by S. N. Nair
I had heard of the awful things that had happened to packless females who were found by males, packless or not, wandering by themselves be it night or day. We were told about those stories as children so that we did not wander off, or leave the pack. We were told that a fate worse than death awaited us the moment we turned our back on our back. I use to think of them as just stories, I had faith in our kind. My faith disappeared when I accomapnied Rydert to visit a neighbouring pack under the flag of diplomacy. I had been wandering around myself, bored of the negotiation talk between Ryder and the other Alpha, no one paid me any mind as they thought of me as just the Alpha Female's sister. Ryder kept who I really was on a low profile. I ended up walking towards the more seedy pack area and what I saw would haunt me till the day I die.
*Packless females both young and younger were being sold to men like to common animals, they had collars with tags around their necks as others determined their worth. They had barely any clothes on, shivering in the cld night air. The younger girls grabbed on to the older girls for comfort as they both sobbed together... knowing that their fates were sealed. I couldn’t stand the sight any longer so I made a move to step in when I was held back by Ryder who told me that interfering now would jeopardise his negotiation for an alliance with this pack’s Alpha. I screamed that having an alliance with a pack that condones such archaic practices should be the last thing on our minds, those girls being displayed like prized cattle would most probably be taken advantaged of and beaten. This was one of the times where I was ready to go against my vows and harm my Alpha.*
*They deserved so much more than being someone else’s object of lust, some of them were as young as fifteen, they had so much ahead of them. Ryder said that the practices of other packs were not our concern besides, this was their fault as they had deserted their own packs when they knew the consequences of leaving. I remember looking up at him in shock, my hands were around his collar as I yanked him down so that we made I contact. My Generals stood frozen, unsure of whether to support me or protect their Alpha from their commander. I continued by tirade that these girls were probably living in such hell in their packs that made them think that taking their chances in the wild would be a better option than staying, that we should help them from being thrown into the fire once again. *
*"Remember your place, Sapphire. Let go of me now, my father might have placed you in this position, but he is gone now and so is yours. If you embarrass me in front of another pack, I will relieve you of the position you love so much."*
*I growled at him before wrenching my hands from his search. I watched mortified as Ryder just nonchalantly adjusted his shirt and what left his lips caused me to clench my jaw so hard that I cracked a tooth.*
*“They are just women, Sapphire. Moreover, they are not even one of our own. What could they possibly be worth saving for?”*
*I watched as his eyes widened with realisation as he remembered who he was talking to.*
*“Just women. Ryder, remember well when this woman right here saves your ass and your precious little pack. Again.”*
I remembered how his face flushed red before he abused his power as Alpha to send me back to our pack with an escort of my own Generals to make sure I could not intervene. The bidders actually shook their heads at me, going up to Ryder to give him tips on how to keep his female pack members in line. I actually pleaded with my Generals to let me go back to help those girls, but all they could do was hang their heads in shame. They did not have the power to defy Ryder even if they wanted to help. I even begged Cordelia to change her mate’s mind, but she just looked at the ground and told me that I should not defy my Alpha’s words.
I remembered my anger boiling over right at that moment, it took all of my Generals to forcibly drag me off as I screamed at Cordelia that she was weak and submissive which was why I got the position of Head Warrior Commander while she did not, that our father would ashamed of her if he could see her now... a disgrace to the Nightborne name. The screams and cries of those girls as they were dragged off and sold to the highest bidder covered my own. It was one of the most awful noises I have ever heard, they still make their appearance in my nightmares.
If these men right now thought they just hunted an easy score, they had another thing coming. I could not help those girls then but, I will avenge them right here by killing these men, they would never hurt another again.
A brown wolf emerged from the foliage into my line of sight, he growled as I lowered my stance once more, the hostility just radiated off the both of us. A hand grabbed at my pants as Chloe looked at me with fear before turning her gaze back to the wolf in front of us. More began to emerge from the forest, both human and wolves, I kept my centre as I turned to face every male who made even the slightest towards us. Chloe slowly pushed herself off the ground, pressing her back against mine as she lowered her stance as well, this caused a growl to leave the mouths of the wolves which were quickly silenced by my own much louder growl. They seperated into two groups, one group moved closer towards us while the other stepped back to circle. This was to ensure that they had another line of defense should we beat the first group.
I felt Chloe’s body trembling as she looked at the situation we were in, the wolves continued to close in on us as I snarled at them. She could barely keep herself standing, and those wolves could sense it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one lunge towards Chloe.
The various males’ eyes widened as they saw their comrade dangling in mid-air, his hind legs swinging aimlessly as he struggled to get out of my grip. With a movement of my hand, I threw him at his comrades, knocking some of them off their feet or paws. The rest growled before lunging, I cracked my neck as they come towards me, it had not been long since my last fight, but no matter... I will still give it my full effort.
