A God Amongst Wolves

19

Word Count: 2542

~Alvera

I thought I had seen every possible emotion pass across Belle's face before.

The cold, practically murderous anger that erupts in her expression could blister my skin were it directed at me. Naturally, Venn doesn't flinch, appraising her with relentless calm.

"You know how complicated it is," he responds breezily.

Belle looks back at me. I wince. She whirls back around, a slack jawed smile reaching her mouth that looks like it's been replicated from a horror film.

"All this time and you picked my sister?" She asks with unsettling calm. "After everything?"

I glance at Venn, taking in his expression. He doesn't appear guilty, maintaining the theory that he really wasn't close with my sister before she went missing.

He knows he owes her nothing, although she clearly doesn't feel the same way.
 
"You knew it was never going to be you." He says it so gently, clearly pitying her.

"You always knew about Venn, and you didn't tell me," I bring up, hating that it upsets me so much.

Belle and I never kept anything from each other growing up. We practically shared thoughts, dreams and feelings.

Now she's a complete stranger to me.

"Obviously," she snaps back. "Unlike you I'm observant and pay attention to him."

I frown. How deeply does Belle feel for Venn, an almost complete stranger to her? She may have learnt his secret somehow, but I believe he would never volunteer such information, no matter how close she thinks they are.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Duh. He didn't want you to know anyway," she mutters, looking away flippantly.

I sigh through my nose. I suppose it's my fault for going to the city and leaving her here for a year with Venn. So much time has passed and I feel in the dark about everything.

"I was protecting you," Venn murmurs, catching my gaze.

"Whatever." Belle brushes past me, starting off back to her house. "You need to get your shit out of my house and leave forever."

"Why didn't you tell Lilith you were leaving?" I question, following closely behind her.

She's evading the truth and it's scaring me. I've never known her to be so secretive, and considering the state she's in, I'm concerned she's in more trouble than she is letting on.

She expertly picks her way up the porch steps. "I wasn't gone very long."

I snag her arm, stopping her. She's so weak and frail is barely takes an ounce of my strength to bring her attention back to me.

"Long enough for her to call me. Me, who she knows you hate," I snap, digging my nails into her flesh as if it might bring some sense back into her.

She yanks her arm away. "I forgot to tell her, alright?"

"Just tell me where you went. Please." I'm ready to beg at this point. "If you're in trouble, you can tell me."

Belle looks behind me. "Venn, take her away. I don't want to see her again."

He sighs roughly, shifting up to stand beside me. "Come on Belle, be reasonable."

Bitterness flashes across her face, so sharp I nearly take a step back. She's hurt, and I understand that. But I'm only here because I care about her, because I want her to be safe.

"Reasonable?" She hisses. "Of all people you picked it had to be her, didn't it?"

"You know how it works," he reminds her calmly.

"You probably would have chosen her anyway." She folds her arms around herself. "He's always had a thing for you. Always wanted to fuck you.

I shake my head, gritting down on my back teeth to resist saying something cruel. She stands in the doorway like the warden of our family home, glaring me down like I had a choice in any of this.

"Belle. Enough." There's a cold warning laced in Venn's words.

"It's true. He's always wanted you, even when you told me he forced you out of town. He only did it because he knew he would have his way with you eventually."

I scoff. "Jesus. You're being ridiculous."

She drags her eyes over me theatrically, her nose scrunching up like I disgust her. I fight the urge to back off, or to feel even slightly hurt by her words.

"You were probably always going at it. You claimed you hadn't met him, but you were eye fucking him every time we went out."

"That is not true!"

I suppose it's slightly true, but I wanted to know why he avoided me so ardently more so than I wanted to fuck him. We had our moment in the alleyway behind Roxxie's, but that was long after I saw him for the first time.

"We look the exact same, and yet mum and dad liked you better. Our friends like you better, my boyfriends liked you better," she growls. "And of course, the Alpha King chooses you!"

