CHAPTER ONE: ALPHA TYPE

Starting everyday as the Alpha of Nocturnal Pride was a hard truth Leon had to swallow. After the death of his father, Alpha William Cromwell, as the first son, he succeeded his father and became Alpha. His mother had died at childbirth and his father grieved deeply. Two years later however, he got married again to a strikingly beautiful woman now known as Luna Ulrika. After a year, she gave him a son called Saxon. Both Saxon and Leon were so close since their childhood that people often forgot they were stepbrothers. With their father now dead, both siblings rose up to the task of ruling the pack, although Saxon was only supporting Leon.

"Where is the Alpha, Lord Saxon?"

"Yes, where is he? We've been waiting for him for nearly an hour."

"I apologize, Elders. I'm sure he has a good reason for being this late. I'll go and get him right now. Excuse me."

In Nocturnal Pride, a council was held monthly and attended primarily by the Alpha and the Elders. The council couldn't start without the Alpha and Alpha Leon was not present yet, hence the annoyance of the Elders. His stepbrother, Saxon, rose to his rescue by going to get him.

Saxon went to Leon's room, opened his door and walked in. Apparently, none of the guards had since him since the day begun.

"Leon! Leon!" he called out to the sleeping Alpha, but got no answer. With a sigh, he walked over to his bedside and began to shake him. "Get up, brother. C'mon get up."

"Saxon? It's morning already?" Leon yawned.

"It's been morning for a while. The elders have been waiting for your presence at the..."

Before he could complete his words, Leon jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. Only washing his face and rinsing out his mouth, he walked out almost immediately he got in. He fumbled in his closet a bit then got out a white shirt and a fitting pair of dark blue trousers. He would have looked a lot more regal if he wasn't in such a hurry and his face distorted from sleep.

"C'mon Saxon, let's go," he said rushing out the door.

Within seconds, he and Saxon stood before the door to the Plague, the room where the council was held. Leon took a deep breath and walked in as majestically as he could, even though all his muscles were tense. Upon seeing the Alpha, all nine elders stood up to pay their respects.

"Good day Alpha," they chorused.

"Good day Elders," Leon responded. Without wasting any time, he took a bow and apologized. "I realized what has happened here today is negligent on my side and I won't waste your time giving excuses. I do however want to sincerely apologize for all the troubles I've caused and hope that you all can put it behind you so that we can move Nocturnal Pride to greater heights. I'll do my very best to avoid such mistakes and many more in the future."

The Elders comprises nine elderly werewolves with vast experience and knowledge having lived through three generations of Alphas. Whilst making laws, they were consulted as well as whilst making certain battle plans. In short, whenever any decision that'd would affect the pack greatly was to be taken, their counsel was sought. They could also offer counsel to an Alpha without being asked. As they can only advise the Alpha, he holds the power to accept or reject their counsel. However, because of their experiences from past Alphas and age, the Elders were revered and their counsel was seen as nothing short of wisdom.

After Alpha William's death, they crowned Leon Alpha. It was important for an Alpha to find favour in the sight of the Elders. If otherwise, a conspiracy could arise especially if an individual outside the Alpha secures their favour. Hence, Leon's sober state and apology. Of course, an Alpha could always choose to rule without regards for the Elders too. The consequences would be great however.

"Well," Elder Ragnar, the head of the Elders spoke. "It's alright, Alpha. The most important thing is that you were not afraid or too proud to admit your wrong. I think I speak eor all the elders when I say this is behind us already. Not so?"

The Elders shook their head in agreement as a response to Elder Ragnar. Leon's apology had easily shook their hearts and though, he presented in a humble and inferior manner, no one looked more superior. After all, a humble leader who speaks and presents himself on equal terms with his subordinates will gently tug at their hearts inspiring loyalty, obedience, love and most importantly, kill fear for while we submit to what we fear, we equally seek to destroy it.

"I must say, you surprised me earlier. I was not expecting you to bow your head and apologize but then, you've always been that way," Saxon said, starting a conversation with Leon

The council had ended and with all nine elders gone, only Saxon and Alpha Leon was left in the room.

"A soft answer turns away wrath. An apology should always be the first choice in these kind of situations," Leon replied.

"Certainly, but I think you should cut back on your excessive modesty and act a little more dignified otherwise you'll get taken for granted," Saxon advised, looking dignified himself as he sat erect opposite Leon with legs crossed.

"I hear you brother but I couldn't care less about that right now. I'm more concerned about why I slept in for so long. I have never been one to oversleep, so why?"

