I sniffed the air again. Gregory. Da must have sent him to make sure Niall went through with the challenges. Gregory was the youngest of my brothers. He was also arrogant and spoiled, but perhaps the most ruthless of us all. My wolf growled a menacing sound to warn them back. He did not like their close proximity to our mate.
I stayed low to the ground and watched and waited until they slowly came through the North Pass. The North Pass was the same section the Bulgarians had entered our territory when they came for Kelsey and I immediately noted the need to close it off or provide more security to this section of our land. Distracted by my brothers and their companions, the thought of thinking it being “our” and, as if it in some way belonged to me too, was missed. In that moment, I was Westin and my enemy just encroaching on my territory.
The first wolf to come through stopped and stared at me. Recognition flickered as I saw my brother. Niall immediately changed and put his hands up in peace. My wolf snarled and snapped his jaws. My brother did not move. He spoke softly, telling the others to change. He knew I could never attack him while in wolf form as long as he was in his skin.
“Brother, I come in peace.”
I was standing on two legs, furious, before I even knew what was happening. “You come in peace? Peace? Bloody hell, Niall. What the feck are you thinking? You come here to challenge me for my mate. MY. MATE,” I screamed.
I heard movement behind us quickly approaching. As a pack of Westin wolves breached the clearing, Elise turned to them and barked once. They all heeded and sat to watch, waiting for the moment they were needed. I knew they had my back and I knew my brothers wouldn't stand a chance if they tried anything.
The realization that I was thinking like that about my brothers, my own flesh and blood, made me sick to my stomach, but this was the position our father had put us in.
“I don't want to fight you, Patrick, but you don't know how furious Da got with your betrayal.”
I snorted at his choice of words. Da would always see it as a betrayal. I knew it with certainty. I would never regret what I had done though, not even for him, the man I had once idolized.
“You fight me, you will die. Do you understand that? I don't want to kill you, but if you choose to go through with this, I will not spare you.”
I watched him pale at my threat. He knew my capabilities and my strengths and weaknesses in a fight, but he had never felt the power and possession that came with a true mate. There was no way anyone was taking her from me.
As if sensing my heightened anxiety, I felt Elise's soft fur brush up against me and I began to relax. I turned to the wolves and nodded my head for them to leave us. “Go,” I said. “Enjoy the rest of the run. They will be escorted off pack land and guarded till morning. They will not interfere with the pack run in any way. This I assure you.”
Several howls broke out as the wolves dispersed. Elise was the only remaining and she did not leave my side, nor did she shift back to her human form. For this I was very thankful. I understood now what Kyle had warned regarding other males around my mate, but neither could I stand to have her out of my sight, and I knew if she returned to her human form, I would be as quick to attack her as she had me just a few hours earlier.
“You're approximately fifty yards into Westin pack territory. There's a pack run going on tonight and you will exit our land and leave them to run in peace. You can set up camp for the night and I'll arrange a meeting with Kyle in the morning.”
Niall looked surprised, and a bit of hurt and confusion crossed his face at my words. Gregory scoffed in disgust. Jack, an old childhood friend of Niall's who was practically another brother to me, shook his head and turned to leave. The last remaining was the stranger that came with him. I didn't recognize his scent, but I suspected he was the Bulgarian Dave had warned me of.
“Bulgarian,” I said, watching shock, fear, and anger simultaneously register. “We'll be watching you especially close.”
A low growl came from him, but he turned and stomped off with the others.
The good thing about the North Pass is that it was literally that, a pass. A steep mountain that sloped down to the valley on one side and a rock face comprised the other. It was thirty feet long and about five feet wide, just enough to comfortably walk it in single formation. Side by side was possible, but could be scary as hell. Just on the other side of the pass it opened up, and I knew they could find a place to camp.