"That is not fair. Mum and dad didn't love either of us," I remind her sharply. "Children who are loved aren't neglected, aren't starving and unbathed. We would cling to each other all night because we never learnt what comfort or tenderness was from our parents."

She blinks, and for the briefest moment I see my old sister again. The pain, the trauma and insecurity mirrors my own and has done since our childhood. But in a blink it's replaced by fierce determination.

She turns, striding into the living room. "Whatever."

"Our friends didn't trust you after you tried to poison Milly," I remind her, lingering in the door way. I'm not going to step in where I'm uninvited.

"It was a joke!"
 
"Some joke...she lives with a chronic illness now." I watch her flit around the room, scraping up the last of Eldon and I's belongings, shoving them into a bag unceremoniously. "And your boyfriend — I don't know what to tell you. They didn't know they were your boyfriends. You seemed to decide it without consulting them."

To spite me. The moment I confided in her about a crush I had, the next day she was announcing her relationship with them.

Her face is bright red as she swears at me. "Bitch!"

"Alright, both of you stop," Venn intervenes, his brows creasing as he looks between us warily.

Belle mutters something under her breath, shaking her head. The exertion of yelling and picking things up has caused a sheen of sweat to gather on her skin...she really is unwell.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I offer softly.

I'm just grateful she is alive. She can yell and threaten me all she likes, but she's standing here and not dead in the depths of the forest. Although she is clearly hiding something dark and terrible, she's within my reach for now.

"Piss off. Both of you." Her voice cracks a touch as she shoves the overstuffed bag into my arms. "I don't want you here."

I swallow thickly, retreating a step. "Tell Lilith you've returned alright? She'll be worried."

Belle doesn't respond, vanishing into her room. Dejected and empty feeling, I head back with Venn to his car, clambering into the passenger seat.

The moment the door closes my head falls into my hand.

"Fuck."

Venn sinks down into his seat, reaching over to rub my arm gently.

"Hey...it's okay."

"She's as insufferable as ever," I mutter. "But at least she is alive."

"Exactly. Hold onto that."

It's taking all of my energy not to burst into tears right now. It would feel good to cry, to submit to the onslaught of emotion that is chasing me down. But I fear that if I break down now, there will be no piecing me back together.

"I can't believe she thought we secretly knew each other and were having sex behind her back. She's delusional." I risk a glance at him, his expression knotted with concern.

He gives a half shrug. "It's not a far-fetched thought."

"But we definitely weren't." At least for most of the time he was in town. "We never spoke."

"No but it's not unreasonable for people to assume we were." He starts the car, the engine rumbling to life. "Similar age, somehow always near each other, even if we never talked. The Moon Goddess was always drawing each other, even if we were fighting it. People may have seen that connection without knowing what it was.

I shudder that the thought. There was so much at play that I was entirely impervious to. It was right in front of me, but I was looking.

"It's hard to fake being strangers."

"People see what they want to see. Like Belle."

He looks over his shoulder as he backs down the driveway and onto the road. I don't pity Belle for thinking she is entitled to have been chosen by the Alpha King, but I do understand falling in love with Venn. It seems like it could be so easy.

"Well, we are connected via an unbreakable union now. and I still know nothing about you," I mumble.

"You'll learn in time." His jaw hardens a touch, almost as if he's wary about what I may unearth.

I gaze out the window as we travel up the mountain. Venn is driving almost painfully slow, like he wants to prolong this conversation.

"Is Eldon going to hold up like this?" He asks suddenly.
 
"I don't know." I rub my face tiredly. "Our relationship has always been complicated. He came from a normal, healthy family and yet he's the one who can't tell me he loves me after eight months."

Venn frowns. "Why not?"

"Maybe he always sensed something terrible like this would happen." I laugh bitterly with a shake of my head. "I want to have faith, but it's going to break us apart."

I've always given Eldon the benefit of the doubt when it came to his inability to assure me he loves me. Although he came with me to find Belle because of an ultimatum, I've chosen to see that as a declaration of how deeply he cares for me.

