Landon

Cold. Detached. Angry.

These were not the typical adjectives used to describe me growing up. Not at all.

I was a happy boy, being raised in a small town in upstate Texas. I have very supportive parents and great friends. I'm not rich, but money was never an issue in our household.

I'm the oldest of three siblings and surprisingly - or not - I get along with both of them. I love my family, that's just the country boy in me.

My dad was a little tough on me growing up, but that's just because of the great set of expectations he had for my career.

I always understood that. I applied myself to follow in his footsteps, the same way he followed in his father's.

It's the way our family has been doing things for a hundred years. We are werewolves. This is our pack, The Regency Falls.

My name is Landon Barnett, I am 21 years old and recently had to drop out of college to return to my hometown.

My childhood was rather uneventful. I guess it was just like any other except for the fact that I shifted into a wolf once I turned 13 years old.

It's a right of passage for people like us. We are taught to expect it, how to go through it and most importantly that we are not alone. Kids my age from our pack went through the exact same thing and those who hadn't yet, most definitely will.

At high school, I was the star wrestler, captain of my team, and a fairly popular student. I mean, I wasn't ruling the school or anything like that, even though I am the son of the Alpha of our pack. But I had a good run, no complaints about it.

Honestly, I had a blast at school. I never had any trouble keeping my grades up, my friends kept me grounded and I dated the hottest boy of the entire class.

Life was so good that I never saw the tumble coming. Not from a mile away.

When I turned 18, I was expected to find my mate just like any other teenage werewolf and was amply expecting it to be Grayson, my very hot boyfriend. It wasn't.

My dad had told me I should expect it as much, that's why he never wanted me dating in the first place. I would only get my heart broken and be disappointed. Fair enough, I guess.

I went to school like any other day and waited for my eyes to shine just like the rest of my already mated peers. I had the benefit of being among one of the largest werewolf populations in the country and so all I had to do was walk the corridors and look for my mate.

Except he was nowhere to be found.

Not among the seniors, juniors, anywhere. My dad summoned all the freshmen and sophomore college students from our pack for my birthday party. He was not about to take any chances and anyone up to the age of 20 was fair game. That's my mating rage - we can only be mated to people up to two years older or younger than us.

Still nothing.

"It's fine." My dad said. "Your mate is probably 16 and therefore you can't discover him yet". We can only discover mates after they turn 17, at least. That's what we call 'the age of consent'.

"There's no rush for you to take over as Alpha, son. Go to college, you'll find your mate, graduate and then you can take my place." My dad told me, trying very hard not to show any signs of frustration or desperation at my lack of mating prospects.

I was very frustrated at my lack of mate. I even decided to take matters into my own hands and traveled to allied packs to see if my mate was in another town. No such luck.

I had to watch as every single one of my friends and classmates got mated back in high school. But the most painful thing of all, I had to watch Grayson be mated away from me right in front of my eyes. I was happy for him, don't get me wrong. But it hurt like hell.

After the first year of college, I returned to town expecting my mate to have aged into consent. I visited my old high school with the greatest of expectations, but still... The only shining eyes I got was from my brother telling me I was embarrassing him with my presence.

I tried very hard not to take it personally. Look at the bright side of things and whatnot. Like I said, I had a great childhood and high school experience, but this was hurting me more than anything else I could've ever expected.

I could deal with the loneliness, the lack of a partner. I could deal with the pity stares that followed me everywhere I went in town. And I do mean everywhere, not to mention my classmates who all expected me to make a great match.

But the crushing expectation from my parents was killing me. I had been groomed from birth to be the next Alpha of our pack. It was what's expected of me, the eldest child.

I've trained, I've exercised, I've learned. I did everything in my power to prepare myself for the role, as did my father to prepare me. What we could not anticipate is that the Moon Goddess would pull a fast one and preclude me from ascending.

There's only one rule for people to become Alpha of our pack. You can't do it alone. The pack needs a Luna. There are no single Alphas in this business. Not in our pack, not in any other pack I've ever heard of. At least, not in any of consequence.