I shifted to my wolf form and walked over to the pass. About ten yards in I could just see around to the entrance on the other side. I dropped to the ground with a huff and knew it was going to be a long night. Elise's soft fur snuggled into my side. I looked at her and she grinned, giving me a big sloppy kiss across my nose. The noises that followed from her were kind of creepy, but I knew it was her laughing through her wolf.
While my mate tended to be more serious and guarded in human form, her wolf was extremely playful, carefree, and affectionate. I had caught glimpses of that personality in Elise too, when she let her guard down. I longed for the day that her guard stayed permanently down. We were making progress, but I still felt like there was a part of her that she held back from me.
She settled down and went fast to sleep as I kept watch.
As the sun began to crest through the trees, I stirred at a nearby noise. A snap of a twig had me jumping to my feet with a menacing growl. I had fallen asleep. Elise was still sound asleep on the ground next to me as if she were completely unaffected by anything in the world. So peaceful.
The sound of approaching footsteps had my wolf baring his teeth as a low rumble shook through my chest.
“Whoa, boy. Whoa!” Jack said as he stumbled back a few steps.
I shifted. “Bloody hell, Jack, what are you doing here?”
“What am I doing? You nearly put the cross sideways in me heart, Patrick.”
I shook my head, trying to calm my nerves. I shifted and breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth as my racing heart slowly subsided.
He sat on the ground in the middle of the path a few feet away from me and I slowly did the same, acting as a buffer between him and Elise, careful not to leave my mate unprotected.
“She really worth it?”
I looked back at the still sleeping black wolf and smiled. “Yeah, she is.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Stupid sappy smirk on your face. Who'd ever have thought it? You? Patrick O'Connell? Favored son of Aidan, Clan Alpha? I didn't believe it when I heard it. Now look at you.”
“Never happier in all my life, Jack.”
“She really that good?” Jack asked, wagging his eyebrows up and down and making obscene gestures with his hand. I tossed a rock at him, trying to keep my composure. I knew he was only trying to get a rise out of me.
“Fine,” he finally conceded. “This place got a good tavern at least?”
“Aye, it does. The Crate. It's down in town.”
“Good to know. So, all that talk last night about ‘my territory' and 'my pack,' you can't possibly believe that. You're an Irish wolf. You belong in the Clan. We're not here to fight you, Patrick—we're here to take you home.”
I looked at him in confusion. “He didn't tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Jack, Da banished me from the Clan. He sent Niall to fight me for my mate and take over Westin Pack. I'll never return to our homeland.” The thought saddened me, but not as much as I expected it should. It was true: for me, at least, San Marco was already home. Westin was my pack.
Jack looked horrified. “No, that's not right. Niall's orders were to come and bring you home.”
“No, Jack, they aren't.”
“He can't. He can't fight you. For her?”
I shook my head. “No, for Da.” I let that sink in a bit before hitting him with the next question. “You gonna tell me why a Bulgarian is traveling with you?”
“A Bulgarian?” he snorted. “I don't know what you mean. You talking about Bruno? He's no Bu
lgarian. Found him in the woods, we did. A lone wolf. Your da took him in and has been counseling him. Thought it would be good experience and extra help to get you home.”
I stared at him like he was an idiot. “He's a Bulgarian, Jack.”
“No, he's not. Niall would have told me.”
“Like he told you about his challenge?”
“I don't know what you're playing at here. Our orders are to grab you and get back to the Clan as quickly as possible.”
“Then why didn't you just grab me last night? We could be hours away from here by now, but where's Niall?”
“He-he said we needed to rest first,” Jack confessed, stumbling over his words and thinking things through. He jumped up, irritated. The tips of his ears were turning a dark red. “No bloody way. I don't believe you.”
As the sun was steadily rising in the sky, and Jack stomped off to talk to Niall, I woke up Elise. She stretched her front paws and yawned, turning sleepy eyes towards me. Her sleek black coat shined in the morning rays. Her wolf was truly as magnificent as she was.
“Love, I need you to go and alert Kyle that we have company.”
