Chapter 33: Focusing on the enemy

Amina’s POV

“Okay! Anybody wants to tell me why all of you are here?” Benjamin asked as he sat on the couch in the far end of the room.

He pulled me on top of him and laid his arms around my waist. Even if we were now fully clothed, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed that we had been caught naked. And now, he insisted on having me sit on his lap, front and centre, when all that I wanted to do was to disappear. I kept twitching on top of him hoping that he’d let me go but he kept on pressing my hips down on top of him. I looked around the room where, both, Blackwoods and River Creek men stared each other down. Ryan, Anderson and Jason sat opposite of Christopher, Paxton and Travis.

“There’s a traitor in your pack.” Travis Reese spoke up furiously.

“Fuck you!” Anderson retorted without skipping a beat.

Benjamin and I shared a confused look. There was so much hatred in the room but neither of us knew what was going on. Benjamin had told me that his pack and River Creek have had bad blood ever since Alpha William’s father tried to conquer and absorb Blackwoods Pack. But today, this felt like a brand new type of hostility, even for Benjamin.

“What’s going on?” He barked frustrated that he was being kept in the dark.

“I’ll tell you what’s going on!” Travis turned his head towards us. “While you two were frolicking together, my men were being savagely murdered by the rogue Alpha!”

“Travis!” His brother Christopher tried to cut him off.

“No, fuck that! I’ve been saying for a week that I couldn’t make contact! I said that we needed to go find them! And now they’re all dead. And for what? Because Alpha Benjamin felt it was more important to fuck his little piece of ass!”

Benjamin lifted me off of him and lunged at Travis’s neck with such speed that no one was fast enough to see it coming. He choked Travis with one hand while pushing back Christopher with the other.

“Watch how you speak of my mate, Travis. I won’t tell you again.” He muttered in a threatening voice before releasing him from his grip.

Travis coughed up for air as he rubbed his throat. He was about to say something that undoubtedly would have vexed Benjamin but stopped short when I moved in closer. He noticed the reddened spot on my neck and his gaze widened in surprise. Something flashed in his golden eyes, something akin pain and sadness.

“You’re marked?” He asked in a low breath.

“What’s it to you?”

Travis seemed to ignore Benjamin’s question as he couldn’t take his eyes off of mine. I felt a feeling of longing coming from him and my heart sank a little. *'Why is he feeling this way for me and why is it affecting me?'* I wondered. When he realized that all eyes were on him, Travis regained his composure and stared Benjamin down.

“I’m surprised that an Alpha can make a human his Luna, that’s all.” He said provocatively.

“An Alpha can do whatever he feels like. Even kill you.” Benjamin snapped back.

“Let’s not get carried away just yet, Alpha Benjamin.” Christopher and Paxton said together as they pulled Travis back towards them.

They explained receiving a call from their pack through which they learned that the wolves they sent undercover were murdered. Their headless bodies were found scattered across their lands while their heads had been sent to Alpha William himself. It clearly pained the three of them to know that their men had been forced to meet such a brutal end. They managed to keep secret the covert operation for a month and, in that time, they were successful in keeping the warriors safe.

But within a week of revealing the truth, all of their warriors were slaughtered by the rogue Alpha and to River Creek, this was proof that Blackwoods Pack had betrayed their trust. They blamed us for the deaths and sought retribution. All of the men around me entered a violent screaming match as one side proclaimed their innocence and the other demanded revenge. Neither of the two clans listened to each other talk, wanting nothing more than to fight.

I stood still very still as I watched them climb from dangerous accusations to vicious name-calling. I wanted to react but I was so trapped in my own thoughts that the scene playing out in front of me seemed less and less real. If I ever needed any more proof that Micheal Bailey and Alpha Miller were one and the same, this had to be it. He had been in the woods with us the day Christopher revealed that they had men infiltrated with the rogues. He had heard everything and was sending a message to the treacherous River Creek Pack. Neither them or Blackwoods were responsible for the murders of the warriors. It was all Micheal’s doing.

“Stop!” I yelled as loud as I could. “All of you, stop!”

