Alphas War

Chapter 56

Ella's POV:

I trudged hopelessly down the stairs behind my father. He'd insisted I leave the comfort of my bed and stretch my legs a little. He said it would be good for me. Although, I had no desire to do anything that was "good" for me anymore.

When I stepped into the kitchen, he moved to the side to reveal Tyler standing at the island counters. "Oh... hi," I muttered scratchily.

"Hi, can we talk?" He asked.

I nodded, having little interest in whatever it was he wanted to say. Nothing really mattered anymore. But there was no point in telling anyone else that. They didn't understand.

"I actually wanted to talk to you too," I told him, forcing what I hoped would look like a smile.

He nodded. "Okay, well I was hoping that we could start forming some sort of plan. We need to prepare our defence ready for when the humans do attack and I thought maybe throwing yourself into work would be good for you right now." As he spoke, he lead the way to the office and shut the door behind him before sitting on the sofa opposite me. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"Actually no," I said, feeling nauseated at the thought of my territory being bombarded by angry people who wanted revenge on me. "I actually wanted to talk about you taking over. When can we get started on that?"

He faltered for a moment, blinking a couple of times before frowning. "You were serious about that?"

I frowned. "Of course I was."

Immediately, he started shaking his head. "Ella, I wouldn't take over if you stepped down. I'm the Beta, I will always only be second to the Alpha just like my dad and his dad before him."

"Unless something happens to me," I reminded him.

"Unless something happens to the Alpha and they have no remaining living relatives," he recited.

"So what? My dad has to take over? Aiden? Who?" I asked impatiently, ready to start the process so someone else could clean up the mess I had made.

"No, none of them," he sighed with a shake of his head, "that's only if you're killed. Things are very different if you step down."

"Different how?" I asked him sceptically, my hands starting to become a little clammy from the seriousness in his tone.

"It's not allowed Ella," he stated with a heavy sigh, avoiding my gaze as he spoke. "It's considered treason if you abandon the pack. It creates chaos as every wolf suddenly has the opportunity to rule. Whoever wants to nominate themselves can and it's a fight to the death to see who takes over."

My jaw dropped. "That's anarchy," I stated in shock. "Surely there's another option?" I asked, my gut churning. There had to be another option. There just had to be. "Can't I just choose someone?"

He shook his head, his eyes filling with emotion. "If you step down you are effectively leaving the pack to fend for themselves. You would lose all respect from the pack and whoever takes over..." he trailed off before finally glancing up and meeting my gaze, "well they would have the duty of sentencing you... to death for your crime."

I stared at him open mouthed, completely and utterly speechless. His words played over in my mind as I did my best to swallow them. Death. I would be murdered. Me and my baby.

Tyler cleared his throat, his glazed eyes blinking for a moment before all the heaviness in his expression cleared. "So you can't step down Ella, I'm sorry but it's not an option," he stated simply, releasing a deep breath before meeting my eye.

Tears pricked my eyes as I stared back at him,  shaking my head violently. "No, there has to be a way."

"There isn't," he replied. "The pack would turn on you Ella."

"I can't do it anymore Ty!" I told him, the tears spilling down my cheek as an ache filled my chest. "What am I supposed to do?"

He sighed heavily, throwing his head back for a moment. "The only option I can think of is to leave. You could run but you would never be able to come back."

I began to completely detach from the situation, getting lost in my own head as the tears streamed down my face. My breathing began to come out in ragged, short bursts. "Ella," Tyler called, reaching out and placing a hand on my shoulder.

I couldn't answer him. I had been backed into a corner with two options that both felt as though they would destroy my life. Continue to lead the pack and be miserable as well as risk the safety of myself and my child. Not only that but I would have to lead the pack into battle with humans who had the means and the motivation to kill us whilst being pregnant and their main target. The alternative was to leave the pack behind with the baby, leaving all of my friends and family behind and never seeing them again.

I got up and left, having nothing more to say. I retreated right back to my room, locking the door to keep Tyler or Dean or anyone else who wanted to talk out. I couldn't stand being around any of them right now. They continued to tell me things would get better but they only seemed to get worse and worse.

I knew if Zach was there he would tell me that we would figure it out - together. But we weren't together anymore. He'd been ripped away from me and I was left alone to come up with a solution.

And while the last thing I wanted was for my baby to get hurt in any way, I couldn't help but think that maybe the best option here was to let them kill me.

My child didn't deserve to grow up alone, without a father or a family, on the run for the mistakes their mother made. And they didn't deserve to be born straight into a war where an entire species - a much larger one than their own - wanted to drive them to extinction. That shouldn't be their legacy. Nor their responsibility.

Keeping this child alive and raising it in either scenario didn't seem like the right decision- but could the right decision really be to let the family line die with me?