Chapter 18: Long Live the Alpha
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh
The base of the North Mountain is approximately 3 or 4 miles from the clearing however, sprinting after Seto Yami couldn't help but think that it was the longest 3 or 4 miles of her entire life. The one thought that kept running through her mind over and over and over again was what if something had happened to Atem?
Atem had left to go and track down a rogue Were that was in his territory. A single rogue Were shouldn't really be that much of a problem. Yami had seen Atem fight firsthand once when he executed Duke. Atem was strong and his strength was why he had become the pack Alpha to begin with. So, a single rogue Were shouldn't really be able to cause Atem any problems at all.
So, did that mean something else had happened? She hadn't really been joking when she told Atem to not go tangling with any bears. What if Atem had been the one who was mauled unaware like Akefia had been in Atem's story?
In the distance up ahead as the trees began to thin the slightest bit Yami could make out the forms of the two russet colored Weres which were Malik and Marik although Yami still couldn't even tell which was one which yet while in wolf form.
Yami pushed herself to run that much faster now that her goal was clearly insight, although the fact that Atem was not with them was not a good sign. Then again, he would still be at the top of the mountain. But, if Atem was fine...then why did Malik and Marik call for Seto like they did? Why didn't Atem summon Seto himself? Or have Malik or Marik go back to the clearing and get him in person instead of howling for him like they had?
Seto came to a stop in front of the pair with Yami skidding to a stop beside him moments later. However, it was Yami who addressed the two wolves first. "Where's Atem? Where is MY MATE?" Yami growled.
Seto turned towards Yami, "What are you even doing out here? You should be back in the clearing!" Seto growled.
Yami however bared her teeth at Seto, "I am not returning to the clearing until I know that my mate is safe!" Yami snarled.
"Don't worry Beta, I followed her. She was never without someone right at her side." Mana called out as she also came to a stop beside the group.
Seto snorted, "She still shouldn't have come in the first place. The last thing Alpha would want is to risk something happening to his mate." Seto replied.
Yami snorted as well, "And I know that. And it is up to Alpha and Alpha alone to voice his displeasure about me leaving the clearing. I'll take it from him. I won't take it from anyone else. Now, I ask you again. Where. Is. My. MATE?" Yami growled at Malik and Marik.
Malik and Marik were both silent as they gazed away from Yami and over to Seto. "Beta, thank you for coming so quickly."
Seto frowned, "I'm here now and I am waiting to hear why you called me so urgently." Seto said.
"STOP IGNORING ME AND TELL ME WHERE MY FUCKING MATE IS!" Yami snarled at the pair of Weres. Mana lightly bumped her head against Yami's shoulder no doubt in an effort to calm Yami down somewhat, but it was a pointless gesture since right now the only thing that was going to calm Yami down was confirmation that Atem was alright.
"Beta, as you have no doubt gathered there has been a bit of a situation." Marik said slowly.
"I have gathered as much. However, I would appreciate it, as would Alpha's mate, that you would stop stalling and tell us what is going on." Seto said.
Malik sighed, "Fine. As you know Beta we accompanied Alpha this morning while he went to track down a rogue Were that was in our territory." Malik said.
Seto nodded, "Yes, I am aware that was what Alpha was going to be doing today. I take it things didn't quite go according to plan." Seto said.
Marik nodded, "No, no Beta they did not." Marik said.
Malik snorted, "I mean, to a degree they did. I mean Alpha did find the Were." Malik said.
Yami felt a white hot rage boiling deep within her before she slowly bent her knees and pounced not unlike she had awkwardly done as she chased down the damn squirrel when her and Atem had gone hunting although unlike the squirrel this time her unsuspecting target was an unsuspecting Malik. Yami's body slammed into his, knocking the surprised Were to the dirt.
"Either tell me where my mate is. RIGHT NOW! Or so help me I'll tear your damn throat out." Yami snarled. To be honest Yami had no idea if she'd even be able to do such a thing but as worried and angry as she was at this moment she was more than willing to try.
Malik audibly gulped before he cocked his head over to the right side of the mountain, "Alpha is over there." Malik said.
Yami said nothing further before she quickly scrambled off of Malik and began to make her way in the general direction that Malik had indicated with Mana once more trotting behind her.
"I'm sure Alpha is fine. "Mana whispered.
Yami snorted, "And I will believe that when I can confirm it for myself. Or better yet when Atem can confirm it himself." Yami muttered as she continued to trot hoping for a glimpse of her mate.
