Matt
After the mind link ended, an eerie silence engulfed the carnival grounds before people started to panic. Families took off running away from the Southern border, but the only person I could focus on was Harriet. I saw the horror beginning to take hold of her. I had to do something to distract her. I grabbed Harriet’s face, pulling her lips against mine as I stole a passionate kiss. I needed her to feel anything but fear.
Harriet and Heather didn’t have a dad anymore because of the last attack on our village. Fifteen years ago, there were the hunters. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it out alive.
***Come on, Matthew. It’s an infestation of rogues. Leave your girlfriend and get to the border.*** My dad snapped at me through our mind link.
“I love you, Harriet.” I choked out as a tear ran down my cheek. I didn’t care if she saw me vulnerable. I needed her to feel my love penetrating deep into her bones. I needed to protect her and our pack. When this was over, I could show how deep my passion could penetrate her. I shredded my clothes as rich molasses fur engulfed my body, and I took off towards the border. I clenched my jaw, biting down on my tongue, refusing to look. Then I heard her voice; it took everything in me not to turn back to her.
“You asshole! That’s not fair! That wasn’t part of the agreement !” She screamed at me. As I ran, I heard her muttered something that I couldn’t make out.
“Fuck the agreement,” hissed my wolf Pan. He was confident she was ours. I believed it too. I prayed silently to the Moon Goddess as I tore through the forest towards the border. Screams and howls filled the air as I got closer.
I broke into the clearing only to immediately dodge an enormous gray and black wolf. I tore numerous throats out. So much blood washed over my fur. I gagged and spit out the rancid blood of the rogues. I spotted Alpha Dane; he was in trouble. He was cornered by four wolves. I charged in and chomped into the neck scruff of one of the wolves. I was torn from the wolf by another rogue when my back was clawed from shoulders to tail. As my legs gave from underneath me, I gritted my teeth. As I tried to stand up when all of a sudden, the pain shot through my chest, and I fell back to the ground. I looked up to see a gray wolf with matted tearing out the throat of Alpha Dane.
Alpha Dane was in his late thirties, and currently, his mate was a weaker wolf regularly, but she was carrying his pup. As soon as his body hit the ground, I knew his mate was hitting the ground at the safe houses as well. Once two wolves were fully mated, their souls refused to go on without each other. Rarely could wolves survive losing their other halves. Without our Alpha or his pup, we were Rogues…
I howled to attempt to push the pain out that radiated in my chest. I locked eyes with the rogue who slaughtered my Alpha. A deep rumbling growl escaped my lips as I stood, challenging him. The rogue made a break for it going deeper into our territory. I took off after him snapping at his tail and back legs whenever I could. I started to pick up the scent of smoke creeping through the forest mixed with something else...Harriet. She hadn’t made it to the safe houses yet. I lept at the rogue at the same time as he turned around, slicing the side of my face with his claws. My body fell backward into a stump. As I struggled to my feet, the rogue took off again.
“Get your head out of your ass,” hissed Pan. “The girls are up ahead. He could kill Harriet.”
“Thanks, Dipshit,” I rumbled at Pan as I took off in hot pursuit. Every step was excruciating, but I had to keep going for the sake of my friends and, most importantly, Harriet. Up ahead, I saw what I feared the most; there they were. The piece of shit was charging right toward Harriet, but there was no way I could reach her in time. A pit in my stomach threatened to overtake until a blur of Rose’s blue birthday outfit took her place. Happy Birthday, Rose...have a back full of bark. I was more than grateful to her at this moment than I ever had been before. If we got out of this alive, I owed her. My eyes were raging black pearls as I launched myself at the rogue. I furiously tried to snap at his opponent’s neck. The rogue was able to shove me off before we started circling each other. Desperately I was willing the girls to leave.
“Come on,” Heather panted as she and Harriet helped Rose stand. Harriet looked back in my direction, and I prayed she would leave me. Pleading at her with my eyes and I continue my dance for the upper hand with the monster. It felt like an eternity as she finally slipped away into the woods.
I turned my full attention to the rogue as he lunged at my rear with claws drawn. I almost dodged him entirely, but one of his claws caught the flapping flesh on my back. I winced in pain but used that to fuel me as I sunk my canines deeply into the sensitive tissue of his neck and ear. I shook him violently, feeling my mouth slip to just his ear. His metallic blood flooded my mouth as he managed to swipe my chest with a claw. When I flinched at the swipe, his ear ripped out of his head and hung in my teeth. The rogue cried out in pain as blood soaked his matted fur. While he was distracted, I took my opportunity to clamp down on his neck and masticated on it until I heard the snap I craved. His body went lifeless. I dropped the carcass and shredded his throat for good measure.
I stumbled back away from the body and shifted. Blood slowly dripped down my back, face, and chest. I gave the piece of shit’s body one last swift kick before I turned and headed north towards the smoke. I knew it would have probably been better to stay in wolf form, but I needed Pan to rest. I quickly ran through the forest naked. Burning trees started to engulf the woods as I protected my little beta the best I could with my hand. I was about to just say fuck it and shift when I caught a familiar scent mixed in with the smoke, Heather.
