Farewell, My Alpha Brother

“Daddy, I want blood oranges!” I yelled, tugging on my dad’s pants.

“Shelly! Don’t be a brat.” My mom was quick to scold me, but I rolled my eyes. There was a reason I asked my dad, not her. She was such a killjoy sometimes.

“It is alright, hun. She is the birthday girl.” My dad’s chuckle reached my ears, and I smiled. He lowered himself until he was at eye level, and he held my hands. “Shelly, you know we don’t have any of the trees nearby. You still have a birthday to attend, and there will be cake. I can also get normal oranges for you if you wish.”

“No!” I whined, refusing to hear anything. It was my birthday, and it was only right that I get what I want.

“Alright, your mom and I would go get some for you after your party.”

“Yay!” I clapped in excitement, already knowing that I had my dad wrapped around my fingers. “I want to come with.” I whined, looking at him with those puppy eyes that I know he can’t resist.

“You know we can’t go, baby; there are rumors of a rogue pack camping around there, and it could be dangerous.” My mom interrupted us, prying my hands from his pants.

“I am the alpha; no one can mess with me.” My dad bragged, puffing his chest out, and my mom managed to smile. “It could be a family picnic; what do you think?”

I know my mom was already sold by the family picnic, and she reluctantly shrugged her shoulders in agreement.

***

“Are you happy?” My dad asked me as we sat under the blood orange tree, but I was too engrossed in my feast to reply. The juices stained my lips as I drank, and I could only nod my head to show my excitement.

“She is such a pig.” I heard my elder brother Samuel grumble under his breath, but I pretended like I didn’t hear him. I wasn’t going to allow him to ruin such a happy moment.

“See, I told you nothing was going to happen.” My dad told my mom, but she just ignored him.

We were still eating happily and chatting when our ears pricked as we heard what was a growl, and immediately our laughter ceased.

“What the hell is that?” My brother was the first person to jump on his feet, and he stared in the direction of the growl and everyone jumped to their feet, my dad pushing me behind him.

“I want you to grab your sister and run, in case of anything.” My dad was telling my brother, but tears were already brimming out of my eyes.

“No, I don’t want to leave you.” I protested, but my brother had a tight grip on my hand, and I knew he would never let me have my way.

We heard them before we saw them, and they slowly emerged from the shadows. Six ferocious rogues close in on us, their canines long and extended and dripping with saliva as they anticipated their meal.

“Samuel run!” My dad yelled, and at the same time, the wolf pounced on us. But my brother was already dragging me away, and we ran through the forest, the tears streaming down my eyes uncontrollably.

A wolf was quickly gaining on us, and he jumped, getting ready to pounce, but my brother leaped forward, positioning himself between us.

And I opened my mouth and screamed. Then everything went black, and I crashed on the floor.

I could almost taste the heaviness in the air as I woke up. The sorrow hung in the air, refusing to leave, and I needed no more to tell me what had just happened.

“You kill them.” My brother’s voice was barely above a whisper, and I couldn’t say anything. He was right. “Your selfishness and greed had finally killed our parents. I hope you are happy now that they are dead, but don’t ever think of crossing my path again. You are dead to me.”

His words shattered me, leaving me in broken pieces, but I watched him go, unable to say anything.

And for the remaining year I lived there, I had learned to avoid him and everybody until I had become a ghost.

I wasn’t even allowed to attend my brother’s coronation.

For years, I was an outcast, and this continued until it was my eighteenth birthday, and it was time to shift. I sat there alone in the cold forest ground, waiting for the shift to happen. But when the morning came, it was clear that something was wrong with me.

That was the first time my brother came to my room after a long time. “I have received news that you didn’t shift yesterday, and it is very obvious that you are cursed, and I can’t allow such in my pack anymore.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?” I sat up on the bed, unable to believe my ears.

“You are banished!” He spat out, his words dripping in venom, and he stormed out of my room, but I heard his last whisper. “I hope you die.”

Before I could process his words, two warriors burst inside my room, and they bundled me out of the pack amidst the sneering of everyone.

**

My stomach growled in protest, and I rubbed my belly, walking further into the forest in search of food, when I lost my footstep and fell down, blacking out.

I woke up in an unfamiliar place, the stench of antiseptic and blood so strong that it almost had me gagging.

“I see you are awake.” The man said, his eyes filled with compassion as he looked at me. “I am sorry, but I have bad news.”

I didn’t even react when he talked, when he told me I was terminally ill and would likely die. I have been living without a wolf for so long that it was bound to happen.

I think my brother was right; maybe I was truly cursed.

**

I stood in front of the packhouse I once grew up in. Samuel had worked tirelessly for the pack, and he had refurbished the pack, and even now I could hear the loud music blasting from the common room in honor of his birthday.

I entered inside and waited in front of his room, clutching the papers in my hand. The sound of laughter echoed through the hallway, and Samuel appeared together with my cousin, their laughter ceasing as they saw me.

“You win.”

“Shelly?” My brother’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he rubbed his eyes to see clearly.

“You win. I am going to die.”