Back and Stronger: Alpha's Daughter

Scott was the Lucian pack’s new Alpha!

It’s been several months since he had been elected, and Sophia still couldn’t get over it.

Scott? Her and Neil’s Scott? Alpha? Hell, she didn’t expect this outcome, even less dreamt of it, which didn’t say much about her ‘ability’ to see the future, but she had thought a few times before that he would make a good Alpha though – but never thought it would actually happen.

However, what she could have foretold without having any dreams-slash-premonitions, was that the pack would flourish under his hands, and it did. After such a short time, people were already happier, freer, and even the economy had picked up more than any of the economists had predicted in their wildest imaginings.

Even the air around the territory felt lighter, the sky brighter, and the days sunnier than ever.

Yes, Scott as Alpha had been the best thing that could ever have happened to the Lucian pack. Even the slums were no more.

That day Scott and Connor had waited in the slums for Sophia and Neil to go pick them up, they’d seen how shifters had been living in ghastly conditions there, and the area had become one of the first community projects Scott had ensured.

All those people had jobs now and were living in care centers where education, skills training, food, medicine, and everything they needed were provided to them with the purpose of getting them back on their feet so that they could transform into contributing members of the pack through the guidance provided to them there.

Sophia joked with him that she had been his first, that she had been his inspiration to help even more broken people become whole again. And even though they laughed about it, it was true. He’d realized his passion and what he cared about the most, and now that he was Alpha and in the position to make a tremendous difference, he wasted no time in doing so.

He was truly magnificent. There was no other way to describe him, the kind of man he was, and what he’d accomplished so far. He governed the pack with integrity, equity, justice, and compassion – and that was all that was needed to make the cities and the shifters in it look completely rejuvenated and full of life again for the first time in many, many years.

Scott was obviously very busy with his new duties, and Neil was his right-hand man, in it together as always, but Scott worked a bit too hard, which worried them. He was hardly home. Home being the apartment again now that it was safe once more for them to live there, as there was just nowhere else she wanted to be. With all the good and the bad memories, that was their home, though it felt empty and incomplete without Scott.

Sophia knew that he took his role seriously, and sacrificed his sleep, social time, and even eating to put in every single morsel of his being into fixing what Thorin had broken, but she was concerned that he was going to burn out soon.

She had her suspicions of course as to why he was acting this way. Now that he had finally found his mate, and also finding out that it had been Benson Baciu all along, she knew it weighed on him as well, which was why he was throwing himself so much into his work and duties because of it too.

The problem was, they didn’t know if Benson was truly good, nor truly bad. Her intentions were a mystery, and Scott couldn’t decide whether he should approach her, much less trust her, so instead he pretended that it didn’t bother him at all and focused on the pack and being its Alpha best he could.

Leo, on the other hand, had fully moved in with Uncle Vlad now, as he was his godfather after all, and had returned to school again. And so has Bella. She had improved amazingly fast, and was almost back to her spunky, elegant, and confident self, thanks to Leo’s patience and support.

He couldn’t stop talking about her as Sophia would always go and visit him at Vlad’s house. He and Bella were dating again, if they’d ever stopped, and Sophia couldn’t have been happier, seeing him so optimistic and positive about everything again, despite what they’d been through.

Uncle Vlad and Sophia had talked things through, and were on speaking terms. But even though she’d forgiven him, she still couldn’t be around him for too long. Both of them knew that it might still take time, or maybe it would never be better, but she was just so relieved that Leo was well taken care of there and was flourishing under the different household circumstances.

Speaking of, Thorin’s house had been torn down per her request, and the property had been sold to someone who wanted to build a new home for him and his family there.

The money she got from the sale, she mostly put away for investment and savings for Leo’s education, even though Vlad kept deflecting her wanting to help financially. Neil refused her payment for anything as well, despite her insisting, he just kept saying that there was a trip to the Rockies coming up anyway, so she should use it for that instead.

Which she did, and was exactly where they were headed to at that very moment. In fact, they had already landed at Calgary Airport in Alberta, Canada, and were about to take off for their road trip to Moraine Lake in their rental, much like the Jeep they’ve got back home it turned out, though this one was a beautiful light blue color she kept admiring as it was much like the color of the lake she’d seen on pictures. The very lake they were going to now.

Sophia was going to miss everyone they’d left behind. Whether she and Neil were going to stay here for a week if her mother’s people didn’t accept her, or if they were going to remain here for months, they didn’t know, she was going to miss Leo, Scott, and even Connor so, so very much, but she knew all of them were going to be completely fine without her there. As they told her many times themselves that she shouldn’t worry about them and just focus on enjoying the trip, learning as much as she could, and then return to them.

They were right, of course, but some part of her had hoped that they’d begged her to stay, so that she would have had an excuse to, or at least delay the trip to a much later date, because she was nervous as hell about taking this step. A step she just knew was the kind that once it was taken, that her life would forever be changed.

That was a terrifying feeling, as she’d gotten to quite enjoy the way her life had turned out, but at the same time it was something Sophia knew she had to do. She could feel it in her heart of hearts, this was what she was meant to do, and if she didn’t, she could never become who she was meant to be. Not do what she was meant to do.

It was fate calling her to those beautiful, cold mountains, and if she didn’t answer, life would not make sense anymore – if that even made any sense.

“Ready?” Neil asked her as he got behind the wheel, after loading their luggage and hiking gear into the back of the car, placing a reassuring hand on her thigh as he looked into her eyes for any sign that she didn’t want to go through with this anymore.

