Chad Wolfe

I had made up my mind.

My dad had been trying to convince me to change my mind but I won't. I already called my aunt Camille and informed her I would be coming today so there's no going back now. She even agreed to come pick me up. Dad and I argued about this for several days and concluded our last argument a few minutes ago.

One would think that he was being skeptical about my leaving the pack because he was worried about my safety but guess what, that's not the case at all. All he was worried about was the beta training I was going to miss and how unprepared I would be when it was time for me to become the beta of this pack. Who cares about that? I never wanted to become a beta but dad kept on forcing me to attend trainings and now I'm fed up. I just want to live a responsibility-free life.

"Don't I have a say in the decisions you make for yourself?" Dad asked me and I groaned. Not again.

"I'm your father, I love you and I want what's best for you," he continued and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He should know by now that emotional blackmail wouldn't work on me.

"You have been making decisions for me all my life, and I agreed to every single one of them without question—"

"No, you had lots of questions," dad interrupted me and I betrayed a smile.

"Fine, but I agreed anyway, although I wasn't happy. You were controlling and had zero concerns about my opinions—"

"Zero concerns?" Dad boomed. "Boy, before I made you do something, I asked if it was okay with you and you always said yes."

"If I had said no, you would have still forced your decision on me. You often forget you're the alpha of this pack and not the alpha of my life," I replied calmly.

"Chad..."

"Now is the one time I get to make a decision for myself and you won't even let me do that."

"What if I told you that you don't have to become a beta if you don't want to?" Dad offered desperately but I knew better.

"I'm not falling for that," I stated.

"Come on, Chad, if you leave, who's going to become alpha after me?"

"Is that all you're worried about? There are hundreds of qualified people who would be more than willing to take up that role."

"Don't be ridiculous, Chad!"

I laughed.

"You're not going anywhere, and that is an order! I'm sick and tired of this back and forth," dad said, getting up from his sitting position.

"Aunt Camille is picking me up today," I told him and he scoffed.

"No, she's not. I won't let her, and I won't let you leave this pack, not when you have responsibilities resting on your shoulders."

"What responsibilities are you talking about? I'm not even beta yet."

"We are appointing a new beta in a couple of weeks so you cannot be missing."

"I told you I don't care about ruling this pack, find someone else."

"Fine. I will. But you are still going nowhere."

Dad turned around to leave my room and I knew I had to say something he would like in order to change his mind about my leaving the pack. I called him back and he stopped just as his hands reached the door handle, turning to face me with a satisfied smile.

I drew in a breath as I promised to return to the pack when it was time for me to become alpha. Thankfully, becoming beta was not a prerequisite to becoming alpha so I could get off the hook on that one. And, I was just seventeen so I had to be at least twenty one to become alpha, which meant I had four years, or more, depending on my eligibility then.

Dad insisted that becoming a beta would give me the leadership experience I needed to lead the pack as alpha but I countered, reminding him that he was made alpha even without being a beta. He sighed tiredly and eyed me warily as he thought about it for a moment before he reluctantly agreed, but not without a condition of his own; I would have to return to the pack every month for training.

He worried that the pack might not want me to become alpha after being away from the pack for too long and without training, which was why he mandated me to attend the monthly training. I had no other choice but to agree so he would let me go, knowing full well I was never going to return to this pack to become an alpha and neither was I going to show up for trainings. I didn't need them after all.

Dad warned that if I didn't return at the time I was to become alpha, he would fetch me himself. I knew that wasn't an empty threat, but when I moved to another continent, how was he going to find me then?

My thoughts were brought to a halt by the honking of a car horn. That must be aunt Camille. Finally! I rushed out of my room with my suitcase and literally ran outside. Aunt Camille was leaning on her car and glancing around, her eyes lit up when she saw me and she beamed. I went into her arms for a warm embrace and when we pulled out of the hug, she eyed me from head to toe like a proud mother.

"Oh my goodness, look at you, you have grown into a fine young man. You look so much like your mother, but you are tall and sturdy just like your father. The last time I saw you, I was the bigger one," she joked and laughed, but I noticed she was fighting back tears.

Dad stood at the porch, observing us with that strict gaze of his. I ignored him and proceeded to put my suitcase in the trunk of the car. There was just one thing I needed to do...

"Chad! You fool! You're leaving without saying goodbye?" Aidan yelled as he strode towards us.

"I could never, I was just about to call you," I said and he slapped my shoulder. Ow.

