Chapter 3 Alpha Orion's Dominance

The first day of my "real" education began the morning after Flint beat me up in front of everyone. I had no idea what becoming a werewolf entailed, but I hadn't anticipated that the process would begin with a geography course.

Ivy is serious, too.

There are now five territories in our nation. Ivy spread out a thick book in front of me, pushed a map across two pages, and flattened it with her hand on the binding. Different werewolf packs own, govern, and manage each region.

Her other hand's finger tapped the landlocked territory, etched in a thicker border of black ink. "Your father is Alpha Orion over the Central territory, with controlled alliances between the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western territories

As she spoke, she silently tapped her finger across each highlighted area. My father's territory was surrounded by all four directional territories, and the word "White Moon" was put over the map's center.

"My father is in charge of everything?" I scowled as I examined the map. "Like... a... king?"

There are no kings among werewolves. Her eyes gleamed behind her lenses and her lips twitched at the edges.

"So why do you call me Princess?" I questioned her humor as my eyes widened.

I don't know, she said, her smile fading into a tight line and her voice returning to the authoritative teacher role. You don't have much history in this library.

"What?" I followed the dusty, dimly lighted row of bookcases behind her with my eyes. They led to the restricted area's dank, gloomy corner where Ivy had retrieved all of our reading material. "I have things on me in here?"

She let out a snort while pushing her spectacles up her nose. It's in your family history books, of course. Every bundle has a book, however your family's is a little lacking.

My eyebrows moved. The question is, "What do they say?"

Gorgeous, clever, but lonely girl trapped in seclusion?

I've had too much of the fairy tale Kool Aid.

The princess delusion was difficult to let go of, harder than the mafia conspiracy notion, in my defense, as feeble as my ability to punch Flint's arrogant face.

But it's just as embarrassing.

The answer is, "Not much." Her eyebrows wrinkled in a scowl as she shifted in her seat and appeared to be carrying weighted knowledge. She moistened the edges of her parted lips with the tongue tip. "You survived, but your mother and brother perished in childbirth."

My gaze dropped to my hands, which I spread out on my thighs beneath the table and unclasped in my lap.

Survived.

Although the word caused the corners of my mouth to curl downward, it accurately represented my life. I was a physical being who occupied space and turned oxygen into carbon dioxide. I had not lived at all, and I had never accomplished anything noteworthy.

perhaps not yet?

I kept hearing my father's words, "Everything will change," in my head. I was unable to give the concept any thought, though.

"So, let's get back to this." My attention was diverted by her geography lesson about the "direct track to Snoozeville" as she tapped her index finger on the map. "Each region is ruled by a different pack, but your father does indeed command those packs. Everything and everyone are under his control.

Not surprising at all.

As her words "he controls everything" trickled through my ears and sank into my brain, resentment erupted in my stomach. I hoped that other girls in this country wouldn't have their bodies treated in a similar way to how I enjoyed getting pleasure injections.

I won't even begin to discuss the werewolf aspect. I'm still trying to process that mind fuck.

So far, the sole benefit of the werewolf has been the rapid disappearance of my injection bruises. In the past, they had disappeared after a few days, but I wasn't about to start singing and dancing to entice fur to grow out of my skin.

My eyes followed the contours of my father's domain. It appeared to be the most difficult to defend given that it was encircled on all sides.

"How does he manage that?" The country appeared to be a very large area, spanning from sea to sea and containing plains, mountains, and marshes.

She asked, "How can my father control everyone?"

She said in a monotone, as though everyone knew that he controlled the alphas. In Ivy's defence, I had no idea because I had assumed it was.

"Alphas..." I echoed gradually. I was aware that Alpha was the initial letter because my father made me learn the Greek alphabet. However, I was unaware of its significance in this situation.

The dominant male of each pack. The dominant masculine figure is an alpha. Tertiary leaders include betas and gammas. The Central territory is home to your father's pack, but he also has warriors guarding his... interests. Ivy's words followed the line that her finger had taken around the map. "Within every one of the others."

"Warriors?" My eyes grew wider.

