Five Years Later
Bennie and I were trotting towards the northern border of No Man’s Land. I snorted as Bennie jumped and went streaking through the forest. When I caught up to him, he was crouched down, inching closer to his prey. Before I could warn him, he charged out into a small clearing at the rabbit, right across the border No Man’s Land shared with the royal pack. Warriors from the royal pack were on him in an instant. I ran for him, shoving warriors away from him until finally I stood on top of him, growling. One of the larger warriors took a step toward us and I let out a loud, feral growl, causing him to stop and the other warriors surrounding us to take a step back.
I looked around at the wolves surrounding us. I narrowed my eyes and gave a low growl in warning before shifting. I glared at the wolf standing directly in front of Bennie and me, “Shift.” He looked at me with a slight look of confusion before shifting. “What the fuck are you people thinking attacking a fucking child?!” I gestured to Bennie who was hiding behind me, “you can clearly see from his size he’s not a threat. He doesn’t know the borders that well yet, and saw a rabbit. How fucking good were you at his age at controling your impulses?”
He put his hands up in front of him, waving them, “Wait, wait, wait. You’re an alpha?”
I rolled my eyes to hide the involuntary flinch from the reminder of what I lost five years ago, “What the fuck does that matter? Please mind link whoever is over you. I would like to speak to them.”
He gave me a dubious look, “No. I’m not asking the Prince to come here so he can be ambushed by a group of rogues.”
I rolled my eyes again, “Yes and I’ve brought my ten year old brother along on the raid to kill the Prince. We, rogues, train them young to be mindless killing machines because that’s all we are,” I leveled him with a glare and felt Manon send out a wave of domination, “Nothing more, nothing less.”
He coughed, but his eyes glazed over a clear sign he was mind linking with someone. After a moment, his eyes refocused, “What’s your name?”
“Pluto,” he gave me a look that told me to continue. I sighed, annoyed that I had to give away my identity so soon, “Pluto Webb.”
He looked at me in shock, but quickly recovered and mind linked the Prince. “Prove it.”
I threw my arms up in the air, “How? Would you like to call the alpha of the Nightshade Pack here so he can prove it by killing me like he killed my parents?”
“He already claims he did. That’s how he made a claim to the Dawn Crescent Pack.”
I felt like I had just been sucker punched in the stomach as all of the air went out of my lungs. “You guys knew,” I said in a quiet voice to the ground. I looked up at him, “The royal pack knows what Barrett has been doing.” I let out a bitter, humorless laugh, “of course you guys knew. He never would’ve taken over so many packs if you guys weren’t letting it happen.”
“We’re not letting anything happen,” a new voice said from behind the wolf in front of me.
When he stepped out from behind the wolf I had been speaking to, Manon lost her mind, howling, “Mate!” As loudly as she could in my head. It took everything I had and every bit of self control my parents and Jonathan and Harriet had taught me, to keep me planted firmly where I stood.
The Prince didn’t have the same self control. He rushed towards me, but stopped just short when a small but powerful growl sounded behind me. I looked down and smirked at Bennie, whose hackles were raised and teeth were bared as the Prince made his way to me. “Bodyguard?” The Prince asked, looking down at Bennie with a smirk of his own.
“You’re ‘not letting anything happen’?” I asked accusingly.
He crossed his arms and assessed me silently before responding, “No we’re not. He stays within the confines of the laws set forth for overtaking a pack. It happens.”
“Jon, how many packs has Barrett taken over?” I quickly mind linked him.
“At least seven in the last fifteen years. Why?”
“I’ll let you know later,” was the only explanation I gave. “Seven times in the last fifteen years? It just happens?”
He shrugged, “Yeah. It happens.”
“Seven packs. How many people do you guys have in your pack?” He gave me a skeptical look, “Ballpark it for me.”
“Maybe 150?” He gestured, “What’s your point?”
“Dawn Crescent had around fifty people. If the other packs all had roughly that many members, Nightshade outnumbers your pack now. Of course a large portion have been killed or left the packs that have been taken over, but still, you should be concerned.” I crossed my arms, “This isn’t something that’s just happening. He’s getting ready for something, and I wouldn’t doubt it if his end game is taking over your pack.”
Before he could respond, Jonathan’s voice sounded in my head as the sound of wolves filled the silence, “Nightshade is attacking Mystic River. Abelina and Nathan just sent word. They need help.”
