Phone Rings.
“Hello?”
“Hey girlie, I’m just letting you know that I am back, and I will be stopping buy with your luggage in a little bit.”
“Okay Mak. Thanks again for grabbing it for me.”
“Not a problem. See you soon.”
I continue packing my belongings when I start to feel shaky. Closing my eyes, I see the premonition. The same one I saw that night when Tarech had come back for me. Except this one has Tarech holding his phone out to show the date and time.
It was today’s date.
After seeing the premonition, I take off running. I feel there is no time to stop and think logically. I need to just get there as fast as I can. I make my way to Mak’s house since I do not have a car.
“Mak!” I yell as I am banging on her door.
She opens the door with a look of shock. “What? What is going on?”
“Come on get your keys, we need to head to Shadow Ridge now!”
“What? Ok, OK I got them.”
We quickly jump into her car and start heading to the pack. I try to call Bastian, but he keeps sending me to voicemail.
I try to text him.
Me: Bastian! Answer your phone! It’s Important.
No response. Damn it!
I try Terrin, same thing.
I try Jasper, same.
“Ugh… No one will answer my phone calls.”
“Here,” She hands me her cell phone. “Try Terrin with my phone.”
He answers in a sweet sexy tone, “Hey Babe, how’s it going?”
Bastard of course he will answer for his mate.
“Terrin!”
“Ria?”
“Terrin, you have to listen to me. The pack is about to get attacked.”
“Ria, how would you know that the pack is about to be attacked?” he asked with an accusing tone.
“Terrin, I do not have time to explain, you need to tell Bastian what I told you.”
“Ria, I can’t. If anyone says anything about you, he said he would shun us from the pack.”
WTF!
“Just try in any way you can, please?”
“Alright, I will try.” He answered with an uncertain tone.
I hung up. I looked over at Mak and she gave me a sad pup look.
Realizing I did not give her a chance to talk to her mate, I say, “Seriously! I am trying to save their lives, Mak.”
My phone rings in my lap.
“Hello?”
“Ria?”
“Barlow!”
“I was standing next to Terrin when you called him, what is going on?”
“Barlow, I had a premonition, Tarech is on his way with a large group to fight the pack. It will be a bad one if I cannot warn Bastian. Barlow… Bastian will die.”
“Oh Goddess. What do you need me to do?”
“Tell Jasper. He will at least listen to you. Bastian will not kill the messenger if the messenger is Jasper.”
“Ok, I will make him listen to me. What are you doing?”
“We are already on our way back to the pack.”
“Ria, you cannot come back here, if Tarech sees you.”
“Barlow, I am well aware of the consequences. But I refuse to let my ex-mate make this premonition come true. If there is any way that I can change it… then that is what I need to do.”
Silence… “Ok Ria, I understand.”
“Thank you, Barlow.”
“Ria… Please be safe and do not do something irrational. There is quite a few of us who still need you in our lives.”
I close my eyes as the tears burn my eyes.
“Thanks, Barlow.”
I hang up.
Mak looks over at me and I catch her sympathetic smile. I do the same.
With a heavy sigh I say, “Alright Mak, I need you to break some speed laws and get us there fast.”
“On it.” She says as she presses the gas pedal down farther and start to move faster down the two-lane highway.
I close my eyes so that I can have a conversation with my wolf.
Me: Freya?
Freya: Yes, Ria?
Me: I need to let you know that I plan on challenging Tarech.
Freya: I figured that was something that you were contemplating doing.
Me: Do you think we can?
Freya: Yes, but you need to stay focused. You have to make sure that you do not go into this challenge with rage. You need to make sure you time your attacks with logic. Do not let him entice you to make your move before you are ready too.
Me: I know I can do this if I have you with me. Will you be there with me?
Freya: Ria, I am always here for you. I know it nearly killed me when we had to reject him as our true mate and then again when he completed the rejection. But in these last two years I have come to realize that he was not a good true mate, and we deserve better. I am ready to fight him when the time comes.
Me: Thank you, Freya. I could not have been more blessed with a better wolf than you. Even though you are a very sexual wolf.
She laughs and says, Freya: Yeah, you are alright for a human. I got pretty lucky when the Goddess blessed me with you.
I smile.
Me: Rest up Freya, this one is going to be our greatest fight.
Freya: Yes, but you cannot let anyone else know that you have chosen this. It will only lead you to stressing out and making your body emotionally exhausted when you need to be strong in all aspects. Understand?
Me: I understand Freya.
I open my eyes and take a deep breath. It will take us a few more hours before we get there. At least I tried to warn them before I could get there. I hope I can get there in time to change the outcome of all this.
Please Goddess let me change this premonition.
***
A Few Hours Later…
We get to the pack land, and it seems like a deserted town.
Oh Goddess…am I too late?
Before the car stops, I make a dash out of the car making my way out to the fields where my premonition showed me where the battle took place.
In the far distance I see where the attack has started and start making my way in that direction.
Running towards the battle I see the fighters surrounding two wolves that are fighting each other. I quickly swipe from the ground a compound bow and some arrows that was dropped, continuing my way to the fight. As I get closer, I see Tarech’s wolf which is brown throw Bastian’s wolf that is black to the ground.