"Alpha is strong. You know this." Mana said.
Yami snorted once more, "Just because Atem is strong doesn't mean he couldn't be hurt. He's not some immortal superhero. He has bones that can break just like you and me." Yami replied.
Mana nodded, "I know that, but I don't want you stressing yourself out too much by worrying about him when he is fine." Mana said before softly adding, "Stress isn't good for the pups."
Yami came to a brief stop, "Then your mate and Marik should have answered my damn question the first time I asked it instead of ratcheting up my worry for him by continuing to dodge the question. Now nothing short of seeing Atem with my own two eyes and him confirming to me that he's fine will be enough." Yami said.
The two slowly began to make their way along the side of the mountain still looking for any sign of Atem.
"ATEM!" Yami howled before pausing, waiting for his response.
The pair waited. And waited. But, there was no reply. Atem didn't answer.
Yami turned and looked at Mana who was clearly no longer as certain as she had been that Atem was alright.
"ATEM THIS ISN'T FUNNY! ANSWER ME GOD DAMMIT!" Yami howled as she began to briskly move through the trees with Mana only a few paces behind her.
And then Yami came to a sudden stop. There lying prone on the ground not even fifteen feet away from them was a large black Were. And it wasn't moving.
"NOOOOOO!" Yami howled as she raced forward towards the prone Were with Mana right on her heels.
XXXXXXX
"So how long exactly are we going to continue this pointless exercise of you rubbing against the trees and then having me try and track you down?" Mai asked as he glared at white Wolf that had helped her transform earlier that morning before dragging her out into the middle of nowhere and demanded that she partake in what essentially was boiling down to a never ending game of hide and seek.
Akefia came trotting back over to Mai, "We'll be out here for as long as it takes for you to get the general idea down pat. Being able to scent the trees and use your sense of smell to be able to find your way through the woods is an essential skill to your survival here. And I'll be damned if you don't master it." Akefia snarled back.
Mai snorted, "You do realize that I've only been a Were for not even forty-eight hours and you are expecting me to immediately master a new skill. Hell I'm still trying to get used to the general mechanics of having a wolf for a body." Mai replied.
Akefia snorted once more, "Its really quite simple. You're a wolf now, so you need to learn how to do things the way wolves do." Akefia replied.
Mai rolled her eyes, "Then perhaps my lack of mastery could be attributed to having a bad teacher. Maybe a different Were would have better luck teaching me how to scent the trees." Mai muttered, "Like whoever taught Yami. Or better yet, why can't Yami help teach me? I'd be quite interested in hearing what did and did not work for her." Mai added.
Akefia snorted again, "And I already told you that I was the one Beta instructed to teach you the basics. I will not be pushing that duty onto another Were that has other responsibilities." Akefia replied.
"Oh, and what responsibilities, precisely, are you saying Yami has? Let me guess being that one Were's fuck toy? Is that what she is expected to do?" Mai snarled.
Akefia let out a snarl before he slammed into Mai's side, knocking her to the dirt, "I'd watch my mouth if I were you you little bitch. I will not stand here and let you disrespect your betters in this pack."Akefia growled.
Mai snarled right back, "And who the fuck do you think your calling a bitch?"
"The bitch that I have pinned to the ground. That's who." Akefia snarled right back.
Mai snarled as she tried to kick Akefia off of her however doing so caused Mai to whimper in pain as she put too much pressure on the leg where she'd been bitten during her encounter with the two Weres back in the woods when one of them had managed to take a chunk out of her calf.
She had, somewhat stupidly she now realized, gone after Yami. After having seen the way that guy had manhandled her best friend and dragged her off like he had Mai couldn't just continue to sit in the pool and ignore the situation her friend was in. So, Mai had gone inside and gotten dressed before she headed into the garage and grabbed one of her dad's good hunting knives as well as a compass, his backpack which also had a first aide kit in it before she headed into the woods. And that foolhardy decision had almost ended up costing her her life.
"And if I apologize for my disrespectful voicing of the truth will you let me up?" Mai snarled.
"No, I will not let you up until you take back what you said. Alpha does not treat his mate as a fuck toy and I will not allow any Were to disrespect either of them. Am I clear?" Akefia snarled.
"Alpha huh? Is that..."Mai began only to trail off when she suddenly heard a loud howl of "ATEM!"
