The Alpha's Progeny [The Alpha's #3]
Chapter 9

MALIK VLADIMIR

“Where are you going?” he heard someone call out to him from behind.

“What? No knock?” Malik teased, glancing at his dad from over his shoulder. He turned his head to continue packing.

“I came to ask if you wanted to go for a run with me. And in my defence, the door was wide open,” Orpheus countered as he stepped into the room and stopped at the foot of the bed. “Now, what’s up with the packing?”

“I am,” Malik confirmed. “Let me just finish up with this and we can go for that run. I’ll only be a few moments.”

“Where are you going?” Orpheus asked his earlier questions.

“The Lupum Griseo pack like I do every other weekend,” he said as he turned around to head into his wardrobe. Even though he was only going away for one weekend, he made sure to pack a few extra pairs of clothes. His clothes had torn to shreds when shifting while still them. It had happened on more than one occasion.

“You’re not going there.”

“What?” Malik swung his head up in surprise, caught off guard by the sudden statement. “What do you mean I’m not going there?”

“Like I said, you’re not going to the Lupum Griseo pack,” Orpheus remained determined with his decision.

“You don’t get to decide where I can and cannot go,” Malik pursed his lips, far from impressed. “I go there every other week. I’m not just going to stop because you’re back.”

“Why do you go?”

“Alpha training,” he murmured, his eyebrows furrowing together in the middle in distaste.

“It’s bad enough that you used to frequent there while I was away but now that I’m back, you’re not to go over there again,” Orpheus instructed, his stance demanding and his eyes dark. “You don’t need that sad excuse of an Alpha to train you when I’m here.”

“Mars is not a sad excuse of an Alpha,” Malik growled, fisting his hands by his side in anger. “He’s been Alpha training me for years when there was no one else around to do it.”

“That’s not fair,” Orpheus frowned, his face softened for a fleeting moment before his frown deepened once again. “If it’s Alpha training you’re after, then you don’t need to go there. Not when I’m here.”

“So, you’re going to train me from now on?” he quirked a questioning brow, not believing for a second.

“Yes,” his dad forced the answer out through his gritted teeth. “Now you don’t need to go.”

“So, you have time to train me all weekend?”

“Not this weekend.”

“Then I’m off to get trained by Mars this weekend and in two weeks, you can train me. How does that sound?” Malik countered, already aware that his dad wouldn’t be a fan of his suggestion.

“It sounds like you haven’t listened to a thing I said!” Orpheus growled, his eyes darkening, signalling that his wolf wasn’t far from the surface.

“What is your problem?” Malik threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “I don’t understand what you’ve got against Mars and Stassie.”

“I’m not the one with the problem.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” his lips turned down at the corners, starting to feel personally offended by his dad’s words.

“Marcellus and Anastasia,” Orpheus spat their names, an evident look of disgust on his face. “They can’t stand me. I’m surprised they haven’t turned you against me yet.”

“What are you talking about? They would never do that.”

“You don’t know them like I do,” his dad scoffed. “Your mother was blinded by them too.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Malik shook his head, refusing to believe it. “They were her best friends. She loved them. They would never wish bad on anyone.”

“Like I said before, you don’t know them like I do,” Orpheus repeated himself, trying to get his point across.

“And you don’t know them like I do.”

A pregnant paused filled the room as the father and son duo stared back at each other, both of them refusing to step down. Even though they both believed themselves to be correct, only one of them could be.

“It seems like we’re at a crossroad…” Orpheus’ voice trailed off. “It’ll be best if you stay home this weekend. We can revisit this conversation at a later date.”

“I don’t think so,” Malik rolled his eyes, folding the last piece of clothing before stuffing it in his bag.

“What does that mean?” his dad frowned in question but Malik refused to answer.

When he could stand the bullshit no longer, he zipped up his bag, grabbed it and rushed out of the room. He had no doubt that his dad would follow but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Come on. We’re leaving early today,” Malik called out to the two warriors that would be accompanying them this weekend.

