"We left," Olivia said as a way of greeting. Those two short words caught Silas off guard. He couldn't believe his ears.
"What do you mean you left? Why'd you leave?!" Said he, shocked and angry at the same time. They didn't have to leave the pack for him, that was foolish work.
"Look, Silas," Olivia began, "we know how much you hate the alpha, you always did. But you never spoke up because you knew the importance of having a pack and no matter how much you hate your pack, you wouldn't leave it for anything."
"Or at least that's what we thought," Dante continued, "but about the last few weeks you were looking for the limits. You spoke up about his way of leading and you didn't mince words."
"Didn't bring me much good, did it" interrupted Silas, but Dante continued, ignoring his remark
"This first of all requires courage, a lot of courage. To go against an alpha like that. But the fact that you took on that fight knowing that it could either mean sending you away or finding a safe place for your friend, points to more than just courage. You were willing to give up everything if it meant making someone else's life better, safer.
After you walked out of the pack we thought about a way to get you back in. Until it occurred to us that that wouldn't bring you much joy. So we left the pack."
"That's the dumbest reason I ever heard, Min." Dante continued, again, ignoring Silas's remark
"We left the pack to join one with a worthy leader. Someone more than worthy of being alpha. Someone who would put his life on the line if it meant the safety of his beta."
Dante and Olivia dropped to one knee, head down, one hand on their knee and the other, in a fist, resting on the ground.
Silas was watching both in pure awe. He was afraid of what would come next. Not sure how to respond, he just listened to what they had to say.
"We know we ask much from you, Silas, so we're sorry for this but," Olivia started, but then continued simultaneously with Dante, "we want you as our alpha. To live, fight and grow as a pack. To lead us as if we're limbs of your own body. We accept you, Silas Sungjae Ahn, as our new alpha. As our only true alpha."
The words themself didn't mean much, but the feelings that lurked behind them did.
Silas felt as if his body and mind were connected with theirs. As if they were part of him. As if he could never let them down.
"I accept," Silas began, after a silence of a couple of minutes, to his betas who were still resting on one knee, "I accept to be your alpha. To lead you, to keep you safe and strong."
Silas's whole body was shivering, he was panicking, not sure if he could keep them safe. But he was sure he'd do everything he could to do so.
"I hope you know that as a pack of only three wolves, we won't be as strong as the others. I hope you know you should keep your distance from other wolves and packs. We don't want to get in trouble with the others. And most importantly, we don't feed on humans. I know it makes us stronger both as individuals and as a pack. But I won't take innocent people's lives and neither will any of you. Understood?" Not even two minutes in and he already had the tone of a real leader. The two shook their heads and stood up.
The next day, when Silas saw Jiwon at school, he dragged him into a toilet cabinet and locked the door. Jiwon, not sure what was happening, just stood there looking at his best friend.