Despondency

Chapter 30

Aiyana awoke atop two sleeping Alphas. She blushed as she realized she was evenly spread between their laps. Instead if moving however she stayed in her comfortable position. Moving would wake the Alphas... she'd rather deal with the awkward situation later.
She breathed in deeply the scent of Riley. Instead she got a lung full of beautifully rich woods and something darker... it was too familiar. She had met this Alpha before, somewhere, wolves never forgot a smell. The man smelled a lot like Constantin. Her eyes widened. Could this man have fought with Constantin? Or had they met each other differently?
She pushed her groggy self onto her hands. Her cheeks aflame with bright pink. Her hands on his thighs stabilized her as she moved her legs off Jordan. She sat pin straight in her middle seat. Her cheeks aflame again.
The Alphas woke up and stared at each other almost certainly in fury. None of it aimed at her. They seemed to ask each other 'whose fault is this?! Who woke her?'
Aiyana didn't speak. How long had she layer there like that?
"That was interesting" Jordan mused, earning two scowls on his left.
"Alpha," the driver spoke.
"Yes?" Jordan and Mikhail said in unison before scowling.
"We're here." The driver responded to both not wanting to anger either.
Aiyana blushed even more. She had been sleeping for nearly a whole day.
She nearly climbed over Jordan to look out the window. There was a group of short buildings and a small hut off to the side. Men walked all over either pursuing training or finished with the day. The car stopped next to a large field. Sweaty werewolves walked toward several of the buildings. Aiyana's excitement grew.
"Is he here?" Asked worriedly.
"Yes. He's here."
Curiosity filled her eyes as she glanced about at the pack her brother had lived in the past years. And wherever her brother was, that's where she could find her mate.
Nervousness bubbled in her gut. Jordan stepped out the car and she flew out behind him. She could feel her brother. He was so close. Alpha Mikhail started to march toward the training field behind the cafeteria. Aiyana jogged up to him and wrapped both her arms around his one arm. An odd look or two was thrown her away, making her latch onto the Alpha.
Everyone was curious. No unmated female had been permitted entry to the warrior pack for a year.
So what gave her the right to be there?
***
Constantin marched with a wolf on his shoulders the whole way to his home. It was as his father's did, they carried the dead home to be buried. There was more than a battered body body on his back. He carried the weight of what he viewed as defeat. His pack thought it a draw, a less severe point of view than he obtained. When he finally saw the pack house in sight he smiled lightly. His mate would be in the top room, going crazy for any kind of interaction. He of course would be her release. She couldn't deny him any longer. He wouldn't let her get away this time before she screamed out his name. Too much doubt surrounded the issue between He and his mate for four years. She had to accept him. When he took the 15 year old girl, he had intended to wait but she made it seem as if it was on her time table. He was the Alpha. She would submit to him.
His beta, Andrew, ran to meet him at the edge, his Delta gently placed a fallen warrior on the snow. The stench of the warm, dead bodies protruded into the air. A horrific scent curling anger deep in the pit of his stomach.
"Andrew, alert the men at the pack house, they are to bury the dead."
Constantin broke through the tree line and froze along with the dozens of wolves at his side.
Blood blotted across the ground in animalistic patterns. Steam blew out of Constantin's nostrils.
What happened?
"BRING ME MY GAMMA."
"sir," a brave wolf ran from the pack house to meet his Alpha.
"The Gamma has been killed. Along with several warriors."
"How did this happen?"
"They flooded us, the warrior pack knew of our location and within moments they had broken our borders." It didn't make sense. How...?
Constantin stormed into his home and surveyed the scene.
"Only one wolf ever entered the pack house."
Constantin breathed in deeply. It was a familiar scent that flooded his nose. He followed it to the blood of his Gamma. Then to the body of one of his harlots... they turned and marched urgently to his private quarters.
"No," he growled deeply. He pushed the door open and clawed his way through the mess to the broken window. He turned and gave the wolves that followed him a feral look.
"WHERE IS SHE." He hollered at the top of his lungs.
They hung their heads low.
"The Gamma pulled her guards away to fight on the ground."
Constantin stilled and plotted his own angry release.
"Bring them to me." He spoke darkly. The guards would receive his wrath. Then he would punish the rest of his pack severely. One 3rd was lost that week. He would make sure they felt that loss.