Mai frowned before she redoubled her efforts to push the white Were off of her, "I'm serious get the fuck off of me! That sounds like Yami." Mai growled.
Akefia grew quiet however he did finally crawl off of Mai allowing the new Were to rise to her feet. "What is going on?" Mai asked.
Akefia snorted, "I don't know. If we were meant to know then we would have been told." Akefia said.
Mai frowned again, "So what are you expecting me to just ignore the fact that my friend is clearly upset about something?" Mai asked.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you. It isn't any of your business what goes on with our pack Alphas." Akefia said.
"ATEM THIS ISN'T FUNNY! ANSWER ME GOD DAMMIT!"
Mai turned once more to the Were she had been stuck with all day, "Oh so your saying that I shouldn't be concerned that your illustrious pack Alpha can't be bothered to answer my friend. She sounds terrified." Mai said.
Akefia snorted, "Oh, and what precisely would you do to help the situation. If you had even been allowed to?" Akefia asked.
Mai snorted, "Allowed to? Who the fuck do you think you are to forbid me from helping my friend? Trying to help Yami is the whole reason that I became a Were. If it hadn't been for that I never would have been in the woods to begin with and I never would have ended up fighting for my life against those two Weres." Mai growled.
"NOOOOOO!"
Mai turned and began to quickly trot towards the direction she'd heard the howls coming from. "And where the hell do you think you're going bitch?" Akefia snarled.
"To find Yami. And I dare you to stop me you big pussy." Mai snarled right back.
Akefia growled, "It would appear that you have never heard that it is dangerous to aggravate a Were that you don't know." Akefia snarled.
Mai snorted, "And clearly you don't know that it is downright stupid to get between me and my friend." Mai replied.
"You are already wounded and clearly you are still itching to get yourself into a fight. Prepare to get your ass kicked." Akefia snarled before he dove at Mai.
XXXXXX
Yami came to a stop beside the prone Were. She pressed her nuzzle into the Were's throat and took a deep breath. Pine with just a hint of Cinnamon, there was absolutely no question that the Were lying on the ground was Atem.
"No." Yami mournfully whimpered as she continued to try and nudge the side of his face. Just as she had finally begun to accept that she cared about this ass then this had to happen. Mana had come to a stop a few feet behind Yami, close enough to be able to help her if she needed it but far enough back to give Yami a semblance of privacy while Yami was with Atem.
"You broke your promise you egotistical, arrogant, asshole. You promised me that you would be careful and that you would come back. And look at you." Yami whimpered as she continued to nuzzle Atem's throat.
She couldn't believe that this had happened. Now what was she going to do? What would happen now that Atem wasn't going to be there? Would Seto become the new pack Alpha? And what would happen to her and to the pups that she was already carrying? Yami could hardly bring herself to think about it as she plopped down beside Atem, burying her face against his side as she allowed herself to cry.
She turned so her head was resting against the side of Atem's chest because that was a somewhat comfortable position to lie in and couldn't help but frown. She was clearly losing her mind because it almost sounded like she could still hear the sound of Atem's heart beating. But that was just ridiculous wishful thinking on her part. Just because she wanted nothing more than to hear that sound didn't mean that she would. She pressed her head a bit more firmly against Atem's side.
This time the sound was absolutely unmistakable. Atem groaned.
Yami shot to her feet before she began frantically licking the side of Atem's face. Atem groaned once more before he slowly blinked open an eye.
"Atem! You're alive" Yami yipped in excitement as she continued to lick the side of his face.
Atem groaned once more, "Yami? What are you doing here?" Atem asked as he seemed to fully realize where exactly he was.
"Alpha!"
Yami glanced over her shoulder see that Marik, Malik and Seto had joined her and Mana as some point, not that she would have noticed if a herd of elephants had come marching up. Atem no doubt would have scolded her about awareness of her surroundings if he'd heard that particular thought but right now Yami didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that Atem was still alive.
Which meant that when they finally got him back to the den she could kill him for scaring her like he had.
Seto slowly came padding forward, "I'm relieved to see that you are alright Alpha. Can you still stand?" Seto inquired.
"I will get up. Just give me another few seconds first, okay. I'm more than a little bit sore, although given what happened that is to be expected." Atem said.
"And you will be telling me what the hell happened. Do you hear me mister?" Yami growled in Atem's ear.