It was a mess of fur, teeth, and claws as they all charged at once, I slashed and grabbed at whatever I could reach while Chloe busied herself with dodging every attack that came her way. I turned my head away as the wolf that I was currently holding made a move to snap at my face, his spit splattering against my face. I tightened my grip on its throat causing it to whine, another whine sounded from below me as I continued to put pressure on the wolf that I had pinned below me with a boot-clad foot. I kicked it on the side of its head causing it to go limp... unconscious. More wolves started to join the fight, I needed my hands and legs free. The wolf in my grasp began to gasp for air as my hand continuously tightened around its throat, its eyes beginning to roll back in its head as his thrashing began to slow down.
“You will never hurt another girl again.”
Chapter Thirty-One: Another Chance
Sapphire Nightborne
The wolves around me tilted thier head in confusions as I uttered those words. The wolf in my hand slowly began to grow limp when a voice caused me to drop it. It fell in a heap at my feet, the wolves around it gently dragging it back away from me.
“Enough.”
It was not a shout, but a command filled with authority, not as much as that of an Alpha but still that of a high ranking wolf. I watched as the wolves stopped their attacks and moved to the side to make way for whoever uttered the command. The male who emerged from the shadows was tall with a strong build, scars decorated his body, a clear sign of wolf who had seen his clear share of fights. My eyes focused on the tattoo that was exposed on his upper bicep, third in command, so these men weren’t the low riff-raffs I thought they were but nevertheless, I could not drop my guard. I had already seen the kind of behaviour even high-ranking wolves practiced and condoned.
“State your name and pack.”
His eyes were hard as he spoke with a business-like voice. This was just formalities, they were going to bring us to their Alpha no matter what I said, I had done the same thing myself in the past. This was done to create a false sense of security, make them more compliant to follow us. Wolves closely flanked him, bodies crouched to attack me the moment I posed a threat to the Third, my previ
ous actions did nothing to assure them I was not a threat. I slowly stepped forward in front of Chloe as I looked right at the eyes of the male before me, he stared into mine as well waiting for me to break the gaze first but I did not. Breaking the gaze first would indicate weakness and fear, that was what I was taught by my father when he trained me. I nudged at Chloe who peeked past me to stare at him, it took only ten seconds before she broke the gaze. I could not blame her, I doubt she had rarely been in such situations.
“Chloe Alexis Black, Black Blood Pack…”
Her voice trembled as she spoke, and for good reason. At the mention of her name and pack, the wolves began to growl, hackles raised, teeth bared as they began to advance towards us again. Chloe’s breathing began to quicken as her nails dug into my side, I looked straight at the male in front of me.
“Stop them now. The law states that if you find any packless wolves in your territory, you have to allow them to speak, free of personal judgement before taking them to your Alpha.”
This Law did exist, but was conveniently forgotten and not taught, so many packless could not state this law in their defense. Although, I am sure it would have done them no good if the pack that found them was less than honourable. I was silently hoping this pack was not made up of scum. He raised an eyebrow before bringing his palm up to stop the rest, they growled in slight protest before retreating to their previous positions.
“You seem to know a lot about the law. Now it’s your turn.”
I wanted to snarl at his words, it brought back bad memories from my past whenever I tried to justify my action, he sounded mildly curious about my knowledge, but it still reminded me of the condescending way the elders used to talk to me.
*"The Verat Pack has been skirting around our borders, we need to do something before they attack us."*
*We, the Elders, my father, Alpha Edan, Warriors and Warriors-to-be, stood in Alphas study drawing up a plan of action against the Verat Pack. They had been on our watch list ever since an alliance between our packs fell through as our Alpha refused to give up some of our pack members in return for a part of their territory.*
*"We cannot do anything unless they breach our territory. What their pack wanted was manpower, they will try to come in at night to try and kidnap our members. What if we set a trap? We could put our members in the stronghold and place warriors in their houses, and ambush them when they try. We capture them and use them as bait to get the Verat Pack off our backs. Alpha Raken cannot affort to lose any man, especially warriors."*
*My suggestions fell on deaf ears as the Elders continued to converse with Alpha Edan, my training mates looked at me with rueful smiles while my mentor placed her hand on my shoulder.*
*"Edan, I believe my daughter made a good suggestion."*
*The Elders feigned suprise at my father's words. They paused for a moment before one of them gave my father smile.*
*That sounds like a good idea Xavier, good job."