“No need,” Kyle said exiting the woods fully clothed with Cole Anderson and several others flanking him. He tossed me a clean set of clothes from a bag and threw the bag itself at E. With a nod of his head, she gave me one last look and headed off into the woods.
I quickly changed just as Niall and his party entered the pass.
“Patty, it's morning. Your pack run is over. Let's just get this whole ordeal over already. Take me to Kyle Westin, alpha of Westin Pack, so I can formally enter my challenge.”
“Bloody hell, I swear I didn't know, Patrick,” Jack swore.
“That will not be necessary,” Kyle spoke, entering the pass and sizing up the arriving party. “You travel with my enemy,” he spat out, staring down the one they had called Bruno. “And as such your challenge will not be accepted, nor will any of you be permitted to enter Westin territory without declaration of war.”
Turning to the Westin wolves, he made an announcement. “Last night I had an emergency meeting with the Grand Council via video call. In light of the attack, and the kidnapping of my sister, a formal declaration of war against the Bulgarians has been issued. Since you travel with a Bulgarian in your party, that makes you my enemy as well. You will leave the area at once and return to your alpha. Not doing so would be very, very bad.”
I could feel the release of Kyle's alpha powers. They were so strong even my wolf struggled not to kneel in complete submission to the man, but when Kelsey walked out, surrounded by five wolves, his power strengthened even more. She held her head high and I could see she was pissed.
“How dare you interrupt a pack run,” she said as the wind picked up and began to swirl around us.
“Looks like someone needs to learn how to keep his bitch in line.” Gregory grinned arrogantly.
A small tornado started just beneath his feet, knocking him on his arse and sending him up into the air and over the side of cliff, suspended by the whirling wind beneath him. He screamed.
“I am a grade-A certified, one of a kind, alpha she-wolf witch bitch, and I am very pregnant and hormonal. You would do best not to piss me off any further.” With the wave of her hand my youngest brother went flying back into the rocks with a hard thud that projected him forward. Jack and Niall grabbed him just before he went over the cliff edge.
I had never seen Kelsey's powers before like this.
“Babe, you've been practicing,” Kyle said proudly, and her anger deflated at his praise.
“Yeah, it felt good, too. All those hormones just kind of exploded.” He gave her a quick hug and I smiled, watching them.
A small hand clasped mine and I didn't need to turn to look to see my own mate had joined my side.
“Bulgarian,” Elise yelled to Bruno, who raised his chin in defiance. “Learn your lesson yet? No Bulgarian is welcome in Westin, and no Bulgarian sympathizer or supporter is, either. Go home, or face the full wrath of Westin. You'd do well to inform your pack. We won't put up with any further attempts to hurt anymore members of our pack.”
His arrogance got the better of him. “The Bulgati's are idiots who screwed up their mission. It was never to hurt you,” he spat in disgust. “You were no more than a tool to hurt Kyle and negotiate for Kelsey.” Turning to Kelsey, he addressed her directly using her birth name. “Elena, you belong to Bulgaria. We will have you, no matter the cost.”
There was some commotion behind us and I saw Bruno pale. I turned slowly to see Omar of the Grand Council exit the woods. He nodded at Kyle.
“I really wish you hadn't said that, but in light of the confession just made, Bruno of Bulgaria, the Grand Council will affirm the war between the packs. You've left us no other choice. A threat to Westin's Pack Mother is a serious crime against the wolves and will not be taken lightly. Kyle, you have your affirmation of war.”
“You were bluffing. You said the affirmation was already confirmed. You were bluffing,” he snarled.
Kyle just proudly grinned and shrugged. “And you just got outsmarted by two female bitches.”
Elise squeezed my hand and I looked down to my smiling blue-eyed beauty as I slowly began putting the pieces together.
“The Grand Council was still pushing for peace, saying the reports that the Bulgarians were behind your kidnapping could not be substantiated.”
She nodded. “All I had to do was get him to confess.”