Atem snorted as he slowly moved his body so he was at least laying with his head lifted up. Now that Atem's head had moved Yami was able to see that the right side of his face was covered in blood and it looked like he'd torn his right ear. He also had blood all over his snout.
"Of course Alpha, take your time. But, if you do need help getting back we will of course help you back to the clearing." Seto said slowly.
Atem snorted once more, "The only time I would ever allow another Were to carry me is if it was my dead body you were carrying. I don't care if I had to walk back to the clearing on four broken legs I will tell you this, I would be getting back to the clearing under my own power. Or not at all." Atem muttered.
Seto snorted, although his snort was one of fond bemusement, "Of course Alpha. As I said take all the time that you need." Seto replied.
Atem continued to lay on the ground for a few more moments as he glanced around himself. Atem frowned, "Where's the other Were?" Atem asked although he was clearly addressing his question to Malik and Marik.
"I don't know Alpha. We were actually more concerned with you than with tracking down the other Were." Malik said.
Atem frowned, "Then once I'm back on my feet I'll have to track him back down again. Because when I catch him he's a dead Were, that's for damn sure." Atem growled.
Yami could not believe what she was hearing, after everything that had happened although she still didn't know the details. Quite frankly the details didn't matter. What did matter was that Atem had nearly gotten himself killed dealing with this other Were and instead of letting the matter drop he wanted to as soon as he could go right back to hunting the Were down. Did he have a death wish or something?
"Perhaps I could aide you in your hunt Alpha?" Seto said slowly.
Atem snorted as he slowly began to struggle to his feet. A motion that normally took Atem a matter of seconds took him almost a full minute and Yami could clearly see that the motion had been a clear struggle. He took a slow, almost shaky step and his body quickly shifted the weight off of his front left foot and onto the right.
"Yes, when I hunt the Were back down you would be welcome to join me Seto. This isn't just about some ridiculous question of pride. That Were is the one that killed Noa and Julian. He bragged about precisely that on the mountain top." Atem declared.
"Then it shall be as you said Alpha. He's a dead Were." Seto snarled.
"But first Seto, I think I need to be heading back to the clearing. As much as it pains me to admit I need to recover first before I go hunting down the other Were." Atem said as he took another slow, pained step forward.
Seto nodded, "Of course Alpha." Seto replied.
And Yami took that as her cue to leave before she turned and darted back away from her wounded mate. She just couldn't look at Atem any more. She was torn between feeling utterly and completely elated that he was still alive and horrified that he wanted to go right back to challenging the Were that nearly had killed him to begin with. She didn't care what Atem said it absolutely was a question of pride. Atem's ego had no doubt been damaged as a result from the fight and he was itching to jump right back in the ring.
"Yami! Yami wait! Where are you going?" Atem called out after her.
"Back to the clearing." Yami snarled back.
Yami wasn't all that surprised to feel Mana bump shoulders with her moments later. This was actually the first time in Yami's entire ten days as a Were that she was thankful for the wolf form it was so much easier for her to try and conceal her emotions while she was in her beast form. Had she been in her real form Yami had little doubt that she would be sobbing right now.
"Are you alright?" Mana asked slowly.
Yami snorted, "Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be alright? My mate is an arrogant, prideful idiot with a fucking death wish that for several horrifying minutes I thought was actually dead. And what does he plan to do? I'll tell you what plans to do! He plans to go right back to courting death all over again. To hell with what had happened! To hell with how worried or scared I was when I saw him lying there like that." Yami growled.
"Yami, I promise once we get back to the clearing you and I will talk about this. But this is not the time nor the place for this conversation." Atem called out, apparently either Yami was moving incredibly slow or Atem wasn't letting his injuries slow him down any.
Yami came to an abrupt stop before she whipped around to come snout to snout with Atem, "Oh? And what if I don't want to talk about this later, huh Atem?" Yami snarled.
Atem sighed, "Look, I'm sorry that I scared you. That was clearly never my intention." Atem said.
Yami snorted, "Of course it wasn't your intention. Just like next you'll be saying that Malik and Marik never intended for me to have to see you like that in the woods. Well intentions aside I saw you lying on the ground where you looked like you were dead. Genuinely dead! And you don't even care what it was like when I believed you were dead! You don't realize the agony that you put me through and as always my feelings don't matter to you. Its all about you and what you want!" Yami snarled.
"Does it make any difference at all that I'm alright?" Atem asked.