*We stood at attention as the Elders passed us, none of them acknowledging me. Alpha Edan gave me a nod while my father gave me a sad smile before leaving after them."*
“Sapphire Ragna Nightborne, Blackwater Pack.”
I saw various pairs of eyes widen as they took in my name and pack.
“Sapphire Nightborne? Daughter of Xavier Nightborne and sister of Alpha Female Cordelia Blackwater?”
I hated it when people referred to me like that, it was always, ‘The previous Head Warrior Commander’s youngest daughter’ or ‘The sister of the Blackwater Pack’s Alpha Female’. It was never ‘Sapphire Nightborne , the Blackwater pack’s Head Warrior Commander. I was always acknowledged for who I was related to, never once because of who I was and what I had done. I had claimed that I did not care about that, but it still smarts that no one knew of what I sacrificed to protect so many people.
“Yes.”
His eyebrows rose again at my cold tone.
“I thought the entire pack had been wiped off.”
There was a pang in my heart as he spoke those words. This statement was one that I will never get used to hearing.
“Well, it seems that it is not the case.”
My words caused his lips to quirk up to form a small smile as I gestured to my entire body. That small smile lasted for a fraction of a second before disappearing as he continued his interrogation.
“What is your business here?”
Chloe began to open her mouth, but closed it quickly when I squeezed her arm.
“We will only speak to the Alpha of this pack.”
Always speak directly to who was in charge, never rely on others to carry your words for you because you might never know how they would twist them to benefit their own agendas.
“Very well then.”
He gestured to his men who went back into the dense forest, the clanking of metal caused a small growl to leave my lips as they came out with shackles in their hands. I knew that they were once again just a formality to show that you were not a threat but they still rubbed me the wrong way, I raised my eyebrow at Brendon before he smiled again and waved his hand at his men who put away the shackles. I refused to be put in chains again, I had just gotten out of my previous ones.
***************************************************************************
“It must have been hard for you when Damien attacked your pack.”
His voice was caked with sympathy and pity, I hated it, I hated how the wolves who were very content to attack me just mere minutes ago now treated me like a porcelain doll that was going to break at any moment. They looked at me with pitiful and sad gazes that they thought I did not catch.
We were now walking through the dense columns of trees towards the southern side of the pack where Brendon, the third-in-command, told me their Alpha was waiting for us. I kept my silence as I walked on, Chloe clinging on to my arm, casting fervent looks at the wolves around us. She on the other was not treated with the same care as me, the wolves that walked around her still gave her contemptuous looks and bared their teeth that caused her to hide her face in my shoulder.
“What was your role in your pack?”
It always surprised me at how little other packs knew about me, Damien did not know about me and now Brendon. I would understand if they could not tell who I was from my appearance because despite my numerous visits to other packs I had never been able to sit down and talk to the Alphas and such as I was usually running around training. What got me annoyed was that they could not even tell who I was even from my name, after all my years of service at least recognised my name. I guess that Ryder did a good job of covering me up. I sighed as I looked at his curious eyes and decided to throw him a bone for his constant effort at small talk.
“Head Warrior Commander.”
He stopped when he heard my words causing one of his men to comically walk into him. He stared at me in amazement and just stood there as he tried to process what I just said. It was always the same reaction no matter who I told.
“You are the Blackwater Pack’s Protector?”
I nodded my head slowly at his words as the poor dear tried to wrap his head around the whole thing.
“But Alpha Ryder mentioned nothing about you at our last meeting, I admit he danced around the topic when our Alpha enquired about his recent victories. but he never really went more in depth into the subject.”
Of course he wouldn’t, I always knew that no matter how much he told me he was proud of me and that he valued me as a member of his pack, he was still ashamed at admitting that a female had saved his hide more times than he could count but I would always nod my head and thank him for my sister’s sake and reminded myself that he is, or rather was, family
.
I simply shrugged at him before continuing to walk ahead, the faster we meet the Alpha and get moving the better. Brendon continued to stand there for a while before he jogged up to me, easily matching my strides.
“That’s incredible! That means that you are t
he first female Head Warrior Commander in a hundred years.”
Of course, I was. Not many women were given the chance to be trained like how I was, they were stopped by the patriarchal reign of their Alphas who decided that a woman's role was to give birth and take care of the young. I was lucky that my father thought differently.
“The only female that I have ever seen fight as close to your standard is Angel.”
That peaked my interest, a female had been given more than the basic defence training. That was something I had not heard of in a while.
“Who?”
Now I was the curious one with the question.
“The Alpha’s sister.”
He waved a hand at the subject as if it was a secondary matter before he continuing to bombard me with questions. Gone was the stone-faced third-in-command whose voice dripped with authority, he had now been replaced with a small child who had just found a new toy.