LUX

19. An Alpha Rises

~**~

There is something I should have learned early on in the days of meeting Rory's family, and that is that any of them is ready for a good time at any given time. What I have just learned, however, is that apparently so is Payne. That is, I guess, how I've ended up in a little hole in the wall with Ezra and Payne. We must be a sight for sore eyes, all three of us battered and bruised after the day we had fighting. But that didn't matter to the three of us, we were all determined to have a good time tonight.

The reason Ezra came back to the Emmerson pack is still unclear to me. He showed up two mornings ago and was prepared to be an active part of my training. I forgot how hard that wold could pack a punch. Isaiah no longer attended my training, said that I wasn't worth it any more. But today I proved to him how much I really was worth is attention.

Because today I won my fight against Payne.

Everyone was watching like it was some form of spectacle, like a town show that there was posters advertising. The weirdest part was, it wasn't planned, all those people just knew that something was going to happen. Payne has been egging me on for days, challenging me in ways he hadn't before, insulting my technique. Finally I showed that wolf the pain that comes from an Alpha.

He wasn't done with me there, though. He and Ezra both came at me later in the day, a fight of two against one. A fight I won. And that's how the three of us ended up at the bar, many drinks in, having a good time.

"My neck is killing me, dude. You didn't have to go so hard." Ezra groans dramatically.

"You two didn't have to come at me together, too scared to fight me on my own Ezra?" I tease him, sipping the drink that I've deemed as poison.

"After today, uh ya. Definitely." He says and both Payne and I burst out into another round of laughter.

"Ezra, I've been meaning to ask you, what brought you here?" I ask the question that's been burning my mind since he showed up.

"Honestly, my brother is so into you. He knew he couldn't be here so he sent the next best thing." Ezra winks. "I mean all he does is pace that damn house –"

"Okay, Ez, I think you've had enough." Payne laughs before reaching over the other male and grabbing the drink away from him. I can't help but notice the subtle way Ezra turns into him to get a good sniff and that Payne definitely does not pull away right away. That's for another day.

"Payne, can I ask you a question?" I turn to the other male wolf this time.

"A curious little wolf, aren't you?" he turns to face me, as if I was going to challenge him again. The tequila in my system protests that idea greatly. "ask away."

"Why is your pack so willing to help me? I'm a wolf who less than a year ago had no talent. Now, everyone is expecting me to be this great leader. Why?"

He leans on the table, getting closer to me than before as he ponders over the question. "Why do you deserve to be an Alpha, Lux?" He asks.

"Because it's my rightful title. Just because I wasn't born a male, does not make me any less able to rule a pack. My father was a terrible alpha who has let his pack fail, let the women fear the men, the children fear their fathers, a nation fear their leader. I want to change all that. They all deserve an equal chance." I tell them. It's easier to explain it to them than it ever was to explain it to Emmett.

"And tell me Luxie," Ezra addresses me next. "What do you think of the wolves that are different? Wolves that don't fit the mold of the moon?"

"What do you mean?" I find myself asking him.