And Then She Was Gone

Old Friends

"We need to discuss how we handle this matter." Alpha Ryan said calmly, his shoulders straightening as he still leaned back in the chair, blue eyes watching the Beta in attentive concern. He was an older man like Dominick, and gray hair was starting to make itself apparent around his hairline, his calm resolve in this situation being due to his years in age. "This is a very touchy thing, for both parties." he made sure he stressed the importance of the word both, in an attempt to induce clear rational thinking with his Beta. However, that minor stress of the word evoked nothing of the sort from the brooding man across from him.

"Both parties? Both parties?! I beg to fucking differ. This is a direct affront on our pack and one of our packs members!" he said pointedly, clear irritation and anger rising in his voice which escalated with each word.

"An affront?" the Alpha questioned, ignoring the growing tone and volume of the Beta across from him, something he would not have ignored from anyone else. "You're acting like this is an coordinated attack against the pack. So far there has been no violence and as of right now Elizabeth seems unharmed and aloof." he replied in a calm even tone, his eyes while carrying his ever present authority seemed to hold a bit of sympathy for Dominicks' present situation.

"And what will happen when he takes her? Marks and mates her?! She doesn't know anything about this way of life!" he retorted, now all of the sudden his mind being filled with all the worst case scenarios which could result from this. "She will be terrified! She will be alone and she will be scared!" tears beginning to well in his eyes, half from anger and half from his own desperation at the thoughts overwhelming his senses.

"It was not my decision to keep her from the pack." Alpha Ryan said quickly, his stare hardening. "That was your decision and I honored it. I cannot justify risking the safety of the pack because you sheltered the girl."

"Oh, fuck you! You know exactly why I did what I did. You agreed to the arrangement wholeheartedly in order to bring me back to this fucking pack. The fact that your involvement in all this has escaped you is absolutely infuriating!" he shouted with a finger pointing towards Ryan as he began to trudge up the murky waters of the bad blooded history between the two.

"Dominick!" his voice beginning to rise and his once relaxed position adopting a lean forward over the desk as he stood up, hands planted on piles of paperwork firmly. "You're my friend, and I will let this little transgression slide, but you will not speak to me in this manner. I have paid for the mistakes I have made in the past, and I will not allow you to continue to hold them over my head. Misty and James were my friends as well, and words will never be able to express the guilt I feel for their untimely end, but you have played a hand in this very unfortunate situation we currently find ourselves in and you cannot shift that onto me." he maintained his even tone with its increased volume not reaching a shout, but causing a shift in the air with the powerful aura now coming from his body, his dominance asserting itself in a visible thick cloud of growing tension.

"... I did it for her protection." Dominick said, his voice now crumbling from its onces angry and volatile disposition. His large frame acting in concession as it fell back, his arms resting on each arm rest to allow his hands to cover his face, fingers intensely rubbing around his eyes and forehead as if trying to rub away every thought and emotion bubbling within him. "You know she is different. We've all known it since she was a young age. She's more like a human at best, with only minor muted abilities poking through intermittently, nothing truly sticking... The curse of her fathers lineage, that stupid fucking generational disorder that plagued his family. You know what his ancestors faced whenever one was affected, living a life among wolves was unbearable for them. I couldn't let her go through that." a crumpling defeated exhale erupting from his large frame as he began to think of that little girl once again.