CHAPTER SIXTY NINE
{Axle}
My heart started beating erratically as soon as the alarm was sounded. Mina had been by my side all day, but I could feel Hans's restlessness and agitation, he did not connect with her on any level at all. I thought it might have helped that he's known her all his life, but it was not helping at all.
As the skies darkened, we moved to the woods in numbers, every mated male was together with their mate, and the unmated wolves followed closely with their friends or fellows.
I watched the moon break through the sky in all of her luminescence and beauty, my heart rate sped up as the moon began to take her position.
The night was very quiet, and there was no noise for miles. I stood in front of the pack with Mina, Elric followed next, but he was alone, he couldn't bring Bethany because she was a human and he had not even told her what he truly was.
I focused and started my breathing exercises as my heartbeat tripled, beads of sweat began to form on my brows, and I could literally feel my blood boiling.
I let out a loud howl as the moon took her position in the sky and all of the pack howled after me. I expected my change to become painful, but it was not at all.
It was very painless, and I wondered if being mated really had anything to do with the first Alpha shift.
I let out a growl that shook the earth as my transformation completed. I looked back at my pack, my eyes glowing.
I looked at my huge paws and my feet, I was huge and standing on my two hind legs, unlike every other wolf that was standing on all fours. My fur was silver-colored, and I had a long mane. I reminded myself of the alpha from my vision, but I could not tell what color my eyes were, so I couldn't tell which of the two Alpha's from my vision was me.
I decided that I would ask Mina after the hunt.
"I'm Alpha now," I growled out, and all the wolves howled and bowed before me.
I guessed I used a true Alpha's voice for the first time ever.
Wait… I can talk. How can I talk? I can talk in my true Alpha form.
Wow!
My senses were four times sharper than they had been when I was a regular wolf, I could see as far as the other side of the woods, I could smell the water from the stream, and….
Wait… something sweet? It can't be, my mate, I could sense my mate.
That was why my change had been so painless, she was around, she was around here somewhere.
"She has always been around, what have I been trying to tell you since, dumbass?" Hans muttered, and I smiled.
His voice had changed, it was stronger and more bassy now. It was the same voice that I had used to make that very cliche declaration of being Alpha.
I seriously didn't need to say that, they could see me plenty enough.
"You needed to stake your claim," Hans said, and if I could roll my eyes, I would right now.
"Let's skip the hunt and find our mate, shall we?" I asked, and Hans smiled.
"Finally, a plan that I love." He said. "Just one more thing." He said, and just like that, all my memories from three years ago came flooding back to me.
The time after my sister's death was the most precise memory I remembered.
Flashback to three years ago
I was so lost when I watched Lydia's lifeless body fall to the ground, and my heart stopped.
It was like I was being charged with adrenaline because I instantly chased the wolf that had killed her, and I killed him by ripping his head from his body.
That was my first kill, and instead of feeling sick, I felt empowered.
I began to wander back to the cave to find Mina and my sister, hoping somehow she would still be alive. I just wanted to talk to her before I made peace with her death. I wanted her to know that the motherfker that had ended her life was no longer breathing and that I had made sure that he died before she did.
As I walked slowly back to the cave, the adrenaline rush had quieted down, and I was starting to feel weak again. I heard faint whimpers of pain, they were so faint that if my wolf hadn't been so close to the surface because of the wolf I had killed, I wouldn't have heard them.
At first, I thought it was an animal, and I almost ignored it, but the scent was so sweet I couldn't resist taking a look. I made my way to where the noise was coming from, and there at the base of the cliff lay a human, so close to death I could barely hear her heartbeat.
I wanted to turn away, but something pulled me closer to her. I moved closer and found out that she was the one who was smelling so sweet.
I couldn't leave her like that, and so, left with no other options, I sank my teeth into her neck and marked her.
She fainted immediately after the marking, but I felt her heartbeat begin to normalize, so I picked her up and changed into my wolf.
I knew that what I had done was risky since I wasn't even old enough to mark someone yet, but I couldn't let her die, one look at her green eyes, and I knew that I couldn't let her die.
I took her back as far as I could, where I knew her kind would find her. I washed her in the stream and made sure that she was soaking wet before I dropped her. At most, they would think she almost drowned, and I could keep my cover.
I wanted to find her again after all was done, so I left something precious with her, my bluestone necklace. Since my father died, I had never taken it off, it was my most prized possession, but I put it in her pocket to remind me to find her later.
I spotted a green necklace on her neck, and I touched it to study the intricacy of the design so that I would easily recognize it if I ever saw it again.
The jade glowed as soon as I picked it up, and I dropped it back immediately. I pecked her on the forehead and left her. I had to bury my sister.
When I got to the cave, Mina had already found Elric, and they had already buried Lydia. I couldn't handle the pain, and so I just blocked it all. I blocked away the pain, the memories, everything.
End of flashback
Now, it finally all made sense to me.
I was going to find my Lexi.