Sophia was anxious as hell, yes, but there was just no freaking way she was turning back now. The alluring song of new adventures that had carried her all the way here had just gotten stronger, and she was going to follow it if it was the last thing she ever did.

“Ready.”

With Neil by her side, now and forever, Sophia knew that she was able to face anything…

Even the air around the territory felt lighter, the sky brighter, and the days sunnier than ever.

Yes, Scott as Alpha had been the best thing that could ever have happened to the Lucian pack. Even the slums were no more.

That day Scott and Connor had waited in the slums for Sophia and Neil to go pick them up, they’d seen how shifters had been living in ghastly conditions there, and the area had become one of the first community projects Scott had ensured.

All those people had jobs now and were living in care centers where education, skills training, food, medicine, and everything they needed were provided to them with the purpose of getting them back on their feet so that they could transform into contributing members of the pack through the guidance provided to them there.

Sophia joked with him that she had been his first, that she had been his inspiration to help even more broken people become whole again. And even though they laughed about it, it was true. He’d realized his passion and what he cared about the most, and now that he was Alpha and in the position to make a tremendous difference, he wasted no time in doing so.

He was truly magnificent. There was no other way to describe him, the kind of man he was, and what he’d accomplished so far. He governed the pack with integrity, equity, justice, and compassion – and that was all that was needed to make the cities and the shifters in it look completely rejuvenated and full of life again for the first time in many, many years.

Scott was obviously very busy with his new duties, and Neil was his right-hand man, in it together as always, but Scott worked a bit too hard, which worried them. He was hardly home. Home being the apartment again now that it was safe once more for them to live there, as there was just nowhere else she wanted to be. With all the good and the bad memories, that was their home, though it felt empty and incomplete without Scott.

Sophia knew that he took his role seriously, and sacrificed his sleep, social time, and even eating to put in every single morsel of his being into fixing what Thorin had broken, but she was concerned that he was going to burn out soon.

She had her suspicions of course as to why he was acting this way. Now that he had finally found his mate, and also finding out that it had been Benson Baciu all along, she knew it weighed on him as well, which was why he was throwing himself so much into his work and duties because of it too.

The problem was, they didn’t know if Benson was truly good, nor truly bad. Her intentions were a mystery, and Scott couldn’t decide whether he should approach her, much less trust her, so instead he pretended that it didn’t bother him at all and focused on the pack and being its Alpha best he could.

Leo, on the other hand, had fully moved in with Uncle Vlad now, as he was his godfather after all, and had returned to school again. And so has Bella. She had improved amazingly fast, and was almost back to her spunky, elegant, and confident self, thanks to Leo’s patience and support.

He couldn’t stop talking about her as Sophia would always go and visit him at Vlad’s house. He and Bella were dating again, if they’d ever stopped, and Sophia couldn’t have been happier, seeing him so optimistic and positive about everything again, despite what they’d been through.

Uncle Vlad and Sophia had talked things through, and were on speaking terms. But even though she’d forgiven him, she still couldn’t be around him for too long. Both of them knew that it might still take time, or maybe it would never be better, but she was just so relieved that Leo was well taken care of there and was flourishing under the different household circumstances.

Speaking of, Thorin’s house had been torn down per her request, and the property had been sold to someone who wanted to build a new home for him and his family there.

The money she got from the sale, she mostly put away for investment and savings for Leo’s education, even though Vlad kept deflecting her wanting to help financially. Neil refused her payment for anything as well, despite her insisting, he just kept saying that there was a trip to the Rockies coming up anyway, so she should use it for that instead.

Which she did, and was exactly where they were headed to at that very moment. In fact, they had already landed at Calgary Airport in Alberta, Canada, and were about to take off for their road trip to Moraine Lake in their rental, much like the Jeep they’ve got back home it turned out, though this one was a beautiful light blue color she kept admiring as it was much like the color of the lake she’d seen on pictures. The very lake they were going to now.

Sophia was going to miss everyone they’d left behind. Whether she and Neil were going to stay here for a week if her mother’s people didn’t accept her, or if they were going to remain here for months, they didn’t know, she was going to miss Leo, Scott, and even Connor so, so very much, but she knew all of them were going to be completely fine without her there. As they told her many times themselves that she shouldn’t worry about them and just focus on enjoying the trip, learning as much as she could, and then return to them.

They were right, of course, but some part of her had hoped that they’d begged her to stay, so that she would have had an excuse to, or at least delay the trip to a much later date, because she was nervous as hell about taking this step. A step she just knew was the kind that once it was taken, that her life would forever be changed.

That was a terrifying feeling, as she’d gotten to quite enjoy the way her life had turned out, but at the same time it was something Sophia knew she had to do. She could feel it in her heart of hearts, this was what she was meant to do, and if she didn’t, she could never become who she was meant to be. Not do what she was meant to do.

It was fate calling her to those beautiful, cold mountains, and if she didn’t answer, life would not make sense anymore – if that even made any sense.

“Ready?” Neil asked her as he got behind the wheel, after loading their luggage and hiking gear into the back of the car, placing a reassuring hand on her thigh as he looked into her eyes for any sign that she didn’t want to go through with this anymore.

Sophia was anxious as hell, yes, but there was just no freaking way she was turning back now. The alluring song of new adventures that had carried her all the way here had just gotten stronger, and she was going to follow it if it was the last thing she ever did.

“Ready.”

With Neil by her side, now and forever, Sophia knew that she was able to face anything…