I stood inside the circle of werewolves, my eyes raking the ground, taking in the blood splatters that covered the once completely green grass. Blowing out air through my wolf's nose, I stepped forward, hearing the ground that was wet with the crimson liquid squelch under my paws and seep up in between my toes. I was confused as to why all the wolves were quiet, why they had stopped fighting.
Then, I saw it. Kaila's white wolf lay in the center of the circle, her once pure white fur tainted red from the open wound on her side. Blood steadily ran out of it, seeming like it would never end. Perking my ears, I listened intently, focusing more on the enemy that could pounce at any moment than the female Beta's body. I could hear the trickle of blood that was dribbling from between her wolf's jaws. A sharp twinge of despair pierced my heart. Even though Kaila had betrayed the pack, it still hurt to lose a pack member, no matter how wretched they might have been.
Letting out a huff of air, I let my ears fall back, pressed flat against my head in a way that showed I was unhappy, in the sense of slight anger. A flash of annoyance jolted through me when a rough voice cut through the silence.
"What the hell is going on here?" It was a voice that I was unfamiliar with, someone I hadn't met before. But from the accent- and from Ryder's internal monologue of repeating "shit" five times- I had already guessed who it was, and a small sense of dread started crawling up my limbs. "Let me through!"
The man growled lowly and heavily, and I could hear a few whines and startled yelps come from a few of my pack members, along with Ryder's growl of disapproval, which sent a few pleasing shivers up my spine. The fact that this stranger affected my pack the way that he did annoyed me even more.
There was a rustle of movement, and then everything fell still. "What the…" he trailed off. "Kaila?" I could hear the hurt in his voice, and the dread settled in my heart. I had a feeling I knew what was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be good. "Who did this?" The man barked, rage evident in his voice and accent thick.
Even with my back to him, I could tell that Kaila's father was looking right at me. His gaze felt like it would catch my fur on fire. Raising my head, I went to turn around, but before I could, Kaila's mate emerged from the circle. He didn't even say anything before Kaila's father shifted into his wolf form and launched himself at Clayton. There were multiple barks and growls directed towards that man, but no one of them moved to stop him.
Without any rational thinking, I hurled myself at him, slamming into him before he was anywhere near Clayton. Kaila's father landed on his side with a loud thud as I landed somewhat ungracefully on my paws. He quickly scrambled to his feet and turned to face me, growls rolling from his mouth
Not my pack, I growled at him. I gave him a moment before I threw myself at him, latching on with all my might.
It didn't take me long to take down Kaila's father. He was too hot headed for his own good, too arrogant. I could tell that he thought he was going to win before I even attacked him for going after Clayton. Like that rogue that we had captured a few days before, who was probably dead from the blast this morning, Kaila's father was sizing me up when he thought that I was the one who killed Kaila. I wasn't, and neither was Clayton, though I still had a hand in it.
When he finally realized he was going to lose the fight, he pulled a dirty move that had Ryder and even a few of the enemy wolves shaking in anger. No worries, though. I made it so that he was so undoubtedly unconscious that we were able to put him somewhere no wolf would be able to get out of.
And, of course, that undoubtful unconsciousness would be death. No one can attack my pack members and live through my wrath, or Ryder's for that matter. Hopefully those idiotic rogues will remember that and know that I am not a force to be reckoned with. Especially when I'm with Ryder. For some reason, the closer you are to your mate, the stronger you are, no matter if you hate each other or not. Luckily, Ryder and I don't hate each other.
I shook my head, clearing the thoughts from my mind and stepped away from the spot I had been standing in since the fight had ended. Everyone was silent, not knowing what to do or say. Mostly everyone was still in their wolf form, which I really didn't care who was and wasn't. All I really cared about was the fact that when Kaila's mother came around she would probably try to kill me as well.
Ryder spoke up next to me. It startled me and I jumped a bit. I hadn't even heard him come up behind me. "She might not still be alive," he said. "The pain from losing her mate and daughter would have been too much. You can live with losing your mate; you can live with losing your child. But if you lose all the family you have…well…it's better to get death than to go insane, right?" When he finished speaking, he set his hand on my head and softly stroked it. I leaned into his touch, thankful that he was there. "Come on, Sky. Let's go get you cleaned up." He then raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. "If you feel that you would be welcomed to this pack, stay and help clean up. Silver Moons, start finishing off the ones who've killed your friends."
There was a final pat of Ryder's hand on my head before he started to walk away. I quickly bounded after him as a few fights broke out around us, then shifted into my human form once I was beside him. "Make sure they don't kill the shifter that killed Kaila. I would say to keep all of them alive, but we don't know how they'll be with us." Ryder nodded, short and quick. "Thank you."
He cast me a sidelong glance and smiled softly. "You're welcome, Luna."
I gave him a small one in return. I was hoping for him to say something like "Alpha," but he still only saw me as the Luna. My wolf spoke up in my mind. You can't expect him to say that when he's the more dominant Alpha of the pack. Even though you're the Alpha, Skylar, you're still under him.
Akira's explanation soothed me, even if it did make me just a bit angrier. But she was right. Even though I was an Alpha, I was still under him; I was the lesser of us two. And he won't see me as an Alpha. Ever. Because he was the pure Alpha.
I was just the Alpha's mate.
