Frustration buzzed into the future Luna of Black Devil, current daughter of the Alpha of Full Moon. From a distance, she could hear the noises of the pack busy with their morning chores and could distinguish the smell of sickness coming from the hospital, where she had been forced to stay. Apparently, her sweet mate had ordered six guards to keep her locked up inside, segregated like a comfortable prisoner. Like a canary in a golden cage.
Getting irritated more and more by the minute, the girl even snarled at two of the numerous nurses and doctors who assisted her for one reason or another, then feeling guilty soon after. An interesting detail: they were all strictly females. The same applied to the guards outside the door. All big, muscular women, with looks so ferocious that Frerea was an innocent kitten in comparison.
After what seemed like an eternity but probably only another minute had passed, the Luna went out of bed with an impatient snort, checking those bothersome and unfair wounds across her body. The infections had almost healed, the scratches had disappeared, and dizziness had vanished.
She wondered why Mirko had not returned yet...did he go somewhere? Did he capture the two psychotic females and punish the border guards that had manhandled her? Did he even know about all that? Or was he busy with something more important than her?
Raised in the world of werewolves, the future Luna was not shocked by the beating she had unfairly received, and night spent in that hellish dump, next to Alpha Ciro's cell.
Lunatic Ciro who had babbled all night long about ridiculousness of all sorts, threatening her to no end and taking advantage of various words and obscenities, some of which Elena had never heard of and of which she did not even want to imagine the meaning.
Despite the suffering, it was all worth it....in fact, Elena had an excuse to beat up that dull excuse of a wolf called Cornelia by a mother who would have been ashamed of her daughter's actions. Cornelia, who had touched Mirko and had intimacy before Elena could.
Extreme annoyance and fury with a hint of impatience and a pinch of violence had created an explosive mixture inside Elena since she had awakened.
A wave of hatred was growing inside her like an unwanted child, and that bloody fury was not coming from her. It did not belong to her.
Her veins had overheated and her blood was boiling. Little snarls escaped her lips from time to time, unknowingly.
The heavy breathing of the guards outside her door made her feel like a host held captive by her future pack, spraying alcohol on the explosive mixture ...
Those alien emotions were interrupted by a familiar scent, and before her drug-slowed brain could identify the owner, the door swung open.
"Oh my sweet Moon Goddess!!!"
The shrill scream startled Elena, unaccustomed to loud noises since she had been forced to rest and waste her time there.
Marco was at the door. His hair still wet from a recent shower, a t-shirt hugged his tense muscles, and pink shorts with little yellow bananas covered his legs. His neck flaunted the love and possessiveness of his mate: one side was covered with recent hickeys and light bites that were already healing. His mark occupied the other half of the neck and had taken on a dark purple colour. That was how the beasts marked their territory.
Marco's entire image and posture made her giggle, forgetting for a moment where she was, what she was boiling inside of her, and the events of the day before.
A microsecond later, Marco came upon her, plunging her into one of his famous bear hugs.
"What happened to my baby?" The Beta exclaimed, taking her cheeks in his large hands, moving her face from side to side and then up and down, with a worried expression and furrowed brows. Without letting her speak, Marco began kissing her forehead and cheeks like a father would do to a daughter who just fell off a bike. Worry and anxiety were intertwined with his facial features.
"Crucifero told me to come here, with no explanation, and look who I have found!" He yelled, bordering on hysterical. Before Elena could utter even a single sound, he continued...so typical of him.
"Where's your mate? Did he leave you here all alone?" Then he stopped, his mouth half open, and a look of panic morphed his chiselled features. "It wasn't him who did-... was it?"
The girl gasped and shook her head quickly. "Of course not! He would never!"
Titilas growled threateningly at his assumption and indirect contempt against her mate.
"Thank God-" his eyes found hers "I'm sorry but I wanted to be one hundred percent sure! Why else would you be hurt in his, err, your pack?"
He placed his arms around her, hugging his best friend tightly. Elena breathed the familiar scent of childhood and home that came from Marco, relaxing thanks to the affection.
"Something happened yesterday," she sighed, rearranging her thoughts.
Marco's caresses ceased for a moment as he stepped back to stare at Elena. "Start from the beginning, baby. And don't skip anything."
With a little jump, he sat down on the bed, forcing her to do the same.
After taking a deep breath, the girl began to tell the story of how she had been beaten in her own future pack. Marco's expression changed several times during the entire conversation, from rolling his eyes when she confessed to having escaped from Full Moon without warning a single soul, to annoyance versus the two guards who had not believed that Elena was Mirko's mate and, finally, all his features shifted to pure fury during the final part, with Cornelia, the struggle, the fight and imprisonment. Lastly, Marco blinked in shock because of Frera's betrayal.
