Nick P.O.V
I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and dial the boss’s number as I run to my car.
“Yes?”
“She’s the fucking Alpha!” I yell into the phone as I sprint to my car. “Get everybody here now. I’m pulling my men from the border, so they’ll have a clear run into the territory,” I say, and the line goes dead.
I jump in the driver’s seat and start my car, mind-linking my warriors at the same time. ‘Everybody pull back, but do it unnoticed,’ I order them and tear down the road towards the main gate.
“What about Cassia and Jess!” My wolf, Miko, howls in my head. “He needs to die for what he did to her!”
“I have a feeling Damon won’t make it through the night,” I try to reassure him.
I speed through the open gate and nearly collide with another car coming up the road, but I swerve to avoid them and re-enter the road as I speed away.
#
Athena P.O.V
“What are you talking about?” He asks, his eyes filled with suspicion.
“I believe you were involved in the attack, Alpha Damon,” I accuse him, and a member of our pack stands up, her face filled with rage.
“What is she talking about, Alpha?” She asks.
“I have no idea! The bitch is crazy!” He yells.
“Who is Derek?” I ask.
He stills. “What?” He asks, slowly returning his gaze to me. “He’s a private investigator.”
“And you hired him, right? Not long before the attack?”
“That’s right,” he answers, his eyebrow raised in confusion.
“But he isn’t really a private investigator, is he?”
“Of course he is!”
I crouch down in front of him and whisper, “There’s no point in lying, Damon. I will just command you. You’re done.” I smile before standing again. “Who is he really, Damon?”
“He’s a hunter,” he mumbles.
“You son of a bitch! What did you do?” The pack member screams at him, but Harry rushes to her and holds her back as she tries to run to Damon.
“Shhh, Beth. Let Athena get the truth,” he whispers to her.
“That’s right, he’s a hunter,” I continue. “And what did you really hire him for?”
“TO KILL YOU!” Damon screams and leaps to his feet. He tries to grab me, but Tony punches Damon in the face, and he falls back down. “FUCK!” Damon yells and spits blood on the ground. “I KNEW THE NIGHT THAT YOU SHIFTED YOU WERE GOING TO BE TROUBLE! I WENT STRAIGHT TO THE ELDERS TO HAVE YOU DEALT WITH!” He continues to scream.
“Which Elders?” Elder Laskaris asks.
Damon turns and points at Elder David. “THAT USELESS BASTARD! HE TOLD ME I HAD TO WAIT BECAUSE IT HAD TO BE DONE AT THE RIGHT TIME. BUT ONCE YOU TURNED SIXTEEN, I COULDN’T WAIT ANYMORE!” He turns back, pointing at me.
Elder David begins to slowly back away, hoping to slip away unnoticed, but Elder Laskaris sees him and clicks his fingers, and some of the other Elders grab him.
“Then what?” I ask, returning my attention to Damon.
“I CONTACTED DEREK. HE WENT OVER THE COUNCILS HEAD AND CONVINCED THE PEOPLE HE WORKS FOR THAT IT HAD TO HAPPEN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. SO, AT LAST! THEY FINALLY ATTACKED!” Damon screams, panting and out of breath.
I can feel as the room fills with rage as more of our pack members stand, growling at Damon.
“And what about Alpha Niko?” I ask.
“I SAW AN OPPORTUNITY AND TOOK IT! HE WAS USELESS! HE WOULDN’T LISTEN TO ME ABOUT YOU! HE INSISTED ON PROTECTING YOU, SO I KILLED HIM!”
“Traitor!”
“Kill him!” People shout around the room.
“What happened to my father?” I ask, trying not to lose focus as rage takes over my body.
“HE SAW WHAT I DID TO NIKO, AND THEN WOULDN’T TELL ME WHERE YOU WERE, SO I SIGNALLED FOR HIM TO BE SHOT!” Damon screams.
Something inside of me snaps as I grab Damon by the throat and lift him off the ground, roaring in his face. My eyes glow blue as I bring him close to me, his feet dangling above the ground as he kicks and tries to get out of my grip. “You killed my father. You killed our Alpha. You killed my fucking mate.” I say, my voice completely calm as I look into the eyes of the man behind my father’s death.