“Malik! Come back here! We’re not finished talking!” he heard his father call out to him from the room but he refused to stop. There was only so much negativity he could take in one sitting and if it meant that he needed to leave to get away from it, then so be it.

“Are you sure?” the first warrior, Nathan, asked, followed up by the second, Jonathon. “It sounds like the Alpha wants to speak to you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Malik waved a dismissive hand in the air before walking out of the pack house, glancing over his shoulder to make sure both Nathan and Jonathon were following him while his dad was not.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” Nathan murmured as he slipped into the driver’s seat.

“You two won’t get in trouble for anything. Don’t worry,” he tried to assure the warriors. “Dad and I are just having a small dispute about something. Some time apart would do us some good.”

Nathan and Jonathon shared a look before the latter turned to glance at him from over his shoulder. “Go easy on your dad. He’s still getting used to all of this.”

Malik merely hummed and turned his head to glance out the window. He didn’t need to glance back to know that his dad was watching them drive away from the pack house. While he wasn’t elated over the fact that he was leaving in the middle of an argument – one which he took offense to very personally – this felt very needed right now.

Malik had been wishing for his father to return to the pack for years and now that he was back, it was proving to be far more difficult than he could have imagined. Having two Alpha’s under one roof was a lot of macho, dominant energy to deal with, even for him. He had no doubt that the pack was struggling to this change in atmosphere, especially since Orpheus had been out of the picture for many, many years now.

Malik remained in that sour mood the entire drive over to the Lupum Griseo pack but the moment he arrived there, it instantly turned upside down.

“What’s got you looking like that Alistair?” Malik chuckled as he pressed the button to roll down the window. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“I wish I would have seen a ghost,” Alistair, Justas and Raphael’s son, replied in an almost entranced tone.

“Why? What happened?” Malik chuckled in amusement as he stepped out of the car.

“Luna’s water broke all over my feet! I thought she wet herself at first but didn’t want to say anything,” Alistair shuddered.

“What did you just say?” Malik questioned loudly as he leaped out of the car. “Stassie’s in labour?”

“Yes.”

“How long has she been in labour?” he asked, already moving in the direction of the hospital.

“Only about half an hour now,” Alistair told him, moving to follow him. “They’re not at the hospital. I think she’s having the baby in their house.”

“Looks like we’re changing direction,” Malik hummed, rushing to head over to his uncle and aunt’s house with Alistair hot on his heel. In less than a few moments, they arrived but before heading into the house, Malik glanced down at the teenager sat on front porch steps, just like last time. “Clyde? What are you doing out here?” Malik asked his cousin.

“Mum’s gone into labour.”

“Yes, Alistair told me. But I meant, what are you doing out here?”

“She keeps crying and screaming. It’s hard to watch and I think me being there just makes things worse,” Clyde groaned aloud, a disturbed expression on his face.

“How about the three of us go out for some ice cream? By the time we’re done, we’ll see how far along she is then.”

“That sounds great!” Clyde exhaled in relief as he jumped up to his feet. “I’ll tell dad where you’re going and that you’re here.”

While Malik wanted nothing more than to be there for Anastasia when the baby came, he knew he would be a greater help to them by keeping Alistair and Clyde busy.

“I’m going to get three scoops,” Clyde murmured under his breath as they walked into the local ice cream shop several minutes later. “One scoop for every time mum swore at dad for getting her pregnant in the first place.”

Alistair and Malik threw their heads back at that, overcome with laughter.

“Do you know what the gender of the baby is? Because I’ve got some money bet on it being a boy,” Alistair asked Clyde but Malik couldn’t bring himself to pay attention to the conversation.

Suddenly, his wolf was on edge.

What’s wrong with you? Malik asked. You feel so tightly wound right now.

I don’t know, his wolf murmured back in response. I just feel so restless right now. Like I can feel something happening.

What could it be?

He craned his neck and glanced all around the store. Just like them, several tables were littered with pack members either already enjoying their ice creams or waiting to order. It was only when his eyes landed on the woman behind the counter that he felt his wolf begin to calm down.

Mate?

-

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Layla Knight

10.08.2021