~Kade~
I was blocking the door. Tracey’s hands were jabbing at me, her eyes glaring in their golden hue, and her canines bared as drops of sweat formed on her forehead. Her father grabbed her shoulders and held her back against him, but she didn’t stop trying to break free. Her parents knew the risk of going in blind; the chances of getting out were close to none. I had thought for myself many times, going in there and grabbing Layla, but if I failed, she would be the one paying the steepest price. “Think about your sister!” Her father said.
“I AM!” Her arms flew up, and she broke free from his hold.
Bolting towards me, I raised my head, and my wolf stepped forward.
“Layla will die, and her blood will be on your hands.” Tracey stopped; her eyes changed back, and her lips fell in a pout.
“She’s all alone,” Tracey whimpered. My heart shattered and fell into my gut.
“I know that, and I’m doing everything I can to change that.”
“Let’s sit back down,” Samira said and gently stroked Tracey’s arm as she led her back to the table. Watching their backs and their hunched necks had my feeling of urgency spiking to an all-time high. The door opened up behind me, and Mason walked in.
“Everything is ready.”
I looked out over their heads; everyone was whispering, some were gawking, and others were biting their lips and tugging their shirts down. The she-wolves of this pack really had no shame; I thought it would bother the males, but they were staring in awe as much as the girls were. One punched another’s shoulder; they were getting riled up, howling, and laughing as they stared with anticipation. Little did they know this wouldn’t be an easy change of leadership.
“Your former Alpha, Alpha Sebastian, will not be coming back. After a stay with me at my pack, things were said and done, and Sebastian, along with his family, will go on with their lives as rogues—” “So he’s alive?” Someone asked.
“For now.” The smiles dimmed drastically, and arms fell heavily at the sides of their slumped bodies. “I am your new Alpha; if that will be a problem for someone, then feel free to either challenge me or leave the pack never to return. Is that clear?” People started looking around when a loud breach was heard. A row of members was being pushed to the side and grunted when they stumbled into each other.
“Where is he? Where is Sebastian!” It was that girl; what was her name again? I looked back at Mason; he leaned in.
“Missy,” he whispered, and I nodded my head. Right, Missy, Sebastian’s replacement after he lost Layla.
Her hand grasped at her chest and her eyes were bloodshot red. She was heaving by the time she came up to us.
“Where is he?” She screamed at the top of her lungs.
“He’s preoccupied at the moment.” I said. Her eyes narrowed down, and her lips tightened. Her shaking hand rose slowly and with a stick-thin finger, she pointed it at me.
“I swear that if you hurt him, I will—”
“Oh, he is hurt. He is at this moment spending his days bloody and beaten with unhealed wounds in my dungeon. His last breath is mere days away, and his father is watching his son die a slow and painful death. If you do not care to join him down there, then I suggest you take that finger out of my face and take three steps back.” The look of a deer that knows it’s going to die, those last seconds before life leaves their eyes and the black dots disappear, that was the look in Missy’s eyes. She tumbled back, falling over her own feet as she backed away.
She saw herself as a Luna, as a leader of this pack. She saw herself as Sebastian’s love when all she was was a fuck toy that used and absued, though she didn’t seem to mind it.
She was devoted to him wholeheartedly but not enough to die with him. I had seen girls like her in every pack I had visited over the years, and they were always alone in the end. They would dig their claws so deep into his skin and swear off any other man, even their mate, to keep him because once they get a taste of that power, it sticks on their tongue for eternity.
“I will ask again.” My eyes left Missy when she remained in her place. “Is there anyone here who opposes the new leadership?” They were shaking their heads and watching each other. They all turned back their heads and locked their eyes on me with deadbolt expressions. They seemed happy about the shift, which made my job easier, but their lives were about to get a lot harder.
“Beta Mason will inform everyone fifteen and above of the new rules that will take effect immediately. Everyone else is free to go about your day as usual, and please feel free to come and see me at any time.” They all scattered; clearly this pack’s youth is as deaf as their former Alpha.
“EVERYONE FIFTEEN AND ABOVE WILL STAY PUT TO BE INFORMED OF THE NEW RULES!” Press pause on a movie; that’s how they looked.
The parents patted their kids with smug grins on their faces.
“Whip em’ into shape, Alpha.” One father said as he ruffled his son’s hair.
His hand was swapped away, and the kid turned with horror in his eyes and took his position.
I could tell that many of these pack members weren’t used to getting their hands dirty, both males and females, so Mason was going to have a blast. He groaned, his eyes wandered over the spoiled and precious members in front of him. I slapped a hand on his shoulder and walked of chuckling. My hand went around my head, and I looked at my brother, who had just tossed a rock at the back of my head, but my grin only deepened.
“Let’s continue,” Samira was brewing coffee, and Tracey was just brewing.
She was biting her nail and kicking with her leg, but as soon as he saw me, she straightened up. She was clearly ready to plan.
“There’s something you need to know first, Alpha,”
“Please, just Kade,” I said and gratefully accepted the cup that Samira placed in my hands.
They sat down with wary expressions on their faces, and their bodies turned stiff the longer that the silence continued.
“You see, we don’t think that Layla is your ordinary Emberclaw wolf. She’s different. Whatever need they have for her is most likely connected to the powers she holds. Powers that I haven’t heard anyone else possess. We were waiting for you to bring it up, to mention your findings, and that perhaps those powers would be mentioned in others as well, but you haven’t so far, and I don’t think you will.”
“What powers?” I asked slowly. My eyes narrowed on Samira, my elbows pressed against the table as I leaned forward, and I saw the hesitation to continue.
“When Layla was little, she had these odd moments, beyond the others, where she would want something, and instead of saying it, she would—” Henry nodded his head and grabbed his wife’s hand. “Instead of saying it, she would show us.” Samira’s eyes hardened. “We would see it in our minds and know what it was that she wanted.”
