RTY | MW [✔]

02.

Mingyu stood at the foot of his father's grave, staring at the freshly dug earth illuminated by moonlight. The alpha had clung to life for far longer than anyone had expected. Mingyu wouldn't miss his temper, but he would miss his insight. During the war, the pack had lost a lot of their collective knowledge and wisdom. In many ways, they were still rebuilding. But with the passing of his father, the responsibility for that now fell squarely on his shoulders.

He had always known he might one day be called on to lead their pack and never doubted that he had what it took. He would rule with a firm hand but not the iron fist his father had wielded. Still, he had a reputation to maintain. Commanding a pack wasn't easy work— so many strong, abrasive personalities. They would be at each other's throats in a heartbeat if he took his attention away for too long.

The full moon was a few days away, and he was looking forward to the run. Their first since the alpha's passing, and all the more important for it. Despite his deteriorating health, his father had only relinquished control of the run a handful of times in recent months. This would be Mingyu's first as the leader of the pack, as the alpha prime. He hated how self-important that title sounded and resolved to use it as little as possible.

Hearing a wolf running through the trees toward him, he stood and turned to greet them. Minghao, one of the pack's fastest betas, raced into view. He skidded to a stop in front of him and shifted from wolf to human.

"What?" Mingyu snapped. His pack knew better than to bother him at his father's grave.

"A hunt approached our boundary. They haven't crossed into our territory, but their prey did."

The open land beyond their borders was just that— open, not belonging to any one pack. Hunts nearing their boundary weren't a common occurrence, but it happened. Another pack wouldn't have shown such disrespect, but a group of nomads or rogues might. Wolves without a pack or a home weren't too concerned with propriety. These rogues were known to them— they hunted in the badlands to the southwest of their pack but rarely strayed this far north.

"Why are you telling me this? You know what to do. Kill the prey and bring it to the food stores. Or, if you're feeling generous, chase it back into the waiting jaws of those wolves."

Minghao barely reacted to his sharp tone. But then, their former alpha would have been far less polite about it.

Mingyu turned back to his father's grave, dismissing the beta. He was surprised when Minghao spoke again.

"It wasn't that kind of hunt."

He didn't like the implications of that one bit, giving Minghao his full attention once more.

"What are you talking about?"

Mingyu was almost sure he didn't want to hear the answer.

"It's a fox."

Damn.

"An omega," Minghao continued.

Double damn.

"Sue says he's pregnant."

The trifecta of damns. And trouble their pack definitely didn't need.

He spared one last glance at his father's grave, wishing for the first time that he was still around. But he was gone, and the only person Mingyu could look to for guidance was himself.

*****

Mingyu didn't bother shifting. He stomped after Minghao as the wolf led him up into the mountains that surrounded the valley their pack called home. This was a problem he most definitely didn't need.