"But then again, you've never had this much responsibilities in your life. You might be fatigued and your body is struggling to keep up."

"Maybe, but I doubt it. It's only been a week since I became Alpha. Why would I suddenly be weary? It's too soon."

"It's not sudden. You've been cutting back on sleep and a week is enough time to leave you exhausted," Saxon argued.

Leon sighed, probably a sign that he been defeated.

"Don't let it bother you brother. You just started a new phase, you'll get used to it pretty soon."

Leon smiled. "Thank you, Saxon."

"Now, go get a proper clean up and if possible, sleep some more. You look like you're struggling to stay awake."

"No, I've had my fill. I do need to take a bath though."

Both siblings got up and left the Plague. Leon left for his room and Saxon, someplace else. Now in his room, he slowly took off his shirt and pants as he stood before a mirror. Clad in nothing but underwear, he gazed at himself and soon got lost in thoughts.

Saxon had always been better that him at a whole lot of things. He was smarter, stronger, taller, better with words, hands and weapons. He also had better looks, hair, beards, eyes and a better build.

Leon was 5'11 with a fairly muscular build. He had black hair, brown eyes and stubble beards. All in all, he was fairly handsome. Saxon on the other hand had a height of 6'2 with an amazing body. He also had brown hair, green eyes and kept a tailored beard. His looks were absolutely ravishing.

Thee only reason he was here, above Saxon as the Alpha, was simply because he was the elder and nothing more. Despite surpassing Leon in so many ways, not once did Saxon rub it in his face. He was truly a brother he didn't deserve, Leon thought to himself.

Wiping his eyes, he rid himself of thoughts and went into the shower. Much later he stepped out, clad in only a towel, hair and body soaked. A little while later, he had dried himself and put on a new pair of underwear. As he stood before his wardrobe, hands akimbo and eyes searching for what he would wear, a pair of soft, gentle hands wrapped his average abs. He smiled, turned around and smiled even more, seeing his guess was correct and it was who he thought it was. Standing before him was Emiliana, the love of his life, his fiancée and the only woman he had eyes for.

Emiliana, twenty six years old, was truly a beauty to behold. With her hazel eyes, lips often coated with red lipstick, blonde straight bob, fair skin and a blissful smile, she caused many men to stumble.

Six years ago, during the reign of Alpha William, both Emiliana's parents were killed. The werewolf society was and is currently in a warring period. Ambitious packs are constantly at each others' neck trying to expand their territories by conquering other packs. For this reason, packs were constantly attacking and suffering attacks. During these harsh times, a pack with the name Raging Canines had it's eyes set on Nocturnal Pride. They launched small attacks at her borders one after another. Nocturnal Pride resisted aggressively, but not without a few loses. On one of those attacks, ten guards at the border lost their lives to a surprise attack by approximately thirty soldiers from Raging Canines. Half a dozen soldiers were awfully injured too but they all survived. Out of the ten border guards that were killed that day, two happened to be Emiliana's parents.

Losing her parents left her scarred. Even though Alpha William paid visits to all the relatives of the deceased and had them taken care off, it couldn't help her. She battled her pain with alcohol and soon went too far. From excessive intake of alcohol to extreme sexual indulgence, she eventually became the very image of debauchery. She did go on this way for three years, until she met Leon. He fell in love with her even though he was fully aware of her depraved lifestyle and they've been dating ever since. Three years in a relationship with Emiliana and Leon remains sure that she's the best thing that's happened to him. Even when people said a girl like her could never changed, he loved her without limits and proved them wrong. As far as he knew, she is no longer the person she was three years ago.

"Hello darling," Leon said, kissing Emiliana on her cheek. She reciprocated but on his lips instead.

Their lips maintained contact for a while then Leon broke away just as it was getting wild. He had always been decent since he was a boy and though he tried to accommodate her wild side, he had limits. Unfortunately for Emiliana, he was also incapable of premarital sex, regardless of the fact that she was his fiancée.

"Still as shy as ever, I see," Emiliana teased.

Leon stayed silent.

"Seriously, it's been three years and you can't even give me a proper kiss. When will you stop acting like a boy?"

Leon sighed. You know I don't like to speak about this."

"But you have to, you can't evade this issue forever."

"Look, we'll be getting married soon anyway. I only ask that you be patient till then and then you can do whatever you want with me."

"Whatever I want with you? Do you realize what that sounds like? I'm starting to feel like you don't want me as much as I do," she said and dashed out of the room.

"Babe! Wait..." he said, running after her. He stopped however, seeing he was only in his underwear. With a deep sigh, he sunk into his bed and fell asleep.