by Cooke, CJ
Slowly drifting down towards the pyre, I stretched out one hand down towards the flames. In the back of my mind, I could hear the guys shouting my name and the pack screaming for me to stop. They all fell quiet when the hand reached up out of the flames and took hold of mine. I surged up with my wings, pulling her up with me. Once we were a safe distance from the fire, I pulled Britt’s spirit to me and held her.
She looked exactly how she had laying on the pyre, dressed in her fighting leathers with her katana strapped to her back. I wished I could have held onto her forever, but I knew I was just helping her take the next step on her journey. She smiled at me as she pulled back and then she looked down at her grandmother, at her pack. They just stared up at us in awe. Margie placed one hand over her heart and blew Britt a kiss.
Britt turned back to me and whispered, “I’ll see you on the other side, Valkyrie.”
I nodded, there were no words that could ever be enough to tell her how much I was going to miss her.
Britt looked over my shoulder, and when I looked too and followed her gaze, I saw a warm, soft light.
“It’s time for me to go now.”
I reluctantly let go of Britt’s hand, and she drifted towards the light before just simply fading into it.
Flying back down to the ground, I landed next to my mates. Kyle immediately took hold of my arms and began to check me for burns. When he was satisfied I was uninjured, he just sighed, and his shoulders slumped down.
“You’re going to be the death of me, woman,” he simply said.
While Kyle was checking me over, Margie had made her way over to me. She pulled me into her arms again and simply whispered, “Thank you,” into my ear before she turned and went back to her friends.
I could hear the pack whispering about what had happened. Della was throwing some kind of hissy fit in an attempt to gain some attention for herself. It was becoming strangely easy to just fade her out. It seemed like the popular opinion was that I was an angel. No one was guessing right just yet. The Elite girls were still standing vigil around the pyre. They stood tall and proud. I was so proud of them.
“Now might be a good time to slip out,” Liam said, looking around. Most of the pack were standing gossiping, but no one was approaching us, and Marcus and Wyatt were nowhere in sight. He was right, now was definitely the time to make our escape.
Once we were in the treeline, it was like silence wrapped around us. The clearing was so enclosed that you didn’t really know it was there, especially once you’d stepped past the stone circle. I didn’t even hear them coming, but the guys must have, because suddenly Liam had disappeared and his panther was in his place, whilst Sykes and Kyle’s wolves suddenly burst from them.
Kyle moved in front of me, his upper lip raised as he snarled at the trees in front of him. Liam pressed against one side of me, and Sykes came in against my other. Five wolves stepped out of the trees in front of us, growling and snarling. They weren’t here for friendly reasons.
“It’s Isaac’s pack,” Liam whispered into my mind.
Four more wolves were suddenly closing in behind us.
“How is Isaac’s pack so big?” I whispered back to Liam.
“It’s not,” he said, and I could almost hear the smile on his face, “That’s Trent and his friends.”
I sighed in relief. We now outnumbered them. There was no way they could win this fight. I mean, they had no chance before, I would have slaughtered them all, but now their chances went from slim to abysmal.
Kyle changed back into his human form. “Isaac, change!”
One of the wolves in front of us stumbled, then snarled.
“What’s happening?” I whispered to Liam.
“Kyle … Kyle is forcing him to change,” he said in surprise.
“I didn’t know that he could do that.”
“He can’t. I mean, he couldn’t. Only the very strongest Alphas can do it. Marcus has been the only Alpha that’s been able to do it for decades. That’s why he is the Prime Alpha.”
“Change!” Kyle roared.
The wolf that must have been Isaac flopped belly down onto the ground and whimpered. It shimmered and struggled but eventually, a panting Isaac lay in its place.
“You dare to try and ambush my pack and my mate,” Kyle shouted. “What were your intentions?” he asked.
Isaac didn’t reply. He just glared up at Kyle from the ground. Kyle looked around the wolves in front of him.
“Someone had better explain if you expect me to let you walk away from this that is,” he growled.
