Chapter 84- Party Crashers
Derrick’s POV
Hunter surges forward in me the moment that the wolves emerged from the woods bordering the pack house. I narrow my eyes as I look in the direction where Malcom, the Alpha of our neighboring pack, is currently standing with a cocky grin on his face. He truly believes that my pack will just hand her over to him to avoid a fight.
We didn’t get the name of the fiercest pack in the region by sitting by and letting other Alpha’s make demands of us. Taking a step forward, I move Salara until she is secured behind me and out of Malcom’s sight. Hunter lets out a menacing growl, worrying me a bit with how animalistic it came out, but I file that away for later use.
“You will not touch a hair on my Luna’s head.” My voice comes out low and gruff, the sound of Hunter’s voice mixing with mine as we release our Alpha aura into the crowd, being careful not to allow it to affect my members who are standing around. I watch as Malcom swallow a lump down his throat while he tries to maintain as if my aura doesn’t bother him.
He and I both know that he could never best me in a duel, which is why I am surprised to see him here challenging me today. He must really have thought that I wouldn’t deem my mate as worth the trouble, something that he has done multiple times in the past.
Malcolm recovers from my burst of power, moving to take a step forward before being stopped by my pack members who stand between him and us. I lift a brow in amusement, giving him a wide, taunting, smirk. I lift my arms up and wrap them around my chest, putting on a show of nonchalance despite every muscle in my body still being on high alert.
“Did you really think that you could just come in here and demand our Luna and that we would just hand her over to you?” Murmurs of agreement go up all around us as each member of my pack readies themselves for the fight that lies ahead. I send out a quick mind link to Meredith, instructing her to take those that can’t fight to the underground hideout until it is safe to come out.
Without asking any question, Meredith acknowledges my command and I return to the situation sure that she will get things done.
Despite the fact that Malcom should be showing some nerves right now being surrounded by so many fierce warriors, he doesn’t seem as nervous as I was expecting. Before I can dwell on that thought for too long, three more Alphas make their way through the crowd until they are standing at Malcom’s side.
Standing by Malcom’s side is none other than Alpha Abigail of the Crescent Moon pack, Alpha Leo from the Blood Moon pack and Alpha Raymond of the Mountain pack. The first two allies are not much of a surprise seeing as we found two of their members among the attackers that happened a couple of days ago, but what is surprising is Alpha Raymond.
The Mountain pack are a secluded group of wolves that live way up in the mountains and hardly ever come down. The old and fragile Alpha never comes to any of the Alpha meetings or events and keeps himself hidden away from the rest of the werewolf world.
His knowing eyes meet mine briefly before looking behind me to catch a sight of Salara with some unreadable expression covering his face.
“You didn’t really think that I would come to you without any back up, did you?” With his confidence boosted from three separate Alpha’s standing at his side, Malcom is now back to the same cocky bastard that I have grown to hate over the years. It is the reason that I have never agreed to an alliance with his pack, despite them being our closest neighbors.
“Of course I didn’t Malcom.” I reply with a taunting voice. “You are too much of a coward for that.” Malcom growls out and attempts to launch himself at the stage. The wolves standing in front of him easily overpower the weak Alpha and throw him back to his friends. This causes the wolves along the border of the trees to howl into the night and scratch at the earth with their paws.
Malcom goes to move towards the stage once again, but Alpha Leo puts a hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping him in his tracks. It is clear from their interaction that Malcom is not the one in charge and is simply following Leo’s lead. I scoff at his pathetic attempt at showing his might, while only accomplishing in showing just how weak he really is.
“You killed my daughter.” Alpha Leo speaks up for the first time, his heated gaze burning through me and slamming into Salara who shivers in guilt behind me. It is clear that she has figured out just who the Alpha standing before us is.
“And my Beta.” Alpha Abigail steps forward, spit flying from her lips as she yells out at us heatedly. Her reaction to her Beta’s death is surprising, leading me to believe that there must have been something more between the two of them, despite them both being mated to someone else.
Leo places his hand on her shoulder in a silent bid to calm down. She lets out a painful howl before moving back behind him and pulling her arms up to her chest and grabbing hold tightly. It is unusual for wolves to step outside of their mates, but it is not unheard of, but it is highly unusual for higher rank Alpha’s to behave that way. Wolves are loyal to a fault when it comes to their mates, especially the higher ups.
“We demand retribution for our losses and that retribution is your Luna, the one who is responsible for all of this death.” I can feel Salara move her body closer to my back, her feelings of fear coming through our bond and nearly drowning me in its intensity. Doesn’t she know that I would never allow something to happen to her?
“Your wolves entered my territory without permission and attacked my members.” My voice booms across the crowd, carrying with it my Alpha power. “It is their own fault that they got themselves killed and you are both lucky that we didn’t annihilate your packs in retaliation.” My wolves out in the crowd stomp their feets on the earth in agreement, their howls echoing around the quiet of the night as they look up to the moon.
“Now,” I tell them, to bring their attention back towards me when my wolves quieted down around us. “I will give you to the count of five to be off of my lands before we send you to meet your loved ones.” Hunter moves towards the surface, the promise of death and destruction a heady thing that gets him excited.
Alpha Leo takes a step forward, ignoring the countless wolves that are preventing him from getting closer to where Salara and I stand on the stage. “We will not be going anywhere without that Luna of yours in our possession.”
“That is not something that I will ever allow.” I tell him, baring my teeth and they grow into my wolf’s. Hunter is pacing back and forth in my mind, anxious to be set free and given the go ahead to tear the heads off of these foolish Alpha’s bodies.
Before Leo can say another word in response, Alpha Raymond steps forward, his aged eyes locked onto where Salara cowers behind me. “Is that really you, my love?” The softness in his voice has my ears twitching as I turn my head in the old man’s direction, fixing a glare on my face.
Salara’s body stiffens behind me before she steps forward to get a better view of the Alpha that never shows himself to the world. A blast of power hits everyone in attendance, knocking back some of the weaker wolves and causing them to whimper. Leigh studies the old Alpha for a moment before recognition alights her eyes.
Alpha Raymond takes a hesitant step forward and I nod to my wolves to allow him to pass when I notice Leigh also takes a step in his direction. The wolves that were blocking the Alpha’s movements, immediately move back into place in order to prevent the other three to take a step.
When Leigh goes to move closer to the old Alpha, I grab hold of her hand and pull her back to my side. She nods her head to me in understanding and waits for the old wolf to make his way up the stage.
“Is it really you in there Leigh?” Surprise causes my eyebrows to shoot up my head. How is it that the old Alpha know’s the wolf that is residing inside of Salara. Leigh nods her head, unable to get a word out for some reason. Hunter starts to pace inside of my head for a new reason, seeing the old man as a rival, which is ridiculous!
“When I heard that the wolf from the prophecy has returned to this world, I just knew I had to come see for myself.” He opens his mouth to say more, but the angry sound of Alpha Leo’s voice interrupts his words.
“So you never decided to side with us from the very beginning.” His voice booms out across the crowd, causing some wolves to shift uneasily. “Then you shall die along with them.” He spits out, venom dripping in his words.
With those words said out loud, the wolves from the woods rush in our direction, their jaws snapping as they pound the earth with their mighty paws.