Currently, this sounds like an army.

"You are more familiar with them as security personnel." She gave one of the security personnel stationed at the library's front door a nod.

We were seated at a long table and looked through dozens of the oldest and stenchiest books that Ivy had pulled as we were surrounded by old, musty books. Some of their pages appeared to crumble upon touch because they were so delicate, but she handled them with such care; they were in better hands than mine.

I didn't stay in the library for very long. The books I found interesting have nothing to do with this topic, such as romantic novels. or a different perception of reality.

But warriors...

I fixed my attention on the security guard working my detail at the library's entrance. As I observed his strong arms encircling his tall, athletic form, my heart began to beat quicker. He moved while I was looking at him, but he said nothing.

From across the library, he appeared to be an ordinary person wearing only black and carrying a holstered Glock-19 on his hip.

How could I miss that?

I closed my eyes since I was aware of the response.

since I didn't examine closely enough.

"What do my father's 'interests' consist of?" I wondered if they had anything to do with his pharmaceutical company as I repeated Ivy's statement.

"Whatever he decides is the best course of action for his pack. It is known as the White Moon. She tapped the map's center with her index finger to emphasize its significance before bringing her hand back to her lap.

My brows furrowed as I said, "Wait - " My dad is the Alpha, right?

"Yes. a member of the White Moon pack. She began to speak in a patronizing manner, as if she were explaining something to a five-year-old. I definitely had the impression of a five-year-old learning everything for the first time. There is a structure of command and respect inside each pack. Each is headed by a male Alpha, followed by a Beta and a Gamma. Lunas are the Alpha's partners.

There is still more alphabet.

What is the Luna used for? I stepped in.

She is the pack matriarch, Ivy said after sliding her glasses up her nose and looking at me. She supports the Alpha in particular, handling any duties he requires and mating to maintain the lineages.

As she spoke, my heart fell.

An earth mother?

The situation sounded worse than being put to death. I had a pistol and an identity other than being a wife and egg factory at least in the makeshift drug cartel.

"How does the Alpha get picked?"

"Either by birth order within a family, the eldest son has first priority, or...other means." Ivy turned her head aside and focused on the door to the library.

Other means, such as a vote? The phrase "werewolf democracy" sounded good.

One pack overpowering another while slaying any resistance.

Oh.

The thin hairs on the back of my neck stood up at Ivy's words as she spoke in her low, quiet voice. It dawned on her that my father's home was devoid of women and that the guards were referred to as warriors.

He would employ various tactics to keep control of his... "interests," such as having more warriors than other packs.

I braced my elbows against the table while arching my back and cupping my hands in front of me. The selection process for the Betas and Gammas.

I said, "By the Alpha."

Sounds reasonable.

The Luna, too?

The mate bond is used to choose the Luna. I was looking at her while she grinned at the significance of this place.

"And so that is?" I couldn't recall the last time I felt this clueless about a certain subject.

"A biologically necessary matching of two mates. Our resemblance to marriage, the strongest tie. Beyond simply being committed, their souls are linked. Once they are paired, partners make every effort to protect one another. They have such a strong emotional and physical bond that if one suffers, the other will too.

"And?" I leaned in while raising my brows.

I'm not sure if I want the response. The situation is growing worse.

"If one dies, his mate usually dies, too."

Yeah, it got worse.

My lungs whooshed out the entire contents of my lungs at once. I fell back in my seat feeling empty.

Yeah, it got worse.

I questioned, "How are mates chosen?" while cupping my forehead in one palm.

By the goddess of the moon. I cupped my hands about my head.

Which was worse-the onslaught of strange information or my annoyance at my inexperience for not being able to take in what Ivy was throwing at me?

My brows furrowed in unison. The question "And who is she?"

She is the goddess who chooses partners. She communicates with significant werewolves, directing and shaping their future. All the colors of her children, including black, white, gold, and silver, are pure.

I felt a rolling sensation, similar to a dull cramping sensation pulling deeply inside my gut, at Ivy's comments. Along with the mild ache, I felt queasy and my throat started to feel dry.