I pulled her into my arms and proudly kissed her for all to see, before turning back to my brothers. “Go home, boys. Tell Da our borders are closed, and if he continues to mingle with Bulgarians, we'll be adding the Irish to our list of enemies.”
“Bloody hell,” Jack said. “I swear we didn't know he was Bulgarian, Pat.”
I could see on both my brothers' faces that was not the truth.
“My challenge. I have the right to challenge Patrick O'Connell in the legacy of mating rituals. Kyle, I officially place my chal—”
Kyle cut my brother off. “Challenges will only be accepted from Westin wolves and officially allied packs, as per the Wolf Packs War Treaty. As the Irish clan had not previously chosen a side, but is working with my enemy, I do not accept your challenge, or any Irish wolf's challenge proclamation here.”
“Patrick is Irish,” Gregory sneered. “You cannot dismiss Niall's challenge against our clan-mate.”
“Actually,” Kyle said, “Patrick is Westin now. Officially requested, accepted, and as of this morning, trials have been completed and unanimously signed off for transfer by all Pack Council members. Go home. There will be no challenges from you.”
I knew my eyes were practically bulging out of my head. Was Kyle bluffing again?
Snarls and a few growls came from my brother's group, but they finally turned tail and left without further incident.
Omar approached me and handed me an envelope. “Your official pack transfer papers, as recognized by the Grand Council. Congratulations.”
I stared down in shock at the papers in my hand. “This is real?”
“It's real, man,” Kyle told me.
“We got you, bro,” Liam said, slapping me on the back.
“Dude, we told you, you're Westin now.”
Saul approached. “I know it's a little unorthodox, but we have a list of requirements for Westin transfer, mostly surrounding pack loyalty. Last night I stayed and watched you interact and speak with the foreign wolves. There was no doubt in my mind where your loyalties lay. When Omar arrived this morning, and an emergency pack council gathering was called, I made motion to close the trials as complete for you. Welcome to Westin, son.”
“Thank you, Saul. I really don't know what to say.”
The others laughed and congratulated me. Elise stayed by my side through it all, but had remained quiet. Smiling and supportive, but quiet. The morning seemed to drag on with formalities and conversations ahead of the night's pack meeting wh
ere I would be officially introduced as the newest Westin pack wolf, and our formal announcement of mating and opening of the challenges. It was so much to absorb that it overwhelmed me. The only thing grounding me was the constant presence of my mate.
At last we finally found ourselves alone and I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. Looking into her eyes, I needed my final affirmation.
“Elise, you're okay with all of this? I mean, it's happening so fast. I'm a little overwhelmed by it all.”
“You gave up everything for me, Patrick. You switched packs, for me. I don't know how I'll ever make this up to you. I—” she started, and shook her head smiling up at me. “You can't possibly know how much this all means to me.”
I hugged her close. “There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, love. Don't you know that by now? I love you.”
With tears glistening in her eyes she stared at me in awe. “I love you, too.”
Elise
Epilogue
Kyle glanced down at his watch then looked around the room. “Final call for challenges,” he announced. “Anyone? Anyone?”
I smacked him affectionately.
“Okay, well, if no one has any last second challenges, then Elise and Patrick, you are officially, one hundred percent, cannot be challenged again, mated. Congratulations!”
“Challenged again?” Lily whined. “That would insinuate they actually had a challenge to begin with. So unfair.”
I laughed happily and pulled Patrick to me for a kiss as cheers rang out all around us. It was true. We'd survived the four-month mating period without a single challenge to either of us. Of course, the limited pool of challengers due to the war had helped our cause some. It made me feel more like an idiot for all those months of running from him in fear of the challenges. I was grateful he had never once pointed that fact out or commented on my stupidity.
Patrick had officially accepted the role as Beta. He was in charge of pack security and he seemed happy with his new job. His first order had been to close off the North Pass entirely. Given its history, I'd say that was a pretty smart move.
Fighting Destiny (Westin Pack Book 2) Page 23