All of the wolves in front of us changed. Isaac’s pack stood in front of us in their human forms. Liam and Sykes moved forwards to flank Kyle, and Trent’s pack moved past me to stand behind them. One of the wolves stayed at my side, but I’d never seen any of them shift before, so I didn’t know who it was.
Isaac’s pack was just looking between themselves, while Isaac was still laid panting on the ground in front of them.
“That bitch humiliated me in front of the Prime,” Isaac shouted. “She needs to be put in her place.”
“And you decided you were going to do that?” Kyle said menacingly as he stepped towards them.
Surprisingly, Isaac’s pack took a step back leaving him unprotected on the ground. Isaac looked even more surprised by their actions than I was.
“Why isn’t he getting up?” I whispered into Liam’s mind.
“It’s difficult to stand against an Alpha that is stronger than you,” Liam explained.
“You came here intending to attack and kill my pack and my mate?” Kyle questioned him.
“She needs … “ Isaac started.
“She needs nothing!” Kyle yelled. “You’re the male who lied about a female being his fated mate so you could force her to be joined to your pack against her will. You ARE a rapist, Isaac. Every female wolf should be warned about you. But the things is, you came here intending to kill me and mine. You know the pack rules,” Kyle said, kneeling in front of Isaac and grabbing hold of his hair, craning his head back.
“She isn’t even pack. You would choose her over your pack,” Isaac gritted out.
“She is my mate. I would choose her over the entire world,” he growled as he tightened his grip on Isaac’s hair, making him grimace. “Who will stand as witness to what has happened?” Kyle yelled.
The wolf next to me was the first to change, and I saw it was Trent who had stayed by my side. “As a pack Alpha, I will stand witness,” he shouted.
Kyle looked over at Isaac’s pack who’d taken even more steps away, abandoning their Alpha to Kyle’s rage. As Kyle locked eyes with them, his free hand partially shifted into claws, and he ripped Isaac’s throat out.
“I will spare you this time. Next time, you make a move against anyone I care about, I will kill you all without a second thought. Now pick up this sorry excuse for a wolf and return him to the packhouse.” He dropped Isaac’s dead body to the ground, and his old pack rushed to collect the corpse and take it away.
Kyle stood and watched them go. I could see his shoulders heaving as he panted in anger. No one moved; we all waited for him to rein back in his rage. When he finally turned to face us, I could see his reluctance to meet my eye. When he finally gathered the courage to look at me, I gave him a soft smile and walked to his side. Standing on my tiptoes, I gently kissed his cheek before taking his hand in my own. Liam and Sykes returned to their human forms, and the rest of Trent’s pack followed.
Trent looked around his pack members, and they all nodded at him. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it seemed like it was significant. He walked up to Kyle and dropped down onto one knee. “I will pledge my pack to your own if you will have us,” he said.
Kyle looked down at Trent, clearly considering what to say next.
“We can’t do this here, come back to the house, and we’ll talk in my suite.” He looked around at the trees surrounding us before he nodded in the direction of the house. Trent nod
ded, and Kyle simply turned and started to walk away. As he was still holding my hand, I had no option but to go with him. Everyone followed behind us anyway.
My mind was racing. What was happening? What did it mean if Trent bound his pack with ours? Was I about to become their mate as well? The question slammed into my mind, and I could feel myself starting to panic.
“What’s wrong, Aria? I can feel your panic, and it is making my wolf uneasy,” Kyle whispered into my mind.
“What does it mean if Trent pledges his pack to you?” I whispered back to him.
“They will become part of our pack,” Kyle explained. “As I’m not the Prime Alpha it means Trent would be stepping down as their Alpha and they would be accepting me in his place.”
I thought about this, and my mind began to race with the implications. I could feel my heart rate pick up as I started to panic. Kyle suddenly stopped and pulled me into his arms. “Why is that making you panic so much, Aria? Talk to me,” he whispered to me.
