by Unknown
Who is going to be their new Alpha? Who will be the next to sit on the throne?
I can see the questions written on their moonlit faces, in the humming tension of their bodies as they are standing on the side of the opponents.
Alpha has been deserted by his own people. Forsaken.
A look of dread has befallen him, letting us see, know that he knows too. That he is afraid.
This is it. His final fight. His final moment as an Alpha. He has lost what his ancestors kept at all costs and there is shame in that. One that can be felt in every tremble of his ginormous body. For he is trembling. You can see it if you watch closely. Small spasms making his muscles flicker and stretch.
It's probably the first time he feels what has been unknown to him for so long, all his life, perhaps. Fear.
He's standing in the middle of the clearing, chest bare, spring orbs holding the moonshine as he gazes up at Her pale grace with a plea in those eyes. Cold, windy hands are caressing his messy locks, lifting and playing with them as fate is playing with him too. As glorious as he may be, he's still a man about to start a battle against destiny. A king who will fall... at last.
The contestants take their places opposite him, chests as bare as his is. Their raging stares take him captive, the first mark of their attack obvious to the observer.
Yet, Alpha is still to speak up. Whether to swallow his pride and ask for assistance or to go through this on his own.
His head drops down, eyes falling on the crowd, seeking out the ones who will stand on his side in this fight. People turn, eyes drop to the ground, heads shake in refusal. Not a single wolf steps forth, dooming him to a fate he never wished for.
The man turns our way, greens searching until they stop at me, his stare holding mine in a silent inquisition.
Pleading for something I don't know how to give. If I can give.
"I think he wants us to help him, Scar," Micah whispers in my ear.
I nod. I know what he wants but we can't do that. We are not a part of his pack but outsiders and outsiders do not have the right to intervene with pack affairs.
"They can't be a part of this. You know the law, Alpha," Beta Hayden voice rings through the quiet, the insidious idea with which it all started now a full-fledged intent on his face.
"She is my mate and they are her family," Alpha states, his tone quiet, his voice even. Lacking the emotions I can see battling under the green surface.
"She must wear your mark for this to apply, Alpha. However, she does not. The law is clear about this and even your Alpha status doesn't allow you to bend the rules," Hayden interjects sternly. The man is more ruthless than I've ever thought he was. But then again, this whole pack is ruthless when the situation requires it of them.
Alpha's shoulders slumping down, his eyes break our contact. His last hope has died and now it is his turn to do so.
"Scarlet..." Cole breathes out, desperation audible in that single word. I glare at him, knowing he wants to stop me before I do the unthinkable.
Too late.
I take a deep breath, exhaling it loudly, then step forth. This is the only way, I say to myself, hating what I am about to do. The only way to help him and my family.
I turn to face the pack.
"I will wear his mark," I state in a loud voice, waiting for their reaction. "If it's a mark what we need to fight in this challenge then I will let him mark me."
"You're not related by blood so they won't automatically become members of this pack after you are marked by him," Hayden objects, trying to find holes in my plan.
"Hayden," I chuckle. "I've been trained to become an Alpha since I was ten. I've studied the law for years. I know, perhaps even better than you do, what it says and nowhere in it is stated that the mate's family must be his or her blood kin. It says family and those people," I nod in the direction of the guys, "They are my family even if it's not the same blood running through our veins."
"But he still can't mark-"
"It doesn't say when the marking should be done, just that it needs to be done," I cut off his next objection, giving him an equally smug to his earlier look when I see him open his mouth again but comes up with nothing.
I turn back to Alpha, fixing him up and down as I walk the remaining distance to him. I halt a step away from him, unzipping my leather jacket, and let it slide down on the ground, staying only in the strapless top I've chosen to wear today.
I'm glad that I don't have to undress further in front of the pack even if I'm not even remotely pleased that I must do this. Let him mark me.
I can't believe that I'm going to do that, yet, here I am.
"Mark me, Alpha," I grit out so angry my body is shaking from the feeling.
"Are you sure you want me to-"
"Mark. Me." I repeat, my eyes never leaving his until he breaks the contact to lean closer, lingering over the crook of my neck, his breath on my skin making me shiver.
Mere seconds later, his canines break off the skin.
(39) Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
|Regan's POV|
Quietly, I observe the scene in front of me. Listening to this man, listening to her comforting him... I can barely breathe through my anger. The beast clawing his way to come out, to rip the liar apart, to put an end to this charade.
The man knows better. He must, no – he needs to sit still and just watch as the comedian plays his role and manipulates his way under her skin.
"What if they come for you next, Scar?" Concern is laced through his voice, as counterfeit as the man himself.
"What if they come for Jaz, Hunter, David, Micah or Adam?" he goes on, crafty hooking his talons deeper, into the same heart she keeps denying me while giving it to him freely. Unconditionally.
"Will you be this hell-bent on me staying here if the next time they kill one of the people you actually care about? And, trust me, I know they can do that. Once they decide to do something, there's nothing that can stop them. I can guarantee you. There will be a next time." I can hear the fear in his voice, a fear I know is just for show in front of her, misleading, drawing her deeper into the belief that he's a friend, a protector, a light which guidance she needs to follow.
