The One He Claimed

The One 122

The One He Betrayed Chapter 5: New Alpha

Sophie

“May I have your attention, please?” Amelia asks, her tone quiet, but firm. The room responds immediately.

“We have all been through a massive ordeal, one that is trying and heart–breaking. But these are the times when we, as a pack and as a family, pull together to become stronger, strengthening our bonds to our pack and each other. I know you are all feeling the loss of my parents. Our parents,” she says, turning to smile at me, “but I don’t want you to feel that you are alone. I have decided that, as the oldest child of Alpha Carter and Luna Amy, I will take my place as your Alpha.‘

Instantly the room begins murmuring and chatter begins among the pack. Behind me, I hear Calvin suck in a breath. I glance at him as Amelia raises a hand for quiet.

“I know that it’s unorthodox for a woman to be Alpha, but as my father did not have a male heir, and this pack needs a leader, I am willing to take over the role.”

“For how long?” someone in the room asks.

“That I don’t know, but I’m willing to remain in this position until such time as I have a son who can take over the role of Alpha.”

“Amelia…” Calvin says. He steps up on her other side, taking her `arm. “Amelia, stop this. We need to talk about this.”

“No, Alpha Calvin, we don’t,” she says, turning back to the pack.

The One He Betrayed Chapter 5: New Alpha

“Will you support me, as your Alpha?” she asks the room.

I see the pack’s uncertainty. Amelia is already a Luna of another pack. This isn’t just unprecedented because she’s a woman, she’s also a leader of another pack.

“I support my sister as Alpha of this pack,” I say, my voice ringing out loudly.

“I support Alpha Amelia as–leader of this pack,” Beta Matthews says, standing his mate right beside him.

“Damn straight I support her! It’s about time a woman became Alpha,” Nikki says, standing up, a smiling Robin standing beside her.

“I support Alpha Amelia,” he says, wrapping an arm around his mate.

Hunter smiles at me as he stands. “I support Alpha Amelia as leader of this pack.”

The other Alphas and Lunas all stand and give Amelia their backing as does the rest of the pack.

When the entire room is on its feet, Amelia addresses them again. “Thank you all for your support. I know the Alphas and Lunas here must return to their packs today. But I would ask that you stay just a bit longer while I am formerly inducted as the Alpha of this pack,” she says to them.

We all agree and as Calvin pulls Amelia aside, Hunter comes up to me, making sure that I’m okay and that I know that he’s here for me. I hug him tightly, feeling even more sorrow for my sister who doesn’t have this with her mate. My sister is so much

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The One He Betrayed Chapter 5: New Alpha

stronger than most people give her credit for, mistaking her kindness for weakness.

When the stage is set, I stand beside Beta Matthew, watching as Amelia makes her way to the stage. I notice that her hands are holding her stomach as she walks, and I wonder if the baby is moving around a lot.

When she arrives on the stage, Beta Matthews holds the cup, as I lead the ceremony and give Amelia the words to say. As Alphas, we both know them, but it’s tradition for someone to have the new Alpha repeat the words in front of the pack. Usually, it’s the outgoing Alpha having their son repeat the words, but today, it’s me and Amelia. My sister’s words ring out strong and true and there is no hesitation in her. She has made her decision.

Beta Matthews slices her palm and lets her blood drip into the cup. I suddenly realize that her connection to her mate will snap when the first person drinks her blood and accepts her as their Alpha. They will still have the mate bond, but he will no longer be her Alpha.

I panic, looking over at Hunter. Amelia can’t show any weakness up here on stage.

‘She rejected him before she came out. That’s why she was a little unsteady on her feet,‘ he says to me in the mind link.

I look back at my sister, even more impressed with her now, knowing what she just went through.

It was better than having her react on the stage in front of everyone,‘ Hunter says, confirming my thought. But it still doesn‘ t mean that my sister isn’t suffering and no one, not even me,

The One He Betrayed Chapter 5: New Alpha

realized it.

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I stand beside her, silently giving her my strength, as the pack comes forward, accepting her as their Alpha. As each person accepts her, I feel her strength increasing and when the last person drinks, you’d never know that she just rejected her Alpha a couple of hours ago.

