Chapter 116: Noah
Noah
I think we’re all a little hungover on Sunday when it’s time to board the Train to return home. I had no idea that I’d be sad to leave this place when I got here. I’ve grown so much over the last two and a half months.
There’s no question that we’re all washing our own sheets and blankets, getting them ready for the next group coming in. There’s no question that we’re cleaning up after breakfast and putting the last of the dishes away for the week the instructors are off. All of us have changed. None of us are the arrogant. Alphas that boarded the Train in what feels like a lifetime ago.
I’m not the only one who turns to look at the Academy that has become like a second home before finally boarding the Train.
“Am I the only one who feels sad?” I ask the others.
“No. It’s a bit like leaving home, knowing you won’t be returning for a long time, if ever,” Tyler says.
“Was it like that for you, Alphas?” Ezra asks the instructors.
“It was and is again,” Alpha Benjamin says, looking out the window. “I’m happy to be returning to my mate, but there is something about this place that makes it feel like home.”
“I know I’ll be talking to my mate about coming back. I’d forgotten how much I love this place and what it’s like to build something so strong, so quickly,” Alpha Daniel says.
“I already said I’d be coming back soon,” Alpha Will says.
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Unlike when we first got on the Train, all of us help ourselves to food and drink. The assistants still cook, but everyone still carries food out to the main area, and we sit together to eat.
“Am I the only one who is going to miss Haley’s cooking?” Liam asks.
Tyler grins at her while she blushes. She’s really cute. I hope they’re mates. Tyler invited me to his birthday party, but with everything going on and knowing that I want my father to come here next semester, I told him I’m needed in my pack.
“Alpha Noah, Sylvie and I are planning to spend one, maybe two nights in your pack. After that, we’ll need to visit our families to give them the good news before we return to the Train in a week.”
“I understand,” I tell them.
The stark contrast between Alpha James and Luna Sylvie versus Alpha Sebastian and Alpha Christina is night and day. If you had asked me to bet on which of the two would be happy at the end of the semester, I’d have laid all my money down on Sebastian and Christina. Now, both of them look miserable, although they are both trying to hide it.
Liam and I only get one night on the Train before we’re at our stop. Much like when we arrived, everyone gathers around to say goodbye.
Liam and I say our goodbyes, while Alpha James and Luna
Sylvie thank the instructors for their participation this semester and then wish the other Alphas well.
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“Keep in touch. Let us know how you’re doing. If you never need any help or someone to talk to, we’re only a phone call away,” Alpha James says to all of us.
When I hug Christina, I take the moment to offer any assistance
I can.
“Thank you for everything. Call if you ever need to talk or just come see me. My pack is always open to you. I have a Lead Warrior position available if you’re ever interested,” I say, making her laugh.
“I hope I hear from you in a couple of weeks, telling me your found your mate,” she says.
I save Luna Jo for last. When I hug her, I hold her tightly.
“Don’t say it,” she says but she knows me better than that now. A part of me fell in love with Luna Jo. She was very clear that she was too old for me and that I needed to find my mate, have pups, and live my life.
“I love you,” I say.
She shakes her head, then pulls out of the hug and cups my face in her hands. “I’m serious about you calling me when you meet your mate. I want to hear all about her.”
“I will Luna, I promise.”
She presses a soft kiss to my lips before I step away, looking around at this amazing group of people again before exiting the Train.
I wave goodbye to Liam before leading Alpha James and Luna
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Sylvie over to the car that is waiting to take me home.
“Welcome home, Alpha,” the warrior says.
“Thank you, Jason. This is Alpha James and Luna Sylvie. They‘ re going to be spending a couple of days with us,” I tell him as we get into the car.
“How’s Dad?” I ask him as he pulls out of the parking lot.
He looks at me where I’m sitting in the passenger seat. “The same. It’s been hard with you gone, Alpha Noah. The pack is… well, it feels even more desolate now than it did before you left. Everyone is very thankful that you’re returning home and have passed the Academy.”
Alpha James sits forward to join the conversation.
“Has Alpha Finn told the pack the reason for my visit?” he asks.
“No Alpha.” I’m not surprised. Dad doesn’t intend to work at the Academy.
The trip home only takes an hour, and I spend most of that thinking through my plan to encourage my father to go to the Academy. He has to do something with his life, or he’ll wither away and die. Now that I’m taking over as Alpha, he’ll have no reason to go on.
When we arrive at the packhouse and I step out of the car, the overwhelming sense of sadness and depression lays over me like a heavy blanket, I’d forgotten over the past couple of months just how stifling my father’s grief is.
“Wow,” Luna Sylvie says quietly from behind me. Even without a
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pack connection, she can feel the depression of the pack.
My father is waiting for us on the steps of the front porch.
“Welcome home, son. Congratulations on passing the Academy. Your mother would be proud.”
“Thank you, Dad. Let me introduce you to Alpha James and Luna Sylvie.”
My father’s eyes track to Alpha James. “You could have saved yourself the trip. I already told you no.”
Before Alpha James can respond, I step forward. “I would like for you to listen to what he has to say, Dad. I want you to really think about what he offers you. You need purpose in your life again. This pack needs to feel joy again. You may never get to the place where you are happy like you were with mom, but you need something that will help you feel connected, something that will give you and your Alpha wolf a reason to go on. Please do this for me, if not for yourself.”
He stares at me for a long moment, looking at me as if he’s never seen me before, before finally nodding his head in agreement.
“Okay, son. I’ll hear what he has to say,” he says quietly.
That night, Alpha James and Luna Sylvie lay it out for him, explaining what they need from him, the commitment that would be required, and the expectation that he not only teach. his classes, but help the young Alphas outside of class when needed.
“Give me one semester, Finn. One semester. Twelve weeks.
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That’s all I’m asking. If the job is not for you, then you’ve only lost three months? But if it is, then you, like me, Sylvie, Sebastian, Mia, and Jo, can find a new purpose in life. It’s important, the work that we do. I take our role very seriously. We build these young Alphas into the young men that they are. It’s not always easy, but it’s very, very rewarding.”
My father looks at me. “You’re a very different man than you. were when you left here a few months ago.”
“Yes, I am. I have more confidence, more strength, a better understanding of how to run a pack, and most important, I made life–long friendships. I found myself, Dad, and you can be a part of helping other young Alphas find themselves too.”
He swallows hard, then turns to Alpha James. “I’ll try it for one semester.”
“Good!” Alpha James says.
He and Luna Sylvie left the next day. My father and I moved up my Alpha ceremony to Thursday and over the weekend he and I went over everything in the pack.
The following Monday, I drove him to the Train station, a different one for instructors and assistants to use since they board the Train earlier than the young Alphas.
When he steps out of the car, I can feel his trepidation at going to the Academy.
“I’m proud of you, Dad. I know this isn’t easy, but I truly believe that it will be good for you.”
He turns and for the first time in a very long time, he pulls me
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into a hug.
“Thank you, son. I’m so proud of you. I know I don’t say it enough, or even at all anymore. But I’m so very proud of you.”
I wait until he boards the Train, then head home, ready to help my pack begin to find their happiness again.
Chapter 117 Liam
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Chapter 117: Liam