"There won't be," I grind out, slipping out of the shadows surrounding the crime scene, my blood boiling under the surface.
I can see laughter lighting up his nearly black eyes as he gives me his smug, mocking look. Dancing flames, flickering on the inside, he keeps his outer appearance untouched. She doesn't notice or doesn't see it for what it really is. She can't see the deeply ingrained evil inside him as she sees it in me.
"Alpha Greene," Collen engages, sending a snicker into my mind. Like my people's work, Alpha? They did quite the job at delivering this message, didn't they?
He steps away from the body laying on the forest floor, letting me see said message.
A child. Just a boy. They killed one of the juveniles. The body, rigid with death, is flat on the ground, no more than a disfigured bloody mess.
My steps faltering, I must force myself to come closer. Mixed with hers, the smell of death is putrid, bombarding every sense as I pass by her. There's something else too, something that draws the beast out.
Wrong. Just so wrong.
It's not just the scent of death igniting the beast's anger but hers. Underlined with another male' scent. His scent.
Collen, I growl my threat into the mind-link. Don't you ever touch her again! Do you hear me?
Or what? He chuckles. Oh, let me guess. You're going to bark my way, aren't you?
I bite my lower lip, holding off the comeback. There's really nothing I can do to stop him. I can't win against him and I can't prevent my mate from seeing him.
She'll never believe me if I tell her the truth. What's worse, she'll probably hate me more than she already does if I do that.
Rest assured, Alpha. I don't have any such interest in your mate, he says, taking pity on me.
I hate it. The beast inside me loa
thes this man and his truth. We're helpless to stop either.
I stop in front of the body, concentrating on the matter at hand instead of my jealousy.
A finger has been bitten off, a part of the boy's upper arm and bits of flesh on his thighs missing. The chest is bare, raw meet, flayed by claws that left holes behind.
"Fuck!" Hayden grunts, leaning over the body, inspecting the big, gaping on the jugular hole... ripped and torn in a fit of sheer madness.
The gashes are deeper and bigger than an animal could leave, even a wolf. Something entirely else has done this, an animal all the same but in a form similar to human, yet not quite that either.
Blood is staining the light auburn hair, a trail of it from the left corner of his lips to the side of his face. Pieces of torn clothes are left hanging around the torso, stuck to the flesh by blood that's now drying off.
Nothing can be compared to the expression on the child's face - frozen in a scream, in pure, unmistakable terror.
I watch my Beta inhale the still lingering stench of the wildlings, lines of concentration forming on his forehead while Collen and Scarlet stand a few feet away, observing us silently.
I grind my teeth together, refusing to give that monster the pleasure of seeing me affected by his message as Hayden helps me turn the body.
However, I don't refrain from voicing the question tormenting me into the mind-link Collen has reopened.
Why did you do this, Collen? I inquire, my gaze tracing the slashes on the back before peering up from the carving of flesh, expecting the answer the man owes me.
I wasn't the one who did it, Alpha. I won't stoop as low as to do the dirty work. My hands are clean, he points out, lifting a brow in silent mockery of my denseness to grasp the reasons behind his actions or rather behind the orders he's relied on his people to carry out.
His hands might be clean, however, his conscience is certainly not.
As about why... Well, let's say that I needed to speed things up since you seem to be failing in the task you've been given. Now, if you are done with inspecting my gift for you, maybe it's time to finally get to it. What do you say, Alpha?
What do you want me to do? I'm already working on getting you into the pack, I snap back, my mind flailing with ideas about all the possible directions in which his wicked schemes can take me and my pack.
His demands of me aren't making sense, however, they are, no doubt, a part of the bigger picture he's painting for himself. A picture I can't envision still and I should if I am to escape his tight hold on me.
Call the pack, Alpha. Let them know about this, Collen instructs, no hint of emotion or intention permeating the link as his face stays just the same.
A monster disguised in the clothing of a man, his hard features are polished with fake concern, making him look gentle, caring even, instead of what he truly is.
And Scarlet... glancing at her, she has a vacant look, her stormy eyes staying glued to the horror laying at my feet, her far away thoughts clouding her clear forehead.
My gaze travels farther, to the man standing behind them, a silent sentinel in the quiet of the woods, a patrol on duty... aware.
He sees more than most but he doesn't see what I can. Doesn't know what I know.
Go back to the house and gather the pack, I tell him, nodding. The wolf tilts his head downwards, a brief move on his part that's all the indication I need, then turns back, leaving the scene to do as bid.
"A pack meeting will be held after we bury the boy," I announce out loud, pinning Hayden under my stare, daring him to object but he doesn't.
My attention flickering to Scarlet and then settling on Collen, I go on.
"I expect you and your people to attend. No exceptions will be tolerated," I add, switching back to my mate.
No way in hell am I going to let her alone with this monster.
(40) Shark's Bait
|Regan's POV|
What did he force me to do? I've known the pack won't take this without objections but how did he know? Did he foresee this when he commanded me to take the one thing they've never been bereft of?
