LUX

23. Lux the Light

I'm sorry this took so long, I needed to write an ending fit for a queen. Enjoy the beginning of the end xx

~**~

The sun rises and sets each day as we work together to rebuild our pack. Nothing remains of what used to be but the destruction is not because of me, it's my father's mess we clean. Like a Phoneix, we rise from the ashes. The young to the old, no one left out in the process. The wolves of the pack work tirelessly through the day and night to rebuild the new, everyone playing their part, no one gets a free pass. The moon sees their efforts and it will always be remembered. When their time comes, the moon will see the true goodness of these wolves.

These wolves no nothing of hardship, they were greedy. Like many other wolves in this world, I grew with nothing, I had nothing. The pack I lead will never face that, not if they work and struggle together. Realization is dawning on the hard work it takes to build a pack from the bottom up. No more living on the work of their ancestors.

A new dawn is on the horizon.

We start together before they can build for themselves. In the centre of the land, the heart of the pack that is now all mine stands the body of our new pack house. This house is made for everyone and will always have its door open. This will be where the pack eats, sleeps, trains, until they learn how to be a team.

Until they learn unity.

Until they learn how to be a pack.

The path of destruction hit hardest on our own. Saying goodbye to so many of the people who helped me become the Alpha I am. I have yet to see Ezra, Emmett or Aurora since we buried Elliot. The death of their brother took them hard, considering they didn't even know he came to the battle. He died honourably, fighting right until the end. Ezra has fallen into a depression because he didn't only lose his little brother but his lover; Payne died three days after the war ended, injuries too deep to save. The last loss that has taken me the hardest was the death of my sister, Layla. She wasn't trained and she wasn't ready when the rebels stormed their pack last week.

Not everyone agrees with my rule and it has clearly shown in the deaths my pack has suffered.

Every day we work to rehabilitate the injured, work to train the weak, work to mourn the dead. But we work together and nothing will stop our progression.

As the new alpha, I strive to be a part of every rebuild. I am up every day and night trying to be everywhere at once. During the days I am helping with rehabilitation and training while at night I help pick up the slack of the building.

After the longest month of my life, the construction of the pack house was finished. It held enough room for all members of this new pack. Routines have started, we have warriors watching our perimeters, hunters going out to get food, experts training.

Those who rebel learn very quickly why the beast won. We are not only physically building the pack but we have to reteach thoughts. They have become less and less. I am not naive enough to think they are gone completely because they will always be there, in the corner, waiting for a moment to attack. They shouldn't be naive to my strengths as the leader.

It hasn't been easy, especially since my brother is my biggest competitor. These aren't the childish games we used to play but a war between siblings. He is simultaneously the least of my worries and the worst of them. He spends his time locked away, similar to how I spent most of my time.

"He's not going to come back for you." He says, pitifully attached to a pole. "You're the reason his brother is dead."

It's hard to imagine a time where my brother and I loved each other. He may not have believed in a female running the pack but he also never believed in what my father had done to me all those years. He trained to take my position but still treated me like a person. It was only when my pain began to affect him that he couldn't help but agree with my father. Regardless, I hold hope for a relationship with my brother. One where he stands with me and leads the empire that I have begun.

"And if he doesn't, that's his choice," I tell my brother.

The words I say hold nothing but the truth I feel. Emmett should blame me, I brought his entire family into a war between myself and my father. His family has suffered such a large loss and I hope they can work together to heal.

He always told me that I was worthy of love and I know that I am but there is more than just having the love for a man to fill me. I am worthy of loving myself. This is where the strength lies in a true leader, being able to love myself and staying true to the alpha I was made to be.

"Lux, why are you here?" he asks, he always does. "You've taken everything from me."

I take a minute to look at my brother, to really look at him. For the first time, I see the kid who thinks he has lost everything. The kid who hasn't learned what I have.

"Because you're my brother, Isaac, and despite what you think you haven't lost everything because you still have me." My brother looks up from the floor and stares me down.

"I have you? Are you kidding me? You're the reason we're in this mess. You killed our father, you do realize that right?"

Taking a deep breath, I have to explain to my brother that the only way out of this was killing our father but like the other times I had explained this to him he responds only with anger. I will explain this to him every time, every day until he understands because I want my brother here, with me, I want him to be a part of this new pack.

"I'll be back again tomorrow. Eat something today, would you?" With that, I turn and leave my brother in the silence of his cell.

Walking back to the pack house, away from my brother, I enjoy the sounds of families laughing, of warriors sparring, and of the fallen taken their first steps again. I take time to encourage each one of them because what they are doing takes more strength then ever before.

A table of my beta's greets me once I enter my office in the pack house. Each of these beta's have proved themselves during battle and during the new, each have earned their place. Triston and his son have been caring for the transition of their pack into our pack. Dee, the female wolf who fought her way through many of the males, works with Cayne, the only male she couldn't beat, yet. They've moved to the Jones pack to oversee the change in rule. It's a big job and I had to send my best, I think the distraction is good for the two of them - they both lost so much.

These meetings are meant to keep everything on the same page, especially with land so far apart. I ensure their worries and respond to the issues. The outer packs didn't have to create the new but they did have to adhere to it - which my beta's ensure. Slowly it will become one big pack open to all.

Calling the meeting, I send my beta's out I hopes to end this day. Before I finish packing my notes and plans, there is a knock at the door. The door opens wide and the last person I had thought of opens the door.

"Lux,"