Hey guys! So I'm back with a new story! I am going on a bit of a hiatus after I post this, but I'll be back with a regular updating schedule next year!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Jace Herondale snapped as he felt another uncomfortable rush of wind and an unfamiliar werewolf's scent nearby, but it had disappeared into the darkness of the forest by the time he turned around. He could feel Alec Lightwood's presence at his back, which was the only comforting thing that was going on right now.
"It's an Alpha," Alec growled, his face ridged, his eyes glowing beta-gold, his fangs dropped and making his words slightly lisped.
"I got that much," Jace swung around again as he caught the scent again and saw another flash of red eyes, this time a little closer, and he was pretty sure that he heard a laugh, but he couldn't be sure. He curled his fingers into fists, his claws digging into the palms of his hand, drawing blood and dripping onto the broken branches, scattered leaves and damp mud beneath his feet. Suddenly, he lifted his head, hearing a familiar heart beat nearby, and panting, and a panicked scent. "This way," Jace hissed over his shoulder, already taking off at a run, Alec close behind, able to hear the same thing. There was a howl, one of pain, and Jace began running faster, feeling desperate.
It was almost pitch black, just after two in the morning, and the canopy layer of branches blocking out almost all of the glow from the moon and the stars. Both Jace and Alec could see perfectly, though, their eyes glowing, their werewolf senses giving them the advantage as an apex predator. They were moving so fast, any human who was watching them would just see a blur and feel a rush of air, their brains having no idea how to process what their eyes were seeing.
The howl came again, strung out and urgent, and Jace changed his direction slightly, finally able to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. The howl made something deep inside him vibrate, telling him that someone in his pack was in pain, someone in his pack needed him, and with a final leap, he cleared a small creek and came out into a clearing, the smell of blood washing over him.
"Izzy!" Alec cried out as they rushed over to Isabelle Lightwood, who was lying on the ground, wincing and holding her hand to her neck. Maia Roberts was next to her, her eyes glowing gold and panicked as she whipped her head from side to side, watching the tree line, as though waiting for someone to come back. Jace could hear her heart beat thumping so hard in her chest that if she was human, Jace would be worried about her giving herself a heart attack. Alec looked down at Isabelle's leg, which appeared to be broken in more place than one, and there was a gash on her neck. The leg would start healing soon, that was no problem, although it would be uncomfortable for a little bit.
The slash on the side of her neck, though—skin started knitting itself back together a lot faster than bone, and it should already be healing. Jace frowned when he realized that it was still opening and bleeding steadily.
"We need to get her out of here," Jace murmured.
"I've got her," Alec said, picking up his sister bridal style and standing up easily, her weight no problem for him. Maia was vibrating next to them, her breathing coming out shaky and harsh, and Jace reached over to put his hand on the back of her neck, squeezing just slightly to reassure her, and she visibly relaxed at the touch of her Alpha.
"What's happening?" Maia asked, her eyes still darting around the clearing.
"It's an Alpha," Alec informed both her and his sister, his voice low, tightening his grip on Isabelle.
"He didn't seem like an Alpha," Isabelle grunted out, clenching her teeth together and lifting on hand to swipe it through her hair which was hanging in ragged clumps around her face.
"His eyes were red," Maia muttered. "But there was something about him...He didn't smell right."
"I don't give a shit what he smelt like," Jace growled. "We just need to get out of here. We need to regroup." He tipped his head back, his fangs protruding again as he let out a howl, one that shook the trees closest to them, and birds let out squawks and flew out of the trees, away from the group of werewolves. "Where are the others? I told you not to split up."
"It wasn't our fault," Maia protested, sounding more indignant now than scared.
"Fucking aye!" Isabelle added, her voice a little weak but still annoyed.
"We'll talk about this later," Jace cut off any arguments from the girls as he held up a hand, indicating that everyone hold their tongue. He couldn't hear his other beta's, and that worried him. Not being within hearing distance meant that they were pretty damn far away, and for them not to be respond to their Alpha's call meant they were in trouble. They weren't even meant to be out here tonight; it was a complete fluke that this was all happening, that was what worried Jace more. The fact that they had no idea what they were dealing with, that they had never even smelt another Alpha in their territory, or the fact that maybe if they hadn't been here at a time when they weren't meant to be, they might never have found out.
But Aline Penhallow had told them he felt as though that's where they needed to be, and so the pack had all headed out to the woods that surrounded the township. She couldn't explain these senses that she got sometimes, and it was only recently that they had discovered she was a banshee, and were still trying to hone her skills. However, she was generally right when she got a feeling of where they needed to be, so they had gone.
And now they were in the woods, Isabelle was injured, the rest of his pack was scattered and there was an Alpha who appeared to be intent on doing more harm to them.
"Get them out of here," Jace told Alec. "I'll find the others."
"I'm fine, I'll come with you," Maia began.
"No," he snapped at her. "I want you to go with them." Maia looked like she wanted to disagree, but Jace just flashed his eyes at her before taking off into the woods in the direction that Isabelle and Maia had been running in. He picked up on the scent of Jem Carstairs and was about to change his direction when the hair on the back of his neck prickled and he knew that there was someone directly behind him. Jace side stepped and only just missed having a fist smack the back of his head. Jace whipped to the side, spinning around and coming face to face with the Alpha for the first time.
He had dark hair, with streaks of grey, and there was a strange scar on the right side of his neck, curving up toward his face. His eyes were blood red and his fangs were dropped, a throaty growl in his chest. Jace's eyebrows pulled together, furious as he smelt a hint of Isabelle coming from the man, undoubtedly from where he had slashed at her throat.
