The Possessive Alpha
Chapter 79

JONAH POV

“Alpha,” I hear Eli’s voice coming from the doorway, what’s left of it. The entire house is destroyed, windows broken, doors ripped from their hinges, and broken whiskey bottles littering the grounds. What was once a family home meant for me, and my future Luna is now a shell of its former self. “Your mother and sister have called asking you to call them. They have questions about the ball.”

“Tell them whatever the f**k you want,” I growled, my patience already thin. While my chest hasn’t burned in agonizing pain in days, the guilt that Tiffany was sexually assaulted and unable to defend herself is eating away at me daily, leading to the continued destruction surrounding me.

“As you wish, Alpha,” Eli says respectfully before backing away, showing his neck, and showing extra caution with how feral I have been lately.

“Eli,” I call, stopping him before he gets out the door, “make sure that only mated males are around Maddie until she is presented at the ball. As you know she turns eighteen, and I want her to find her mate in public so that her mate may claim her in front of others.” I say, a hard look passing between us, a hidden meaning wove between my words.

“Yes, Alpha,” Eli says, a conflicted expression on his face, while he tries to decide if he should say whatever is tossing around his mind.

“Say whatever you’re thinking,” I say, taking a swig from one of the few unbroken whiskey bottles in the room.

“We will bring our Luna home,” he replies. The sympathy filling my ears is worse than listening to claws on a chalkboard because it won’t get better when Tiffany finally comes home.

The pack will eventually find out what happened to her, and they will look at her with pity….would it even be fair to bring her here to stand next to me as leader of this pack? Making her lead when she is trying to heal through years of trauma. Tiberius isn’t known for his kindness to women, nor are his men. I can’t even imagine what other tortures she has endured in her years with that monster. Tiffany needs to focus on healing, and I need the time to help her work through this as her mate. Would that even be possible with Alpha’s responsibilities?

“I will get my mate,” I responded suddenly, “but she won’t be coming home to be our Luna.” My decision seems rash and at the last minute, but it’s for the best.

“Jonah?” Eli asks, calling me by my first name for the first time in what seems like forever, having been too afraid to disrespect my agitated and nearly feral wolf. “What are you saying?”

Meeting his gaze, my face serious, I lay it all out on the line, “Tiffany won’t be coming back as your Luna, nor I your Alpha.” If the words coming out of my mouth were tangible, they would have knocked his a*s over. A ghost of a smile graces my face at the thought.

“Why?” he asks, flabbergasted while his eyes search my face for any doubts in my decision.

“Do you think Tiffany would be able to handle going through what she has then expected to immediately jump into the rigorous demands of being a Luna?” I asked him.

“No,” Eli admits, “it wouldn’t be fair. Instead of healing her trauma, the stress could make it worse. But she doesn’t have to take over as Luna for you to be Alpha.” He says desperately, and I can understand the dilemma he feels. It’s never good when an Alpha steps down without a definite heir, and it makes a hostile takeover likely.

“Leaving her to deal with the trauma all by herself when I am busy with Alpha duties,” I replied, shaking my head, “please tell me how that’s better. I have already failed her once. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did it again.”

“I understand,” Eli nods as he contemplates my reasons, “you will also need time to heal. I cannot imagine anyone being okay after experiencing what either of you has had to do.”

“Mmph,” I grunt in reply, taking a long, slow drink of my whiskey, “so you’ll do it then?”

“Do what?” Eli asks, confused for the second time tonight.

“Take over the job as Alpha?” I question. How did you not see this is where the conversation would end up? The pack wouldn’t survive without an Alpha, and since I have no heir, it would fall to him by default as the Beta unless another stepped forward to take it over.

“Well,” he says, pondering for a moment, choosing his words wisely before responding, “I had never really thought of it, but I would be honored to take over the title of Alpha from you.”

“Then it’s decided.” I say, nodding to him in confirmation, “when I get Tiffany, you will take over as acting Alpha until your ceremony can be planned.” I take another quick sip before passing the bottle over to Eli.

“What will you do?” Eli asks me in between sips of whisky, “after you step down from the pack. Will you stay here?”

“No,” I retort, grabbing the outstretched bottle between us, “I think it would complicate things. It might confuse the other members of who are in charge of the pack and its business. They won’t be able to resist looking at me to lead, and neither will you. My Alpha b***d will always call out to the wolves in our territory, even if they know better. It’s unavoidable. It’s better for you and the pack for me to be out of the picture when you take over.”

“I know,” he agrees, “but it will feel empty without you. The pack won’t feel the same without your presence.” A subtle way of hinting that he didn’t want to watch me go too far.

“We won’t be far,” I remind him, knowing the second I get Tiffany back, I will be running with her as far as I can without regret. Once my family learns of the whole situation, they’ll understand.

“Where will you go?” he asks curiously. It’s rare for an Alpha to step away from his duties unless he loses a mate, dies, or it’s time for him to step down for their heir.

“I haven’t picked a perfect place yet,” I explain, sharing the fantasy that has helped me survive in the darkest of times the last few months. “I am going to get us a nice little farmhouse,” my face lighting up with a smile I would have given in the old days, “a place where we can have a quiet, simple life. A nice cabin out in the woods would be a dream come true. With pups running around, their artwork filling my walls, and the laughter in the empty rooms.”

With the last of my explanation out my mouth, I replace where the words once lived with a long gulp of the whiskey, before handing the bottle to Eli. Neither of say anything for a few minutes as we stand next one another looking outside the broken window as the dawn slowly brightens the morning sky.

“We will get her back. In two days we will have your mate back safe and sound,” Eli informs me confidently, and self-assured as he looks out over the territory that will soon be his. “Consider it my last promise to you as your Beta.”

“Thank you, Eli,” I say, giving him a smile for the first time in days, “I am lucky to have had such a faithful Beta by my side. Make sure when Tiffany and I are gone you’ll go after the bastard and his men. Make sure they’re tortured well before you finally grant them mercy.”

“You have my word,” Eli responds, proudly taking a drink before passing the bottle back to me but it slips between my fingers smashing to the floor when a voice that shouldn’t be there comes from behind me. Our necks practically snapping with the force our heads us to whip around and look behind us. .

“What the hell are you doing here?” I say at same Eli says, “How the hell did you get past our patrol?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. I don’t have much time to waste, and we need to talk,” the intruder says as they walk further into the house taking in the amount of damage Thor and I have done to the once beautiful home. Then the unwelcome guest gaze takes in my appearance, a gasp escaping their lips as they take in my unpleasant appearance. I haven’t eaten in days, leaving my body look gaunt and my skin sickly pale. Large purple bags sit underneath my eyes, my hair no longer holding its same usual luster, and I probably smell like a dumpster on fire. Even my Alpha aura has become significantly weaker over the last few days.

“Fine,” I say through clenched by teeth as my fists form into a fist my nails digging into the skin on my palm, b***d pooling in my hands, as I nod for the interloper to come further into what’s left of my house.