Twisting Her Fate
Chapter 113

Once Gabriel is seated. Lance then stands up. The main meal has run its course and nearly everyone has finished eating, so it is the perfect time for speeches and his next speech is about to rock the entire pack. Lance stands with his two sons on either side of him. There is close to a five-year age difference between the two of them, but it is hard to tell that at the moment. Ryan has lived a clean and loved lifestyle, whereas Gabriel has been decadent for most of his life and been left to do as he plaeses.

One has nearly shoulder-length blonde hair that looks scruffy and unkept while usually giving Gabriel a handsome, relaxed feel. In this setting, coupled with his under-dressed body, it looks out of place next to Ryan's neat, short, dark hair that is perfectly styled into place.

While the age difference of the body can be clearly seen, it is the aura and the wisdom in the eyes that makes it hard to tell the age difference.

"Hello everyone, welcome to an official welcome party s***h pack wide meeting, now that everyone is in attendance..."

Lance casts his eyes at Gabriel, who rolls his own in reply. Ryan readies his body for any fight that may occur.

"First and foremost, I would like to welcome a new member to the pack. This is Ryan Hutchins. He is my son that has been residing within the somerset pack. He will be training to take over the leadership role from Gabriel at the earliest possible time. So, during this transition period, feel free to offer your welcome to Ryan. I am sure that he will do me and this pack proud"

Gabriel jumps out of his chair, causing the piece of furniture to skid back into the wall behind him so fast that the wooden chair lodges into the plasterboard wall.

"What the f*ck is this? Since when have you had another son?"

"|

guess from the moment he was born"

Lance says so nonchalantly like he is talking about a piece of clothing that he brought years ago and forgot it was there.

"And what? You are only telling me about this now? In this way? As you are taking my position off me?"

"Why shouldn't I, Gabriel, where have you even been? I would have told you earlier but..."

"But what? You didn't think it was important to tell me yesterday or any day for the last what...?"

Gabriel looks at Ryan, seething with fury. Ryan and Jameson are both braced ready for a fight, but for now they just stay seated as they don't want to exacerbate the situation. "How old are you, you little f*ck?"

Ryan looks straight in Gabriel's eyes, he grinds his teeth to push down the insult he just received. Lance could not have done this in a worse way. He can't blame Gabriel for the way he is acting. "I am nineteen...brother"

There is more than a little hint of aggression from Ryan, but if this is really the pack he is meant to run, he cannot allow Gabriel to disrespect him in such a way. He needs the respect of his pack members.

Lance should have done all this behind closed doors. Aren't they making a joke out of themselves or is Lance just addicted to his soap opera drama that he has going on? Gabriel growls at the word, the whole thing is absurd.

How can everything change so rapidly? If he is no longer alpha, what the hell will he be? He has only ever been a future alpha or an alpha. His whole life there was no contention, there was only ever respect.

If he becomes just a dried up has-been alpha who has had his title stripped from him, if he becomes an ex-alpha before he even reaches his twenty-fifth birthday, what will become of him, what will he do with his life? Does he stay in the half moon pack and rot away, just some pathetic, useless waste. Without his title, he has no idea what he is.

He is meant to serve under another. And do what? Become a warrior? Join the ranks? Get a job? Become common?

No, he absolutely cannot allow this to happen, he refuses to be abandoned and forgotten. He refuses to just bend and hand over his title to some young boy that came out of nowhere.

Half Moon is his pack and is his birthright. He has already gained the title of Alpha. It cannot just be taken away so easily.

This boy can't just come in, a boy that has never even set foot in the pack before and just take leadership.

Gabriel is trying to sort out all the things he has heard in his head. His head has already been a mess with the whole Leilani and Maggie situation and now to add all these on top, his pounding head is close to exploding.

"No, I refuse to give up my leadership. I'm the Alpha. You are no longer Alpha. It is not your title to hand around at your will"

"Don't you think you've already done enough? Don't you think you have embarrassed this pack enough? You've gone completely off the rails. You are no longer equipped or competent to be the alpha"

"Why? Because of one single thing? You are so quick to judge Dad. Did you get thrown out of your leadership role after your mate jumped to her own death?"

"It isn't the same and you know that"

"Why isn't it? It's just two different sets of circumstances. Are you trying to tell me that you are blameless in her suddenly going from a happy Luna, loving wife and mother to jumping off a cliff?"

"It was just because she was too weak to handle it, she didn't understand what it truly meant to be with an alpha, to be with me"

"And that's exactly what I thought my mate was. So why are we so different? Why do you get to be the alpha and then bring in some random boy from some random woman that you forgot to wrap up for? Because you failed the pull-out game doesn't make that my problem"

Lance is seething with rage, he and Gabriel are face-to-face, nose-to-nose, fire is jumping between them, hatred is burning bright. The aura of the two angry alphas is more than most a table can bear. The only two that remain unaffected are Ryan and Jameson, they just sit aside watching the show.

Ryan didn't have much respect for Gabriel before this, but the fact that he is directing his anger into the right place, which is to his father, instead of towards Ryan himself, actually earns him some praise from his half brother, Ryan is not insulted by any of Gabriel's words as he agrees, he may value his life, but it doesn't mean he agrees with how it started.

"You can make up any excuse you want in the world. The fact of the matter is you f*cked up. You embarrassed us and now it's time to hand over the position of someone that can do a better job than you"

"Can you even judge who is going to do a better job? Do you even know this boy? Who was to judge whether you were doing a good job or not? You call me out. I'm being a failure. Guess what dad? You are the one that made me this way. If I'm a f*ck up what does that make you?"

Lance slams his fists on the table. The gigantic wooden table groaning under the pressure, ceramic plates rattle and drinks spill. All the pack members are undecided whether to try and escape this situation or sit still and watch the train wreck.

No one wants to get caught in the middle of a battle between the two alphas, but it is impossible not to watch the mess that is getting created in front of them.

It is unheard of within the packs for an ex alpha to revoke a serving alphas title and hand it on to the next person. That is just not how it is done.

Nothing has been explained to the pack, they don't know about what happened at the ball. They don't know about what is happening between Gabriel and Maggie. They don't know about Gabriel's fated mess. They have no idea why Gabriel's been off the rails for the last two weeks. While Gabriel has liked to play a lot, he has always been present within the pack. He is far from the perfect Alpha, but he's still a long way away from the worst Alpha.

The lack of information and now a leadership shakeup.

The unsettled pack gets further agitated.

"The fact of the matter is that you are no longer fit to be the alpha of the half moon pack and to ensure the survival of the pack, I have brought in Ryan to take over and try and fix the mess you have created"

Lance slams his fists on the table once more, trying to reign in his wolf who is fighting to gain control. Gabriel isn't doing much better, he grips the edge of the table trying to gain control of himself, the thick timber flexing under the extreme pressure. "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE THE F*CKING ALPHA ANYMORE GABRIEL, NEVER AGAIN, YOU ARE UNFIT"

Lance's voice is so loud that it shakes the expensive paintings on the walls, it is more of a growl than audible words, his canines are protruding from his gums, his eyes are pitch black.