Chapter 3

Sky's POV

"No," I assert, placing my hands on my hips and locking eyes with him.

“Excuse me?” The sound of his Alpha voice compels my hands to come to a rest at my sides.

“Your disinterest towards me bears no significance. I can manage without your help. On the other hand, Owen does. At this moment, his father is necessary for him. He needs to know what’s going on and what’s going to happen. I can only do so much.” I yelled at my father. I've never had to resort to yelling at anyone. The expression on my father's face suggested he was caught off guard by what I did. His eyes have darkened and his typical stoic expression is replaced with a clenched jaw and tightened fists.

Greg appears to be enjoying himself, as if I am providing him with entertainment.

“Sky.” My Uncle Morison scolds. “You cannot talk to him like that. He is the Alpha.”

“Alpha this, Alpha that. It’s always about him being an Alpha.” I roll my eyes. “Be a father for once!” And with that, I storm out of his office and up the stairs to my room. With a loud thud, I shut the door and climb into bed, falling asleep without delay.

***

“Sky.” Owen shakes me again. “Sky, something has happened.”

As soon as I opened my eyes, I sat up and accidentally hit heads with Owen.

“Why are you invading my personal space?”

“Come on. Something’s happened.”

I chase after him down the stairs, my hand pressing against my aching forehead. He runs all the way to father’s office, and he’s right, something has happened.

Several individuals, a few of whom I'm not acquainted with, converge around the door and are speaking boisterously. The overlapping voices in the room made it difficult to distinguish any particular conversation.

“Oh my Goddess.” Uncle Morison exclaims when he sees Owen and I standing out in the hallway just staring at the hoard of people in father’s office. “What are you two doing over here? This is not where we get breakfast.” He leads us away from the commotion and into the kitchen. He gets out three bowls, three spoons, the honey-nut cheerios, and the milk. He mixes all the ingredients together and commences the act of ingesting his cereal, while Owen and I observe him intently in anticipation of an explanation.

“Are you going to tell us or not?” I blurt out finally.

“Yeah. What happened?” Owen asks through a mouthful of cheerios.

“It’s your father.” Uncle Morison whispers.

“What about him?” I press.

“He’s gone.”

“What do you mean ‘he’s gone’?” Owen has dropped his spoon and is looking down into his lap, waiting to hear uncle Morison’s answer.

“Uncle Morison?”

“He left.” He makes it a point to look is both in the eyes.

“But today’s mom’s funeral.” Owen says quietly. “When will he be back?”

I have a bad feeling about this, and somehow I also feel that this bad news is my fault. I watch Uncle Morison close his eyes and take a deep breath, obviously a family trait, as he prepares himself to tell us something big. I reach out for Owen’s hand and hold it tight once he clasps his hand in mine. We both countdown quietly and to ourselves.

“He left the pack.”

***

It was hard to stop Owen from sobbing. He was upset about our father leaving. Everyone could feel his loss. All morning there had been nothing but talk of my father’s betrayal.

He left his pack.

An Alpha leaving his pack was unheard of and no one knew what to do. I was furious with him.

How could he do this today, of all days? Today should be about her, but instead of mourning the loss of their Luna, my mother, they’re mourning the loss of the betrayer.

I look forward to shedding a single tear for him or my mother. My hair has been restrained and controlled by a headband that complements the uncomfortable black fabric of my dress.

Adorned in a dark suit, Owen stands alongside me, firmly clutching my hand. Someone had attempted to tidy his radiant tresses, the same tresses as my mother's, but relinquished and left it unaltered. His cerulean eyes appear swollen and rosy, with his tears still moistening his plump cheeks, as they keep streaming down incessantly.

Uncle Morison stands aloof, fidgeting with the flower anxiously as the remainder of the group enters the room.

They sit in chairs that are stiff and orderly, with a single aisle cutting through the middle of them. All the chairs are oriented towards us, and as the assembly occupies them, I become progressively uneasy due to the sheer number of gazes fixated upon me. I am familiar with a few individuals as they enter, whereas the majority of them are unfamiliar to me.

Most people were afraid to approach me because of my status as the Alpha's child, fearing they would say or do something wrong and be reprimanded.

As I glance around the room, I see Greg Potter and his family entering and taking their seats in the very first row. I notice he chooses the chair directly in front of me. He takes a puff from his cigar, and the scent of tobacco lingers in the air as he rests his hand on his knee.

It hadn't been long since Greg Potter became a member of our pack. I heard my father tell my mother that he used to be an Alpha, but his pack had been killed while he was away with his wife. His wife sat beside him, but the two didn’t seem to match. Her long reddish hair encircled her round face, and her eyes were too kind to be the eyes of Greg Potter’s wife. Their sons, on the other hand, look very much like their father except for one who more closely resembled his mother. Uncomfortable chairs and annoyed stares were the order of the day as the three of them sat and looked at Owen and me.

I can tell that they’re all of different ages, but the oldest one stares at me a bit too hard. I don’t have time to scowl at him because Uncle Morison steps up in front of me, breaking my eye contact.

“Welcome everyone. I express my sincere appreciation to all of you for coming together to pay tribute to my departed sister and extend your sympathies to my niece and nephew. I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that my brother-in-law, our Alpha, has left. And as much as that saddens me, we do not have to worry. Our exceedingly devoted and competent Beta will take charge and rightfully claim his position as our Alpha.” Uncle Morison declares to the entire group of people.