"Was that your pretty beta back there?" The Alpha teased, speaking through his fangs, his lips curled back in an ugly, cruel sneer. "It was a good thing I didn't really want to hurt her, or else those scratches would have been a whole lot worse."
"This is not your territory," Jace fought to keep his voice even, knowing that if he let his anger take over it was going to blind him and he wasn't going to get answers. "You attacked my beta without any cause, you know I can't just let that go," he flexed his fingers, his claws itching to lunge forward and sink them into the mans skull, feel the bone collapse underneath his palms. The smell of Isabelle's blood on this strange Alpha's hands was making his senses go haywire, just wanting to kill the man who had hurt a member of his pack. He had never fought an Alpha before, but his instincts were driving him forward, telling him to attack.
"I really don't think you're going to do all that much about it, to be totally honest," the Alpha was smirking at him through his fangs, completely unworried.
"Oh yeah?" Jace stepped forward, his eyes flickering over the Alpha's face, the scar on his neck looking a whole lot more red than it had just a few seconds ago. He frowned, wondering what was happening, and that moment of hesitation cost him because the Alpha surged toward him. Jace was caught off guard for a split second, and that was enough for the other Alpha to gain an advantage and send him flying backwards. Jace let out a roar as he smacked against a tree, his head crunching against the trunk before he fell to the ground. He could feel blood dripping down, underneath the collar of his shirt, and he shook his head, feeling his body instantly beginning to heal as he stood back up.
"Come on," the Alpha taunted, and Jace charged. The two men met in the middle, both of their solid bodies slamming together. Jace slashed out with his clawed hands but the other Alpha ducked away, kicking out his leg and catching the back of Jace's knee, sending the golden haired man buckling forward before he caught himself. The whole thing was a blur of movement, the sickening snap of bone ringing out as Jace grasped the Alpha's arm and threw it backwards.
It took longer than Jace would have liked, but nowhere near as long as it should when fighting another Alpha, and he realized what Maia had meant. The man was clearly an Alpha, but there was something off about him. While he had never been injured from an Alpha, he had heard that it could take days for a wound from one to heal, even as an Alpha himself, drawing on the strength from the rest of his pack, but so far he was feeling confident in his ability not to get hurt.
Jace had him on the ground, one of his knees pressing into his bicep, the other knee balancing himself on the other side of the Alpha's torso, and his claws were poised over his throat. He wasn't prepared to deliver the final blow, to kill this Alpha, but he was threatening to lash out in order to make him freeze and stop fighting back.
"I'm going to do to you exactly what you did to Isabelle," Jace growled down at the man, leaning in close to his face, letting his eyes burn viciously at him. This Alpha might have been older, but from the way his eyes were dimming, it was clear that his will was nowhere near as strong as Jace's. "And then you're going to get the fuck out of my territory, and I never want to catch your scent around here again." The Alpha didn't say anything, but suddenly the circular scar on his neck was even brighter—practically glowing red—and Jace was caught off guard. He blinked, and was about to lash his claws out at the Alpha's throat, planning on scratching him up like he had done to Isabelle when he felt a piercing pain in his shoulder. He twisted his body to the side, letting out a yowl of pain as he rolled away from the Alpha and reached over his shoulder, scrabbling for the source of the burn.
It was a knife, buried behind his shoulder, and made of silver if the burn that was spreading over his back. He pulled it out, feeling the burn on his palm as he dropped it the ground. The other Alpha rolled away from him and Jace tried to search for who had thrown the knife, and he caught a glimpse of someone in the trees and he caught a whiff of something bitter and angry but then there were claws buried in his side, tearing through his flesh.
Jace let out another roar, the pain burning through his veins as the Alpha dragged his claws down his side, before his vision started blurring at the corners.
Alright! So, my recommendations this time...Songwise, the ones I've had on repeat are; Somebody New, by Cedric Gervais. Fucking loooove it, my husband hates it, but I play it loud as hell when I'm the only one in the car. Haha. First Time by Kygo and Ellie Goulding, this one is cute and sweet, makes me think back to being a teenager. Then there's Easy by Sky Ferreira, which is just beautiful, from the movie Baby Driver, and the last one is Too Much To Ask by Niall Horan, which is just so pretty.
Movie wise, I've recently seen Kingsmen 2, which was fucking great, although my favourite character...*quietly sobs in corner*. Also It, which was great as well, the kids were all so fucking brilliant in that movie, and I have to admit, I ship Reddie. I think they're absolutely adorable. Bill Skarsgard did an amazing job. And then tomorrow, I'll be seeing Thor: Ragnorok! It looks amazing, so fingers crossed.
And then in the TV show area, I've just started watching The Gifted, which is pretty good so far. Also binged the second season of Shooter, which I've really enjoyed, and I hope that there's more! Another one is Wynonna Earp, which took me a while to get into, but I love it now. Wynonna and Waverly are just fucking amazing. And then there's just the general shows that I've been keeping up with, like How To Get Away With Murder, Gotham and NCIS: Los Angeles, all of which are great.
So! Let me know what you guys think of the chapter, let me know if you guys have any prompts or songs you want me to write about (any of the fandoms I'm in, check my profile, and keep in mind I will try to write them, but can't guarantee all of them) and absolutely recommend any songs, movies, tv shows or fics to me!
There's a preview of the next chapter for a review... xxx