“What?” He chokes out, shock clear in his voice as he stills in my grip.
“The warehouse. You betrayed us and gave Derek our location. The wolf that was captured, he was my mate,” I growl in his ear and tighten my grip on his throat.
I can barely hear the yelling around me or see the people trying to get to Damon and kill him, as everything around me fades like tunnel vision.
“Wait. Yes, I gave Derek the location, but he’s not…” he tries to speak, but I roar in his face again.
“You betrayed your pack, and you betrayed the Moon Goddess. I hope she tortures you in the afterlife,” I say, snapping his neck with one hand and dropping him to the ground.
Howls fill the hall as the connection between Damon and the pack is severed, and then everything falls silent, and I feel a wave of calm wash over me as I close my eyes and take slow, deep breaths. Finally, I have killed the man who murdered my father. When I reopen my eyes, the Blood-Moon members in the hall are kneeling in front of me.
“Alpha,” a few of them murmur as they expose their necks to me again.
“She can’t possibly be Alpha! There was no challenge! AND SHE’S A WOMAN!” Elder David screams.
“Under the circumstances, I believe we can make an exception,” Elder Laskaris says. “Unless there is someone who wants to challenge her?” Looking around the room, he asks.
But we hear yelling and roaring in the distance before anyone can object or say anything.
‘*Rogues*!’ A warrior mind links everyone.
‘*Luna Guard! Take Luna Cassia to the safe house*!’ I mind-link. “Ladies and Gentlemen! We are currently being attacked. I won’t ask you to fight, but if you want to, please come with us. Warriors! Let’s go!” I yell, shift, and dash out the door.
‘*They’re everywhere! Where the fuck are Nick’s men*?’ I hear another warrior yell through the link.
‘*We need everyone near the southeast track*!’
‘*Are you good, Enyo*?’ I ask her as I run full speed towards the warriors.
‘*I’m fine. The rest of the drugs burned off during the shift*.’
So, I push myself to the back of our minds and let her take control.
She runs towards the southeast track, which leads to the main road, which only our members should be aware of. Finally, we come across approximately 30 rogues who are attacking our warriors.
Enyo springs into action, ripping the throat out of a wolf, trying to sneak up on a warrior.
‘*Athena, I know this isn’t the time, but Enyo seems larger than usual*,’ Tony says through the mind-link.
‘*Tony! You’re supposed to be with Cassia*!’ I yell at him as Enyo kills another rogue.
‘*The Luna is safe, and I am your second in command. I can’t just sit in a locked room. I will always choose to fight by your side. If you’ll have me*,’ he says sincerely.
Enyo stops for a moment as Tony’s wolf, Vik, whimpers and bows to her.
‘*You can stay*,’ Enyo tells them, and Vik wags his tail excitedly as he turns to attack another rogue.
‘*They’ve come a long way, huh*,’ Enyo murmurs as she studies Vik, who, like Tony, has gained muscle and appears to be in better shape.
‘*Get your head back in the game, Enyo*,’ I growl at her, and she shakes her head and looks for her next opponent.
‘*Enyo! I could use a hand over here*!’ Constantine, Uncle Alex’s wolf, yells through the mind-link.
Enyo searches the area for him and discovers him and Ryna’s wolf, Alaster, surrounded by six rogues. She dashes towards them, with Vik close behind her, and grabs the tail of a rogue to stop it pouncing towards Constantine as Vik grabs it’s by the throat and takes it down, snapping its neck. Vik then grabs another wolf’s hind leg, allowing Constantine to rip its throat out and continue fighting. Alaster has another rogue pinned down, so Enyo shifts her focus to the three remaining rogues, who growl at her with their heads bowed low, their teeth bared.
Enyo gets low and growls back at them, baring her canines at them, waiting for one of them to make a move. The largest of the three charges at her, and when it tries to strike her, she dodges to the left, grabbing it by the shoulder. The rogue yelps in agony as she clenches her jaw tightly, breaking its shoulder and tossing it to the side.
