Bow Down To Me, I'm The Next Alpha!

“Everyone, there’s something I want to tell you. I, Alpha Marcus Lindbergh of the Golden Fang Pack, announce that I’m going to get married again.”

I, Sylvia Lindbergh, didn’t know how to respond to what Father just told me before the pack’s council. My father was Alpha Marcus Lindbergh, the Alpha of the Golden Fang Pack. The Alpha worked extremely hard to bring our pack to a glorious position like we had. After my mother’s death, he worked even harder.

My mother, Luna Alice Lindbergh, sadly passed away because she contracted the terrible plague that hit our pack last summer when she was healing our pack members. While the whole pack felt very sad as they lost such a great Luna, their loss couldn’t be compared to what my father and I experienced.

I could still vividly remember how I was crying non-stop as we buried my mother. Yet, I was sure deep inside my heart that the Alpha felt even worse than me. After all, Father worked tirelessly as if he wanted to keep his promise to my mother to bring our pack to an even greater height. Personally, I was confident that he already fulfilled his promise to Mother.

Our pack became one of the most prosperous packs in the area. Since we became stronger, the Alphas started to send their daughter from their packs to our pack to be married to Father. However, my father kept refusing each one of them until what he just said.

“Congratulations, Alpha,” I eventually responded after I kept my silence for a while and clapped, which was quickly followed by everyone who murmured.

While I knew that I was supposed to be happy about it, I would be lying if I told myself that I was happy about the news. Frankly, I was hurt. I knew that my father had worked very hard for our pack. Still, I imagined my father to be a loyal man who only chose my mother until the end of his life. Unfortunately, it seemed that I was mistaken.

My father said while he maintained eye contact with me, “Thank you, everyone.”

Somehow, the Alpha’s gaze felt distant to me. That made me realize the fact that I felt distant from the man. Ever since the late Luna’s death, my father had buried himself in his works. Besides, I spent my time learning from the elders and our pack’s Beta, Beta Albert Brown, as I was going to be the pack’s next Alpha. Not only that, I also trained hard with the pack warriors and the other pack’s heirs.

Thus, I didn’t really have time to be with my father. In fact, I couldn’t even remember the last time I talked to him about something other than work. Thinking about it made me wonder if my father even thought of me having a stepmother.

“My soon-to-be wife, Selena Wilde, please come in,” the Alpha commanded.

As soon as my father said it, a woman opened the hall’s huge wooden doors and entered the hall. Selena Wilde looked slightly older than me. That woman looked very stunning in her raven black hair which was perfectly complemented by her green eyes. Yet, there was something that felt off.

My wolf, Fiona, started to growl inside my mind. It truly surprised me to the point I nearly gasped, but I quickly managed to stop myself from gasping. This reaction was very surprising as it came from Fiona who was usually calm.

‘What happened, Fiona?’ I asked my wolf.

‘We can’t trust that woman, Sylvia,’ Fiona angrily told me.

Before I could even respond, my train of thought was interrupted. That was when I realized that Selena looked at me intensely. Somehow, my stomach churned when she looked at me. It was as if the woman who would be my stepmother had something sinister in her mind.

“Greetings, everyone, my name is Selena Wilde,” Selena announced her name gracefully, introducing herself to the people in the castle.

Everyone seemed to be smitten by her, except me. I had to admit that not only was she very beautiful, but she was also very charming. That would explain why my father fell for her. Her character seemed similar to what my late mother had.

However, I shook my head as I told myself, ‘I must be happy for Father. He’s been working really hard for this pack. There’s no way I can let my feelings interfere like that. Fiona surely made a mistake.’

Although I told myself to accept Selena as the soon-to-be Luna, I still couldn’t brush off the feeling I had inside me. My mind kept replaying what Fiona warned me earlier about her. So, it made me feel unsure about my feelings for my soon-to-be stepmother.

People were circling Selena to congratulate the soon-to-be Luna. In turn, the woman gracefully shook everyone’s hands. As she got closer to me, I prepared to shake her hands too. When my soon-to-be stepmother got closer to me, she shook my hands politely.

“We welcome you in this pack as our future Luna, Lady Selena Wilde,” I awkwardly told her as both of us shook our hands.

To my shock, she curled out a smirk and she unexpectedly leaned closer to me.

“I’ll make sure you know your place,” she whispered to me before she walked in my father’s direction.

I was left stunned. What she just said couldn’t help but make me wonder what she meant by that. That moment was when I realized that my soon-to-be stepmother seemed to be up for no good. It made me very worried.

Unfortunately, my worry seemed to be drowned by the air of celebration. After all, everyone seemed very happy to have Selena as their Luna. When I looked at my father, my heart felt hurt. It had been a while since my father was smiling happily.

‘Has Father already forgotten Mother?’ I asked myself a question I had been holding for a while.

My memories of my late mother came to my mind. The late Luna was someone I aspired to be. She was strong, wise, and selfless. The whole pack loved and respected my mother. At least, that was what I assumed until what happened earlier.

When I saw around me, everyone was cheering for their soon-to-be Luna. It was as if they forgot that my mother used to be the Luna.

Meanwhile, Selena was staring back at me. Her gaze chilled me to the bone. I never felt such an intense gaze, not even from my father. Doubts started to creep into my mind as I wondered if I ever did something to offend her.

“Everyone, I would like to announce that both Selena and I will get married on the next full moon,” the Alpha announced the date of their wedding.

Selena let out a devilish smirk as she kept maintaining eye contact with me. It was as if she looked at me with hatred. Her gaze made me very uncomfortable. It forced me to look somewhere.

Again, everyone cheered. But I knew that I couldn’t cheer on what was supposed to be good news for our pack. Somewhere in my little heart told me that I didn’t feel happy for a good reason. Luckily, it went unnoticed. Just like when I secretly went outside the hall all by myself.

The moment I got outside of the castle, I shifted into my wolf form. Fiona knew what my true feelings were. She kept howling as she led me to the forest. Deep inside the forest, both she and I were grieving over the fact that my mother was forgotten so quickly by our pack. It saddened me deeply when I thought over it again and again.

‘Mother, I’ll never forget you,’ I told myself while I forced myself to smile as I was looking at how happy everyone was.