“What the fuck?” I screamed in my mind. I must have projected it to all three of my mates’ minds because they all flinched and put their hands to their heads. I’d feel bad for them if I wasn’t having an epic freak out of my own.
“What is happening?” Sykes grumbled into everyone’s mind.
“I am not a free for all Aria buffet. There will be no pass the Aria down the left-hand side,” I screamed into their minds.
“What are you talking about woman?” Sykes whispered to me. “And stop yelling in my head, it fucking hurts,” he said, cradling his head in his hands.
“Kyle said that Trent and his friends are going to become part of your pack,” I told him.
“Ooooo,” Liam whispered between the four of us. “Aria, Kitten, I think you have the wrong idea, and Kyle may not have explained things correctly to you,” he said, putting his arm around me and pulling me into his side. “You won’t be expected to mate with them, Kitten. They won’t be part of the pack like that,” he explained.
I felt the relief wash over me and didn’t realise how much it had been bothering me. “Well, this world is so fucked up, you can’t blame me for thinking that,” I whispered, a little bit embarrassed by my reaction.
“Let’s just get to the suite, shall we?” Kyle said out loud to everyone.
I hadn’t realised until right now what a bunch of weirdos we must all look like. No one knew we could speak into each other's minds yet. Trent was looking at us all like we’d gone crazy. I bet he was reconsidering joining the pack now.
We walked silently through the house. Most of the pack were still at the clearing. That just left Isaac’s pack who had taken his body god only knew where, and also Marcus and Wyatt who left early, to watch out for.
When we got back to the suite, we all just flopped down into seats. This week was truly exhausting! I looked over at Trent who was still looking between the four of us, trying to figure out what was going on.
“In my experience, it’s best just to ask,” I said to him with a smile.
“You …” he said, pointing to the four of us, “… something weird is going on.”
“That’s one way to put it,” one of his friends mumbled.
“Firstly, I think we need to talk about pack business,” Kyle said. They all turned to look at him. He actually looked like an Alpha, sitting there addressing his pack. I’d never noticed it before. Maybe it wasn’t just my magic that was growing stronger. “Do you stand by your petition to join my pack?” he asked Trent’s pack.
Trent looked each of his pack members in the eye, and they all nodded to him. When he was done, he turned back to Kyle. “Yes, I will step down and accept you as my Alpha,” he answered.
“You realise by joining our pack you will not become Aria’s mate. She is our fated mate. If fate should decide you should mate with her, it will ultimately be Aria’s decision if that is going to happen,” Kyle said, addressing the whole of Trent’s pack.
They all had the decency to look embarrassed, and Trent just blushed the deepest red I’d ever seen.
“We didn’t assume any differently,” he said. Then he quickly looked over at me. “No offence Aria, but I just see you as a friend. You’re very beautiful, I mean …, it’s just that … well,” he trailed off.
Aww, bless, Trent had exactly zero game, and I couldn’t help but laugh at his mumbling.
“No offence taken, at all,” I said with a smile.
“Then it’s agreed,” Kyle said, standing and holding out his hand to Trent who stood and shook it. “Welcome to our pack. We’ll have to do the ritual now, and I would suggest we do it quietly and quickly,” he sighed as he sat back down. “We need to fill you in on what’s happening once you’re officially members of the pack and we have very little time to get it done.”
Trent looked between the four of us. “We can do it now,” he agreed.
“What’s the ritual?” I whispered to Sykes.
“It’s a whole biting thing. It doesn’t take long,” he whispered back to me.
Kyle started moving the coffee table to make room, and I pulled my feet up onto the sofa to stay out the way. Sykes happily stayed curled up with me while Liam and the other guys were enlisted in moving the other seats back against the wall, to open up a big space in the centre of the living room. Finally, Trent and the rest of his packs changed into their wolf forms and stood in a line in front of Kyle.
“Trent, Ian, Harrison, Ellis, you have petitioned to join my pack and accept me as your Alpha. If this is not your wish step back now.” No one moved.