Before he is able to attack him again, I leap into the air, aiming the bow at Tarech’s wolf, I fire the arrow hitting Tarech in the side and causing him to fall before landing on Bastian.
Tarech shifts back to pull the arrow out of his shoulder. After pulling a pair of pants back on he walks back out and yells, “Who dares to shoot me with an arrow?”
“I DO!” I yell out. Causing the whole crowd to turn and look at me. I start making my way to the circle. Bastian’s warriors make room for me to pass through them.
“Well, well look who we have here.” He lifts his arms and points his hands out to me. “Hello, Love.” He says to me with a smirk.
“Cut the crap Tarech, I challenge you.” I say as I enter the circle.
He starts to laugh as he drops his hands and bends over a little from his laughter, straightens and says, “You must be joking Love, I am not going to fight you.”
“Do you wish to concede then?” I ask as I place myself between him and Bastian’s wolf. I quickly took a glance and saw his chest is still moving, but at a slow pace. At least he was still breathing. I move my hands behind my back to motion for Jasper and the other warriors to move Bastian out of here.
“HAHA! You should know Love, I never concede. So… when you lose what do I get as my prize?” Bringing his fingers to his lips as he listens to my proposal.
“Me, with no fight. I will come back with you and do whatever you want me to do.”
He looks at me with a raised eyebrow, “Really? And you will not run away, and both of us take back the rejection and re-bond the mate bond?”
“On one condition, you cannot come after this pack ever again. You will leave all of them alone and let them live in peace, including their Alpha.”
“Done!”
Bastian: No! Ria, stop!
Bastian yells in my head.
Me: Now you want to talk to me.
Bastian: Don’t do this.
I peak over my shoulder and see he is now in human form again, panting as he tries to reclaim his strength.
Me: I have to, Bastian, this is the only way.
“How would you like to fight Love?” Tarech asks me, bringing my attention back to him.
“Hand-to-hand combat to start and then we can go from there.” I say while moving my hands and wrist around nonchalantly.
“Oh Love, I am going to fully enjoy making you submit to me in front of all of them.” He says as he continues to pace back and forth.
Me: Freya, are you ready?
Freya: Oh yeah Ria, I have been ready for this for quite a while now. Let’s beat this piece of shit.
Me: That’s my girl!
Terrin: Just remember, just like we trained.
I nodded letting him know I knew exactly what he meant. Since the capture, I had been training every day, building my strength, getting myself ready for this very moment. I was not going to let this man take me down ever again.
Tarech starts to move in a circle forcing me to move to where now he was standing in front of Bastian. “Take one last look at him Love, cause after this you will never see him again.” He says with a cocky smirk on his face.
I continued to stare at Tarech but smiled when I heard a fierce growl come from Bastian or should I say Rufus his wolf.
“We will just have to wait and see; I am not afraid of you. I am no longer that scared little girl that you tortured.” I say as I get myself ready for his attack.
His smirk drops from his face and his eyes turn to slits as they start to turn a slight red and says, “I highly doubt that.” And quickly charges at me.
He starts throwing punches quickly and I block each punch with ease. I crouch to do a leg sweep which he jumps over and tries to grab me, but I roll back grabbing his arms and kicking my foot into his chest, tossing him to the farther side of the circle. He quickly got up and was losing his cool.
“So that’s how you want to play Love?” He quickly comes rushing at me, but I spring into the air to jump out of his way but not without feeling something slicing at my leg, causing me to fall but I quickly regain my stance looking down at the slit in my pants and blood running down my leg. I look over at Tarech and see he has a blade in his hand.
Bastian’s pack starts to get angry and yell. I motion for them to settle, knowing that the wound is already starting to heal.
“Toss it Tarech,” I yell to him.
He laughs and throws it aside. “Oh Love, you know I was only playing.”
I get back into position and motion for him to come at me. I continue to dodge all his punches until he gets me in the stomach with a hard kick and I go sliding away from him. I can feel myself start to get angry.
Freya: Keep your cool Ria, you are doing great.
With a deep breath I continue to keep my guard up as Tarech charges me with a barrage of hits and kicks.
Tarech decides he is tired of hand-to-hand combat and decides to break into wolf form.
Terrin yells, “Ria! Shift!”
Freya: I’m ready Ria, let’s do this.
I let Freya take over and in no time my canines start to grow as do my nails. She wants to play with him in this form before attacking in her true wolf form.
Samson his wolfs starts to laugh with a husky tone and then charges at her, she leaps into the air missing his charge at her but drags her claws against his fur. Samson lets out a howl as he regains his position. He looks over at Bastian and back at Freya and starts to laugh with a husky tone. He takes off charging towards Bastian and the crowd, she makes it just in time to take the brunt of the impact where he scratched and bit at her before throwing him across the way.
Me: Freya! Are you ok?
Freya: I’m fine. We will be fine.
I feel her anger start to grow.
Me: Freya, remember we can’t go into this with rage.
I could feel Freya start to calm down but stayed alert as she watched Samson slowly get back to his feet.
He let out a furious growl before coming at us again.
