Drawn to the Sea

Chapter 14: 'Naping the Beta

Douglass

I tried to stand up, but my legs betrayed me and I fell back down. Nate caught me, breaking my fall as best he could. "Woah, you okay?"

"Portals are extremely hard to open, and I wasn't properly prepared." He helped me up and sat me on the bed, and I took off my satchel and set it beside me. He was holding my arm until I got settled.

When he tried to pull away, I caught his hand. "Your nails."

"What the hell?"

They were long and sharp at the tips. I looked up at his face, noticing his eyes were gold. I stood, ignoring how shakily my legs were, and I put my hands on either side of his face. "Open your mouth."

"What? Why?"

"Just--" I squeezed my thumbs against his skin, "Open."

He sighed, opening his mouth. I looked at his teeth, moving his head a little so I could see better. "Well, look at that."

"What?" He took my wrists, making me lower my hands. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Your teeth, they're sharper now. Especially your canines."

"Okay. What does that mean?"

"Do you know who, or rather, what your parents were?"

"Uh, human?"

"How are you related to your uncle? On your mother's or your father's side?"

"My mother's. My uncle is her younger brother."

"Your uncle, the werewolf. So, it's safe to say that she was also a werewolf. No wolf can be that big if they were changed, or born human and turned into a wolf, so he's a pureblood. Your mother probably was, too. Judging from his size, large even for a pureblood, he's the alpha. That and the fact that he was pretty much commanding the other wolves to stay back when you two were fighting."

"Wait..." He blinked a couple of times, trying to understand. "If my mother was his older sister... wouldn't have that made her the alpha?"

"Yes, it would've." I pursed my lips. "When she died, he became the alpha."

"What does that mean for me? I'm her son, and she was the rightful alpha, so don't I have some sort of power claim?"

"Well, traditionally, yes. If the alpha and luna die, then the next in line, or their sibling, would take their place until any children they had were old enough to take the lead. The child would have to be eighteen. It would be preferable for them to have found their mate, but that isn't always possible by the time they can take the pack."

"So I should be alpha right now, and not my uncle?"

I nodded. "Yes. But I'm assuming he didn't plan on giving the pack to you, considering you didn't know about your lineage and he didn't tell you any of this sooner."

"Do you think he had anything to do with my parents?"

"It's possible. He may have tried to take power from her discretely, and something went wrong, or maybe he just got it over with so he could be alpha and there would be no one to challenge him. We don't know, and we need to find out."

"So. I'm a werewolf, my mother was an alpha, I don't know if my father was a werewolf or other supernatural creature or just human, my uncle is a lunatic and he might be connected to my parents' disappearance/murder." He rubbed his face. "Great. That's... hella confusing. I think my brain is going to explode."

I chuckled, going over to one of my shelves to grab a healing tonic. "Here, drink this. It'll heal your cut from earlier and anything that got hurt during the fight."