Bow Down To Me, I'm The Next Alpha!

The moment Selena stepped into our lives, I knew something was different. What Fiona kept being replayed in my mind. That woman was definitely charming. Her warm smile enchanted everyone, including my father. But it didn’t work with me because I could feel that there was something off from her that I found it hard to explain.

For my pack’s sake, I tried to ignore it even though I knew it would be bad. We werewolves had to stay true to ourselves.

Unfortunately, my position as the next Alpha made it complicated. After all, I had to show to the whole pack as well as the other pack that I wasn’t something that couldn’t be controlled at all. Hence, I had to brush Fiona aside even though I felt heavy in my heart. Thus, I tried to dismiss the terrible feeling my gut had been telling me.

‘It seems I’m upset because of Mother’s death. It’s still too early. It has to be that,’ I told myself, trying to convince myself.

Nevertheless, the uneasiness I had the moment I met Selena became stronger as the days passed. Somehow, I always had a feeling that she disliked me. It was indeed true, but that woman was slick. My soon-to-be stepmother never disrespected me openly, especially when she was with Father.

But there would be times when the Alpha wasn’t looking. Selena would make sure to take advantage of those times. That woman would slyly smile towards me and she looked at me dismissively as if she was belittling me.

Not only Father, the whole pack was enamored by Selena. In their eyes, that woman was befitting of the status of Mother used to have. The woman, who seemed to be 5-8 years older than me, was gracious and charming. However, I could still see something from her facade. It was there, but I couldn’t tell anyone. It pained me, but I didn’t know someone whom I could talk to.

It seemed that Selena sensed my uneasiness. That woman started to find ways to make me lose confidence in myself. It all started with very small things.

When I just finished the meeting with Beta Albert, Selena said out of nowhere, “Oh, Lady Sylvia, you must’ve forgotten to attend the training session today, aren’t you?”

I was left perplexed, which caused me to respond in a rather defensive tone, “There’s no training session, Lady Selena. You must’ve made a mistake. I already checked my schedule and I don’t need to be told of it.”

Father, who was standing beside Selena, narrowed his eyes as he talked to me, “Careful, Sylvia. Selena is the future Luna. I hope you’ll treat her with more respect.”

The moment the Alpha said that, I was shocked. My response was just nodding my head as I quickly excused myself. It became clear that my father fell hard for her to the point that he would even brush me off just like that.

Although it had been a while since I met Father, that was the response he gave to his own daughter. Everything he talked about was Selena. As if both Mother and I never crossed his mind. Nevertheless, it hurt me. Both Father and I used to be very close, but we became more and more distant as soon as Selena entered the picture.

Whenever I tried to talk to Father, Selena would always be by his side. They would talk about everything. I couldn’t help but feel jealous. Still, I knew that I had to stand dignified as I was the heiress of the Golden Fang Pack. Thus, I just closed my eyes and let them do whatever they wanted.

I would be lying if I said it didn’t affect me. Her influence on Father was growing stronger. The Alpha, whom I looked up, became more of a stranger to me. We only met during the training and the meeting with Selena attending those sessions.

The woman would comment about any mistake that I made. Clearly, she tried to make Father doubt his own decision to name me as his heiress.

One day, I heard her talking to me as I was about to report my progress to Father at his study room after I went on an exploration mission, “Alpha, there’s something I want to tell you.”

“Go on, Selena,” Father said.

“Don’t you think Sylvia is too young to lead the pack one day? I noticed that she made lots of mistakes here and there. We need someone who is focused to lead the Golden Fang Pack,” Selena said in her usual sweet tone, trying to sway my father.

What my soon-to-be stepmother said really angered me.

‘How dare she talk about you like that!’ Fiona angrily shouted inside my mind, agreeing to my feelings.

I couldn’t help but clench my fist while I forced myself to stay as quietly as possible. While I wished to enter the study room to remind Father that I had been preparing to take his position since I was born, I knew that was exactly what Selena wanted. The Alpha would see that as a sign of immaturity and impulsiveness. It was something that would be used by Selena to diminish me even more.

For a while, there was silence from Father.