So yeah, you can see my predicament here. Even though my parents never ceased to show their support, they knew that this was the only hurdle they couldn't get past. No one can. And even if they tried, the wolf council would never support an unmated Alpha. Maybe they could get behind an absent Luna, but not a non existent one.

The worst feeling in the world. That of being a failure for something totally out of my control. And worst of all: no one can relate to my problem. There isn't a support group for unmated werewolves. Not to say all werewolves are mated, but in my grade they all were. Sooner or later, except for me.

My friends did try to console me the best way they could and I appreciated their efforts to make me feel included, but nothing could ease my pain. I just graduated and left for college, hoping the human population at UT would placate my loneliness.

I also thought about having a human mate. That's not exactly unheard of in this day and age. Though my pack never had a human Luna, they could grow to accept them. But to the best of my knowledge, my mate is not in Austin either. And I partied hard all throughout the town. Hey, you only live once.

Though my loneliness may have been 'cured' by some human companionship, my heart can't be healed by anything other than my actual mate. It's what my wolf requires, what my soul yearns for.

But as the college years went by, there was still no sign of a mate anywhere. In fact, I was well through my junior year and still had no clue as to where my mate was and if I'd ever meet him.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse for me the unthinkable happened.

A long time ago, wolf packs used to fight each other off for dominance. Long before we worry about protecting ourselves from human attention and our secret way of life, packs raided each other to assert superiority and claim lives.

In one of those raids, when a rival pack tried to come for us, our warriors defended the territory fiercely. They deterred the incursion into our land and killed the entire raiding party.

We didn't ask to be invaded, but wolves take these things very seriously and we were not about to surrender our land and people to any enemy. On that occasion, the son of the Alpha of the Blood Moon pack died. He led the strike on us and was put down just like the others. We had no way of knowing this at the time and even if we did, the law is clear. Trespassers will be killed.

His father was enraged by this and started orchestrating other incursions on our territory. Over the decades, this feud was only growing worse and our pack started sending strike teams to finish them off.

Many lives were lost over the years and the war is far from over.

Eventually, both our packs grew larger and claimed land to expand our territories. One always trying to anticipate the other's move. It got so bad that neither pack members could travel south of the border for fear of getting killed.

Retribution was certain. As they attacked us, we attacked them.

Over the last few years, the war had gone cold. Their border was being patrolled just like ours, but we had not sustained any attack from their part. My dad thought that this rather 'silly' war had finally run its course and now maybe we can enjoy some peace and quiet for a while.

I mean... really, who cares about what happens over the other side of the border? Who cares about another pack that doesn't want anything to do with us? Live and let live, I say.

One fateful morning, my dad left town to travel to a nearby pack for a meeting. He traveled in just one car because the trip was short and he would return the same day. He only took 3 warriors with him to accompany him. This meeting was scheduled and the welcoming pack was friendly, an ally.

Eventually, word got to us that my dad's car was intercepted before he reached his destination. First, they forced everyone out of the car with multiple assaults and then they were attacked by a pack of wolves.

My father and his warriors never stood a chance.

News of this mortal blow sent shock waves throughout our entire pack and beyond. The Alpha has fallen. What now? What are we going to do?

In normal conditions, I would assume the role and ascend in his place. It is what my father expected of me and everything that I trained for. I'm ready.

Except I remain unmated and well, I need not repeat myself.

The wolf council assembled after my father's funeral. It has been decided that my younger brother would ascend as the next Alpha of the Regency Falls pack. He is the next in line of succession, so it should fall on him to carry on our tradition and name.

But Clark Barnett is only 17 years old and naturally minors can't be Alphas.

As this whole thing isn't traumatizing and infuriating enough, the council had decided that because I received training for it and I am also a son of the Alpha, I would become regent of the pack until my brother comes of age.

