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

The rumors seemed to spread extremely fast. Within days, my reputation as the Alpha’s daughter seemed to be tarnished almost instantly. It felt like hell for me. Once I was respected and cheered by my pack members, but it wasn’t like that anymore. Everywhere I went, I could feel people look at me with disrespect. Murmurs would be heard again and again about my reputation being unchaste.

I could hear their whispers.

“I’ve heard that Lady Sylvia has been someone.”

“Can she really lead our pack?”

In the past, they would greet me with smiles. But they no longer did that. Instead, they looked at me with judgment. That was when I realized that I had become an outsider in my own home. Realizing that really hurt my heart.

Somehow, every day became a battle to show my strong resolve so that I wouldn’t break down. After all, it meant that Selena’s tricks would work. I could never let that happen!

‘Mother, I really miss you. If only you were here with me,’ I thought to myself.

Still, I needed someone to talk to. Only Fiona could console me. Even then, that wasn’t enough. I yearned to talk to my father, the Alpha. However, that woman really had Father in such a tight grasp. There was never a chance for me to meet him without her by his side.

Fortunately, the Heirs of Packs Great Meeting became another consolation for my own despair. That meeting was extremely important for our pack. As the name said, it was an event where the heirs of various packs would meet each other to discuss what we considered as our threats in the werewolves world as well as find more alliances to be forged. It was our turn to hold the event.

Moreover, it became a chance to show myself to the pack that I was indeed capable as Alpha Marcus’ daughter to be the next Alpha. I became determined to show to Selena and my pack members that I wasn’t someone like the rumors said. Thus, I had to make sure that the event would go perfectly as possible.

Hence, I would spend the rest of the day doing everything as perfectly as possible. For hours and hours, I would spend my time studying with my tutors to learn more about histories and customs of other packs, training with the pack warriors, attending more meetings with the pack council and the pack elders, and coordinating with the castle’s help to ensure the event would run smoothly.

Not only that, I was thinking of fighting off Selena’s rumors. I told the maids to spread how many hours I spent for the pack’s sake. As my confidante, she knew how badly the rumors affected me. She dutifully fought the rumors back by delivering my dishes to wherever I was to dismiss the rumors about me being unchaste. Soon, the rumors fell apart.

One day, a young male that I recognized, Atlas Boone, awkwardly came to me and greeted me, “Good morning, Lady Sylvia.”

I just looked at that young male as I greeted him with a thin smile and greeted him back, “Good morning, Atlas. It’s been a while since you greeted me. What’s wrong?”

More pack members then greeted me again after I made that remark as if they were embarrassed. Eventually, my pack members treated me again with respect. While it was satisfying to see how Selena failed to humiliate me, it also felt sad because I realized my pack members would eat any rumors spread by Selena. That made me become wary of everyone.

However, I knew that I had no time and energy for that. Another good thing that came by focusing my whole energy for the Heirs of Packs Great Meeting was the fact that I could ignore my sadness. While it was extremely exhausting, it managed to keep me off my dark thoughts. It was kind of liberating for me being able to ignore all those rumors due to my strict schedule.

Yet, I knew that I had to address this problem to my father. Since the Heirs of Packs Great Meeting came closer, I had more time to meet him more frequently. I realized that I had to use the chance to discuss Selena with my father. After all, the Alpha was the only one who could put an end to this. Whether I liked it or not, I had to try.

One evening, I got a chance to meet Father without Selena. Immediately, I took that chance. When I found the Alpha, he seemed to be studying some documents in his study.

The moment his steely gaze met mine, his gaze softened. It had been a while since Father smiled warmly just for me. But I knew that it wasn’t enough to ease the suffering I had in my heart. I decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with him through the mind-link because I felt that it would be much safer.

‘Father, I need to talk to you,’ I told him through the mind-link while I was trying to keep my voice as calmly as possible.