"That Cornelia" He growled, tightening his arms around Elena. "I knew she would be a pain in the *** from the first time we had unfortunately met her at school."
Elena could not help but agree more. The she-wolf had smelled of contamination and fake sugar and it had always disgusted Elena. Hoping she would limp or at least have permanent scars from their fight, Elena had a great desire to sink her fangs into Cornelia's neck and break the aorta.
"Never seen Frerea's betrayal coming though. She seemed very loyal to Mirko. Like a tamed bulldog." The Beta broke off with an unsure expression, "Although I've never noticed that giant with anyone, always alone and on the side-lines..."
Elena reflected on his words and nodded in agreement.
"Yesterday I thought Cornelia and Frerea were mates, but that doesn't explain Cornelia's obsession with my mate." She emphasized the word mate, her fists clenching.
The best friends spent the next 30 minutes evaluating and discussing events, hypotheses, and plots, until suspiciousness grew inside both.
Where were their mates? Both missing, and Crucifero not answering Marco from their private mates' mind-link.
To add an extra pound of concern, Marco sensed fury, determination, and pure blood lust through their bond. It was so strong that Marco's eyes had reddened slightly...
Without hesitation, he went to investigate.
After a certain amount of persuasion, the guards admitted that the Beta and Alpha had gone to No-Man's Land to chase down the traitors and 'clean up'.
Completely alone, as they did not have time to wait for their warriors who would be too slow in comparison. And that, according to them, extra warriors weren't necessary.
"What?!" Elena gasped while Marco seemed beyond concerned.
"Mirko and Crucifero will fight the rogues alone!?" Without thinking, Elena jumped off the bed. Feeling slightly dizzy, she ignored it and began taking off those pale hospital clothes in quick moves.
"No no no no!!!" Marco stopped her, grabbing her elbows. "What are you doing, miss?"
"Do you really want your mate to be there? All alone? In the most haunted place." ...well, after Black Devil. "With delirious rogues everywhere?"
She placed her hands on her hips, swatting his head with a pillow. The fire burned through her determined eyes. The eyes of a female wolf that wanted to protect her mate.
Elena grimaced at the thought of rogues harming Mirko. She could not even imagine what those demonic beasts could do. True, he had a reputation of being indestructible, and perhaps he would be, against a limited group of wolves. But the rogues were like the hydras of Hercules: you cut off a head and they regrow two. You killed one rogue and two more jumped out of nowhere.
The Luna had to reach her Alpha as soon as possible. It was going to be a winding run across those thick woods but with the help of Marco, the two could track down their respective stubborn mates.
"Is that a joke, Elena?" He used her full name. It meant he was on a serious mode.
"Believe me, the Alpha can take care of himself!" Marco stated, slightly amused. "Crucifero told me he can take down six wolves in his human form.... He has seen him do it."
Arguing for a while, at the end Marco sighed and stood up.
He stared at Elena for a full minute before his curled brows flattened and his stiff posture relaxed. A mixture of determination and challenge appeared.
"Let's go get our stupid mates and save their pretty asses!"
When he opened the door, the amazon-like females, with swollen muscles, ferocious eyes and animal postures looked at them. One prevented Elena from coming out of her golden cage while another put a hand on her forearm.
At that point Marco screeched.
"Do you want your Alpha to know you placed your hands on his mate?"
"No Beta, but Alpha ordered her not to leave the room until he-"
"And as your future Luna I order you to forget his orders and listen to me." She snarled, swatting the female's hand away and raising her own chin, almost touching her nose to hers. Eyes reduced into slits. Dark and burning.
"Move away. Now."
The two women, taller than Elena by almost a head, and almost doubled her size, seemed taken aback. A heartbeat later both raised their hands in defeat and let the fierce Luna pass. They also averted their eyes and took a step back.
"I'm sorry Luna" the two murmured in unison.
Elena did not notice how Marco had widened his eyes in awe and how he felt the need to bow his head.
Elena did not know it yet, but the mark on Mirko's neck had gifted her with a piece of himself, growing little by little like a creeper in the recess of her soul....
A piece of Craken, a pinch of nastiness and a slice of fury with a dash of Black Alpha's power were inside Elena.
And Mirko hadn't even marked her yet....
~~~~~~
AN/ Soooo, Elena is becoming vicious! Oh-oh!!!
And, is anyone sad about Riccardo's death?!
What do you think Mirko will do once he sees Elena there in rogues' territory ?? Maybe he'll scold her ... or maybe he'll chase her ;)
Most wanted chapter(s) of all coming soon!!! ;)
As usual, love you all and enjoy the week!!! :D
Next update next Wednesday!
*The image above is not mine. Copyright not intentional