6
ALAN
Breakfast in the Lockwood household meant leaving my bed, going down to the dining room, and making sure I was seated at the table before my father.
We had fought countless times over my lateness to the dining room, and most times, I would end up without eating, storming out of the room in anger.
But today, I knew that I had to go down.
If there was anything I had to do, it was to try and make peace with my father, especially after I had missed the battle of the Moonbane pack. Trying to stay back and avoid breakfast was simply setting fuel to an already raging fire.
As I made my way down to the dining room, I found myself wondering why we couldn't just have breakfast in our rooms.
But as my father had always said multiple times, the Lockwood name was a prestigious one, and that meant engaging in practices that upheld the name as prestigious.
One of such practices was eating our meals like a family, with everybody present.
It was my father's standard rule, and disobedience meant disrespecting the family name.
"Good morning my lord."
Boaz, the Captain of the Lockwood army and my father's beta stood just next to the staircase. He was a hard man who rarely spoke unless spoken to, preferring to do his talking on the battlefield.
It was a rarity to see him smile, and even now, with a greeting, his face was still stoic and unsmiling.
"Good morning Boaz. Has my father come down for breakfast yet?"
"No my lord. But your mother is at the table."
Nodding, I walked into the dining room, smiling at my mother. When I took my place at the table and observed that she hadn't returned my smile, I knew instantly that something was wrong.
"Good morning mother. You had a good night's rest, I suppose?"
She looked at me, and without even speaking, I knew what was wrong. My mother had always pampered me as a child, and it was only natural that the bond I shared with her, I didn't share with my father.
"There is nothing like a good night's rest when you know that another woman is on the bed you're supposed to be sharing with your husband."
Her answer reminded me immediately of how she had reacted yesterday after my father announced that he was going to spend the night with the princess of Moonbane pack.
From the onset, my father was uncontrollable. Apart from being a hard, ambitious man who would go to any length to have his way, he believed that he had reached the heights of doing whatever he could without being stopped.
"I'm sorry you have to go through this, mum, but I believe you have to stand up to him…he cannot disrespect you like this every single time…"
I had barely completed my words when the grand footsteps of my father made his way into the dining room.
He had a smirk on his face, a smirk he only had in the mornings when he had a good night.
I wanted to confront him because he was disrespecting my mother, but at the same time, I knew better than to provoke him after I had missed the battle at the Moonbane pack.
"Good morning the Lockwoods! What a pleasant morning! Winter this year is going to hit hard with the way the sun shines early in the mornings nowadays."
"Good morning dad."
He nodded, taking his place at the end of the table and popping a strip of bacon into his mouth.
He looked happier than I had ever seen him in a long while, and for a moment, I wondered if it was because he had spent the night with the Moonbane pack princess.
"You drink with your friends instead of joining us at the battlefield, and now, you come early to the dining room for breakfast. Whose side are you on, exactly?"
I sipped the coffee in the cup next to me instead of replying immediately, knowing that trying to plead was a waste of time.
He continued eating, before adding.
"Well, in case you're interested, we'll be attacking the Red Moon Pack next week. Their Alpha was amongst the witnesses at the panel who had stood against me. They'll pay, each and everyone of them."
I nodded, knowing that nothing would make me miss the next attack.
He rubbed his hands before he spoke again, as if he was about to announce something huge.
I glanced at my mother, who had barely said a word throughout breakfast.
"I might just be taking another mistress. What do you think, son? The Moonbane pack princess, she'll make a beautiful mistress next to me."
I glanced at my mother, too shocked for words. Once again, my father had gone ahead to disrespect her, acting as though she didn't exist. But to my surprise, if my mother was angry at his statement, she didn't show it.
She was calm and composed, a painful realization that she was going to sit there while my father said the things he said.
"Father, she's too young. And she's our enemy as well. What do you think people will think when they see you with the daughter of a man who betrayed us? And mother is still your wife, isn't she?"
My father laughed, a long, throaty sound, before proceeding to pat me on the shoulder.
"Have you forgotten so quickly, son? Whatever a king wants, a king will always get."
*
When breakfast was over, I purposely waited for my father to leave the table.
Once he was out of earshot, I turned to my mother, my brows furrowed.
"Come on, mum. How can you just sit there and let this happen? He wants to take her as his mistress. You have to say something. He'll continue disrespecting you if you continue acting this way."
For the first time that day, my mother smiled. It was a confident, crafty smile that made me wonder what she had planned.
"Alan, like a chameleon, one must always learn to adapt to one's surroundings."
I stared at her, an eyebrow raised.
What did she mean by those words?