shaking my hand saying they were glad to have me. Some of them even welcomed me back saying that they had been waiting for me to return.

It was a little overwhelming but it felt nice to be accepted.

"Alpha it would be my honor to show you around the grounds," a guy around my age said bowing his head in respect. I nodded my head in approval. There was a vast amount of land and I couldn't help but think of ways for it to be put to use as we ran the perimeter. We then reached what I assumed to be the pack house.

It was massive and I could tell it had been here for centuries despite the fact that someone had tried to modernize it. Although I couldn't remember it, I felt at home. He took me on a tour of the house and we came to the alpha's office.

"Leave me," I said to him. He bowed and closed the door before he exited. I began looking through some papers and came across the pack finances. I had always been rich but the amount of money I inherited was unbelievable.

I began looking through the drawers and found an album. It had pictures of all the alphas. I saw my mother and father.

They were young in the photo and looked so happy and carefree. I knew it was them because I looked just like my Dad. I had my mothers eyes but other than that we were almost identical.

I then turned the page and saw my grandparents. I was filled with so many emotions at that point. I never met my grandparents and didn't even remember my parents. I could tell they were great leaders.

"We will be great as well," my wolf said to me confidently.

I knew right then I would do anything to prove him right. I wanted to make them all proud. I put the album back and exited the office.

As I closed the door it dawned on me that there had to be prisoners here who were considered a threat. I needed to know who they were and why they were being held captive. I didn't want there to be any surprises. I had to protect my pack.

I spotted a blond haired boy who appeared to be about sixteen.

"Take me to the dungeons," I told him. He did as I instructed and we went out back behind the pack house.

He pulled up a door from the ground. It was cleverly designed and could not be seen by the untrained eye. We walked down a spiraling staircase that seemed to go on for hours before we finally reached the cells. What I saw nearly knocked the wind out of me. Sitting in a cell side by side was Jack and Marie.