Yami growled, "But that's just it. Your aren't! You're limping. You head it all bloody. You are clearly hurt but your too damn proud to admit it." Yami snarled.
Atem strode forward to lightly bump heads with Yami. "I'll be okay. Honest. My injuries are nothing that I won't be able to recover from in about a week or so. I promise." Atem whispered.
Yami snorted, "And I don't believe you." Yami replied although her reply came out more like a whimper than the derisive snort she'd intended.
Atem sighed, "Look, once we get back to our den where I can lay down and get some rest we'll talk about this, okay? And I promise that I'll be perfectly honest with you." Atem said.
"And that you'll let Ishizu check on you and verify that you'll be okay." Yami countered.
Atem snorted, "I promise to if she is willing to make the trek out to check on me that I will allow her to with no complaints. But I won't compel her to come." Atem muttered.
Yami nodded, "That'll be good enough for me." Yami said.
"Good, now I know you're upset but the clearing is actually a bit more to the left from us." Atem pointed out.
Yami snorted, "Yeah, and I would have found it eventually." Yami growled.
Atem snorted, "I know you would have. But I wanted to tell you regardless." Atem said.
Yami rolled her eyes before listening to Atem's suggestion and headed a bit more to the left before the group reached the clearing. Mana, Malik and Marik all trotted past Atem and Yami and back into the main part of the clearing whereas Atem, Yami and Seto turned and made their way over to Atem's den.
Atem padded inside before he made himself comfortable on the pile of pelts.
Yami shifted back into her human form before sinking down to her knees beside Atem, "Where exactly are you hurt?" Yami asked.
Atem sighed, "I probably fractured my front left leg and my head as well as my ribs are throbbing. Other than that I'd like to think I'm doing just fine after the tumble I took." Atem said.
"Tumble?" Yami asked slowly while Seto straightened up.
"I'm going to go and try and contact Ishizu and ask that she come out to the clearing and help." Seto said before he exited Atem's den leaving Yami and Atem alone.
Atem sighed, "Yes, tumble. The dead Were ended up lunging at me and the both of us when tumbling off the ledge. I should have killed him. When he slammed into me I manged to latch my jaws onto his throat, however when I hit my head on the way down I must have lost my grip on him. Next time we meet he won't be so lucky." Atem growled.
"And I'm telling you this until you have a clean bill of health from Ishizu you won't be chasing after any Weres. I never want to go through the pain of thinking someone that I loved was dead like I did earlier. I mean it Atem. Never. Again." Yami growled.
Atem was quiet for several moments before he slowly shifted. Yami let out a gasp as Atem's shift certainly revealed more damage that his fur had concealed. He whole right side of his face was already bruising and it looked like he had cracked his head open, the wound was certainly bleeding quite profusely. His left forearm certainly looked broken and would probably need to be reset. And his ribs were already a deep purple color to the point that Yami actually was worried about internal bleeding.
"My god Atem!" Yami whimpered before she picked up the blue blanket her and the other women had worked so hard on and began to try and apply pressure to Atem's head wound.
"I'm okay Yami. I promise, I'm okay. It isn't as bad as it looks." Atem whispered as he lightly draped his right arm around Yami's shoulders.
"And I told you that until I hear those words from a doctor I'm not going to believe you. What if you have internal bleeding or something?" Yami asked and Atem could clearly hear the fear in Yami's tone.
Atem sighed, "I don't. But like I said I will wait to hear what Ishizu has to say about my injuries." Atem replied.
Yami fell silent as she continued to focus all of her energy into the attending to the wound on Atem's head. She hardly glanced up when Seto came trotting back into the den.
"Alpha, I contacted Ishizu. I actually had to call Mahado because she once again would not take my calls. Mahado spoke to her and she said to inform you, and I quote 'if you are that badly injured than get him to a hospital. I am not at your packs every beck and call. Either deal with it yourself and bring him to get some real help. Now stop bothering me. End quote." Seto replied.
Atem nodded, "Very well then. We'll just have to tend to this ourselves like we normally do." Atem replied with a shrug.
"No." Yami said.
Atem frowned, "I'm sorry, what do you mean no?" Atem asked.
"You heard me. Ishizu won't come to us, then we'll just have to take you to the hospital. I don't want to take any chances that something happens to you because we weren't able to treat internal bleeding." Yami said, her tone firm.
Atem sighed. "Fine. We'll go." Atem conceded.