The loss of the pup has been a strike they never saw coming. Parting with one of our own, someone so young, someone who meant a future for all of us, it's breaking the pack like nothing else ever has.
Even the savage care for their children. This is already hard enough for them but making me take away their freedom too...
It's too much.
"I understand your concerns, Thomas," I force out past my lips, words that hurt me as much as they hurt the pack. My pack.
The one I've been coerced to sacrifice for his purposes, whichever they might be.
Now is maybe a good time to announce accepting us into the pack, Alpha, Collen sends in my mind.
They are already distraught with the situation, Collen. How do you expect me to just do that? How am I to tell them that when we just lost one of our own? I snarl back into the mind-link, nearly forgetting what I was about to announce to the pack.
"And this is exactly the reason I'm going to assign some of our pack warriors to this task. You, however, won't be allowed to venture outside our territory," I elaborate, remembering my announcement.
The pack bond is stirring with discontent, my statement only adding more salt to the already festering wound.
Just say it. They will understand this is something that should be done considering the threat. Don't make my efforts go to waste after the trouble I went to make them see this threat, Collen hisses back.
I glance at him, his sulking form perched on the last row, watching me with calculation from beneath thick lashes. Does he realize what I'm doing? Does he know me as well as he seems to know my pack?
"That's fine then, I guess," Thomas concedes, submerging back into his seat. He's not happy, no wolf inside the meeting chamber is, but he is willing to bear with me, give me the benefit of the doubt.
Only if he knew I'm just going with the flow, figuring things on the spot just in hope to outsmart the rat that infested my land with his insidious schemes...
Gambling against all odds. To what end, that's to be seen.
I'll tell them but don't-
"It's not actually," Hayden shouts, cutting my response into the link and leaving his place on the front row to approach me.
What is that dumbass doing? Collen shouts into my mind. I ignore him, focusing on the approaching wolf.
Hayden's beast is lurking under the surface, his face turning wild with the first signs of the change, he is denying the wolf. I find myself suppressing a smile as I watch the lower-ranked male rebel against me just like I've expected him to.
Adrenaline is pumping through the veins on his jugular, the lines thickening to pulse in anger and years of suppressed dominance on the side of his forehead.
I grind my teeth, clenching my jaw when all I want is to laugh out my victory, small as it might be.
What is your Beta doing, Regan? Collen cries into the link, panic audible in his mental voice.
Let's wait and see. I know as much as you do, I send back, not breaking my focus on the wolf fighting to stay in human skin and finish what he has begun.
"If I understand correctly," Hayden draws out, barely pushing the words through canines that are now poking out.
"You are going to assign our fighters on getting the necessary provisions for the pack but doesn't that leave us vulnerable to a further attack from the wildlings? I think it does and I don't agree with this decision, Alpha."
I take the hit of his words, the pack bond shaking with his rebellion, the mind-link my wolves and I share - rumbling with activity as they converse their options. Stand by me or choose the one who's finally come forth in a challenge.
The violent waves of Collen's fury are clashing with my mind like it is a shore on a stormy day.
Did you expect this, Alpha? His words bombard into the mental link while there's nothing but a whisper inside the quiet of the room.
The air
is still with the silence, one in which you can drop a pin and be certain to be overheard. Eerie and frightening, unlike that link between the two of us.
No, I lie, the truth that I've expected this from Hayden hushed into my thoughts.
I've been hoping for it, waiting for it for so long I can't remember the last time I confided in my Beta without caution... if I ever did.
A smarter, more calculating wolf would have waited for his moment to strike and not rushed things like he's doing now, but Hayden has never been the brightest of them. Too overwhelmed by his own visions of how this pack should be run, he let himself get caught in my trap.
Perhaps, for the first time since he stepped up as this pack's Beta, he doesn't fail me. And, hopefully, this move won't turn against me. Hopefully.
The man stands proud against me, not realizing the reasons why I'm doing this. He doesn't know it's not the wildlings outside our borders we must fight but their leader inside our nest. Too reckless and shortsighted, this wolf was never supposed to take the position he has had for years.
This is my fault. I guess I should have seen that. Collen's fury recedes into the ocean, moonlight now grazing on a calm, even surface. I overestimated your hold on your pack. I should have known better, Regan.
My gaze flickers in his direction, measuring him up and down like Hayden's wolf has been measuring me all this time.
I always keep my word, Collen. You'll get into my pack. Have no doubt about this, I assure the wildling, then turn my attention back to my Beta.
"Are you questioning my authority, Hayden?" I growl out, daring him to spell it out for everyone present to hear, allowing him to enjoy his moment of glory for as long as he can before letting him down in the dust... something he's more than earned.
"Why, yes, I think I am." He takes the bait, his wolf roaring into the pack bond, snapping and sizzling with this new power flooding it.
He may not be as smart as his position requires but he's a strong opponent. I will give him that.
A moment after announcing his challenge, his head drops downward, acknowledging me for what I am to this pack for the last time, as he's convinced. He turns on a heel, leaving the meeting room.