“I warned you to never hurt her again!” Kieran yelled to the Alpha standing across the room.

Behind Kieran was his mother, Sophia, bloody, wounded and almost unconscious as she watched the dangerous situation before her. Only seventeen years old, Kieran had reached his limit to his father’s abusive ways and the harm the current Alpha had brought his Luna over the last two decades.

Young Kieran resembled his father in every physical way, the same dark chocolate brown hair and haunting green eyes paired with the broad build and the same narrow face with defined cheekbones. Despite this, Kieran, the future alpha, was just as soft as Sophia and remained closer to her through the years.

Like any cracked dam, however, came a breaking point, and Kieran had reached his. Even his wolf, Duncan, growled at the man before them and the bodily damage he’d caused their mother.

“She’s my mate. Sophia’s mine. I can do whatever I please with her,” His father, John, stated. “Besides, she should’ve listened to me better. It’s her own fault.”

These words disgusted Kieran. He had yet to reach the age of maturity and find his own Luna, but his father’s treatment was not the normal way to treat your other half. He had little knowledge about what it meant to be a leader, or a mate, but he knew for certain his father wasn’t an example of that. Mates were supposed to be equals. Especially the Luna. A strong desire to protect one’s mate and keep them from harm at all costs was normal. So how could John have the audacity to cause injuries to Sophia?

Please let me rip his throat out.

It was Duncan’s voice in Kieran’s head. And Kieran wanted to free his wolf so he could tear his father to pieces. However, there would be a lot of consequences if Kieran did this. He’d become the new alpha here and now, but he didn’t know if he was ready for that.

If you don’t kill him, he will destroy us and our mother.

Kieran knew deep down Duncan was right. He couldn’t just give John empty threats about this, or this cycle would continue again and again.

Kieran turned to Sophia and knelt down by her side, and gave her a weak smile. “I want you to run. Stay away until I come to find you.”

His mother’s eyes widened, and she grabbed onto him. “You can’t!”

Kieran pried himself free from his mother and faced John. He removed his shirt and tossed it aside, glaring at John.

“This is ridiculous,” John sneered, but Kieran wouldn’t back down, undressed and transformed into his wolf form.

Kieran didn’t dare give him a chance to shift and was already at his father’s throat. With much more fighting experience, John leapt away and Kieran missed his father. John ripped at his own clothing, which forced Kieran to strike again, but John shifted far quicker, and he lunged at his son.

“Don’t harm him!” Sophia jumped to her feet and tried to step in. John had Kieran pinned down and was a much larger wolf than his child. And turned his attention to his Luna.

He reached for her with his large paw and swiped at her, but young Kieran, ready to defend Sophia at all costs, flipped himself over, knocking his father off of him, and with a swiftness he’d never known before, sunk his fangs into his father’s unguarded neck.

There was a pause. A whimper, followed by a shocked gasp from his mother. Kieran bit down as hard as he could, and with a powerful tug, ripped out what he had taken from John’s throat, spraying blood over himself and the floor. John fell to the ground with a thump. Kieran spat out the lump of flesh, and drooled in an attempt to cleanse his mouth of the bitter liquid.

Young Kieran peeked at his mother, who stared at the scene before him, and rushed to his side, embracing her teenage child, still in his wolf form. “Oh, Kieran!” she cried. “Are you alright?”

Kieran returned to his human shape and wrapped his arms around Sophia. “I’m safe, mother. Are you okay?”

She looked to the unmoving body of her mate, and then back to her son. She smiled. “I will be with time.”

The door to their living quarters burst open and several wolves entered, but froze when they saw the scene before them. They gasped and stared at Kieran and then his mother.

“Luna S-Sophia, what happened here?” one asked.

She faced the wolves and directed them to Kieran. “Kieran has ascended as the Alpha. Alpha John tried to kill me, and my son protected me, surpassing his father in strength.”

The guards knelt down and bowed their heads, leaving Kieran’s heart racing, and a feeling he never experienced before swelled in his chest.

We have to promise to never act like our father.

Kieran agreed. When he found his Luna, he’d protect her. He felt hopeful, and he wished to do just that for his pack. Bring hope to the community and have a better future.