‘Did Father believe her?’ I asked myself as I waited for my father’s answer.

Eventually, the Alpha responded calmly, “Sylvia has been preparing this for her whole life. She’s born for this, Selena. My daughter is more than capable.”

After that, I could hear Selena’s fake sighing as she spoke her mind in a concerned tone, “I know that, obviously. It’s just that … I’m worried about her. She has gone through so much in her life. Not only that, she even lost her own mother at such a young age. It must’ve been tiring for her. I just want what's best for our pack.”

“No need to worry about Sylvia. I … believed her,” Father replied.

I did notice that Father’s answer was uncertain. Realizing that my own father started to doubt me made me feel very small. Without further ado, I quickly slipped away as I didn’t want to hear more of their conversation.

As I went back to my room, my heart was filled with anger and fear. Father eventually took the bait that Selena had carefully prepared. It broke my heart, hurting me deeply. That woman was diligent when it came to turning my own pack to go against me.

Again, the woman did it very cunningly to the point where people didn’t even realize it. My soon-to-be stepmother would make sure I knew that I didn’t deserve to be the heiress before the people without them knowing about it.

“I can see how strong Lady Sylvia is. I wish she could learn more about how dedicated you warriors are,” she said to our pack warriors after she visited my training session with them.

The warriors just nodded in agreement as they thought it was nothing but a mere statement. However, it was far from that. It was her trying to belittle me, which made me even more upset.

For weeks, I managed to show her that everyone treated me with respect. While she complimented, I knew that she was upset that everyone adored me. It became our silent battle.

Then, I heard some unsavory rumors about me. Initially, I didn’t believe the rumors. After all, I was confident that no one would believe that. Oh, how wrong I was.

Slowly but surely, the whispers became very strong. Every time I walked towards a group of my pack members, they would stop talking as they avoided my presence as if I were a plague. Not to mention, their gazes were different. There weren’t any friendly gazes they used to look at me with. Instead, they looked at me in disgust. It was when I knew that I had found out what caused them to be like this.

So, I asked my maid, Asha, “Asha, what happened? Why is everyone acting so strangely around me? Did I do something wrong?”

My maid looked at me unsurely as if she didn’t want to tell me. But I kept pestering me until she gave up. She then held my hands tightly as if she wanted to comfort me.

“I’m sorry, My Lady. It’s just … There are rumors. People have been saying terrible things about you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to calm down even though I felt hurt.

“Rumors said that Lady Selena saw you with someone. She thought that you … you might not chaste anymore. People seem to believe it wherever I go. They say that you’ve been with someone,” she replied weakly.

As soon as Asha said that, the words hit me like tons of bricks fell on top of me.

“That’s a lie!” I angrily shouted in a shaky voice as I couldn’t believe this.

“Who would say something like that?” I asked her.

The maid just answered quietly, “We have no idea, My Lady. But the rumors are spreading fast. People are starting to talk about it. They wonder if you’re fit to lead us because-”

Before Asha could finish her reply, I already walked away. I knew who did this. Obviously, it was Selena. That woman was truly shameless!

She even dared to dirty her sleeves by making terrible rumors about me. The only thing I could think of was that she was trying to make the whole pack, including Father, to remove me from the heir position.

As the days passed, I felt even more overwhelmed. People began avoiding me. Whenever I passed, my pack members would murmur and look at me in disgust. It really broke my confidence. Although I pretended to look strong, I would spend my nights crying my heart out. If only I had someone to talk to, but who wanted to talk to me?

Father would usually become my solace. Not this time, unfortunately. After all, the Alpha was already under Selena’s spell. Not to mention, my father seemed to be very protective of Selena. I was afraid that if I told him about Selena, it would make us even more distant. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him too. Thus, I kept my silence.

However, something also grew inside me in that silence. It was my fiery determination. I had made up my mind by making sure that I would never let Selena take everything for me.

From then on, I would make sure to find a way to let everyone know who she really was in order to protect the pack from her. Although I had no idea how to do it, I knew I had to do it because I knew that I would lose everything if I kept quiet.

‘Just wait, Selena. I’ll make sure everyone knows who you really are,’ I told myself.