Chapter 65 — To End It All

I had reached a clearing near a stream.

'Savannah, come out. I know you are here. The forest is surrounded. You cannot leave,' I said in her mind as I felt her presence.

Before I could finish, I was shoved by a red female. Savannah had appeared from the rocks near the stream. I was tossed onto my side, but I quickly righted myself and faced my attacker.

Savannah bared her teeth and growled low and deep. I returned the threat and watched as Savannah trembled and backed down a little.

I looked behind her to see Lucian along with the rest of the pack. He stayed back and waited to see what would happen.

'You must hold a pretty big grudge against me to attack me in front of Lucian,' I said.

'I have nothing left to lose,' Savannah replied. 'I was happy until you showed up! This is all your fault!

We circled each other cautiously.

'Why couldn't you just go back to your human boyfriend? You should not have come back,' she said to me in my mind.

She charged at me. I quickly moved out of the way and swiped her on her left side as she ran by. Blood trickled from the gashes. Savannah howled at me and flew at me again. This time I didn't move fast enough, and she hit me in the side. I was thrown to the ground from the impact. I rolled a couple of times. Lucian tensed, ready to protect me. I asked him to wait.

She ran at me and tried to pin me to the ground. We clawed and bit at each other while trying to avoid being pinned.

I quickly got the upper hand. Savannah tossed her body and tried to claw at my face. I finally found the opening that I needed and was able to close my jaw on her neck. Savannah continued to thrash about as blood leaked from her neck.

'Savannah, submit or die!' I said.

She swiped my right cheek as she shook from the force of my order to submit.

'I'd rather die than give you the satisfaction of humiliating me in front of the pack,' she responded.

'Submit Savannah!' Lucian's voice roared in our heads.

She seemed to stop for a moment, unable to defy his Alpha command. I relaxed my jaw.

'I love you, Lucian. I always have and always will,' she said, suddenly she swiped at me with her claws, and a deep gash appeared on my right side.

I had no choice but to bite down onto Savannah's neck. I could feel the force of my bite snapping her neck. Her thrashing slowed down. Her body lay dead, hanging from my mouth.

Howls rang out from the pack along with praises. The pack was pleased that their Madam Alpha had killed a traitor, and they were proud.

'Lucian, what have I done?' I asked him, my heart full of sorrow.

'You didn't do anything wrong, Alice. She was delusional and blamed you for something that was beyond our control,' he replied.

I felt numb. Savannah had been one of my close friends in the Crimson Pack. Little did I know that she held a grudge against me.

Lucian arrived next to me and licked my gash, trying to heal me.

'It's all over Alice. Don't blame yourself for whatever happened. Savannah went rogue by her own choice. I never saw it coming. As an Alpha, I should have been more careful about my pack.'

He ordered his Betas, and they started preparing to light a pyre for the bodies.

Lucian and I walked back to our SUVs. One of the warriors passed us clothes as we shifted and we changed into a sweatshirt and pants. Lucian grabbed me in his arms as soon as we had changed.

"You were very brave. I am so lucky to have you," he whispered while nuzzling my neck.

"I thought you would be mad at me for defying your command."

He chuckled, and we broke the hug, though he kept his hands wrapped firmly around my waist. We were bloody, injured, and dirty. But that didn't stop him from kissing me passionately.

"I do feel protective of you, and I always will. That's part of the package, besides other things. But you are a strong wolf and a very brave woman, Alice. You could handle it," he said after we had caught our breath.

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"Aunt Flora. She helped." He explained how she was able to guide them to the Cave of Despair. No wonder that place was so wretched.

"Aunty, you are so brave," Clara said when I finally caught up with Rick.

"So were you, Clara. You are the bravest girl I have ever known," I said, caressing her hair.

"Thank you, Alice, for saving her," Rick said almost tearfully. I had never seen him emotional.

"You don't need to thank me. I must apologize. Clara was dragged into this mess because of me," I said.

"Don't blame yourself, Alice." Rick looked down for a while. "I never wanted to send you away. But I was weak. I was not able to manage the pack and the threats towards you."

"It's fine, Rick. You did what was best for the pack and me. I don't hold any grudge against you."

We smiled and hugged each other.

"What do we do with Gregory's pack?" I asked Lucian as his surviving warriors were brought along. About 20 of them had survived, and they were bowing down in submission.

"Which one of you is the Beta?" Lucian asked.

"I am," a tall, heavily muscled, dark-skinned man replied.

"What's your name?" Lucian asked.

"I am Dominic," he replied.

"How many people are there in your pack?"

"About 250 are left, Alpha," Dominick replied.

"And Gregory was childless, I believe?" Lucian asked.

"Yes," Dominik replied softly.

"You are all welcome to stay at Crimson Shadow Pack. If you submit, I promise you will be well provided for. Those who want to leave can do so. I won't object," Lucian said aloud.

The wolves looked at each other and then agreed to move. Lucian commanded Damon to arrange for their transportation.

I rested my head on Lucian's shoulder when we were bundled up in the SUV. After a long time, I had a restful sleep. It was early morning when we reached the Jade Moon Pack. The mating picnic had been interrupted because of the kidnappings. Most of the other packs had returned. Several of the single wolves had found their mates.

"Madam Luna, thank goodness you are safe." Meg and Katherine ran towards me, followed by Linda, Marta, and Emma. Everyone was worried about me.

Breakfast, which happened much later that morning, was a joyous affair. Lucian and I dined with Rick, Daniel, and their families. I felt good after a shower, and my injuries were mostly gone. Clara looked cheery in her mother's lap. Linda had not left her ever since we returned, and she thanked me numerous times.

I was glad to see that Rick and Lucian were very close now. They were discussing how to assimilate their newly acquired wolves into their packs. Gregory used to exploit his pack's females, and most of them were glad to be rid of him.

We left for Crimson Shadow soon after. The feeling of being finally free from the danger was surreal. Savannah's betrayal didn't go well with the pack members. She didn't have any family apart from her old aunt. To prevent other pack members from condemning her, I visited her home with Katherine and ensured that her Alphas didn't blame her for Savannah's mistake.

"Madam Luna, I wanted to apologize to you," Katherine said while we were returning from Savannah's home.

"For what?"

"Savannah was infatuated with the Alpha. I knew about it," she said softly.

I stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Her room…it's like a temple for the Alpha. His pictures, old mementos, their school slam books—any gift he gave her—she has kept them all. I just assumed she would grow out of it as she got older, and it would all end once she found her mate. Unfortunately, that never happened. It kept getting worse until I objected. She stopped sharing her feelings with me. I had no idea that her obsession would end this way. Yesterday, while cleaning up her room, I found written notes and sketches about how much she hated you…what she would do to get rid of you..." She stopped and shuddered.

I caught her hands to stop them from shaking, though her words shook me to the core.

"I don't blame you, Katherine. How could you have known? I trust all members of this pack, and I need each of you to make it stronger. Can you help me with that?"

She nodded through her teary eyes.

I narrated her words to Lucian back in our room.

"She had a crush on me when we were younger. We were not mates, so there was no question of us being together. She was my friend. I couldn't break her heart with casual dating. I thought she would grow out of it. I had no idea about her obsession. This is the second time I have been betrayed in my life," he mumbled.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. Soon I was staring into his green eyes. He leaned forward, and I breathed him in.

"I am sorry this happened to you. I can't make promises for others, but I will always stay with you and protect you from everything."

He laughed and pulled me into his lap.

"I am so lucky to have you, my beautiful, brave, and wise Luna. There will be challenges and failures, but we don't have to worry about that right now."

I grinned and wrapped my hand around his neck as he kissed my lips.