The men in the room fell silent almost immediately.

“They’ve just lost their friends and they’re hurt. They’re angry and understandably so. Think back to how you felt when you’ve lost your pack members.” I spoke first to the four men that I knew.

“And you…” I turned my head to the River Creek men. “I don’t blame you for seeking answers and justice but before you blame them, remember that they stood exactly where you are. They’ve lost friends too. All of you have the same enemy and it’s not each other.”

“She’s right.” Benjamin said to Christopher. “Beta, I promise you that we are not responsible for your friends' murders. It won’t be long before we get to the rogue and his army. Then, we'll all avenge our dead but only if we stop fighting each other.”

“Agreed.” Christopher nodded his head as he shook Benjamin’s hand.

“So what now?” Jason asked.

“We’ll have our best trackers work with their best and we'll locate him.” Benjamin answered him.

“Then we fight.” Travis added.

The River Creek men left first followed by Jason and Anderson until there was only Benjamin, Ryan and I left in the living room. The two of them stood in front of me with beaming grins plastered on their faces.

“Looks like we got ourselves a fine Luna.” Ryan winked at his best friend.

“So you’ve noticed too.” Benjamin closed in on me, smiling proudly.

He pressed my body against his hard frame and leaned in to exchange a deep wet kiss. We could hear Ryan faking a gag before leaving us alone.

The following month, Benjamin spent most of his time with his men and those of River Creek as they tried to locate and find out more about the rogue Alpha. His relentless pursuit of Micheal had led him to neglect his company which he, then, entrusted to a close friend of his. All of his conversations revolved around finding and killing his enemy. Sometimes, he even disappeared for several days as he helped his trackers follow some new leads. His frustration and impatience grew exponentially each time that he returned empty handed.

I thought about admitting the truth about Micheal plenty of times. On a few occasions, I came close to revealing his identity but I could never say it out loud completely. I convinced myself that, by keeping him a secret, I wasn’t protecting Micheal but really, I was protecting myself. I had barely survived that humiliating relationship and I was dead set on guarding what was left of my dignity.

Besides, I failed to see how my secret could’ve harmed Benjamin. It had been over a month since I last saw Micheal and he had yet to make a move against me. It made start to believe that he wasn’t here for me but for the Millers, indeed. I seemed to be safe and I knew that Benjamin would have only gotten more upset if he had known the truth.

He left me alone almost every day and spent with me only the few nights that he was home. He ate the dinners that I prepared him, then, made love to me and fell asleep in my arms. It became his favourite routine whenever he came back home. I never asked for more and I let him have his way. I believed that I knew how much stress he carried and that the moments spent with me were his only time to relax and rest

I spent most of my days with Roxanne, Raleigh and Jenny, learning as much as I could about a mate’s role. Carson and Grace took on the responsibility to teach me about the Luna’s duties. I suddenly felt like I was back in school with the amount of books and old texts that they required me to read and comprehend. Everyday, without a fail, I was being tested by someone left and right.

There was only one part of my days that remained mine only. Every early morning, after Benjamin was gone, I drove his truck to the training gym and watched from the most remote corner of the building all of the werewolves that were there. A lot of them were so young and only beginning to learn to fight. Every morning, I watched jealously as Sheila and Jason taught new and old attack drills to their pupils. Some of the River Creek men also attended classes to keep their bodies and wolves sharp and that’s how Sheila met her mate. He was one of the warriors sent to our pack after the killings of their friends. Along with everyone in the gym, I witnessed their first meeting and cringed at their first heavy make out session.

On one of the nights that he was home, I asked Benjamin permission to let me train with his pack. I wanted to be able to defend myself. He categorically refused and wouldn’t budge on his decision no matter how much I begged. According to him, there would always be someone there to protect me. One day, still craving to learn, I asked Sheila to help me train but Benjamin had already passed on his decision.

Up until this very moment, I spent most of my early mornings sitting right here, in far away bleachers, watching the trainees and wishing that I could be as strong as them.

“Do you realize how creepy you look sitting here?” A deep voice asked me.