Page 13 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

Wiping the memories from my mind, I move to the kitchen, and it takes less than a second before my boys come hugging each of my feet. I almost fall down from the weight.

“I’m sorry, Mommy!” Asher shouts, his onyx-dark eyes landing on me with a pool of unshed tears. “I ate the cake. I’m sorry.”

“I ate the cake, too. Sorry, Mommy.” Adrian follows.

I ruffle their hair before kneeling on the tiled floor to be at a level with them.

Goddess, I never thought seven years later, I’d be having the sweetest boys to ever walk the earth, but here we are. Adrian and Asher both look like him. From the unruly dark hair, to his dark consuming eyes, to his face, and to that mole on the back of Adrian’s neck. Goddess, they do look like him, and I should hate it, but Asher and Adrian are mine. My babies. My children.

“What did we say about eating desserts before breakfast?” I ask.

“That we shouldn’t eat cake without Mommy’s permission,” Asher responds.

“That we shouldn’t lie to Mommy when we eat cake without her permission,” Adrian adds.

Isabel chuckles behind them, shaking her head.

“That’s right. Give Mommy a kiss, then?”

They both give me a kiss on the cheek. The same kisses that have always started my day.

“We love you, Mommy.”

And I love you more than anything in this world.

“I love you too, baby. Have a good day in school and no giving Isabel a hard time, yeah?”

“Yes, Mommy.”

I shower them with kisses five minutes later, knowing that walking out that door to go to work always kills me every time.

The upside of Bracken City, the one that drew me here more than anything, is the lack of bullshit rules and expectations from the society. The same rules and expectations that were enforced in the pack I grew up in. Here, betas and omegas coexist without there being an Alpha to dictate what ought to be done or a pack you have to belong to. Everyone minds their own business, and no one cares about you or your past. An added bonus is that Alphas are rare to find here. The downside of living in Bracken City, however, even more than the heat that beats down my car and seeps all the way down to my blouse, is the traffic. Two missed calls from my manager and one from my best friend and coworker, Julie, tell me I’m on the verge of being fired for running late.

I tap my steering wheel furiously, my eyes lingering outside the window at the miles and miles of cars that don’t seem like they’ll be moving soon.

“Relax. We’ll be there on time.” My wolf assures me. So, I try to breathe, gazing at the clear blue skies and the palm trees that are as tall as the buildings, breathing in the smell of gas from the cars and the distant scent of ground coffee beans.

Bracken City and Moonstone City are two worlds apart. The place I was born in didn’t have such buildings or cars or such noise. I’m pretty sure Jake would have loved this city, and the thought of him brings the same pain I’ve been feeling for years. The one that impales my heart when I think of home and my family.

Fortunately, like the universe can feel me teetering to the abyss, the traffic starts moving, and in less than ten minutes, my car pulls up at Bracken Holdings, the shipping company I’ve been working for close to five years.

Taking the usual elevator with my fellow coworkers today feels off. Again, I could blame it on the heat inside the elevator that has all of us sweating like pigs and sharing the same muggy air, but something is off.

It starts the very minute Ashley from the Human Resources Department whispers something to her friend.

“I heard he’s coming in today, and apparently, it’s mandatory for everyone to be present when he comes in.”

I’m not eavesdropping if everyone in the elevator can hear her, too. Julie and Luka like work gossip more than they like doing actual work. I’ve never cared about gossip, but something about what Ashley says makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Who’s coming? The boss? And if he wants everyone to be present when he comes in, it can only mean two things. Either some of us are getting promoted, or some of us are getting fired. I’m praying to the Goddess that it’s the former.

“Mr. Wilfred has never shown his face in the office. Okay, maybe once, and that was last year because of an emergency. So why now?” Ashley’s friend asks.

The numbers on the elevator increase by the second, and my heart pulses by the minute as I await Ashley’s answer.

“Oh no. Rumor around the office is that Mr. Wilfred is no longer the boss. We have a new boss. Apparently, he’s an Alpha.”

The way Ashley purrs the word “Alpha” almost makes me sicker than the news of having a new boss, but there’s no denying that everyone inside the elevator has a gasp lodged in their throats.

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