REGINA

27. The Road to the Past

"What is it Dad?" I asked as I walked into the office. My dad was sitting on his usual leather chair and had his face pushed into a red file that rested on his hands. He looked up from the file as he heard my voice.

"Sit down I want to have a word with you." He gestured for the chairs in front of his desk. The change in his usual happy tone made me knit my eyebrows in confusion. I briskly walked up and sat down on the chair and waited for him to say his words.

He put down his spectacles and looked at me, a small smile making its way up to his lips.

"How are you?" He asked, folding his hands together.
"I am good,Dad. Thank you for asking."
"Fiona I heard what happened at the Cannibals. I am sorry for your loss." He placed his hand on mine, giving a gentle squeeze he continued.

"But you have to get through your sorrow now. I understand what it feels like to lose a person who was an important part of your life. But there are some responsibilities that has been given to you and you cannot step away from them. I have lost my wife and I don't even know if she's alive or not. I could have lost you if I would have forgotten about my duties. My pack people would have been greatly affected if I would have let my sorrow engulf me. You have some responsibilities towards your people. You are their Alpha and-"

"I am not their Alpha, dad. I cannot be their Alpha." I heaved a sigh as I closed my eyes. A single drop of tear traced it's path down my cheek,
"How can I call myself an Alpha when I killed my own family. Are the people of my pack safe with a person like me?"

"They trust you and also love you Fiona. It shows in their actions. They sent you flowers when you were sick. They showed concern when you came that night. No one doubted you when you gave Ava her punishment. They trust you, they see you as their Alpha. Would you led them down?"
My dad said softly even if the frustration was evident in his eyes.

"See Fiona. I have no heir and I can't let the throne go empty. But I want retirement too. I want to go around the world to find Stacy. That hyena we encountered, it-it might be a coincidence that we met her but that gave a light of hope that maybe your mom is alive. I want to go after her. But I am not able to do that, not without making a worthy Alpha sit in my place. It's not that you are my daughter and it's your birthright to become the Alpha, there's something about you that made me make this decision. When you first came to the pack I didn't even think of having you as the next Alpha. I just saw you as my daughter whom I was meeting after all these years. But your spark and your speciality made me reconsider my decisions all over again. Prestige is an ordinary pack with me but with you it's going to be the most powerful and undefeatable pack in the entire world. That's why I want you to realise your responsibilities and work for the wellfare of this pack."

"But dad-"

"I might sound selfish to you but I am getting older now. The strength I had years ago is lessening and I can't risk having a weak Alpha on the throne. It's understandable that you are sad and afraid but listen to me. You killed her because she pushed your buttons. You didn't just go there as Fiona, you went there as a representative of Prestige clan. Your opponents got hurt not because they provoked you, they provoked Us and it's an example you had set up there on their grounds that no one pushes our buttons. No one pushes the boundaries or else they get wiped out no matter what kind of a relationship we have had with that person. You are an inspiration for those future Alphas that nothing comes before your pack not even family. This is how we rule. We care for the pack and I want you to be ruthless to the ones who try to lay their eyes on us. If you hadn't killed her, if you would have shown weakness then Cannibals would have taken over this pack and you know what would have happened?" He asked, his eyebrows raised at me.

I shook my head.

"They would have killed our people. The happy faces you see today would have been wiped out. That's how cruel this world is. That's why I am telling you to gear up and get ready for the battle. They gonna attack anytime." He patted my hand and gave a short smile.