Kyle transformed into his wolf. He was magnificent in his wolf form. His fur was jet black and longer than the others. His amber eyes seemed to glow. He was enormous and stood almost to my waist when I was standing. Trent and his pack were smaller. Only slightly larger than a normal wolf. They ranged in colours from grey to brown. I hadn’t seen many wolves, but Kyle was the only black wolf I’d seen.
Kyle padded over to me first and nuzzled his head against my leg. I ran my fingers through the soft fur on top of his head. Maybe we needed to make more time for their animals to spend time with me.
When he was done, he walked back to the line of new pack members. From where they had been standing before, I knew that Trent was the last in line. Kyle stood in front of one of Trent’s friends. I was going to have to learn their names after this.
Kyle looked the first wolf in the eye, and Trent’s friend cast his eyes to the ground and lowered his head. Kyle suddenly darted forward, and his teeth latched onto the other wolf's neck. This was obviously supposed to happen because Trent’s friend didn’t freak out at the massive wolf currently chomping down on him.
Kyle made his way down the line doing the same to each wolf, and then he came to Trent. For some reason, I found myself feeling nervous when he reached Trent. Was he going to react differently, being an Alpha himself? Kyle looked him in the eye and Trent immediately cast his eyes to the ground, but rather than drop his head as the others had he turned his head to the side and exposed his throat to Kyle.
I sat up suddenly. I didn’t want Kyle to hurt him. Kyle opened his mouth and closed it around Trent’s throat. He could easily rip his throat out if he wanted to. I saw him squeeze his teeth a little, but Trent made no move at all. Then Kyle just opened his mouth and stepped back. Trent lowered his head as the others had done and Kyle darted forwards and sunk his teeth into the side of his neck. When he let go, they all just transformed back into their human forms.
There was a round of hugs and manly pats, you know the stuff that men seem to do to congratulate each other. Then they just went back to moving the furniture back into place.
I sat back in my seat and glanced over at Sykes to find him frowning at me.
“What?” I whispered into his mind.
“You just looked very concerned about Trent for a moment then?” Sykes whispered back.
“Don’t do that,” I whispered to him. I shuffled over and sat in his lap. With one hand
on his cheek, I stared deeply into his eyes. “Don’t doubt me. Trent and his friends are not going to become my mates. I was concerned he was about to die. I don’t know about these rituals like you do.”
I ran my nose along the side of his, and I felt him relax beneath me. “After this is all over, I think you should help me shower this smoke smell off me,” I whispered to him, and he grinned and kissed me deeply, holding me tightly.
When we heard a throat clear behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Kyle and Liam grinning at us while everyone else just watched awkwardly.
“As much as you may want to continue with that, we do have things that we need to discuss,” Kyle said with a laugh when he saw me pout.
“You see, that,” Trent said, pointing between Sykes and I. “What was that?”
“That’s called kissing, mate,” Sykes said even though we knew that wasn’t what he was asking about.
Trent just gave us a look that was clearly his ‘stop fucking about’ look and said. “You know what I mean, what’s going on?”
Kyle looked between Liam, Sykes and I as if asking for permission. I didn’t see what the big deal was so I just shrugged at him. Kyle sighed and turned to look at Trent and his friends who had sat down now, Trent perched on the coffee table, and his friends had taken the other sofa opposite us.
“Since we completed the mating bond with Aria, we’ve been able to mind speak,” Kyle said, watching them to gauge their reactions.
Trent’s mouth just fell open, and no one spoke for a minute. “You’re the strongest Alpha I’ve ever felt, and that’s including your father. If you’ve truly brought back a mating bond that strong …” he drifted off. I didn’t see what the significance of the strength of our bond meant.
“I actually think it’s Aria’s magic that’s responsible for the strength of our bond,” Kyle offered.
“What are you?” one of Trent’s friends asked looking over at me suspiciously. “Are you truly an angel?”
“No, I’m not an angel,” I replied.