“Ria,” Terrin yelled as he tossed a large knife to me, and I grabbed it before lunging it into Samson’s chest.
A loud yelp is heard throughout the circle as Samson collapses from the wound. Tarech shifts back before his last breath, looks at me, whispers something only I was able to hear and breaths his last breath and is gone.
I collapse to the ground while just staring at the man that used to be my mate, my torturer, my enemy and now gone. I feel my nails start to rescind as do my canines.
Me: Freya?
Freya: I’m okay, I just need some time to recover.
Terrin rushes over and puts a blanket over me while pulling me back onto my feet and turning me from staring at Tarech’s body. I was completely numb at this moment not being able to feel anything. No peace, no relief… nothing.
I start to see the crowd move as all of Tarech’s men take a knee and bow down to me.
Ahh Fudge!
His Beta walks up to me and takes a knee as he bows to me, before getting back up and saying, “Blood Wolf Moon is yours Luna.”
While trying to see if I recognized him, his words finally hit me like a ton of bricks. With a look of shock still radiating from my face of what I had just done, I quickly look over to Bastian who has been leaning on Jasper now passed out and breathing shallowly.
He doesn’t look good.
Me: Jasper, get Bastian to the pack hospital, the doc needs to take a look at him.
Jasper: Got it.
I turn back to the Beta in front of me and ask, “What is your name?”
“It is me Ria, Soren.”
Taking a longer look at him, I began to vaguely recognize my father’s beta’s son.
“Soren? Wow it has been a while since I have seen you.”
“Yes, I believe it was right before Tarech killed your father and quickly took over the pack and condemned you to the basement for no one to see.”
Closing my eyes while trying not to cringe and answer, “Yep that sounds about right. Where is your father?”
“Tarech killed him and then made me his Beta about six months ago.”
“Alright well first things first. Are there any warriors or council members that are truly loyal to Tarech?”
“Very few. But there could be some.”
“Ok. Then.”
I turn to the wolves and yell, “Blood Wolf Moon Pack, my name is Ria Mathieson. My parents were Alpha Henry and Luna Helena, who were once the Alpha and Luna of this pack. If you wish to no longer be a member of this pack and find a new pack, you have my permission to do so. This pack will not be run the way that wolf over there ran this pack. It will be run the way my parents taught me how to help a pack be strong. I know that we do not have an Alpha at this moment, but with the support of everyone we can make this pack a strong pack where we do not lead with fear but with strength. The choice is yours.”
“Soren, go around and see who needs to be check into the pack hospital from the pack.”
“Are you sure their Alpha will be ok with that?”
“Yes, it will be fine. Right now, this is about getting everyone healed and back to normal. Later, we will sit down and go over everything else that pertains to the pack. I promise.”
“Yes, Luna.” He said as he bowed.
“Soren, it’s Ria, please do not call me Luna.”
“Yes, Ria.” He turned and started making his way to the injured.
I started making my way back to the packhouse while giving orders to both packs asking them to gather the dead and making sure that we had all the names of the wolves that have died so that we could do a proper burial.
Mak caught up to me and gave me a grizzly hug as she almost suffocated me, “Oh thank God you are ok.”
“K Mak. Need to breathe here.” I said as I tapped her.
“Sorry, are you ok?”
“Yeah, I will probably check in with the pack doctor once things are settled but, in the meantime, I need to make sure everything is getting back in order.”
“Ria, hey we can get that all handled. Why don’t you go check on Bastian at the pack hospital?” She says as she rubs my arm giving me reassurance.
I look around seeing if there is anything else that can be done and finally say, “Ok, yeah you are right, I should go check on Bastian.”
“Good girl.” She says as she taps my butt to get moving.
I turn and glare at her but continue making my way to the pack hospital.
I find Jasper and Barlow in the waiting room of the pack hospital.
“How is he?”
“Doc is in with him right now.” Jasper answers.
Barlow walks up to me, shakes me by the shoulders, and then embraces me with a hug.
“Are you crazy? I cannot believe you did that. You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“No, much worse. If I had submitted, I would have had to go back with him and promised to never run away again.”
Barlow’s eyes widen and start to turn yellow at the rim. I could tell her wolf was coming to the surface.
“Barlow, Barlow, calm down. There is no reason to get angry. He is dead and I am here, he was going to kill Bastian and I had to do something. He would not have fought me just to fight me, I had to sweeten the pot.”
She took a deep breath and started to calm down.
“What are you going to do about the other pack?” Jasper asked.
“I told them that if they wanted to leave the pack they could with my permission, that the pack would no longer be ran the way Tarech had ran it, but by the way my parents did when they were both alive. I told Soren the Beta to gather all the wounded wolves and bring them here so they can be looked at and receive medical attention. I have them gathering all the dead wolves so that we can have a proper burial for the dead.”
“How do you feel about the Beta?”
“He was the son of the Beta that worked with my dad. He was a few years younger than me, but from what I remember, he was a good guy. He became Beta six months ago after Tarech killed his father.”
Barlow asks, “So will you be heading back with them once all their wolves have healed?”
I looked at her with a shy smile and said, “I’m not sure. I just want to focus on everyone getting healed and making sure Bastian is ok.”