"Just be honest with him. Give him a chance to choose," Venn offers.

"I know, you're right.

He parks at the top of the mountain, but neither of us make to get out.

"There was one other thing I wanted to speak to you regarding our union." He turns to me, his voice cleaving through the silence. "There is an additional ceremony to be completed that will legitimise your place at my side."

I sit up straighter. "Wait, what?"
 
"This ceremony is specific to my pack, and will be vitally important considering you are human. It will make members of my pack respect you on a deeper level. It shows an acceptance of our customs based on your willingness, not what you have been commanded to do by the moon goddess," he explains.

I suppose that makes sense, but the thought of undergoing yet another ceremony is a lot to take in.

How deep into this am I going to end up? I fear I'll drown in it, become more werewolf than human...

"What do I have to do?"
 
"We must go to a certain location where the ceremony can be conducted. There, we will say a few words and exchange a possession that is of significant value to us. It will be broken down by a werewolf who wields magic, before the essence is incorporated into our being. It will leave another mark, which will express your allegiance to my pack."

"Can it be anything I value?"
 
"When I say value, I don't mean monetary. It can be anything, but you must have a personal connection to it. It must be something you desperately do not want to part with," he notes. "The act of giving it over to me, to never be seen again, is a true sign of faith. I will do the same."

I pause, considering his words. I'm not particularly sentimental or materialistic, so choosing an item won't come easy.

"What's your item?"

"I can't tell you. In fact, it cannot be shared with you at any point. We will both be blindfolded during that portion of the ceremony to preserve the individual connection to the item," he tells me.

"I don't know if I have anything..." I admit weakly, my gaze dropping to my hands.

I've spent most of my life ridding of clutter, not wanting to keep any reminders of the past. All I have is my necklace, the pendant now burning into my skin.

Parting with it would be impossible...Belle and I have nothing left between us, no connection or understanding. This necklace is my last reminder that she's my sister and at one point she loved me.

Ridding of the necklace would be taking everything from me.

"I'm certain you do. It just cannot be connected to me in anyway. Ideally, I know nothing about the item." He angles his head, his eyes soft.

"Alright. Can I think about it?"

I'm resisting the urge to grasp the necklace, to tug it off my neck and hide it away from him. I've never shared it's significance with him, so it would be the ideal choice, but...I just can't yet.
 
"Take all the time in the world. In no way are you obliged to do this," he states firmly. "However, the sooner the world knows you are connected to me, the safer you will be."

"How is being connected to you going to make me safer?"

He leans back in the seat, the sides of his mouth curving up. "Because no one is going to fuck with me."

"Oh yeah?"

I mean, I wouldn't. His physical appearance makes it clear he could crush ten of me with little effort, and that even speak to his true, inherent power.

"Why do you think they refer to me as the Alpha King and not just an Alpha?" He holds my stare, the weight of it almost tangible.
 
"I haven't really thought about it," I admit softly, realisation coming to me in dregs. "Wait, do you rule them all?"

"Not exactly, but my pack was the first to exist. That's why war was started against it to begin with."

My mouth drops open, my heart pounding against my ribs. They didn't mention that in my history class, although I suppose all they did was spew lies.

"Really?"

"Yes. No one has really carried the title of Alpha King since the pack temporarily dissolved. Now that I am in control of this land again, the title has been reinstated, and I have more power than most other Alpha's."

He stares ahead, a dark shadow passing over his face. He's not mentioning this to be boastful. In fact, the weight of such a burden is clearly much to bear.

"That's scary," I whisper.
 
"So just know you're safe." His voice is dark storm rolling over me. "Like I said, no one is going to fuck with me."

🩶••🩶

If you want to read ahead at any point, you can read this story 15 chapters ahead on INKITT and 10 chapters ahead on RADISH.

Inkitt:

Radish:

~Midika 💜🐼