Dynasties: The Three Alpha Lycan Kings

The low drum of the hospital monitors bounced off the hospital walls, echoing like a hollow chant inside of my head.

I shouldn’t have been able to hear it, yet I did.

I could hear nothing else but that sound.

~Beep. Beep. Beep.~

I cursed underneath my breath for my superior hearing, wishing at this moment I didn’t possess it.

Inside, my wolf stirred, restless—ears perked, eyes alert, mind unsteady.

Because she felt it just like I had.

The distant call, ~the summoning~.

It wasn’t just the medical monitors that had alerted her…it was something else, a low thrum inside my mind—commanding me to obey.

I didn’t answer.

In fact, I did anything but answer in kind.

Instead, I went back to my hospital rounds, checking on the patient in room five.

An elderly woman laid motionless in bed, intubated, the steady beep of the monitors drumming through my mind.

My gaze tracked over her—over the monitor screen with the concerningly low vitals, over her wrinkled, aged skin, over her life fading before my eyes.

My entire life I’ve always been different.

Different from humans.

Different from other werewolves.

And I used to hate myself for it—I used to wish to be anything else, like the other wolves, like my brother, like my mother and father.

I used to beg to fit in.

But now, I stopped loathing what made me different.

I’ve learned to embrace it.

I embraced it because without it—I wouldn’t be able to help those in need. I wouldn’t be as good of a nurse as I was.

I stepped forward, tugging the cloth curtain closed behind me, feeling the power linger in my fingertips.

When my palm rested on her forehead, I felt it—the distant thrum of energy in the tips of my fingers, humming beneath my skin, radiating from my body onto hers.

The moment it transferred—I felt weaker from the exertion, heaving in a deep breath, trying to stop my mind from spinning. I shook away the dizziness, blinking my eyes back open, gripping the top of the monitor to steady myself from falling over.

With power came weakness.

But I’d rather use it to help others, then not use it at all.

The voice echoed through my head again—the same command, loud and booming. But this time, it froze my entire body, stopping me dead in the middle of the busy hospital as people continued to pass around me, completely unaware of the voice that had brought me to a complete sudden standstill.

“Athena, you are to come home. Immediately.”

My body resisted—every nerve inside of me wanting to disobey instead of heed the command.

My fingers curled, my fists balling, as I tried to resist.

The word reverberated, low in the pit of my stomach.

~Home.~

~Was it really ‘home’?~

It never felt like it, not really.

I never felt at home in the pack. I always felt like an outsider. I always felt like I didn’t belong there.

And here—in Portland, in the human world, it didn’t feel like home either. It felt more familiar than there, sure, but I never felt like I truly belonged, not even here.

I didn’t feel different. Not beside Ryan, who was human, and a doctor, and normal, unlike the males in my pack, who always looked at me differently—with lust and fear in their eyes.

They saw me as a prize to be won—different in ways the others were not. And they hated me for rejecting them, for not choosing one of them but instead choosing to live out my life in the human world.

I didn’t feel different alongside the other nurses here—they didn’t look at me like I was an outcast, in fact I actually had friends here. Not like the pack females did for my wolf’s golden eyes and white fur, they hated me because I didn’t resemble them.

Yet, even though the human world helped me feel accepted, I knew—deep, deep inside that I didn’t quite fit in right here either.

I was torn between two worlds, neither of which I belonged to.

The voice came again.

~“Athena, I command you to come home.”~

I forced my eyes closed, hoping that would make the sound go away, yet it only made it louder.

Fingers wrapped around my wrist, yanking me from my thoughts.

The touch was warm, soft, assuring in ways I enjoyed, yet there was no connection.

Ryan, my doctor boyfriend.

His dark brows furrowed, a look of concern gracing his face. “Athena, are you alright?”

I forced a confident smile, shoving the truth deep inside of me. “Yes. I’m fine. Just tired.”

He nodded but his brows remained furrowed as his gaze dragged over me, studying me.

“Alright. I’ll see you later,” he nodded, before offering me a small smile.

I watched as he walked away, counting his steps until he disappeared around a corner out of view.

Ryan was kind, successful, and handsome. Any woman would be lucky to have him.

And in the werewolf world, he’d naturally be considered an Alpha.

But—the spark was missing. I didn’t feel anything when he touched me, I barely felt…aroused.

And I knew that, even though I felt more at home in the human world than I ever had among werewolves, I would never find my mate here—the other half of my soul, the one person I was destined to find.

I sucked in a deep breath, finally building up enough courage to respond in my mind. ~“When?”~

There was no hesitation in my father’s voice. ~“Tomorrow.”~

I didn’t bother arguing, it wouldn’t change anything if I did.

Pack hierarchy exists for a reason and when your father is Alpha, you learn that there is no use arguing.

And until I reached twenty-five, I was still at the whim of the pack—pack rules.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my name in the distance.

Turning, I met the eyes of our brand new attending physician, Dr. Palmer.

Cold blue eyes. Taut lips. A gaze that sliced you open just by looking at you.

“Dr. Palmer,” I greeted our eyes meeting.

“I see the patient in room five has taken a turn for the better,” he replied, searching my gaze.

I tried to keep my features unsuspecting and neutral. “Yes, I saw that Mrs. Collins is up and talking. Wonderful news.”

“Indeed,” he replied, tilting his head an inch, curiously. Placing his arms behind his back, he nodded, his gaze lingering on mine for a long moment before he walked away.

I exhaled, letting the tension uncoil.

~That was close.~

Dr. Palmer had just started at the hospital last week. He was quiet and watchful. We hadn’t exchanged more than a few words since he’s been here.

But there was something about him that felt….~familiar.~

I shook away the feeling, glancing down at my watch and noticing the time.

5:00 pm.

My shift was over.

I should have felt relieved, yet, I felt anything but.

The pit of my stomach hollowed, a cold certainty settling over me. I had a feeling that my life in the human world—the life I’d built for myself was coming to an end.