Lone Wolf (The Wulf Pack Book 1)

“Please calm down, Rage,”

“I will not fucken ‘calm down’,” Rage stood, glaring at his mother across the desk, the same one that not long ago belonged to his father.

“Rage, it’s what your father wanted,” her calm voice did nothing for the anger brewing in him. He leaned forward, gripping the edge of the desk.

“Hunter doesn’t deserve the position, mother!” He growled through gritted teeth.

“Rage,” the small woman came around the desk slowly, she knew what her son was capable of, and placed a hand on his shoulder, “this is how it has been for generations, the eldest...” she froze as she noticed his grip on the desk.

The edging was splintered, sharply and blood pooled in the crevices of the wood, over filling them and streaming down to the floor.

“Hunter is weak,” he growled deeply, his body shaking with rage. His mother looked at him sadly. She knew he should be the one taking over, not Hunter, even his father had known that. But tradition was tradition.

“I won’t follow him, mother, I can’t,” stepping closer, she reached for his chin, intending to make him look at her.

“If you stand by his side,” the muscles in his neck tightened, not budging, “he will be a great leader, a great Alpha,”

She jumped back at the growl he let out. It was deep, ruthless and cold.

The desk before them flew across the room as he flipped it. It landed on its side as the items that had been on it scattered like mice across the floor.

“Rage, please,” her plea was ignored as she stood, staring at her son, her strong, powerful son.

“No mother,” he turned, avoiding looking at her, his head high, shoulders squared. The only indication of his anger was in the blood that flowed from his clenched fist.

He walked to the door. He couldn’t bare being there anymore. He needed to get away.

“Please don’t do something you will regret later,” his mother croaked from deeper in the room, her voice not hiding the tears she was holding back, or maybe she wasn’t holding them back and they were running down her face.

“I’m not,” he replied, pausing at the door, waiting for a response. After a few moments without one he continued, “I’m leaving. I cannot stay here.”

“Rage...” he knew this would hurt her. But he just couldn’t stay.

“I’m leaving, and nothing you say will change that,” he felt the slickness on his hands as he opened the door. They were still bleeding and if the slight pain indicated anything, he had dozens of splinters.

He stalked down the hall, ignoring everyone and everything he passed. He hoped that everyone could feel the anger radiating off of him.

“Rage,” he continued down the hall, there was no way he wanted to speak to any of his brothers, “Rage!”

The footsteps followed behind him as he headed towards his room. He left the door open. There was no stopping the boy following him.

His brother stood at the door as he gripped the bag he had already packed. Rage had known for weeks now that this was going to happen.

“Are you leaving?” Fang’s voice was soft, caring. He felt bad leaving his youngest brother here, to be led by their foolish brother. But the boy didn’t wait for a response, he was smart and knew Rage was leaving, “you can’t leave, Rage, we need you here,” Rage could tell the teen was choked up and he felt regret knowing that he was leaving him behind.

“Fang, I can’t stay,” his brothers blue eyes bore into his as stood in the doorway.

“Yes you can,” Fangs voice was pleading now, even he knew what would happen if he left his brothers there without him.

“You know how I feel about this, shit, everyone knows,” he hung his head in defeat, “I don’t know what I will do to him if he tries to make me do something,”

“But he is your brother; you wouldn’t hurt one of us? Would you?” Fang looked at his brother, the most powerful of his brothers.

“I don’t know what I would do,” Rage’s sharp green eyes met Fangs and if Fang hadn’t known any better, the pain he saw there would have looked like anger, “I never know what I will do,” he walked towards the door causing Fang to subconsciously move out of the way. His presence alone called for submission.

He stopped once in the hall, turning back to his little brother, “The only thing I know, is that I can NOT be told what to do or controlled.”

Rage staked down the hall, leaving his brother behind, but once he reached the first floor he was greeted by more of his brothers.

“So I guess you really are leaving,” Rage nodded, eyeing the two men between him and the door.

“You damn well know that I can’t stay here and be ruled by HIM,” he growled at them. Why were his brothers being so difficult?

“He is not RULING over us, Rage, he is going to govern us,” Rage’s grip tightened on his bag. He was glad that the bleeding had finally stopped but that thought was in the back of his mind. Right now he was counting back from one hundred.

“Same difference,” he growled out, slipping on the counting and starting over.

Fury ran his hand through his short curls in frustration. Rage couldn’t leave. They wouldn’t survive without him. He leaned his head to the side, trying to figure out what he could do to convince him to stay.

“Not the same,” Wrath sneered at Rage causing him to bare his teeth threateningly in response.

“Wrath,” Fury said in warning. The last thing they all needed was Wrath to piss Rage off and Rage beating the shit out of him, or possibly even killing him.

Wrath met Fury’s eyes with a deep blue, matching his own. The boy looked less then pleased but Fury knew what Rage was capable of, was the only one who truly knew what their brother was fully capable of.

“I am not staying,” Rage drew his brother’s attention from each other. All he wanted from them was to let him leave before someone got hurt, Hunter being the one most at risk. Thank the gods that he was making himself scarce.

“Is there nothing any of us can say to change your mind?” Fangs voice called from the stairs behind him.

“I’m sorry, but no,” He shook his head and eyeballed the door once more. It felt farther way then it had before.

“You know this will leave us vulnerable,” it wasn’t a question, Fury was too smart to ask questions everyone already knew the answer to.

Dread fell like a boulder in his stomach as he looked at each of his brothers. Each of them worried what would happen if they were apart. All of them knew they were stronger together.

“Let him go,”

All eyes shot to the woman who had spoken.

Their mother stood in the hall behind fang. Her head high, her shoulders squared. they all knew she may be a small woman but she was a spitfire and when she said something, it happened.

Rage nodded to his mother before heading for the door once more, his brothers clearing the path. He couldn’t help but hesitate in the doorway making each of his kin behind him hold their breath as they hoped he would change his mind.

But there was no chance of it. He would not live a life ruled by his brother.