***
Riley wiped the sweat from his brow. The Gamma had improved greatly on his sparring capabilities. Riley had taken on training the young boy. He was a genius but somewhat lacking in the physical strength he needed.
"C'mon pussy. That all ya got?" He smirked as it riled the young boy. The boy landed a blow to Riley's abs. Riley returned it with two of his own blows.  However clever and fast the boy was, he needed to learn defense against brute force.
"You want to kiss me to go along with that caress?" Riley taunted once more.
A smell hit his nose amongst the sweat and manly oder he could smell rose and open field wafting from the pack entrance.
"Stop." Riley said and straightened from his fighting stance. Murdock followed suit and eyed the beta curiously.
"What's up Riley?"
Murdock followed Riley's gaze to a curvy youth between two well known Alphas. She was scanning the pack as she sought something out. She pushed away from his Alpha and searched the field of strangers desperately.
"She your mate?! Score." Murdock asked.
"No," Riley responded but seemed far away. It couldn't be.
"She's my sister."
At that moment she spotted Riley and ran toward him full sprint. Jordan tensed to go after. A warning arm from Alpha Mikhail held the younger wolf back.
Not bothering to grab his shirt Riley jumped the roped off sparring ring and ran toward her. She was alive. She was alive and well.
He had been having nightmares about her in a starving figure, scars littering her, her legs broken, hair torn out, claw marks ripping and distorting her body. He had pictured her in the same condition as the other girls were found in. Yet, there she is, not only able to walk, but to run.
He let her tackle his torso when he reached her. He held her close and breathed in her scent. She was scrubbed head to toe from any enemy scent. Besides the two alphas that she rode with, she was her own smell.
He desperately clutched her frame to his. She had been such a beautiful warrior, she had made it through without a scratch.
"I'm here Riley," The two siblings sank to their knees in emotional exhaustion.
"I was there you know, I was there for the attack on dead moon's pack house. I was so worried when you weren't there... He didn't touch you did he? I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him." Riley poured all of his feelings onto his younger sister. she was there and the flood gate of emotion had broken.
"Of course he touched me," she wouldn't sugar coat it. "But he never got farther than that. I still have both my firsts."
Riley sighed in relief and crushed her in his hug.
"I'll still kill him." His deep voice almost as thick with emotion as his sister's.
"I stabbed him once, Riley," her voice rose in pride. "I stabbed his back with a real knife." Her smile couldn't be helped. She was brave in that moment.
"I'm proud doll."
Aiyana pulled away.
"What happens next? Can I see mom, dad, the rest of them? Are they okay?"
"They are just fine. Our brothers are flourishing and becoming so strong. Connor found his mate in an allied pack. Mom and Dad have rekindled their bond and Bradley is coming up here in 3 weeks to train."
"And Roland?"
"He's now in line for the beta position when the Alpha's son takes over."
"That's wonderful." Tears ran down the side of her face. Every one she loved was safe.
"I'll tell them right away that you're back and safe." Riley went to stand, but Ai pulled him back down.
"Riley this is important." She whispered. "Constantin has a spy among us. He can't know my name."  Riley took on a serious face.
"I'm Isabel, okay? Isabel. I have already found my mate and he has past on." Riley nodded.
"Have you really found your mate?"
She hesitated before entrusting her brother with her only life line. It was hard for her. She had trusted only Sonya with his godly name.
"His name is Vitally..." she whispered.
Riley grinned widely at the irony. He had given away his sister to her true mate. Then he frowned. Guilt covered his expression as he realized what pain he must've caused her. How often had she suffered in pain while Vitally had slept around?  His ears burned bright red.
"What is it?" She innocently asked, while watching his facial expressions contort.
Vitally had said his true mate was Godzilla, that she conversed with the enemy. He looked at his sister and tried to find the truth in this misunderstanding before it hit him full force.
The man Vitally had found her talking to that day had been Markus. What had she agreed to do? Looking into his sisters face he knew that he could save that question for later.
"Why are you wearing training glasses?" Fear laced his words. Is she blind? Did he loose a piece of his sister after all?
"It's a long story, but I think it's a gift."
Riley stood exhausted.
"C'mon we'll get some dinner and hear your story." Riley still felt uneasy about her shades. What if she was damaged forever because he didn't get to her in time? Riley would blame himself to the day he died. And maybe even past that point.