The Monsters We Hide

Chapter 5

It seemed like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the dangerous strangers answer. Finally, he spoke with the deep, velvety soft voice that I liked.

       "I'm here to challenge the Alpha." Dead silence.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       Nobody dared to utter a word. It was so quiet, you could hear each individuals breath. Finally, my brave brother, Jeremy, spoke up. "You're not even a werewolf."

       Logan's stone cold eyes flashed to my brother and without thinking, I jumped up and sped in between them, facing off with Logan. I'm already hurt, but if he lays a hand on my brother then  I will personally rip out his spine and put it back by shoving it down his throat. I didn't give a damn how drawn to him I was. I'm not letting him touch my brother until I'm six feet under.

       Logan looked surprised but furious. "Go back to your place, Omega," he spat. 

       "I'm in my place. Between you and my pack. You're going to have try a lot harder than a broken arm and a few bruises to kill me first, Lycan." I said the words with just as much venom as he did. Gage was there now too. He planted himself beside me and crossed his arms. His expression gave nothing away. On my other side was Jeremy, giving off more power and more menace than Gage and I combined.

       Logan seemed totally unfazed by it. He looked to Jeremy as if no other words had been spoken. 

       "It doesn't matter my species. There is no law or rule that says that I can't challenge him to lead this pack." 

       Then he turned back to Alpha Cody. "Do you accept the challenge, Cody?" Luna Mackenzie was standing beside him, clutching his arm. She said nothing but we could all see from the fear in her eyes that she didn't want her mate going anywhere near the strange lycan.

       Cody seemed to be turning the idea over in his head. "What if I decline?" An evil smirk appeared on his face. 

       "Then I'll have to settle with killing your Omega. It shouldn't be too hard, considering that I'm halfway there." All his big talk, but I could see through it. He didn't want to kill me. If he did, I would have been dead by now, but for some reason, he chose to spare me when we were on the trail.

       Gage moved himself in front of me, protecting me, but I leaned up to whisper in his ear. "What are you doing? If he wants to kill me let him do it. Its not like anyone will care around here." Logan's earlier words flashed in my mind. I hadn't cried because his words hurt me. I cried because of how true they were. Nobody cared about me anymore, so if I had to sacrifice myself, then that's what I would do to save my pack.

         Something flashed in Gage's eyes when he turned his head to look at me. Instead, I stepped around him, and now I was only a yard away from where Logan stood. I lifted my chin in defiance to look him in the eyes.

       "Then kill me. Leave my pack alone. They have done no wrong." Suddenly, my mother rushed forward, pulling me back. "Neither have you, so stay out of it," she snarled. I was honestly shocked and I'm sure it showed on my face. What was happening? No one gave a damn before, but suddenly I'm worth protecting? I didn't understand it.

        "Fine. I'll accept the challenge," came Alpha's authorative voice. I stared at the Alpha in surprise. Logan was enjoying this and he morphed into his beast right before our eyes. "Then let's do this," he growled, his soft voice was long gone now. 

       Alpha changed too into his giant black wolf, his golden eyes piercing. "Not here," he told the lycan. Then he walked, leading him to what I was sure was the clearing we used for training. I had only seen one Alpha challenge before, and of course, Alpha Cody won and nothing changed. This time though, no one looked near as confident than the last time and Luna Mackenzie looked like she would rather be in the fight, but it was against the rules to interfere with an Alpha challenge.