An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 5

"So you're picking a mate, huh?" Ryan turned to look at his best friend and second in command as they removed all the furniture from the pack's living room.

It was the last part of the preparations for the council's impending visit in just a few hours. Since they didn't know what to expect it had been decided the regular pack members, who lived in the main house, would move in with other members in the surrounding houses for the night.

They didn't know how the seer would determine Poppy's powers or how much space they would need, so in a last-minute decision they opted to remove all the furniture in the main living room. It allowed Ryan to have a few moments alone with his friend so he wasn't surprised that Luke had chosen now to voice his concerns.

"Yep, that's the plan, anyway." He picked up two chairs and stacked them outside the room before Luke responded.

"Ry, are you sure this is what you want to do?" He turned towards Luke as his friend stood motionless, looking down at the chairs in his hands.

Luke had been his best friend since they'd been boys. He'd been the one pack member to accompany him during his time in university and would always be there for him. They may not be brothers by blood but they were brothers in bond.

Ryan put down the table he was carrying and sat on it as Luke came back into the room minus two chairs.

Seeing Ryan sat down, Luke pulled a chair out and straddled it. Luke knew they wouldn't have that much time alone, and he needed to know why his friend had decided now was the time to find a mate. Sometimes he felt like his Alpha could be just a little too self sacrificing for his own good.

"I need to do this Luke, you can't talk me out of this one." He chuckled at his friend, thinking about all the times Luke had talked him into doing things. Thank the Goddess they had werewolf healing or both he and Luke would have been covered in scars from their adventures that always ended in disaster for at least one of them.

His friend smiled at him, remembering just how much trouble they both used to get in. It seemed so long ago now to both of them.

They would be unrecognisable to the two adventurous troublemakers they had been. Ryan now the Alpha and commander of the pack whilst Luke was his second. So much responsibility, so much power.

It had been a hard learn for the two men over the last five years but they had at least earned the respect of many in the pack although neither of them could have predicted the situation they now found themselves in.

"Why do you think you need to do this? You've always wanted to find Her, the one, so why the change of heart?" Luke had known of Ryan's obsession with true mates since childhood. They'd talked endlessly over what they thought their mates would be like. And although he had grown to believe the stories were just stories, he knew his friend still hoped they were real.

He noticed Ryan was trying to avoid his eyes as he looked around the room at the furniture they still had to move. This is why he wanted to talk to him; he needed to know why Ryan was doing this. He wanted to make sure there wasn't pressure from Ryan's parents, the pack or the current situation that was forcing his decision.

"The pack needs this Luke. You must feel how despondent the atmosphere is, a mating would help them, give them some of the hope they've lost." Ryan could see his friend was about to argue, like he knew he would, so he decided to lay all his cards on the table.

"Before you start on how I take my duty as Alpha too seriously, I'm also doing this for me. I need someone to help me through this. I can feel myself losing my grip. There's only one of me Luke and yet I feel like the pack is tearing me in two." Even Ryan could hear the edge of desperation leak into his voice and looked away from Luke's understanding face.