“Ben-Ben, we have to go. Now,” I linked him. “We need to go,” I said to the Prince.
Just as I started to trigger my shift, the Prince caught my arm. I held back the shiver that went up my spine in reaction to the sparks his touch erupted, “We aren’t finished here.”
“Too bad, Prince,” I pulled my arm free from his grip, “If I’m still alive in the next few hours, maybe we can continue our conversation. I still haven’t ripped you a new one for your warriors’ conduct toward my little brother.”
“Still alive?”
I debated whether or not to tell him, but ultimately decided maybe it would make a difference, “Mystic River is under attack. Nightshade. They helped Bennie and I escape that night. I need to help.”
His brow furrowed, “You and what army?”
I lifted my chin in defiance of his insinuation, “You’re welcome to come find out.”
“Your Highness-” the other wolf I had been speaking to started but was cut off with a raised hand from the Prince.
“I know Sammy, but why not?” He asked, looking back at the wolf.
“Your parents for starters,” Sammy countered.
“Great! Well while you guys work this out, I’m going to go before another pack is slaughtered for no reason,” I said, shifting before anyone could stop me. “Bennie, can you get back to the house on your own?”
“Yeah,” we touched noses and rubbed our faces against one another, “Be safe and smart, Toot-Toot.”
“You got it, Ben-Ben,” I linked before running as fast as I could to the Mystic River Pack. I reached the border Mystic River shared with No Man’s Land and took in the mass of wolves waiting for me. I greeted Jonathan and Harriet who were standing in the front, “Is everyone ready?”
In response, the wolves in front of me howled loudly. Something shifted slightly in the air and atmosphere. Suddenly the wolves parted like the Red Sea, allowing eight wolves, that I recognized, trot to the front. “What the fuck is the Prince doing here?” Jonathan asked.
“I’ll explain later. We really need to go.” I gave the signal for us to head out, to hopefully make a difference this time.
When we finally reached the pack house, it was complete chaos. I hadn’t fought the night my pack was taken over, but I remembered the sounds. I tried to block out the flood of memories that came to the forefront of my mind, but some slipped through until I was hit by a medium sized wolf which effectively broke me out of those memories.
Before attacking the wolf, I sniffed the air surrounding her. She smelled vaguely of lilacs and fresh water, meaning she was part of the Mystic River Pack. I gave her a signal that I hoped conveyed I was there to help and darted off into the middle of the fighting. At the top of the hill, close to the house, I spotted Barrett, fighting with Abelina and Nathan both along with two pack members. They were fairing pretty well against the three wolves, but they were both injured and I could see that was taking its toll on them.
I sprinted, leaping over and dodging all other wolves as I charged forward. I jumped on one wolf from behind and quickly snapped his neck before rushing Barrett at full speed, barely bracing myself as I rammed him. We both went tumbling down the hillside. I felt a few ribs crack as I hit a large rock before coming to a stop. I shook off as I quickly got to my feet. Barrett lunged at me, biting me in the shoulder. I headbutted him to create space between us. I circled him, looking for an opening to attack. As I circled around to his back, before he could turn toward me, I saw my opening. He was favoring the leg I broke five years ago. I was thankful for the fact I couldn’t smirk in my wolf form. Dex constantly pointed out my tell when we trained hand to hand. I dashed forward, latching onto his bad leg and biting into it as hard as I could as I pulled exactly how I had five years ago.
We weren’t alone long before another Nightshade wolf joined us at the base of the hill. I released Barrett and took off at a dead sprint back up the hill, knowing they would follow. I let them catch up before coming to a complete stop, causing them to pass me. I jumped onto the back of the other wolf and snapped his neck. I gave him an extra bite before dropping him to the ground. Blood dripping from my jaws, I took a step toward Barrett, growling a loud, feral growl. He took several steps away from me, looking around at the battle his pack was quickly losing thanks to the rogues.
I was hit in the side by two large wolves, which held me down as Barrett stalked toward me, teeth bared. Dex came streaking through, hitting Barrett hard enough to knock him on his side before he could get too close to me. Owen and one of our other warriors attacked the two wolves holding me but not before Barrett was able to escape.
I stared after him, weighing my options if I chose to run after him. Reading my mind, Jonathan’s voice sounded through our bond, “Don’t go after him. We’ll get him another day.”
Author: Kailan Counahan 