Page 52 of The Alpha's Heir

My little brother pauses his game and looks over at the picture I am showing him. “Yes. That’s my mum’s boyfriend. That’s JR.” With that settled, he immediately returns to his game.

Ale takes the iPad too and looks at the photograph. “Junior Woodward? Eva’s half-brother?” I nod to him, still not trusting my voice. “Do you want to stay here with Ricky, and I will sort this out once and for all?”

I clamber up off the couch. “NO! No way, Alejandro. I am coming with you.” He smiles at me, and I realise he pressed the right button to spring me out of my spiral of panic.

“Hurry up and stop fainting then, we can ask my mother and father to watch Ricky for us and be out of here in twenty minutes.”

He kisses me hard, pulling my head to him roughly. “Eurgh, get a room. You two are so gross,” Ricky shouts at us while pretending to vomit.

“Just wait until he’s older and in love, I’ll get him back.” Ale whispers against my ear while suppressing a laugh.

We quickly change our clothes and get our bag of goodies together. I tell Ricky I will be back soon and to keep his phone turned on so I can contact him.

As we leave the Suarez family home, I can’t help thinking this might all be over really soon. Justice is finally going to be served.

*** Xavier ***

The cat is out of the bag, as the saying goes. As soon as Eva mentions what has been happening at Onyx River, everything else pours out of my mouth. I have no intention of lying to my daughter, she is the innocent party in this, and I will not be responsible for her being hurt once again. Besides, Junior has attacked a pup, my grandpup to be exact. I want him punished for that. No, I want to punish him for it.

Lydia is starting to realise that our son is unlikely to make it out of this alive. I wish I could make this better for her, but Junior is a grown man. By the time I was his age, I was running this pack single-handed. I had been in a fair few scrapes and battles; I had suffered defeat and tasted victory. I took every lesson. My son just doesn’t. He takes every slight as a personal dig, and now he has made a grave for himself, and the way he is going, he may as well hand them the axe to chop off his head too. As much as someone is going to kill him for what he has done, I concur that Junior has been instrumental in his own downfall.

That doesn’t make it any easier for his mother, the woman who grew him from a seed in her own tummy, who almost lost her life carrying him and birthing him. The mother who raised this little boy and had so many hopes and dreams for the future for him. My heart is sore for her, and for us. But Junior has crossed boundaries he should never cross and now he has werewolves, the council, and the Mafia after him. That’s before we even get to the point of him attempting to hurt or kidnap Eva’s little pup and seriously injuring a human, causing her to miscarry.

Junior has made his choices and now he has to pay the price for those choices, but so will we as his parents. I have a daughter now and that gives me a reason to carry on. Lydia doesn’t and I worry if she is strong enough to overcome the loss of her child. Despite what Junior has done, my Lydia doesn’t deserve the heartache she will undoubtedly suffer if he is executed.

I want her to be a part of my daughter’s life so she has something to live for. I know it's not the same, but having grandchildren to look forward to might just be what makes the difference.

Lydia has been so upset since we returned home yesterday.

“I messed up so badly, X, I scared the little girl and Eva seemed so mad at me.” I remind her of what she was like when Junior was little, and she smiles. “Yeah, I suppose us she-wolves are overprotective of our young. I want to try to get to know her. I’m just scared she’ll reject me. After all, I am not flesh and blood to her.”

The Council are still swarming my lands and the seriousness of the situation is starting to filter through to the pack.

Everyone now knows Junior has killed a powerful Spanish Don and that his firm wants revenge. Several members of the pack have voiced their concerns and have also questioned my ability to continue leading. I need to discuss the succession with Eva and Aiden as soon as possible, but so much is happening right now that I haven’t found the right opportunity. Eva is my heir, and I believe that is the reason why she was able to shift when she came onto my land. The land recognises her as the future of this pack. However, right now, Eva is in no position to lead. She has many admirable qualities, but she has no Alpha or leadership training and she is currently locked in her own cell as a potential danger to herself and others because of her Dire Wolf.

I have to face facts: Eva isn’t going to leave her mate to come and lead here. Therefore, I need to extend my olive branch to Alpha Aiden and ask that we merge our packs. That way, he will become Alpha over both packs and Eva will be his Luna should things not work out as I would want.

I also need to reach out to the Mafia and hope they won’t take my head too, although with the prospect of losing my son, my mate and my pack, maybe death will be a welcome reprieve.

*** Amber ***

It doesn’t matter what is going on at home, I still have my trial to attend. Aiden is beside himself with worry and responsibility and Preston looks ready to kill the next person who looks at him funny. I tell them I can go by myself and to just stay at home and deal with Junior, the Mafia, and the council, but they won’t hear it.

"Youare not going to your trial without us, Amber. No way.” After making his position clear, he turns to my brother. “I’ll go with her, but if they start looking like they aren’t going to let her go, we are going rogue, right Red?” Preston is on edge, and it is making me on edge. I don’t have the energy to fight him today. I don’t want to fight him. I want to climb back into bed and pretend this isn’t happening.

“Aidy, you have to go with them, Summer, and I will be fine in here. Mrs Moore will look after her and the Gamma Guards are still patrolling and reporting for duty. You have to be there. I want you to go.” Eva is demanding he go, but I know Aiden feels torn.

“What if Junior comes back? What if you need me and I’m not here?” he agonises and I sympathise wholeheartedly.

“Would you feel better if I asked my father to come here, just in case?” Eva looks pained at the thought of asking her father for more help, but since Xavier isn’t due to give evidence until tomorrow, there is no reason why he couldn’t help out. He will know Junior’s weak points without a doubt.

“Would you, Shortie? For me? I’d feel a bit better knowing another Alpha who also loves you was here to protect you.” And although I can see her reluctance, she does it because she knows it’ll give Aiden some reassurance. I love that my brother finally found his mate, and that it is Eva. They are perfect and it makes going to this trial more bearable knowing Aiden will be cared for regardless.

Eva asks us to give her privacy while she speaks to her father and Aiden pulls me and Preston to his office again. “Before we get in there, you both know the plan, right? You know where the passports and fake IDs, clothes and money are all stashed?”

We’ve been over this plan several times. Aiden has made all the arrangements so that if it looks like the trial is not going to fall my way, Preston and I can leave the country, get as far away from here as possible and never look back. It is a last resort. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

“We know, Alpha, don’t worry, no one is going to touch my girl. I promise you I’ll get her out of here if needs be.”

---