‘*Delta! The Luna is on her way to the fight*!’ Harry’s voice comes through the mind-link.
‘*WHAT*?’ I yell. ‘*She’s supposed to be in the safe house*!’
‘*I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop her. We’ll be there in a few minutes*!’
Distracted by Harry, Enyo looks around, trying to see Cassia or her wolf Elli, when the other two rogues jump on her back. She yelps when one of them bites down on her right shoulder and the other one digs its claws into her back.
‘*Enyo*!’ I hear Tony yell, as we’re both taken over with pain. Vik tries to get to us, but he’s blocked by another two rogues.
Enyo whips her head around, attempting to yank the wolf from her shoulder, but it’s too far back to reach. She falls to the ground and rolls over, attempting to break free from their grip, but it’s no use. Enyo searches for help, but everyone is fighting, and there appear to be even more rogues than before.
Enyo yelps in pain again as the two wolves tighten their grips on her. She looks around desperately for a way to get them off her when she hears two howls in the distance. She turns in the direction it came from, and two wolves come into view.
‘*Who is that*?’ I wonder, trying to recognize the wolves.
‘*Enyo! We’re coming*!’
‘*RICH! NOAH*?’ I yell.
‘*Duck*!’ Rich yells, so Enyo ducks as he and Noah’s wolf leap over her, ripping the wolves off her back.
‘*Fuck*!’ Enyo screams in agony, howling loudly, her back and shoulder shredded by their claws and teeth. She takes a deep breath as she looks around the forest, and she sees our warriors being injured as more rogues appear and outnumber us.
‘*Oh, fuck this shit*,’ she snarls angrily, and lets out a massive roar.
The rogues come to a halt and cower in fear as Enyo tears through them, yelps and whimpers filling the air. Out of the corner of her eye, Enyo notices a flash of black and white in the distance and immediately recognizes Elli, Cassia’s wolf. She’s quite impressive and completely takes us by surprise when she takes down a rogue while Harry and a large group of wolves’ trail behind her.
‘*Enyo*!’ Elli links. ‘*I brought reinforcements*!’
When the remaining rogues notice the group behind her, they begin to flee.
‘*Oh, hell no*!’ Enyo growls angrily. ‘*Harry, Tony, Leah, let’s follow these bastards and see if they’ll lead us to wherever the fuck they’re coming from*!’ Enyo instructs them, and they follow her through the forest.
We pursue the rogues, but even with Enyo’s speed, we can’t seem to catch up to them. Enyo loses sight of them when they cross the road that runs along our territory and disappear into the thick trees and dense brush on the other side. Enyo runs faster, trying to follow their scents, but she can’t focus on one as they all seem to go in a hundred different directions.
She comes to an abrupt halt, almost causing Henry, Tony, and Leah to crash into her. Enyo sniffs around the air, trying to find which way to go, but it’s useless.
‘*Fuck! Can anyone focus on a scent*?’ She asks the others, and they sniff around.
‘*How is that possible*?’ Harry asks. ‘It’s like the scents are surrounding us.’
‘*I’ve been meaning to bring this up for a while*…’ Tony speaks, but Vik whimpers.
‘*Speak*,’ Enyo commands, prompting Vik to expose his neck.
‘*After the attack on our convoy, and now this, I think… I think they might be working with witches*…’ Tony says.
‘*Because of their scent*?’ I ask him, and Vik nods.
‘*They smell like rogues, but not like rogues*,’ he explains. ‘*And now we can’t track them, and they were able to escape? You’re the fastest wolf, Enyo. You should have been able to keep up with them easily*.’
Enyo turns and roars in frustration, causing the surrounding trees to shake and the wildlife in the area to flee. I hear whimpers behind us, and Enyo turns around to see Harry, Leah, and Tony’s wolves with their heads low to the ground, their necks exposed to us.
‘*Sorry guys*,’ Enyo says softly and drops her aura, and they slowly rise and shake out their fur.
‘*That’s seriously intense*,’ Leah says.
‘*Intensely awesome*,’ Tony says, and I see amusement flicker in his wolf’s eyes.
‘*Come on, we need to get back*,’ I say, and we sprint back to the territory.