Invincible 2/3

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with Wolf Lake or any of its Characters. Only the character of Calen Ryans is mine.

This is the sequel to Torn. Both 'Waiting' and 'Torn'must be read for any of this to make sense.

Author's Note: I hope that there are some who still remember this trilogy and await its conclusion. What worthy explanation can I offer but that real life reared its ugly head along with a major case of writer's block. Fortunately, both roadblocks eventually cleared and I was able to write another part of Invincible. I apologize greatly for the wait,and hope that this longer than usual part will tide you over until the conclusion of Invincible, and conclusion of the Trilogy comes about. I promise you that the wait for the third part will be no longer than two weeks as it is currently being restructured by my lovely beta. With that said-Enjoy.


Luke

He should have been prepared for it.

It was once again that idiotic arrogance of his that had led to his downfall.

So sure in his capabilities, so sure in his strength and power within their group, he had never even contemplated betrayal.

But in his obsession with Sophia, the winds had shifted,

And they were no longer in his favor.

Like Caesar, it had been his confidante, the man who had been by his side since his birth who had stabbed that fatal wound into his back.

Sean, the Bruté to his Caesar.

The signs had been all there. The circles that he would catch Sean and others coming out of with Calen Ryans, the prying questions that Sean subtly put to him over drinks, the increasing signs of rebellion he saw in Sean's eyes whenever he ordered him to do something…

It had all been there-

The beginnings of a revolt. A removal of the old and replacement with the new.

How he could have missed it, he did not know.

Initially, he had incorrectly assumed that Sean had been the leader of this anarchist movement.

With Sophia having been once again cruelly ripped away from him, his mind had been cleared and bent on wreaking vengeance on the one who had led to her condemnation of him. Then, what he had been blinded to for the period of two years, became crystal clear in a matter of two weeks.

After all those years, he should have realized that no matter how much Sean longed to be a dominant, in essence he would always be a follower.

This time, a follower of Ryans.

Sean, his friend- had never been the brightest bulb in the package. And with the loose tongue that had glibly offered Ryans information that would turn Sophia away from him, Sean offered the one piece of information that brought together all the haphazard pieces of the puzzle into one neat and fitting picture.

"After we get rid of Luke, Calen can take his place as Alpha. Calen has already promised me the position as his right hand."

Sean. So smug in his future promotion- never realizing that the position of right-hand man had always been his.

He could admit that part of the blame should be laid at his feet.

Sean had been another victim of his arrogance, of his illusioned beliefs of power and grandeur.

As the future Alpha, he had never even considered that his followers would need words of encouragement, of security.

After he had challenged Sean to a fight to the death, and as the life in Sean's golden eyes faded at its conclusion, he had offered his friend one piece of tragic consolation.

"I never considered anyone but you as my future second in command."

Until his dying breath, he would never forget the flash of sorrow in Sean's eyes before they shuttered.


Sophia

In the weeks following the night that she had spent with Luke, things had seemed surreal.

Life was a haze of disjointed moments, amalgamated into one messy, chaotic day after another.

She lived from second to second, from minute to minute, struggling and straining to gain the sense of self and the sense of control she had lost all over again due once again to Luke's betrayal.

Calen- perfect Calen who had offered nothing but kind words and caring warmth.

She had been Luke to Calen's Sophia, and yet he had still offered her a shoulder to cry upon-

How could she have done anything but love him more.

In the wake of Sean's death, there were whispered echoes of Luke discovering a betrayal. Both generations of skin walkers, both young and old, moved amongst each other trading an equal amount of lies and truths.

There were those who whispered of a secret rebellion, of a rippling among the younger generation of skin walkers who tired to the old traditions and antiquated rules that governed their lives, of those who wanted to remove the true Alpha for a new leader who would give them the freedom that was denied them day after day.

She had only been able to pray that those theories were as ridiculous as the ones that the darkly jealous bitches spread about Luke finding Sean entangled in a steamy embrace with her.

Because if those who spoke of a revolt were, in fact, correct- it boded nothing but ill for Luke.

It had also increased in her a niggling suspicion in the back of her mind that the Savior, so avidly whispered about, was Calen.

She had not been able to even contemplate the thought that Calen, her gentle and kind Calen, would be the leader in such an act of planned violence.

But sometimes she would catch him at odd moments where an impassioned and almost fervent light gleamed in his eyes.

A light that sometimes, she feared, was reflected in her own.

In thoughts that terrified her, a voice that could not possibly be hers but was- whispered seductive solutions to end the madness that filled her life. The madness, the voice reasoned, was to be blamed solely on Luke. After all, before Luke, there had been no pain, no depression, no anger -

No betrayal , no lies , no shape shifters.

For a while, when she had turned her back to Luke, to the pack, things had been peaceful and she had been content- the voice whispered-then Luke had forced himself back into her life and the cycle had repeated. There was pain, depression, anger, betrayal, lies, and shape shifters.

The Key was Luke. If there was no Luke, there was no pain.

When those thoughts plagued her in the dark of the night, she would bury her head in her pillows and scream. Scream until she could not hear herself speak such awful and yet…

Months drifted along without tremor and she had dared to hope that things would die down and become as normal as they could be.

It was after her graduation from High School and a visit from Luke that brought her fragile bubble crashing down upon her.

As he had done almost a year ago, Luke had silently crept into her room and awakened her.