"Ivy..." My forehead throbbed against my fingertips as I pressed them to it. I reasoned that the headache was likely the result of processing too much new, strange information and trying to figure out how it linked to me in any way.

"I'm..." I fluttered my eyes up and shut till I could see clearly as Ivy doubled. Feeling under the weather. Can we continue later?

"Sure," you say. She put the book down when we peeked inside, and she gave the security guard a nod.

My chair was pulled back as I bent over in anguish after it dug into my stomach. A quick blush in my pants caused me to get up. My stomach started to strain painfully, and I palmed the table in response.

"Are you alright?" Ivy closed the final books on the table, her eyes widening as she did so.

I'm all right. My stomach felt as though it had been booted by a foot wearing cleats as another wave of anguish hit me. I clamped my eyes shut in response.

"Nova..." Her fingers began to reach out to me as my eyes began to awaken.

"I'm good!" I waved her off after opening my eyes.

Ivy had given off the impression that she was a good person, but I felt like I had to handle this on my own. I exhaled deeply on trembling legs, and my chest heaved as I stood up.

I said, "Don't follow me." The security guard came closer, his palms extended as if I were a mound of eggshells, and I scowled at him. I turned on my heel and left the library after pushing my chair closer to the table.

As quickly as they could, my feet moved down the corridor to my bedroom. With each time I set my heels on the floor, the pain progressed from a dull dragging sensation to scorching, intense stabbing.

By the time I clung to my bedroom doorway and had another warm flush in my pants, the pain had intensified to a scorching level. My legs' flesh between them was damp. I quickly entered the loo and removed my trousers with shaking hands.

My mouth dropped when I saw how my pants and knickers were covered entirely with blood.

I entered the shower, got out of my clothes, and cleaned the blood off my legs and garments since I didn't know what else to do. Rivers of reddish liquid dribbled down the bathtub's edges and circled the drain before diminishing and dissipating.

Pain flooded over me in waves that never stopped, so I knelt down and gripped my stomach with my elbows. I had to sit down, cross my arms over my knees, and hold my knees close to my chest before my back stopped sliding down the shower's cold tiles. I remained there, unthinking and still, breathing through the agony until the water turned cold.

The metal hooks along the bar screeched when the shower curtain retracted. As water trickled over my body, I jerked out of the foetal position, my eyes rising.

My chin, lips, and cheeks all trembled violently as they vibrated up into my face. My skin was covered in goosebumps as I tucked my elbows into my tummy to enclose the source of the excruciating pain that was stabbing into my abdomen repeatedly.

"I believe that is sufficient." Over my shoulder, Kira turned off the water.

Her hazy silhouette caught my clouded eyes as anguish numbed my other senses. The knife-like stabs into my pelvic muscles numbed my focus.

If I have to experience this again, I will gladly let Flint knock me down a hundred times.

"This will help. Here." She gave me four large, white pills and a glass of water.

I looked at them clasped in her palm because any sense of trust we had built up was gone.

Her tone became almost gentle as she spoke. My pelvic muscles coiling and feeling ripped open lessened my suspicions. "Pain medications, although you might feel a little sleepy. Food and rest will be helpful.

"Thuh-thanks..."

I took one bite to fully ingest the pills. She pulled me up to a standing position and placed a towel around me. My wet, blood-stained trousers caught her attention, but she didn't change her expression-it was stoic and unreadable.

"Rest." She carried me over to my bed, where the softness underneath me showed that I had been put down.

My body was exhausted from fighting the discomfort, leaving me with a foggy mind, tight muscles, and drained energy. She inserted a needle into my arm, but I was so weak that my eyes were closed and my mind failed to notice the stinging squeeze.

This is what?

My mind questioned whether this was my menstruation as pain forced me to open my eyes and choke out my voice. While I was aware that periods involve a lot of bleeding and discomfort, this felt more like hemorrhaging while someone booted me in the stomach with a pair of spiky heels.

Have I changed?

My eyelids drew closer together as they grew swollen and heavy. Before sleep robbed me of any answers to my questions, my eyelids flickered.