Zeus

• XXXV •

Josephine twirls her red hair around her finger in thought. "True, but it may take days, depending on conditions and everyone's schedules."

"So," I carefully ask, looking at Josephine and trying to ignore the bubble of hope that's growing inside of me. "You would be on board? To check the members?"

Josephine nods her head and says, "Of course, I don't want someone to be do patrol or training if they can't handle the endurance."

Rebecca nods her head in agreement. "I also agree with the check-ups." She says.

Caitlyn nods her head, too, but Ryder sits in his seat, an annoyed frown on his face. Everyone stares at him and waits. He then sighs, and with a roll of his eyes he mumbles okay under his breath.

Excitement and happiness bursts inside of me from the agreement of the four most important people of the pack. I look to Zeus while smiling an excited smile. He's already looking at me but there's this spark in his blue eyes.

"Continue with your points. I'll make the final decisions later." He tells me.

Right, of course, I think, even though I wish he could tell me yes or no right away.

I glance down at my paper to refresh my mind over my next point, the next point that will probably piss both Ryder and Zeus off. Maybe not Rebecca Josephine, and definitely not Caitlyn.

"Since the budget is so low, there is the possibility of getting a loan from a neighbor pack to help get us back on our feet. It would be extremely—"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Get a loan from the weak asses, who ruined this pack from the start?" Ryder jumps up from his seat, his brown eyes flashing to an angry silver color, and I only blink when he's jumping at me with the desk being the only barrier of protection.

I don't even have time to move out of the way when Zeus growls, rushes out of his seat, and pushes me and the chair behind him. Screams ring in my ears as my heart pounds faster and faster. My name is called but I can't move out of my seat. I can't move; my body is frozen in fear. The only thing I can see is Zeus' back and his muscles tensing underneath the gray sweater I thought he looked cute in this morning.

"Aurora! Move out of the way!" Someone exclaims.

But it's too late, because Zeus shifts into his wolf, not even a foot away from me. The large desk creaks and shifts forward as a black and tan wolf jump at the same time at each other and land on the desk, smashing the phone and computer and shredding files and paper work into tiny strips in their wake.

Zeus, I think, I have to protect Zeus.

I ignore the shaking of my hands and legs and the buzzing that seems as if it's going off in my head. I push myself up on wobbly legs while Zeus and Ryder continue to fight. Blood is everywhere, and I can't tell who it's coming from.

The two wolves land on the floor, creating a loud thud that shakes the furniture and causes someone to whimper in pain.

"Aurora, don't!" Rebecca yells as she sees me rushing around the desk in the direction of the fighting wolves. Josephine and Caitlyn, who stand beside Rebecca with shocked expressions, urge me to not go to the fighting wolves. Caitlyn steps forward to stop me, but Josephine grabs her arm and pulls her back.

Zeus—the black wolf who's straddled onto the floor—growls a furious growl and bites the tan's wolf neck that is already bleeding and matting the fur. Ryder shifts his body and creates on opening between him and Zeus and claws deep cuts into the chest of his Alpha.

I can't take the blood, the growls, the pure hatred that is growing between the two friends.

"Stop fighting!" I exclaim and drop to my knees and push the tan wolf—Ryder—off of Zeus.