RoseI whipped my head around after Harriet whispered his name. His back was macerated, claw marks exposed raw skin. Thin trails of blood trickled down his body. I just saw this body yesterday...the current sight made me recoil and gulp. His head started to twitch like he was searching for someone. His body slightly turned; only then is when we realized he was holding someone in his arms.“Heather,” Harriet gasped, and she clambered to her feet. Matt whipped his head once he saw her voice. Matt immediately ushered Heather to us. “Is she okay?” Harriet croaked, and she reached her hands up to her baby sister’s cheek.“Just knocked out. I found Heather unconscious near the flower and herb fields. There were some burning branches on top of her. I think she will be fine. She has some burns, but I think the smoke got to her. It was the worst area I had been in.” Matt kneeled and gently laid her on the ground as Harriet brushed Heather’s hair out of her face.“
Rose It was well past midnight as we continued to scour the village and forests for survivors. Our Alpha was dead, our Luna was dead, our Beta was dead, our warriors were dead, mothers were dead, fathers were dead, children were dead. Our pack was a husk of what it used to be. Just thinking of it made me want to sink into myself, shutting out the world. I was lucky. My friends and my parents were still alive. I had never been so glad my siblings had moved onto larger packs, anywhere but here. When they found my dad, he had already started treating people. Most of the pack that was injured had burns, and luckily they were healing pretty quickly on their own. My arm was almost completely healed, most likely earning my first battle scar. An a
MattI placed the call into the council around three in the morning. Silver Crescent had been attacked. I kept repeating it to myself. Trying to get it to sink in but desperately hoping it’s just a sick joke. There was no one else to do it. After the disastrous events of the night, everyone was a shell of their previous self. Heck, so was I. My dad died in the battle. He died protecting the people he loved, the pack he cherished. I’m proud to be his son, and I know he would have been proud of me for taking out the scum who killed Alpha Dane. I wish I could have killed them all. To take their lives, they took my only family member away from me. I was alone.After midnight some of the men and I had taken care of the bodies of the rogues. We loaded trucks and dumped them outside our territory off the side of the mountain into a rocky ravine. They did not deserve any more than that. Anyone who was injured was with Rose’s dad. Heather had woken up, but Harriet i
Unknown Alpha Alastor walked out of my office and closed the doors. I leaned back in my chair with my eyes closed. When was the last time a pack was hit this hard? When werewolves were not in a pack and let their wolves take over for too long, they became feral. Unfortunately, in the mountains, there were more feral rogues than regular rogues. The gift and curses of nature. The danger hiding behind the beauty. Why the fire, though? I would get to the bottom of this. One way or another. Standing up from my desk, I made my way out of my office and down the long corridor. I passed a few of the early riser members of my pack, only giving nods as the only form of acknowledgment. The quicker I left, the faster I could get there. Time was of the essence. I padded down the steps of my packhouse.“The cars are ready to go, Alpha.” Alastor walked up to me. “We are taking twenty warriors with us. We will be spre
RoseOne of the surviving elders, with the assistance of Matt, performed the ceremony. It was short, but it echoed in all of our hearts. We had a graveyard, but it was not large enough to accommodate everyone we lost. The new cemetery was now where one of our flower and herb gardens used to be. It was the only place that had enough space and was not on top of the village. One by one, we walked by, each one saying goodbye and thanking them for their contribution to our pack. My dad, Matt, Harriet, a few warriors, and a couple of regular pack members covered each body with my dirt as the last pack members said goodbye to them. My mom trailed behind, placing wildflowers on each of the graves. Heather stood beside me with her finger intertwined with mine while we watched the depressing repetition. She squeezed my hand and pulled me to walk away. I let her lead me. I knew she wanted to get away from there. After all, she could have died and then been buried in that field i
Unknown AlphaTen minutes to the border. Nine minutes. Eight minutes. Seven minutes. Six minutes. Five minutes. That’s when the sweet smell of peonies and peppercorn wafted towards me. My wolf, Zeus, stirred inside of me, trying to urge me to hunt down the delicious aroma of innocence. I resisted him and ran the perimeter of Silver Crescent before doubling back towards the only road that led into the pack.I sighed in relief; there were no signs of any other packs yet. My sleek silver body weaved in and out of the trees, purposely grazing against them so my scent would put off any smaller packs from coming to play. I’m not a ruthless Alpha by any means, but I believe in tough love. My pack has grown more robust in the six years since I ascended. They never worried about our pack’s safety. They knew I would protect them no matter how much blood I spilled, regardless if it was my blood or the enemy’s blood.Peonies and peppercorn found me again. Teasing my senses
Unknown AlphaI was pacing the border of Silver Crescent in my wolf form, trying to focus on why I came ahead of my pack. However, after watching over my mate, my mind became foggy. All I wanted to do was reveal myself, but I knew this was best for her. I was wandering close to the southern border, trying to force myself to focus on the task at paw. Trying to put me in the mind of a rogue. The forest was pretty dense here. Not a whole lot of clearings. It would make it harder to be spotted.Clearly, it was planned for the night of the Starlight Carnival. They picked the perfect night. The majority of the pack would be wrapped up in the Carnival, not even considering an attack as a possibility. This pack was an easy target. Honestly, I could see a couple of Alphas I know to prey on a pack like this. Certain wolves were just powerful and bloodthirsty. They gave other werewolves, especially, Alphas a lousy reputation. I refused to be like them.I started the head back
RoseThe world snapped back into focus, and I became very aware of people gawking at us. I nervously chewed on my lip, trying to figure out what to say or do. He seemed completely comfortable around me, but like he was giving me a chance to say something.“Say something to him already!” Delilah hissed.“I’m Rose,” I said to my mate. I was dying inside. Why was I so awkward? Could I not say anything better than that. I was caught in my own internal turmoil of what an idiot I was when he spoke and interrupted it.“My name is Orion.” His voice hit all the notes. It was silky, but at the same time, it has a bit of leg clenching gravel. I felt my cheeks turning pink.“Uh, and what are you doing here?” I questioned him, and I saw his eyes flash a little bit. What did that mean? Was he disappointed in having me as a mate? He was so gorgeous. “Shut up. Stop overanalyzing and jumping to the worst conclusions. Pretend that you are in one of your book