Alpha King's Daughter Book 2
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S. J. Allen
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Axel
Book 2: Axel
AXEL
Until they meet a wolf, Son, all dogs think they’re alphas. Remember that.
There are wolves that lead sheep, and then there are wolves that lead wolves. Which leader will you be, Son?
Respect is not demanded, Axel; it is earned! Do not think that just because you are a royal alpha you automatically get respect. You have to earn it, Son.
Don’t lower your expectations to fit in with the rest of the world, Axel. You were born to stand out.
Remember the code of the wolf: protect your pack; show no fear; respect the elders; teach the young; lead your companions; survive each day; hunt your enemies; howl to a new tomorrow; explore the unknown; adapt to the environment; demonstrate no weakness; never back down; and leave your mark.
“Mr. Sanders! I do believe I asked you a question!”
I blinked at my college professor. “Um, sorry sir, I wasn’t paying attention.”
He scowled at me, but thankfully he moved on. I sighed in my seat, pulling my phone out of my pocket and checked my messages.
Reign
don’t forget what today is Axel call Mom she always struggles on this day x
I jumped up from my chair.
“Excuse me, Mr. Sanders. Class is not dismissed. Where do you think you’re going?”
“My mom needs me,” I mumbled, walking out. How could I forget the date? This day haunted us all. I’m the oldest.
I’m supposed to be there to protect my family when Dad can’t, and like Mom, he always falls apart today. Mom finds it harder. She always enters death, but he’s never there.
She can’t summon him. It hurts too much. He was too small. There would be nothing to summon back, just a baby.
A baby.
When I was ten and my sister Reign was eight, Mom and Dad told us Mom was pregnant again.
I was used to being a big brother, but Reign was overjoyed she would get to be an older sister. Admittedly, I got excited when they said it was a boy. I’d have someone else to tag team Reign with.
Everything was going really well, and then Mom went to the hospital, and everyone spoke in hushed voices around us, but I knew something was wrong.
The baby had died a day or so before Mom went in. She still had to deliver him. I had only turned eleven, yet I felt the door to death creep open on me.
I knew Mom needed me, even though she would never ask me. I was young, and she had promised I could enter death only when I was ready, and yet I couldn’t let her do it alone, so I went with her.
They had called him Dante Jason Sanders. She placed him in a basket that floated on the river. She didn’t say anything, but we sat there for a while, watching him drift away.
His soul moved on to the other side. It was my first time in death—and last. I hadn’t entered since. I wasn’t afraid of it anymore, but I just couldn’t face it.
Death is a part of life, and Mom always said death is what you make of it, but every time I reached out for the doorway, I remembered the little basket floating along the river and stopped myself.
We buried him a couple of days later. Dad buried himself in work. It was the only way he could cope with the loss of his youngest pup.
For a while, it looked like my parents would split, but they pulled through like they always did.
Wolves mate for life. If they had separated, it would have been worse than the grief they were experiencing.
I pulled into the driveway of my childhood home, a mansion-style house. I walked in the door and headed for Mom’s sanctuary on the top floor. I felt death before I walked in.
Gripping the door, I saw her lying on the bed with a snow cloud over her. Reign was sitting beside the bed.
“How long has she been in there?” I asked her.
“A couple of hours. He would’ve been eleven this year, Axel.”
I sighed. He would have shifted. We would have seen his wolf. Maybe he would have had powers like the rest of us.
Would he have been able to feel death like I could? Would he have been a tracker like Reign? Questions we would never get the answers to.
I crouched down on the floor, getting myself into a comfortable position.
“What are you doing?”
I reached out, feeling the cold wash over me. “I’m going to her.” I passed over just as Reign nodded at me.
I stood up facing the same little river I had seen eleven years previous. I guess this was his version of death. Mom sat cross-legged on the bank. I sat beside her.
“Hey Mom, you okay?”
She smiled gently. “Of course, sweet face. Of course. I just miss him, silly as it sounds.”
“It’s not silly, Mom. We all miss him. Is Dad at the office?”
She chuckled, wiping away tears. “You know it, sweetie, but he’ll be home later for dinner.” Her hand grasped mine.
“I am so proud of you and your sister, Axel. You have both grown up to be such magnificent wolves, and I know you will make a mighty leader when your time comes.
“Your father and I love you both very much. Don’t ever forget that, okay, sweetie?”
I squeezed her hand. “I know, Mom. We both know. And we love you and Dad too. You wanna stay here a while longer?”
She shook her head, standing up and wiping her face. “No, sweetie. I think it's time I go now. Are you all right?”
I clutched her shoulder. “I’m okay, Mom. I came to see how you were. Reign is waiting for us on the other side.”
She cupped my face in her hands. “Your father and I truly were blessed when we had you both. Come on, let’s go. You can help me with dinner.”
We walked back toward the archway crossing back over into life. I shook the snow out of my dark hair watching Mom sit up, dusting herself off.
That’s the second time I’ve entered death.