As soon as I mentioned him as Father, the Alpha set the papers aside and gestured for me to sit next to him. It was like a code between us if I wanted to talk to him about something personal and he had to respond as my father, not an Alpha. Seeing this made me glad that my father still cared about me.

My father’s tone became concerned as he asked me through the mind-link while he held my hands tightly, ‘What’s wrong, Sylvia? Are you okay?’

‘I want to talk about … Selena,’ I told my father through the mind-link as I looked at him.

The Alpha looked conflicted as he turned his head away. It was as if Father wanted to tell me that he didn’t want to have this conversation. When I saw it, it truly hurt me.

‘Father, you must know about the rumors that have been going around about me,’ I continued through the mind-link as I tried my best to keep my voice as calm as possible.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at it. My voice cracked when I finished the sentence. The moment Father noticed the crack in my voice, he looked at me again in disbelief.

‘There were rumors about me being unchaste,’ I continued to talk to Father through the mind-link.

Father narrowed his eyes as he gritted his teeth softly. Clearly, the man was upset. Yet, there were questions that remained in my heart.

‘What rumors? Who spread them? I’ll find them,’ he firmly told me through the mind-link as if he wanted to make sure everyone who did me wrong would be put to justice.

I quietly replied through the mind-link, ‘I talked to many of our maids. It seemed that the one who spread the rumors was Lady Selena.’

For a while, I waited for his response. Yet, the man remained quiet. I knew that he was in disbelief.

‘Do you realize that what you just said is a serious accusation to our future Luna, Sylvia?’ he asked me through the mind-link in a serious tone.

He argued back through the mind-link by saying, ‘Sylvia, Selena has done nothing but trying to immerse herself into the pack. She supported me and this pack wholeheartedly.’

Hearing Father’s response couldn’t help but hurt me further.

I shook my head in frustration as I kept talking through the mind-link, ‘No, Father, you don’t understand. You have no idea of what is happening. She’s not what she seems to be. That woman has manipulated you and our pack. She told the pack that I was unchaste. My reputation was almost crushed. That’s not a good thing.’

Again, my father kept quiet. His gaze became intense as he studied my face like he was searching for something. After what seemed to be an eternity, my father heaved a heavy sigh as he sat back on his chair.

‘Sylvia, I know that you … haven’t accepted Selena yet. Everything is definitely hard on you, especially since you’re losing your mother. But you must know that Selena is trying to help us. That’s the end of our discussion. I don’t want to hear more of it,’ Father said to me through the mind-link dismissively.

When my father said his final answer, that was when I realized that the distance between us was so great that he didn’t even want to listen to me. I could see it in his eyes and how distant his voice had heard in my ears. That almost broke me into tears, but I held on.

I had to admit that his answers felt like a knife stabbed to my heart. How could Father be so blinded by his love for Selena? How could he ignore what was happening right under his nose? Yet, I realized that there was no point in arguing further. If he didn’t believe me now, nothing I said would change his mind.

“I understand, Alpha. Good night,” I said politely, breaking my mind-link with the Alpha.

Father seemed to realize that I called him ‘Alpha’. As the man was about to hold me, I instinctively avoided his touch. Instead, I stood up silently as I walked out of his study without looking back.

The rest of the night went blurry on my mind. I never felt this lonely. Father, someone whom I looked up to, no longer trusted me. It was all because of Selena. My soon-to-be stepmother was winning, but I couldn’t do anything to stop her. The only thing I could do was keep going with Fiona. I really hoped that it would be enough.

I eventually decided to focus my entire time for the Heirs of Packs Great Meeting since it was almost around the corner. There were days where I wouldn’t even meet Father because of how busy I was. In fact, the pack elders and tutors remarked that I worked extremely hard.

Besides, I wanted to make my father realize that Selena wasn’t the good woman that she portrayed to be. I couldn’t let her win. In fact, I had to win. I had to!

‘I’ll win against you, Selena. I will win Father’s trust and everyone’s respect,’ I told myself, determined to beat Selena.

Finally, the day I had been waiting for arrived.