Basically, the mateless loser has to keep my brother's seat warm until he can ascend for the role that was supposed to be mine. Now, not only have I lost my father in a gruesome coward attack, I also have to face my own failure on a daily basis.

Needless to say, the death of my father took a huge toll on my family. My mom and siblings were devastated by this. My father was a great Alpha and he is missed every single day. Not only by us, but by all our pack members who can't make sense of this senseless tragedy.

Except it wasn't a tragedy. It was a calculated, deliberate strike on our family. One that has to be matched as soon as possible. Though my grief speaks louder than any other words, the Beta of the pack has convinced me to postpone the retaliation.

He argued that they were expecting an attack from us, therefore we should preserve our strength to hit them when it hurts the most. It's incredibly difficult for me to stand idle while my father's murderers remain alive, but I know he speaks reason.

It has been a few weeks since my father's death, but I'm yet to move past the anger stage of grief. I loved my dad with all my heart. He never made me feel any less than loved. He pushed me, yes. But he made sure I wasn't made to feel any less worthy.

Not by being queer. Not by being unmateable. Nothing could keep him from supporting me or demonstrating he loved me. He never wavered in his desire to see me ascending in his place. He never lost hope that I would be mated one day and he was willing to wait for as long as I needed to achieve that.

I miss him dearly.

I greet my family as we enter the dining hall of the pack house. This is where our family lives, works, studies. My childhood home and the place where I had hoped to raise a family one day as the next Alpha. I guess it's my brother's privilege now.

"Good morning, sweetie. Are you settled in your office? Do you need anything else to make it your own, I'm sure your father wouldn't mind you changing it up." - Mom said in a soothing tone as we took our place at the large table.

"It's not my office, mom. But thank you for asking. Everything is great, I have all I need." I replied in a dry tone. My brother gulps uncomfortably and mom pity stares at me.

"Mom, don't forget the PTA meeting." Ella said, serving herself some breakfast food. She is the youngest at 10.

"I won't, sweetie. It's on my calendar." She replied with a modest smile.

I eat my breakfast quietly. I try to not let my brooding mood bring anyone down, especially now that we're still dealing with the heavy loss. But I can't bring myself to fake a smile or be in a good mood. I just can't.

I just go through the motions as I must. This should be the happiest of times, doing what my father envisioned for me. Granted my dad should be here accompanying me, but I should be feeling fulfilled.

Yet, I feel empty inside.

"Good morning, Regent. You have a busy schedule ahead of you today." Lourdes, the pack secretary, greets me in a somber tone.

She hands me a stack of papers before I enter my office, adjacent to hers.

"Morning, Lourdes. Good. I need to get busy anyway. " I replied in a matter of fact tone.

"That's the spirit, Regent. If you need anything, just call me." She smiled at me and I love her sunny disposition, even if I can't match it.

Though my routine is a lot less glamorous than I thought, I have no complaints about serving. I only wish I could've finished college and got my degree.

But I guess I'll have time for that once my brother takes over. It's not that I don't wish him well, I do. I know he never asked for this, but it still feels like a stab in the back.

Though if I can't be Alpha, I much prefer it to be him in my place. At least he's a Barnett also.

A few hours later, the Beta of our pack entered my office.

"Good morning, Regent. I have some interesting news." He announced it with a peculiar tone.

"Morning, Beta. By all means, I need something to wake me up from all this paperwork." I said, feeling a bit bored behind my desk.

"I have been studying the best approach for our revenge strike for the last few weeks and I think I have found it." He declared, much to my surprise.

"Great! I'm all ears!" I said, giving him my undivided attention.

He took a seat across from me in the office and started explaining his plan. The more he spoke, the more excited I got.

I have been storing my need for revenge all this time. Finally, we'll get some payback for my father's assassination. I can't wait!

https://youtu.be/If27bo170Bw

A|N: Welcome, everyone!

I know, right? Another werewolf story. I can't seem to stop creating them... LOL

Vengeance is coming.

Love,

Léo.