An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 6

"Are you ready for this?" His father asked him.

Ryan was about to retort but when he turned his head, he saw the earnest expression on his father's face. Perhaps he was too quick to judge, always thinking he was criticising or taking control of everything.

After his talk with his mother he felt like he knew him better now and could understand some of the pressure he'd been under all of his life.

"Let's just keep our heads. I don't trust those enforcers." Ryan had his voice lowered so the enforcers stood inside the room, wouldn't hear him.

Ryan and his father were the last to join the group, still waiting for the seer inside the pack's living room. He didn't want to look at the faces of his pack whilst his emotions were in array. They needed him to be strong and focused and right now he didn't trust himself. Hence why he was down the hallway having a few moments to himself.

"You can do this Ryan, I know you can handle this. I wouldn't have passed the Alpha title to you if I hadn't thought you were ready." Ryan looked to his father, who was staring in the opposite direction.

Why his father had chosen this moment to have a heart to heart, he had no idea but his words eased the tightness in his chest.

His father had never said those things to him before and Ryan had so many things he needed to talk to him about.

The door opened and Luke stuck his head out peering up and down the corridor until he spied them hidden in an alcove.

Closing the door Luke shuffled towards them a neutral expression plastered to his face.

"Sorry to interrupt but we're going to need you two in there soon. The guys are getting restless and those enforcers...." Luke let his sentence trail off as his neutral expression dissolved into barely controlled rage.

Whatever the enforcers had done had crossed a line in his Second's books.

"You need to get in there pronto or even I won't be answerable for my actions." Luke growled, allowing his anger to crest. He spun on the spot and stalked back towards the room.

Ryan's father waited for the door to close before looking at Ryan again.

"Whatever happens we'll keep it together. Focus on the seer and Poppy, I'll keep an eye on our wolves. We can't let the council have any reason to punish us." Ryan heard the waiver of annoyance threaded through his father's voice and was surprised.

His father was always so collected and yet his face was flushed and his hands kept clenching and unclenching at his sides. He was agitated for the first time Ryan had ever known.

Ryan straightened up with renewed energy. He'd been feeling incapable for not being able to control his emotions and yet here was his father, many years his senior, struggling. Somehow it made him feel less alone.

"Come on, old man we'd better get in there before all havoc breaks out and Luke puts someone through a wall." His father chuckled at the gentle banter and Ryan felt the tension in both of them reduce as they walked together towards the room.

Ryan strolled in with his father following behind him.

He stood in the pack's living room, staring at the few enforcers present to oversee the night's proceedings. On first glancing at the two men, you wouldn't have assumed they worked for the council at all.

Their outfits, although both black didn't match or signal any status. One wore black trousers with a long black trench coat whilst the other wore wide leg jeans with a puffy black jacket. The only thing they wore that showed just who they were was a large pendant hanging from both their necks which represented the council's insignia.