Aidan was my very good friend from childhood and we became best friends when we were twelve and had started attending pack training in the same unit. He was also my dad's second option to become the next beta of this pack and the son my dad wished he had in me. He was good looking too, well, we were both good looking. The difference between us was that Aidan was an eligible bachelor while I was the ineligible bachelor.

I introduced him to aunt Camille and she joked about marrying him if she wasn't two decades older. She had such a good sense of humor and I loved her for that. She allowed us chat for a while and say our goodbyes. If anything, I sure was going to miss Aidan. He was the one person that really understood and supported me.

When we were done, dad approached us.

"Bryan, I thought you'd never come down here," aunt Camille said.

"You must be excited about taking my son away from me," dad said.

"This was his decision, not mine."

"And you couldn't advise him against it?"

"No, I didn't want to. If he doesn't like the life he's living here, then he deserves to live the life that he wants."

"You're just saying this because you don't like werewolves."

"You werewolves killed my sister! So forgive me if I harbor an everlasting hatred for you beasts."

Aunt Camille has always had this delusion that werewolves killed my mom. This stemmed from the fact that she felt they hated her because they didn't want the future alpha of the pack to marry a human, and when he eventually did, they plotted to kill her. But dad had a different story to tell. According to him, although the pack hated mom at first for being a human, they were quick to fall in love with her because of her kindness and big heart and even regarded her as the best luna they ever had.

Dad was also quite the rebel in his youth, mom had told me how he went against his parents and his pack to marry her because she was the only woman he loved and would ever love. If the story wasn't coming from mom, I would never have believed that dad could do such a thing. It was brave, and romantic.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," dad said in a surprisingly calm voice.

"I'm not in the mood for this," aunt Camille muttered and turned to me. "Come on, Chad, let's go."

Dad held my hand, stopping me from getting into the car. His eyes were glossy.

"Please don't leave, you are all I have left in this world," he pleaded and this time, it wasn't emotional blackmail.

It hurt me to see him this way but my mind was already made up and I was stubborn as hell.

"I'm sorry dad, but I have to. We can always videochat whenever you're missing me so much."

"You know very well that I don't know how to use a cellphone," dad said, causing aunt Camille to snort.

"Aidan can teach you, and even if you refuse to learn, I would make sure to come home for the trainings so you'd still get the chance to see me regularly."

I had no intentions of attending these darn trainings, but seeing my dad this emotional made me sad so I'll just have to do it to make him happy.

"That's not enough, I want to see you everyday. I promise you won't have to attend any more trainings or become beta, I'll let you do whatever you want."

"It's too late for that now, dad," I said.

Dad pulled me in a for a warm hug and it felt really good. He rarely hugged me, unless he was feeling very emotional, like right now. He finally let me go and I hugged Aidan before getting into the car and shutting the door.

"Camille, please take care of him, nothing must happen to him while he's under your care," dad ordered as he leaned into the window.

"Yes, alpha Bryan," aunt Camille replied sarcastically and started the car, zooming off almost immediately.

"Don't you dare cause any trouble while you're there. Behave yourself," Aidan yelled after me and I smiled.

During the ride, aunt Camille asked me about my life in the pack and how I've been coping with the laborious trainings. I wasted no time in telling her how much I hated both. She understood why I hated the trainings because she had followed my mom, who was the luna then, to serve chilled drinks and snacks to trainees on one of her birthdays. I vividly remember that day.

She told me about life in the big city and I was intrigued as well as excited to start a new life here.

We arrived at aunt Camille's house and she got down from the car, leaving me to struggle with unbuckling my seatbelt. She chuckled as she helped me with it and I thanked her. I've never used a seatbelt because my dad's jeep didn't require you to use one. I have a lot to learn.

We got to a nice and neat neighborhood with modern houses and cars parked in the driveway. There were a few people on the street, some taking a walk and some walking their pets. They all looked perfectly normal to me and the neighborhood seemed rather quiet. I thought the city was supposed to be rowdy and noisy, with the smell of sweat and fumes clogging the air.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Aunt Camille's car came to a stop in front of her house. It was a simple white duplex with large glass doors and windows. The porch was wide and decorated with flower pots of assorted flowers which looked like they were given proper attention and care.

I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with the fresh and natural scent of the flowers. I was going to love it here.

"Chad dear, let's go in," aunt Camille called to me as she stood by the front door. I took my suitcase from the trunk of her car and followed her inside.