“My pack,” she says, addressing the group. “This is no time for celebration, unfortunately. We are all still grieving, and we must protect our borders from another attack. I will be working with Beta Matthews to look over our patrols and I will be asking Beta Caroline to begin running safe room drills at once. We need to be safe and you, my pack, are my first priority.”

I look around, but Calvin is nowhere to be seen. I wonder how

he’s handling all of this. Part of me wants to feel sorry for him, but the other part feels like he brought this on himself. His selfishness and greed have lost him his mate, possibly forever.

When she walks off the stage, Amelia thanks all of the Alphas and Lunas who came to support us during our grief, thanking everyone again for being here and supporting her.

When it’s time for us to go, I hug my sister tightly. “If you need anything, you let me know,” I tell her.

“I’ll be needing a new alliance between our packs,” she says to me, then looks at Hunter.

“And you’ll have it. Let me know when you’re settled and we’ll talk,” he says.

“We’ll also be including you in our Alpha meetings now, Alpha Amelia,” Dutton says.

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The One He Betrayed Chapter 8. New Alpha

“Of course, please include me on any meetings or alliance discussions and I will be there,” she says. I can tell that everything is starting to weigh on my sister. She’s still dealing with her grief, she’s pregnant, she rejected her mate as her Alpha, she took her oath as an Alpha and has taken on the responsibility of being the leader of this pack, a job she never wanted. I pull her into another hug.

“You can do this. You are stronger than you know,” I whisper to her. She nods, squeezing me tightly before letting me go and stepping back.

“I’ll call soon,” I tell her, and she nods again, waving goodbye to us and the others as we drive away.

“Will she be okay?” I ask Hunter. Ezra and Luna June are in the

backseat, returning to the pack with us.

“She has a long road ahead of her,” Hunter says. “But we’ll support her in any way we can, Soph.”

“Where was Alpha Calvin? I didn’t see him after the ceremony started,” I say.

“He left. After she rejected him as her Alpha, he left, unwilling to watch her take her oath as Alpha of another pack,” Ezra says.

“But he’s the one who suggested it!” I say, shocked.

“He obviously hadn’t considered the ramifications of his greed. It’s not uncommon for Alphas to want something and to not think it through before pushing ahead,” Luna June says softly.

“Not all Alphas are like that,” Ezra says to her.

The One He Betrayed Chapter 5: New Alpha

“No, but Alpha Calvin just got an ugly lesson on the negative side of greed. I just hope that he isn’t a vindictive man,” she

says.

I see Ezra and Hunter press their lips together tightly.

“Why? What would he do?” I ask.

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Hunter reaches out and takes my hand. “She didn’t reject him as her mate, Soph, only as her Alpha”

“And?” I ask.

“If he decides he wants to make her suffer for rejecting him, he could cheat on the mate bond, weakening her and possibly making her lose her pup,” Luna June says to me, sadness in her

eyes.

“Would he do that?” I ask Hunter, quietly, sickened at the thought of my sister having to suffer more than she is.

“Calvin’s…an unknown. He’s been leaning toward our side of making change, but he obviously still has some old–school ideas about what and how things should happen. He could go either way, Soph. He could accept his own part in this, or he could blame Amelia and want to make her pay for what he would consider embarrassing him.”

“Either way, it will be hard for him to return home without his Luna. His pack will go into mourning, some may want to leave him. Just based on my interactions with your sister, I’m quessing that her pack adores her, nearly as much as your pack adores you. If that’s the case, they may blame Calvin for not being able to keep their Luna, and may turn against him,” Ezra

says.

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I sit back, thinking about the mountain that my sister has to climb.

“I wish there was more that I could do to help her,” I say softly.

Hunter pulls my hand to his lips. “Well do everything we can, Sophie.”

I nod, getting lost in my own thoughts the rest of the way home.

When we arrive, Ezra leaps out of the car. “I’m going to shower and then I want to go check on Margot. If you need me, I’ll be in the pack hospital.”

We walk inside, and introduce Luna June to everyone, making sure we have a room set up for her. Ezra has barely made it to the stairs to his room when we hear her.

“WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS THAT ALPHA ASSHOLE?”

Ezra stops, and turns back, a slow smile spreading across his face.

“There’s my sweet mate now.”