Autumn's War

Chapter 5

Marie Avgeropoulos as Autumn Yates! I can't believe I forgot to put up a picture of her :P

There is nothing but silence from the ragtag group after I asked them if they would help me to overthrow the current King of the werewolves.

I didn't expect them all to help me, but I had hoped for a least a few. Looks like it's going to be just me on this. I turn and look away. "You all can go. That is all I wanted to say."

I keep my eyes trained on the ground, so I cannot see if anyone is moving, but I don't hear anyone walking away. I look up, only to see that everyone is still here.

"I'll stay and fight with you," Aaron says. He's the first to step forward and places a hand on my shoulder.

"I will too," Lucas says. I look at him gratefully and he shrugs. "It's not like I have a family to return to."

Soon enough, everyone has volunteered to help except for the old man. "Aw, heck," he says. "I'll help, but I wanna see my wife first."

I smile. "Of course. You're all still free to go see them. Let's meet..... Hmm, any ideas where we should meet?"

Aaron smiles. "I know where we should meet."

"Where?"

"At my pack. My Alpha and Luna shouldn't have a problem hosting everyone. My pack is relatively small, and none of them like the Alpha King, so it can be a base of sorts for our revolution." He pauses to look at everyone. "My pack is El Diablo."

A collective gasp goes through the crowd and several people are instantly hostile. "No!"

"Why not?" I ask. I've never heard of El Diablo pack, but I do know what it means.

"Because that isn't just our pack name," Aaron explains. "In the past, it wasn't our name, but my pack has a reputation for being relentless and merciless, and we earned our name from that. Because of this, we have made many enemies on the way and almost all packs on the North American continent hate us."

"They killed-no, murdered- half my pack and destroyed everything! The rest of us were left to be rogues until we had enough people to recreate our pack!" A shout comes, and many similar stories are shouted.

I calm everyone down and try to think of a way to work this out. Finally, and idea strikes me. Everyone is looking at me expectantly, and I take a deep breath to figure out how to word what I'm about to say. "Okay, okay. Everyone listen up."

"You'd better have an idea, Princess, because otherwise, I will not cooperate with the people who stole my family from me!" Murmurs of agreement circle around.

"What if, instead of us working with El Diablo, El Diablo works with us? Aaron said they don't like the Alpha King, so they should be willing to fight with us. We're only using them as a base of operations, per say, and even if they disagree, they have to listen to me. I'm of Royal blood, so if I absolutely need to, I could make them."

Aaron catches onto my idea and adds on. "El Diablo also has a vast store of weapons, and they are mostly a military pack. They will have more than enough supplies for us to use."

Grudgingly, everyone comes to agree with my partial plan, and we agree to meet there in five days, at the full moon. We all go our separate ways from there, and soon, Aaron, Lucas and I are the only ones left.

I turn to Lucas. "Aren't you going back to your family?"

He shakes his head. "I don't have a family."

"What about your mate? Every wolf has one."

He gives me a sad smile. "Sometimes, your mate dies before you get the chance to be with them. I met my mate once, on an empty battlefield. I found her, but I found her too late, and she died in my arms, moments after I met her." He looks away from my face, a tear streaking down his cheek. "I never even knew her name, but as soon as I laid eyes on her, I knew I loved her."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to tell me this, Lucas."

He meets my eyes, his shining with tears. "I do, Autumn. It's the reason that I'm fighting with you." He takes a shaky breath. "I'm fighting with you because....because it was your father that killed her."

The silence is deafening. I can't do anything but stare at him, and my entire body goes cold as my mind tries to comprehend what he's telling me.

I knew my father was awful, but I had no idea just how awful. My hatred for him grows tenfold, and my body goes from cold to white-hot as my rage courses through my veins.

I have no idea what to say, other than, "My father will pay for everything he's done."

[][][][][]

I have no idea how long the three of us stay there, but soon, darkness begins to fall as the sun sets. A cold wind blows through, making me shiver.

Aaron and Lucas shift into their wolves and ask me why I don't but I brush the question off. I curl up against the base of a tree with large tree roots and a truck big enough to block the wind.

Lucas offers to stay up and keep watch, in case some rogue wolves or my father's scouts come around, and tells Aaron and I to get some sleep.

Aaron comes over and curls up with me, his thick fur keeping me warm, and soon, Aaron's rumbling snores are the last thing I hear before falling asleep.

[][][][][]

I wake up swaying the next morning, and on something remarkably soft. I open my eyes and jump, nearly falling over.

I'm on Aaron's back...... Why am I on Aaron's back?

Lucas barks at Aaron, and Aaron barks back, and they stop. I climb off and they both shift back into their human forms.

"We're almost to my pack border," Aaron says. "When we get there, stay behind me. The guards usually don't take too kindly to strangers coming onto the land."

"Ah, Aaron?" Lucas says. "Doesn't that seem like bit of a problem, since you told everyone to meet here?"

He waves his hand dismissively. "I'll talk to the Alpha and Luna and convince them to let everyone stay here. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Who are you to the Alpha and Luna, to be able to ask something like that of them?" I ask.

He stops mid-step and looks back at Lucas and I.

"I'm their son."

[][][][][]

Hey!

I'm so sorry for the super late chapter and for the short chapter!

COMMENT and VOTE!

XOXO-Melanie :)