She had furiously demanded that he leave, softly hurling cruel words at him in fear that if she was in his presence long enough, she would once again fall into his magnetic allure.

He had remained impervious to her taunts and had issued a word of caution to her regarding Calen before disappearing in a flash of gray out her window.

It had been the very next night that her father, with grave eyes, suggested the she visit Sherman.

Reluctantly, she had dragged her exhausted body from the diner to Sherman's home and had knocked, hoping truly that whatever Sherman needed to tell her would be short and inconsequential.

It would only make sense that Destiny chose that moment, the moment in which she was most weary to the bone with both physical and emotional labor, to display her tricks and twists to all her glory.

Without giving her even a minute's respite, Sherman had thrown himself into the story of a destiny to be fulfilled.

Ever the story-teller, his dark eyes had gleamed with excitement as he relayed the story of a child who would be born of a tragedy.

A child hidden by parents who had escaped from the restrictions imposed to them by their society. A male and female who firmly believed in their position in the world. Two rebels who refused to cow to a human society who should be in servitude to them. The leaders of the pack of that time had attempted to explain the consequences of such exposure. In their small town of Wolf Lake, it was possible to keep a strong rein on the ungulates, but in the outside world, in a world overrun with humans- it would be impossible to dominate them, no matter how superior their race.

And still they had refused to accept those terms, their zealous beliefs in their supremacy spreading amongst the younger members-

Soon it had become apparent to the Alpha of the pack that the only solution left to preserving the pack would be to cut the rebellion at its roots. The leaders of the revolt had gotten news of the council's plans and with the help of their followers had fled in the middle of the night.

In other circumstances, the deserters would have been captured immediately and executed, but the prophesied child's father had developed a chemical which would make them undetectable to skin walkers.

'The blue and white pills.' She had wordlessly uttered.

'Exactly!' Sherman had agreed, before resuming his tale.

Their prey being virtually invisible, those chosen to execute the couple had been called back and the couple had lived, hidden among the humans they were so superior to.

Then the new Alpha had taken his place, with a new system of action. The deserters had been tracked through technology and records, and summarily executed, but they had missed the child, the boy.

As she was told of Calen's past, her eyes had filled with unshed tears at the thoughts of a lonely boy without a mother, so like the lonely girl she had been. She had reminisced on thoughts of what could have been, but also of thoughts of what she would do if ever confronted with her mother's murderer-

As if reading her mind, Sherman had nodded his head sagely, continuing his story.

The boy's mother had kept a journal of their beliefs and the struggle they had fought trying to achieve them, and as the boy grew older, his path became clear. Those who had executed his parents, would be executed, and if not them- their children.

Given the generous funds left to him by his parents, the boy became a man who used every resource available to him in his plan for revenge. Not only would he execute his parents' punishers, he would bring about the changes his parents had died for.

Much to the boy's fury, someone had already killed the Alpha of his parents' generation- but he had a son, a son raised in the traditions of the old, a son who would take on the punishment for the deeds of his father.

"Luke." She had answered, her fingers clutching tightly to the worn arm rests under her.

With a regal bow of his head, Sherman had acknowledged her words.

"The prophecy is about Luke and Calen, Sophia. But it is also about you."

As her expression belied confusion, Sherman rifled through the pages of the book on his lap, stopping and pointing to a paragraph.

"It speaks of the appearance of a white wolf, Sophia. A white that no one will be expecting, even those that love her. A female that will be manipulated by both but only truly loved by one. The ultimate decision of whether the old dies to the new, or the new dies to the old- the choice is hers. The future of the pack- whether it survives or will be destroyed, that choice is her."

Her eyes had shown her denial and refusal. And Sherman had slammed the book shut to lean towards her.

"It is already happening, Sophia. As the guardian, I have already put everything into motion. I have told Luke of your color and Calen of his prophecy- I have given them both a weapon to put them on equal ground. Luke would use his knowledge to ensure that you loved him once again, and Calen would use his information to influence you into his own favor. You have been manipulated by both. Now I give you a weapon equal to theirs to aid you in your decision. With your knowledge, choose."

Furiously, she had shaken her head. "No. How can I just choose one life over another."

Sherman had sighed, "Sophia- if you do not choose, both will die. This is your 'Sophie's choice'. You either save one or lose both. They are already in the woods fighting, Sophia. I would not delay any longer."

At his words, she had pushed herself off the seat and ran out the door of his home. Ripping off her clothes as she was enveloped by the woods that usually calmed her, but that night only brought her fear.

Changing into her coat of white pelt, she had raced to the deep of the woods, guided by an unknown entity, until she could see them.

A blur of gray and black, furiously attacking each other just waiting to lay that fatal blow. Both had been wounded and were bleeding from various gashes in their silky coats.

This was it.

The moment that she had been created for.

Memories flashed like clockwork through her mind-

The first time Luke had moved inside her, initiating the change,

The moment Luke had claimed Presley as his mate, his eyes cool as they took in her slow tears.

The day that Calen had roared into her life, taking her by storm.

The first kiss that she and Calen had shared.

The light in Luke's eyes as he whispered his love for her,

The strong shoulder Calen had given her to cry on after her heart had once again been shattered-

The decision should have been hard.

She shouldn't have been able to make it in the matter of seconds that were given to her.

But in the end, the choice, although excruciating and unexpected, was made easily.

Because in the end, it all came down to love.

She lunged into the fray.


All Reviews/Criticisms will be appreciated and duly adored.