The Pack's Alpha (by Cooper) novel Chapter 54

Yorick

My first week back after being gone a week was hectic. Alpha Nevaeh was right that I’d missed a lot. I underestimated how much time it would take to catch up and try to keep up after missing only a week. However, my sweet mate helped me through.

Sparring is the only class where I feel like I didn’t fall behind. And now that Alpha Leo is gone, I feel like I’m really starting to learn better fighting techniques. I have a lot of fighting knowledge already and unlike some in this class, including my mate, I’ve fought in real battles. I know firsthand that what you learn in class comes in handy, but you can’t assume that everything will be as easy as it is in a controlled environment. People die on that battlefield. My sister Wendy was almost one of those casualties two years ago.

Having learned from two men who fought in a lot of wars, my father and Quirin, I feel like sparring is my best and easiest class.

On Wednesday morning, Alpha Nevaeh walks into the dining hall before sparring class and calls for quiet. Beside her is an older man, obviously an Alpha. He’s large, looks like he’s never smiled a day in his life, and he emits a dangerous aura, as if all he’s ever done his entire life is fight. Based on the multiple scars that I can see on his body, including the one that slices through his eyebrow making him look like he’s constantly frowning, I’d say my assessment is correct. He reminds me of an older Quirin if he’d never mated with my sister.

“Everyone, this is Alpha Michael. He is a new instructor here at the Academy. He will be taking an active part in sparring class and will be teaching the Art of War and Battle Tactics next semester. Alpha Michael has experience in multiple real-life battles and he will bring that experience to our Academy. We are very lucky to have him. He will be assessing your skills over the next couple of days and he, like me, will have a say in who becomes eligible for the elite fighting group at the end of the year. Many of you saw one of those teams when Alpha Leo was removed from the school. There are currently four such teams that work for the Council and as members retire, they need to be replaced. There are two positions that will become available this year. You are the elite. Alpha Michael and I will make you the elite of the elite.”

I look around the table. Unlike Wendy who has a penchant for technology, I’ve always been a fighter. In some ways, I’m glad that Connor is the first-born son. It’s left me open to follow a path that I wanted, not one that was laid out for me. Connor has the responsibility of the entire pack, not just mentally and physically, but also financially. His job is a lot more paperwork than I would ever want to do. Becoming an elite fighter, however, sounds incredible.

I can see that the others at our table, other than Cyra, look excited at this possibility as well. Cyra’s path is in her pack, and that thought makes me pause. If she is going to be Alpha of her pack, is there a possibility of me becoming an elite fighter? What happens when Cyra begins having our pups? Could we put that off for a few years while I was fighting? Would I be able to be away from her for long periods of time while I was completing a covert operation? And what would happen to her if something happened to me?

Almost as if she can sense my thoughts, she reaches out and takes my hand, squeezing it and smiling at me. I pull her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. My path lies with Cyra, no matter where that takes me.

On our way out to sparring class, everyone talks excitedly about the possibility of becoming an elite fighter.

“You need to go for that,” Cyra says quietly as we walk out.

“We need to talk about what that means for us,” I tell her.

She smiles but continues watching the others around us. “I know what it feels like to not be able to follow your dreams. I saw the look on your face, Yorick. You love the idea of being an elite fighter and you’d be good at it. Don’t hold back because of me.”

I stop and pull her to a stop with me. “As I said, we need to talk about what that means. We still have a lot of other things that need to happen between now and then, not the least of which is getting you out of the alliance bond with Stellan. I’ll do some research to find out what kind of operations the teams run and how long that would keep me away from you. But I have no intention of spending my life away from my mate. I want pups, I want a life. With you, in case that wasn’t obvious. Once you’ve been instated as the Alpha of your pack, we’ll see what options are open to me.”

“You’re not listening to me, Yorick ...” she begins.

“No, you aren’t listening to me, Cyra. I want you, more than anything else in this world. More than being a fighter, more than traveling around the world. Is my future following a different path than I thought it would with you? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want it.”

“I don’t want you to ever have any regrets or feel like you gave up your dreams for me, Yorick.”

“You are my dream, Cyra. You, our future, our pups, our life together,” I say, holding her gaze.

She presses her lips together in a firm line. “Let’s see what the elite teams look like. Maybe you can be part of one of those teams. Maybe they are divided into different skill sets or timeframes for operation completion.”

“See, it’s already working out,” I say smiling and leading her onto the sparring field.

“Before we start today, a show of hands, how many of you have been in an actual battle?” Alpha Michael asks.

I raise my hand as does Zach, Megan, which surprises me, and one other warrior.

“You four, with me,” he says. I kiss Cyra quickly before stepping aside with Zach and the others.

“Name?” he asks Zach.

“Zach Mont, Alpha.”

“Alpha Zane’s boy?” Alpha Michael asks.

“Yes sir.”

Alpha Michael turns to me. “Name?”

“Yorick Hill, Alpha.”

“Alpha Warren’s boy?” he asks. How the hell does he know our parents?

“That’s correct.”

He turns to Megan. “Name?”

“Megan Alston.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You’re Alpha Cory’s daughter?”

Megan lifts her chin defiantly. “I am.”

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